Notes: Upton-by-Chester was situated on the Chester and Birkenhead Railway which had opened on 23 September 1840 and went on to become a main line. The line became a joint railway which by the 1930s was owned in equal part by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS). Upton-by-Chester, located on the northern edge of Chester, opened on 17 July 1939 to cater for the cities growing suburbs. The station also served the nearby Chester Zoo and the (Cheshire) County Mental Hospital.

In common with many other stations that opened in the 1930s Upton-by-Chester was a fairly simple affair. Located to the south of the A5116 road which crossed the line by an overbridge the station was provided with two platforms of concrete construction. Each platform was linked to the road by ramps and steps. Simple timber waiting shelters were provided at platform level.

Although the line was a busy trunk route used by express trains of both the owning companies, including the Birkenhead Woodside and London Paddington service, Upton-by-Chester was served only by local trains running between Chester General and Birkenhead Woodside. At the time of opening it was classified as a halt.

At nationalisation on 1 January 1948 the Upton-by-Chester became part of British Railways London Midland Region. The summer 1948 timetable showed eleven up and thirteen down services Monday-to-Friday. There was one less up service on Saturdays and the halt was also served on Sundays there being five trains in each direction. Emphasis was made in the timetable that all of the up trains called at Rock Ferry where connection could be made with a frequent electric service to Liverpool Central Low Level.

By the summer of 1957 the service had reduced slightly with eleven up and nine down services Monday-to-Friday. There was an extra train in each direction on Saturdays. Five up trains and four down ran on Sundays. From 1960 DMUs were introduced onto the local services that ran between Chester and Birkenhead. Upton-by-Chester was provided with an improved service which by the summer of 1962 consisted of sixteen trains in each direction Monday-to-Saturday with six up and seven down trains on Sundays. Upton-by-Chester even had a direct weekday train to and from Pwhelli.

The 1963 Re-shaping of British Railways Report recommended that stopping passenger services between Birkenhead Woodside and Chester should be withdrawn and intermediate stations such as Upton-by-Chester closed. The services on the line were well used and the proposal was not adopted. However with the completion of the electrification of the West Coast Main Line between Liverpool Lime Street and London Euston in April 1966 the main line services from Birkenhead Woodside were considered to unnecessary. On the 5 November 1967 Birkenhead Woodside Station closed and from that date no more express services passed through Upton-by-Chester station. The local service from Chester to Birkenhead was cut back to Rock Ferry where there was a convenient interchange with the former Mersey Railway that ran through to Liverpool Central.

After 6 May 1968 the term 'Halt' was dropped.

The May 1975 timetable showed Upton-by-Chester had twenty-three up and twenty down trains Monday-to-Friday as shown in the table below. There were slightly fewer trains on Saturdays and no Sunday service.

Upton-by-Chester retained its gas lighting until the mid 1970s. The train service at Upton-by-Chester remained as a basically hourly service in each direction Monday-to-Saturday with no Sunday trains through to the 1980s.

As early as the 1960s though had been given to electrifying the line from Rock Ferry to Chester. This would enable the electric trains that ran on the former Mersey Railway to run through to Chester providing a direct service to Liverpool for passengers using the stations that lay to the south of Rock Ferry. Since 1971 the line had been branded as part of the Merseyrail Wirral line. In the early 1980s plans were drawn up for the electrification of the line.

As part of the plans for electrification in 1983 work started on a new station a short distance to the south of Upton-by-Chester at Bache. Bache was more convenient for local shops and bus services. Upton-by-Chester closed on 9 January 1984. A couple of weeks later on the 31 January 1984 its replacement at Bache opened to the public. Electric trains started to run to Hooton on 30 September 1985. On 3 September 1993 the electric service was extended to Chester.

In 2013 the platforms at Upton-by-Chester were extant.

Tickets from Michael Stewart

Sources:

• Merseyrail Electrics, The Inside Story, by T B Maud, NBC Books 2001.
• Paddington to the Mersey, by Dr R Preston Hendry & R Powell Hendry, OPC 1992.
• BR (LMR) Summer Timetable 1948.
• BR (LMR) Summer Timetable 1957.
• BR (LMR) May Timetable 1975.

To see other closed stations on the Birkenhead Woodside to Chester line click on the station name: Birkenhead Woodside, Birkenhead Monks Ferry, Birkenhead Town, Tranmere, Rock Lane, Hooton, Ledsham & Mollington