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| Exchange Station1850 |
Located on
Tithebarn Street, Exchange Station was one of the four terminal
stations in Liverpool's city centre it was also the only station not accessed
via a tunnel. The grandly appointed station opened on 13 May 1850, replacing an
earlier temporary station at Great Howard Street further north up the track.
The station originally had two names as the joint owners could not agree on a
name. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway named the station Liverpool Exchange
Station with the East Lancashire Railway naming the station Liverpool Tithebarn
Street.
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| ExchangeStationTithebarnStreet 1920s |
It was not until
the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway absorbed the East Lancashire Railway on 13th August 1859 that the name of the
station became Liverpool Exchange Station. The station was the terminus of the
East Lancashire Railways line to Preston, the LYR' Lancashire and Yorkshire
Railways route to Bolton as well as the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway
routes to Crosby and Southport.
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| Exchange Station circa 1930 © Edward Chambe Hardman |
The station was
elevated with ramps for road vehicles to access the station. The existing station
could not cope with demand by the 1880s. The approaches were widened to
accommodate more tracks. The station was extensively rebuilt and enlarged
between 1886 and 1888, opening on 2 July 1888. Its site expanded from the
original location to cover Clarke's Basin (the original end of the
Leeds-Liverpool Canal). The station continued to be the Liverpool terminus of
the LYR and was also the terminus of the company's Liverpool to Manchester
line. Under four extremely long glass train-shed roofs lay ten platforms, with
an access roadway between platforms 3 and 4, providing long distance services
to destinations such as Manchester Victoria, Blackpool North the Lake District,
Whitehaven and Glasgow Central. Bradford Exchange and Leeds Central.
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Author and First
World War poet Siegfried Sassoon frequently lodged in the hotel adjoining
Exchange station and it was there in 1917 wrote his A Soldier's Declaration
which appeared in the press and was read to the House of Commons.
During world war
two, Liverpool, being then prime convoy port, was a major strategic target for
German aircraft bombers. Damage was caused to the approach lines to Liverpool
Exchange. In December 1940 the viaduct north of the station received a direct
bomb hit and collapsed. The collapse precluded trains from running into the
station. Commuter services were diverted to Southport's Lord Street station
from Liverpool Central High Level. The route was much longer initially running
south to Hunts Cross from Liverpool Central high-level, then circling Liverpool
via the North Liverpool Extension Line to the east of the city heading north to
Aintree and onto Southport. The temporary service ran from 24 December 1940
until 5 July 1941. Temporary wooden bridges were built over the collapsed
section of the viaduct restoring electric services. The bridges were not strong
enough to take steam-hauled trains. Steam-hauled trains and main line services
were resumed on 18 August 1941 terminating at Kirkdale with passengers
transferring to buses or trams to the city centre. In May 1941 the worst air
raids of the war hit Liverpool. A northern section of the train-shed roof at
Liverpool Exchange was badly damaged entailing demolition. Other parts remained
iron frames until closure in the 1970s. Train services to Liverpool Exchange
returned in late 1942.
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| Stanier 'Black 5' |
On 3 August
1968, the last British Rail scheduled passenger train to be hauled by a
standard gauge steam locomotive, ended its journey at Liverpool Exchange,
Stanier 'Black 5' no. 45318 having hauled from Preston the Liverpool portion of
the evening Glasgow to Liverpool and Manchester train. Long distance services
from Exchange switched to Liverpool Lime Street in the 1960s, with trains to
Yorkshire, Blackpool and the Lake District being withdrawn in 1969 and Glasgow
trains following suit in 1970. Exchange was left with only medium distance
journeys to Wigan and Bolton, operated by diesel multiple units, plus the
still-busy urban electric services to Southport and Ormskirk.
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| The approach to Exchange Station in 1963 © Disused Stations.org |
The programme of
route closures in 1963, known as the Beeching Axe, included the closure of two
of Liverpool's mainline terminal stations, Liverpool Exchange and Liverpool
Central high-level in Liverpool, and also Woodside Station in Birkenhead. The
Beeching Report in 1963 recommended the closure of the Liverpool Exchange to
Southport electric commuter route, and the line to Wigan Wallgate via Rainford
Junction. The Liverpool Exchange to Preston via Ormskirk was not recommended
for closure. All routes into Central High-level station were recommended for
closure. Long and medium distance routes were to be concentrated on Lime Street
Station Liverpool City Council took a different view, and proposed the
retention of the suburban services around the city and their integration into a
regional rapid-transit network. This approach was backed up by the Merseyside
Area Land Use and Transportation Study, the MALTS report. Liverpool City
Council's proposal was adopted and Merseyrail was born.
Within a few years of closure the old station was demolished by Oldham Bros, a local demolition company. However, the frontage of the station building was preserved and incorporated into a new office building built behind, named Mercury Court. The station site is still largely intact used as surface car parking. The approaches to the station still exist on the old brick viaducts. The lines descend and disappear just before Leeds Street and down under the old station into the Link Tunnel of the Merseyrail Northern Line. Parts of the original station wall can still be seen when walking down Pall Mall or Bixteth Street. Refurbished in 2014 it is now called by its original name Exchange Station.
Sources
Liverpool Central Library
Disused Station.org
Liverpool Records Office
Wikipedia
By Robert F Edwards
