Notes: Rainford Junction was built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway as a replacement station for its existing facilities on the Liverpool Exchange to Wigan Line. The reason for the relocation of its station was to facilitate interchange with both the St. Helens Railways line to St. Helens which opened on 1.2.1858 and the East Lancashire Railways line to Ormskirk which opened on 1.3.1858. Both lines came into the new station from a westerly direction, the St. Helens line curving in from the south and the Ormskirk from the north. A single track link line was provided between the St. Helens and the Ormskirk lines which bypassed the station but it was mostly used by goods services.

In order that the operation of the main line through Rainford Junction was not effected a single platform was provided for the Ormskirk line. In effect it was a continuation of the eastbound (Wigan) platform that stretched beyond the junction. Trains on Ormskirk services could terminate here without blocking the main line. Within a couple of years of opening the Ormskirk line became part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and so it concentrated its booking facilities at in its own facilities on the eastbound platform.

By 1906 the L&Y was operating 19 services per day to Ormskirk with a Railmotor (11 on a Sunday). In 1923 all of the lines into Rainford Junction became part of the LMS but they did not alter the pattern of services. Trains still ran independently to St. Helens and to Ormskirk. Passengers wishing to travel the entire length of the line had to change at Rainford Junction. By the 1930s the LMS had replaced the railmotor on the Ormskirk Service with a push pull locomotive and a couple of coaches.

However after 1945 passenger numbers declined and in 1951 all of the halts on the Ormskirk line and all of the St. Helens line stations closed. The service to Ormskirk continued until 5.11.1956.
The line remained in use for goods services until 1964

Rainford Junction Station is still open today but it was renamed Rainford in 1973. Part of the Ormskirk Platform can still be seen at the end of the Wigan platform.

For other Stations on the St. Helens - Ormskirk line click on the station name: St. Helens (3rd station), Gerards Bridge, Moss Bank, Crank, Old Mill Lane, Rookery, Rainford Village, Rainford Junction (St. Helens Platform), Hey's Crossing Halt, White Moss Level Crossing Halt, Skelmersdale & Westhead Halt