Warrington Central railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Warrington Central
code = WAC


manager = TransPennine Express
locale = Warrington
borough = Warrington
start = circa 1873
platforms = 2
usage0405 = 0.444
usage0506 = 0.399
usage0607 = 0.969
latitude = 53.3918
longitude = -2.5930

Warrington Central railway station is one of two main railway stations serving the town of Warrington in the north-west of England. It is located on the southern route of the Liverpool to Manchester Line (the former Cheshire Lines Committee route between Liverpool and Manchester), and is situated around halfway between the two cities. Central station is used by stopping trains between Liverpool and Manchester, and express services between Liverpool and the North East or between Liverpool and East Anglia.

The other station serving the town centre is Warrington Bank Quay, which has services to London, Birmingham and Scotland.

The Station building

The main station building faces away from the town and is of a classical style. Most of it is rented out to small businesses, the booking office and other facilities having been relocated to a modern building at a lower level. From street level, passengers climb six steps or a short ramp to reach the booking office, and climb further steps to the platforms. Disabled passengers can now easily access both platforms as lifts were installed in June 2008, making Warrington Central fully accessible for the first time ever.

There is a small shop in the new station building, a car park and a taxi rank. The station is close to the new Warrington Bus Station (Warrington Interchange).

The adjoining Cheshire Lines Warehouse is being developed as flats having served as a car park for many years.

ervice Information

Eastbound, trains departing Central serve the urban rural fringe of Warrington and Manchester, serving Birchwood, Padgate, Urmston etc. before heading into Manchester via Trafford. Local trains terminate at Oxford Road, with express trains stopping at Oxford Road and Piccadilly and then onto their final destination. These trains normally use platform one.

Westbound, trains serve Sankey-for-Penketh, then heading into Halton (i.e. Widnes) and then into Liverpool's suburbs and then into Liverpool proper. These trains normally use platform two. The TransPennine calls at Warrington Central, and then runs non-stop to Liverpool, whilst the East Midlands train runs to Liverpool, stopping at Widnes.

Beyond Manchester, the Trans Pennine Trains serve Yorkshire before terminating at Scarborough, the hourly East Midlands Connect service serves Manchester and then heads to Nottingham and the East Midlands and East Anglia.

ervice Pattern

Normal Monday to Friday off-peak service is:
*xx:08 is a slow service to Liverpool Lime Street (Northern Rail) ::calling at: Sankey for Penketh, Widnes, Hough Green, Halewood, Hunts Cross, Liverpool South Parkway, West Allerton, Mossley Hill, Edge Hill and Liverpool Lime Street
*xx:17 is the service to Nottingham or Norwich ::calling at: Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Sheffield railway station, Chesterfield, Alfreton, Nottingham, Grantham, Peterborough, Ely, Thetford and Norwich

*xx:28 is the express service to Liverpool Lime Street (First TransPennine Express) ::calling at: Liverpool Lime Street only

*xx:40 is a semi-fast service to Manchester Oxford Road (Northern Rail) ::calling at: Padgate, Birchwood, Irlam, Urmston, Manchester Deansgate and Manchester Oxford Road

*xx:43 is a semi-fast service to Liverpool Lime Street (Northern Rail) ::calling at: Widnes, Hough Green, Liverpool South Parkway, Mossley Hill and Liverpool Lime Street

*xx:44 is the service to Scarborough (First TransPennine Express) calling at: ::calling at: Birchwood, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Piccadilly, Stalybridge, Huddersfield, Leeds, York, Malton, Seamer and Scarborough

*There is a daily service to Newcastle (0644) and Middlesbrough (1544), and a Sunday only service to Hull (1245 SuO). All TransPennine trains after 1900 terminate at York.

*xx:57 is an additional express service to Liverpool Lime Street operated by East Midlands Trains ::calling at: Widnes and Liverpool Lime Street

*xx:58 is a slow service to Manchester Oxford Road (Northern Rail) ::calling at: Birchwood, Glazebrook (even hours), Irlam, Flixton, Chassen Road (even hours), Urmston, Humphrey Park (odd hours), Trafford Park (odd hours), Manchester Deansgate and Manchester Oxford Road

ervices

Note on usage statistics

The apparent large increase in passenger numbers from 2005-6 to 2006-7 is largely due to a change in the way the statistics were compiled. See [http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/station-usage-report-2006-07.pdf] . Passengers booking to/from "Warrington Stations" rather than a specific station were allocated differently between the two main Warrington stations with the result that usage at Central apparently increased at the expense of Bank Quay. Total passenger numbers at the two Warrington stations increased by about 8% between 2005-6 and 2006-7.

External links