New Merseyrail Northern Line

[oritelad]

please can anyone help i know for certain as merseyrail told me that in the 70s when the loop line was getting built a connection was built into the waterloo/victoria tunnel but the plan was scraped because of lack of money has anyone seen in the loop line tunnels or from the waterloo/victoria tunnel the connection? because as everyone knows the waterloo/victoria tunnel may reopen as a new northern line for merseyrail that will lead onto the old passanger canada dock line which may see station such as spellow, edge lane, anfield, breck road ect

[snappel]

A line re-opening to Canada Dock would not require the opening of the Waterloo/Victoria tunnel. In fact, the Waterloo/Victoria tunnel is nowhere near the loop line.

There was at one point a plan to connect the Northern Line tunnel into Central with the Wapping tunnel, and although a start was made on this it was quickly abandoned.

I have walked both the Waterloo/Victoria and Wapping tunnels, and can confirm that there are no link tunnels to them.

[Sloyne]

I believe Merseytravel should concentrate on extending Merseyrail by opening the disused Waterloo and Wapping tunnels and adding stations than trying to revive the tram scheme.

[skgogosfan]

There supposedly is a dead-end tunnel going off the loop line somewhere around James Street,but I forget whether it was just used as a storage area during the loop's construction,or intended as a link to the Waterloo tunnel for some other scheme that never happened. The tunnel only closed a few years before the loop line started construction so presumably it was in decent nick at the time.

Dave.

[wallasey]

The Olive Mount Loop is the current hot topic as is the electrification of the Borderlands line (Bidston-Wrexham) and the possible extension of the Northern Line upto Burscough and Wigan.

[oritelad]

well as you know loop line is to be closed from 20th april to 27th may!! and theres a rumor the link into the waterloo tunnel is being made following on from what they started but never finished the 70s when the loop line was constucted anyone got more on this?

[MarkA]

The Olive Mount Loop is the current hot topic as is the electrification of the Borderlands line (Bidston-Wrexham) and the possible extension of the Northern Line upto Burscough and Wigan.

MERSEYSIDE

Birkenhead, Seaforth and Garston comprise the Merseyside Ports. Birkenhead is not currently rail connected, so road congestion will build as the port develops. Seaforth rail capacity is restricted by the need to make a run round manoeuvre at Edge Hill. This also uses capacity inefficiently on the Liverpool to Manchester line, leading to performance issues. Reinstating the direct link, called the Olive Mount Chord, and eliminating the run round will increase capacity and performance. The port also receives container traffic. None of these move by rail, as there is no W10 clearance. The route is only a short distance form the West Coast Main Line, which is already W10 cleared, linking Liverpool with Scotland, the West Midlands and London.


Enhancement proposals:



— Reconnect Birkenhead Docks to rail network.

— Reinstate Olive Mount Chord to remove capacity conflicts between freight and passenger services.

— Gauge clearance between Seaforth and WCML.

from http://www.publications.parliament.u.../61/61we29.htm

[goldenface]

There supposedly is a dead-end tunnel going off the loop line somewhere around James Street,but I forget whether it was just used as a storage area during the loop's construction,or intended as a link to the Waterloo tunnel for some other scheme that never happened. The tunnel only closed a few years before the loop line started construction so presumably it was in decent nick at the time.

Dave.

Hi Dave, I remember reading about this and you're right, there is a dead end which is now used for storage but was intended to be another link to the Nothern Line ( Ithink). From what I can remember, it was abandoned as they decided there wouldn't have been enough demand to justify its construction.

Its location? Well if you were to approach James Street up from the Mersey railway tunnel, Mann Island junction on the left takes trains to the James Street loop platform. However, after Mann Island junction, you can see a double track tunnel (dead end) on the right hand side and this would have first went South-East past the older James Street platforms and then continued on a curve north to connect to, what I presume would have been, the a Northern Link at some point. In the grand scheme of things it just didn't happen and it would have been some long and deep tunnel in order to do so.


Also, there is a spur south of Central Station but I am not 100% sure it was specifically intended to connect to a reopened Wapping Tunnel, although I do know there was a plan to connect electrified stations on the Liverpool to Manchester line to Liverpool Central and beyond via Wapping.

The spur at Central is now used as a reversing siding for stock interchanging between the Northern and Wirral lines.