Forums Forums Wirral Information Wirral info Hamilton Square station to close until next spring

HAMILTON Square station is to close for around six months while a multi-million pound facelift gets underway.

Among the improvements will be work to the platform and tunnel areas, which will include new flooring, brighter lighting and better customer information.

The station will look cleaner, lighter and less cluttered and it will be easier for passengers to plan their journey.

To complete the upgrade, the station will be closed from Monday, September 29, until spring 2015.

Trains will continue to run through, but won’t stop.

A rail replacement bus service will be in place from Hamilton Square throughout the closure.

Operating in a loop, it will go to Birkenhead Central and Conway Park running every five minutes between 7am and 10am, and 4pm and 7pm, Monday to Friday, and every 10 minutes at all other times.

The round trip will take about 15 minutes and 20 minutes at peak-times.

Ian Joslin, area director for Network Rail, said: “This work will significantly improve Hamilton Square station and provide passengers with a better beginning or end to their journey.

“The redeveloped station will be a positive addition to the railway in Merseyside, building on the recent improvements made at Lime Street, Liverpool Central and James Street.

The nature of the work means it can only be carried out while the station is closed.

“We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause but we are working closely with Merseyrail and Merseytravel to minimise disruption as much as possible.”

Maarten Spaargaren, managing director of Merseyrail, said: “We know that the temporary closure of the station is not good for customers in the short-term, but I am confident that that the upgrade will make a big difference and people will really like the new look and feel.

“A lot of thought will go into improving signage and customer information, making travel on the network easier and more pleasant.”

The upgrde is part of a project to renovate all five stations in connecting Liverpool city centre.

Liverpool Central was improved in 2012; Lime Street and James Street in 2013, and Moorfields will be refurbished next year.

other than looking a bit nicer i cant see how it can improve your beginning or end of journey that much. Maybe better lifts. Oh well --progress

how would one get from say new brighton to chester then?

change in liverpool or get off at conway park and walk to green lane?

A rail replacement bus service will be in place from Hamilton Square throughout the closure.

Operating in a loop, it will go to Birkenhead Central and Conway Park running every five minutes between 7am and 10am, and 4pm and 7pm, Monday to Friday, and every 10 minutes at all other times.

It looked a lot better when it was like this......
http://dewi.ca/trains/liverpoo/pix/n32_5_2.jpg

No clutter on the platforms whatsoever. Just a few incandescent bulbs to light the place. Proper massive, solid comfortable trains. 1st and 3rd Class. Smoking or non-smoking cars. Slam doors. Polished brass. Bliss ! Nice dry wood platform to stub your fag ends out on. Health and Safety still a million miles away !!

If I had my way and lots of money, I would reopen the line between Birkenhead North and Rock Ferry and run through trains that way and open a station and a park & ride at the retail park or on the site of Mollington St shed.

In theory, that will happen if/when the promised Wirral Waters is ever built: come back in 50 years.

Speaking of stations, I was surprised to see the station and train information in English and Welsh at Wirral Upton station:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152382524027858&l=6b25ada1a7

Got to cater for the foreigners Gibbo.

One improvement they definitely need to implement is to lower the track or raise the platforms. You almost need a ladder to get from the platform to the train on the Liverpool bound side.

Another would be to take the lifts to platform level rather than to several flights of stairs above it.

But my bet is that they will do little more than tart it up with canopies over the platforms, new cladding and lighting. This would be a great pity. Far better to open up the original vaulted structure, clean the brickwork and install floodlighting to show it off to the best advantage.