Diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are generally classed as DMUs. Diesel-powered units may be further classified by their transmission type: diesel–electric, diesel–mechanical or diesel–hydraulic; the diesel engine may be located under the floor. Driving controls can be on one end, or in a separate car. DMUs are classified by the method of transmitting motive power to their wheels. In a diesel–mechanical multiple unit, the rotating energy of the engine is transmitted via a gearbox and driveshaft directly to the wheels of the train, like a car; the transmissions can be shifted manually by the driver, as in the great majority of first-generation British Rail DMUs, but in most applications, gears are changed automatically. In a diesel–hydraulic multiple unit, a hydraulic torque converter, a type of fluid coupling, acts as the transmission medium for the motive power of the diesel engine to turn the wheels.
Some units feature a hybrid mix of hydraulic and mechanical transmissions reverting to the latter at higher operating speeds as this decreases engine RPM and noise. In a diesel–electric multiple unit, a diesel engine drives an electrical generator or an alternator which produces electrical energy; the generated current is fed to electric traction motors on the wheels or bogies in the same way as a conventional diesel–electric locomotive. In modern DEMUs, such as the Bombardier Voyager family, each car is self-contained and has its own engine and electric motors. In older designs, such as the British Rail Class 207, some cars within the consist may be unpowered or only feature electric motors, obtaining electric current from other cars in the consist which have a generator and engine. A train composed of DMU cars scales well, as it allows extra passenger capacity to be added at the same time as motive power, it permits passenger capacity to be matched to demand, for trains to be split and joined en route.
It is not necessary to match the power available to the size and weight of the train, as each unit is capable of moving itself. As units are added, the power available to move the train increases by the necessary amount. DMUs may have better acceleration capabilities, with more power-driven axles, making them more suitable for routes with frequent spaced stops, as compared with conventional locomotive and unpowered carriage setups. Distribution of the propulsion among the cars results in a system, less vulnerable to single-point-of-failure outages. Many classes of DMU are capable of operating with faulty units still in the consist; because of the self-contained nature of diesel engines, there is no need to run overhead electric lines or electrified track, which can result in lower system construction costs. Such advantages must be weighed against the underfloor noise and vibration that may be an issue with this type of train. Diesel traction has several downsides compared to electric traction, namely higher fuel costs, more noise and exhaust as well as worse acceleration and top speed performance.
The power to weight ratio tends to be worse. DMUs have further disadvantages compared to diesel locomotives in that they cannot be swapped out when passing onto an electrified line, necessitating either passengers to change trains or Diesel operation on electrified lines; the lost investment once electrification reduces the demand for diesel rolling stock is higher than with locomotive hauled trains where only the locomotive has to be replaced. Diesel multiple units are in constant use in Croatia, operated by national operator Croatian Railways. On Croatian Railways, DMUs have important role since they cover local and distant lines across the country. Two largest towns in Croatia and Split, are daily connected with DMU tilting trains "RegioSwinger" that provide Inter City service between those two towns since 2004. In the early 1990s, luxury DMU series 7021 provided some of higher ranked lines across the country. DMU series HŽ series 7121, 7122 and Croatian-built series 7022 and 7023 are nowadays in high use covering country's local and regional services in country's interior on the tracks that are not electrified.
In the Republic of Ireland the Córas Iompair Éireann, which controlled the republic's railways between 1945 and 1986, introduced DMUs in the mid-1950s and they were the first diesel trains on many main lines. The first significant use of DMUs in the United Kingdom was by the Great Western Railway, which introduced its small but successful series of diesel–mechanical GWR railcars in 1934; the London and North Eastern Railway and London and Scottish Railway experimented with DMUs in the 1930s, the LMS both on its own system, on that of its Northern Irish subsidiary, but development was curtailed by World War II. After nationalisation, British Railways revived the concept in the early 1950s. At that time there was an urgent need to move away from expensive steam traction which led to many experimental designs using diesel propulsion and multiple units; the early DMUs proved successful, under BR's 1955 Modernisation Plan the building of a large fleet was authorised. These BR "First Generation" DMUs were built between 1956 and 1963.
BR required that contracts for the design and manufacture of new locomotives and rolling stock be split between n
Liverpool Central railway station
Liverpool Central railway station in Liverpool, forms a central hub of the Merseyrail network, being on both the Northern Line and the Wirral Line. The station is located underground below the site of a former mainline terminus, it is the busiest station in Liverpool, though smaller than Lime Street station, the mainline terminus, the busiest station to operate the Merseyrail network. In terms of passenger entries and exits between April 2010 and March 2011, Liverpool Central is the seventh-busiest station outside London; the station is the busiest underground station outside London serving 40,000 people daily. The station in passengers per platform is the busiest underground railway station in the United Kingdom at 5,217,547 per platform per annum and laying third in all stations, underground or overground. Liverpool Central is one of nine stations on the Merseyrail network to incorporate automatic ticket gates; the main concourse is part of a shopping centre, includes a subway link to the former Lewis's department store.
The original station, a large, above-ground terminal station, opened on 2 March 1874, at the end of the Cheshire Lines Committee line to Manchester Central. It replaced Brunswick station as the CLC's Liverpool terminus, becoming the headquarters of the committee; the three-storey building fronted Ranelagh Street in the city centre, with a 65 feet high, arched iron and glass train shed behind. There were six platforms within the station, offering journeys to Manchester Central, London St. Pancras, Harwich, Stockport Tiviot Dale, Southport Lord Street and an alternative London route to that of the Midland Railway, terminating at London Marylebone; until the nationalisation of Britain's railways, the station was always busy, but as with many other stations in the UK, it was closed under the Beeching Axe, as the routes served could be taken from nearby Liverpool Lime Street. In 1966, most services on the CLC route were diverted to Lime Street via the Hunts Cross chord, leaving only a dozen urban commuter trains per day to and from Gateacre.
These final services were withdrawn on 17 April 1972, with a promise to reinstate the Gateacre route when the Merseyrail network was completed in 1978. The High Level station was demolished in 1973, having served a short time as a car park, although some former station buildings remained while work was in progress on rebuilding the underground station in the mid-1970s; the area of the train shed now forms the centre of the stalled Central Village development. Liverpool Central Low Level underground terminal station opened on 11 January 1892, at the end of the Mersey Railway's route, via the Mersey Railway Tunnel from Birkenhead, when the route was extended from James Street station; the Mersey Railway platforms were underground, accessed from stairs within the High Level station and situated in the same position as the escalators accessing the Northern Line today. The Mersey Railway tunnel entering Central Low Level from the north of the station was aligned with the High Level station's approach tunnel from the south.
This was to ensure minimum engineering work if the two tunnels were to be linked up—as did occur in the 1970s. The Merseyrail network was created in the 1970s by merging separate railways into one comprehensive network. Central underground station would service the Wirral Lines. A new loop tunnel was built in Liverpool city centre for Wirral Line trains, linking James Street station with Moorfields, Lime Street and Liverpool Central stations, returning to James Street. A new deep-level underground platform was built at Liverpool Central as part of this loop tunnel; the former CLC route was taken underground connecting to the underground Mersey Railway platforms. Another new tunnel, the Link Tunnel, allowed trains to continue northwards via Moorfields to the approach lines to Liverpool Exchange, creating one long line from Hunts Cross to Southport. Liverpool Exchange terminal station was closed in 1977; the rebuilt underground station was opened by British Rail in the same year. In the original 1970s Merseyrail plan, southbound trains would have continued to Warrington and Manchester.
Works to allow the Northern Line to be connected to the Victoria Tunnel, called the Edge Hill Spur, to connect the eastern section of the city to the city centre underground section were undertaken later abandoned. Trains would have operated from Central station to the east of the city and out to St Helens. On 26 October 2005, a Wirral Line train derailed on the approach to Liverpool Central en route from Liverpool Lime Street. There were no serious injuries; the statistics for interchanges at this station exclude exchanges between trains, estimated at around 2 million, concessionary pass holders. It was announced in September 2011 that, as part of the Central Village multimillion-pound development, as well as through a £40 million investment from Network Rail, Liverpool Central was to have a major refurbishment programme to allow improvement works to take place. All the underground stations would be involved in the investment, with half that amount earmarked for Liverpool Central allowing necessary improvement works to take place to the platform area of the station, although the concourse will see major improvements including new lighting, new toilet facilities and new escalators to the
Merseytravel
Merseytravel is the passenger transport executive responsible for the coordination of public transport in the Liverpool City Region, North West England. Merseytravel was established on 1 December 1969 as the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive. From 1 April 2014 Merseytravel expanded its area of operation from the metropolitan county of Merseyside to include the Borough of Halton; the Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority was first established as a result of the Transport Act 1968, included communities such as the urban districts of Formby and Neston, Cheshire. The latter was removed from Merseyside Passenger Transport jurisdiction in 1974 when the transport organisation's boundaries were made co-extensive with the new metropolitan county of Merseyside, formally created by the Local Government Act 1972. At this time a committee of councillors of Merseyside County Council became the transport authority; when the metropolitan county councils were abolished by the Local Government Act 1985, new structures had to be created.
A new joint board - again called The Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority - was created. It was renamed the Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority and comprised 18 councillors assembled from Merseyside's five districts: Liverpool, Knowsley, St Helens and Wirral. On 1 April 2014, the Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority was abolished and reformed as the Merseytravel Committee of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority; the transport authority area is extended to include the whole of the Liverpool City Region, which comprises Merseyside and the Borough of Halton. As a result of the privatisation of British Rail, the Northern Line and Wirral Line of the local Merseyrail rail network were brought together as the Mersey Rail Electrics passenger franchise, privatised on 19 January 1997. Under the original privatisation legislation of 1993, PTEs were co-signatories of franchise agreements covering their areas; the first train operating company awarded the franchise contract was MTL the operating arm of the PTE, but privatised itself in 1985.
It traded under the Merseyrail Electrics brand, but after MTL was sold to Arriva, the company was rebranded Arriva Trains Merseyside from 27 April 2001. When the franchise came up for renewal, reflecting the exclusive nature of the two lines - being isolated from the rest of the National Rail network and with no through passenger services to/from outside the Merseyrail network, the decision was taken to remove it from the national framework and bring it into local control; as a result, using the Merseyrail Electrics Network Order 2002 the Secretary of State for Transport exempted the system from being designated as a railway franchise under the privatisation legislation. This allowed the PTE to contract out the lines themselves, which it did with Merseyrail operated by Serco-Abellio commencing a 25-year contract on 20 July 2003. A third line, the City Line historically branded as Merseyrail under British Rail, was privatised under the 1993 Act, but as part of the much larger North West Regional Railways franchise.
On 2 March 1997 North Western Trains rebranded First North Western, commenced operating the franchise. Some Class 142s were repainted in Merseytravel's yellow livery; this line was not included in the 2003 exemption given to the other two lines, so it has continued as part of the government administered rail franchise system, although the role of PTEs in the franchising process has altered due by the 2005 Railways Act. From 11 December 2004, the NWRR franchise was merged into a new Northern franchise and operated by Northern Rail; the Merseyrail 142s were repainted into Northern Rail livery. On 1 April 2016, the franchise was taken over by Arriva Rail North. Prior to the Transport Act 1985 which nationally mandated the deregulation and privatisation of bus services in 1986 throughout England except Greater London, it operated a large proportion of the bus services on Merseyside, under the Merseyside Transport brand, it had taken over the municipally provided bus operations of Liverpool and Wallasey county borough corporations in 1970, expanded to cover the county borough municipal corporation areas and bus services of St Helens and Southport in 1974.
The PTE extensively co-ordinated and joint operated bus services on Merseyside with National Bus Company subsidiaries Crosville and Ribble. These were both longer distance services coming into Merseyside from Cheshire and Lancashire along with Crosville and Ribble services operated in Sefton and the Wirral only; the PTE had significant involvement in the operation of Crosville and Ribble garages on Merseyside too. Similar arrangements existed with Lancashire United Transport/Greater Manchester Transport and Warrington Borough Transport from services connecting Merseyside with Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire. After deregulation, these were branded as Merseybus, were subsequently privatised as MTL; the previous co-ordination of Merseyside's bus network disappeared as Crosville, Ribble now known as North Western and Greater Manchester's GM Buses became competitors of Merseybus along with new entrants like CMT Buses, Halton Transport, Liverlne, PMT's Red Rider, Village Group, other smaller operators.
Merseyside's popular bus corridors became a hot-bed of intense competition with less lucrative services ignored and in some cases disappearing. Things settled down in the mid-1990s with Merseybus parent company MTL took over a number of the new entrants, some disappearing and North Western now owned by Arriva the remainder. In 2000 MTL is now part of a enlarged Arriva North West; however Arriva was required by the Mon
Kirkby
Kirkby is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, England. In Lancashire, it developed from the 1950s to the 1970s as a housing overspill of Liverpool, it is 5 miles north of Huyton and 6 miles north-east of Liverpool. The population in 2011 was 40,472, it is believed to have been founded in 870 although there is archaeological evidence for settlement from the Bronze Age. In Lancashire, Kirkby is believed to have been founded circa 870, although archaeological digs have produced evidence of habitation in the Bronze Age; the name Kirk-by, from the Old Norse word elements'kirkja' and'byr', believed to be of Danish origin, meaning'church' and'settlement' or'village'. The town's settlers arrived via Ireland around 900; the first direct evidence of a settlement dates from 1086 and the Domesday Book, with a reference to Cherchebi – population 70. Ownership of the land containing modern-day Kirkby – established as the West Derby Hundred in the 11th century – passed through many hands until 1596, when the Molyneux family purchased the hundred in its entirety.
After a brief loss of patronage in 1737 as a result of the head of the family taking holy orders, in 1771 the Molyneux family were made Earls of Sefton and regained their lands. Although remaining farmland until the mid 20th century, initial transport links to the area began in 1848 with the building of the Liverpool and Bury Railway through Kirkby; the East Lancashire Road added road connections in 1935 and industrial development was being considered prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. A Royal Ordnance filling factory – ROF Kirkby – was established in 1939 and completed in 1941. At its peak, the factory employed over 20,000 workers. By the end of the war, Liverpool had suffered much damage from the Blitz and much of its remaining housing stock was poor and considered slums. In an effort to improve these conditions, Liverpool Corporation began a policy of buying land in the surrounding areas and moving industry and people to newly developed'overspill' estates; this process culminated with the purchase of 4,070 acres of land, including the land comprising Kirkby, from the Earl of Sefton in 1947 for £375,000.
Kirkby would become the largest of these overspill estates for Merseyside. As development of the town grew, in 1949 Liverpool requested to have it designated a new town, but this proposal was rejected. Large-scale development began in February 1950 with the construction of the Southdene neighbourhood, with the first houses finished in 1952, the 5,000th in 1956 and the 10,000th in 1961. A population of 3,000 in 1951 swelled to over 52,000 by 1961, making it the fastest growing community in the UK by far; the Kirkby Urban District was created in 1958. Such vast growth caused many problems, not the least of, that the construction of local amenities had not kept the same pace. For example, while occupation of the council estates of Southdene had begun in 1952, the first shops were not completed until 1955 and the first public house was not open until 1959. Additionally, the people who were being moved into Kirkby during this period came from the poorest areas of Liverpool. During this time, Kirkby Industrial Estate was expanding to become one of the largest in England until, at its peak in 1971, the estate provided employment for over 26,000 people.
Kirkby achieved independent Urban District status in 1958. This was abolished and on 1 April 1974 its former area was combined with that of Huyton with Roby Urban District, Prescot Urban District, parts of Whiston Rural District and parts of West Lancashire Rural District to form the present-day Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley. Kirkby Urban District was a local government district in the administrative county of Lancashire, from 1958 to 1974. From 1949 onwards, the main settlement of the district was Kirkby new town. A District Council was created in 1958; the first meeting of the District Council was held on the 9th April 1958. At that meeting it was resolved that Councillor James Wylie, J. P. be appointed Chairman of the Council In 1974 it was abolished and its former area was transferred to Merseyside to be combined with that of Huyton with Roby Urban District, Prescot Urban District, parts of Whiston Rural District and parts of West Lancashire Rural District, to form the present-day Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley Kirkby has been represented at the Houses of Parliament by George Howarth since 1986 first as part of the Knowsley North constituency as part of the Knowsley North and Sefton East constituency and since 2010 as part of the Knowsley constituency.
He holds a 42216 majority, which makes it the second safest Labour seat in the country. He was preceded by Robert Kilroy-Silk, Harold Soref and Harold Wilson, although the representing constituency has varied due to shifting boundaries; the boundaries will change once again at the next general election. Kirkby is divided into four districts - Southdene, Westvale and Tower Hill, its electoral wards, however, do not coincide with these divisions, consist of Cherryfield, Kirkby Central, Park and Whitefield. There are 18 local councillors all of whom represent the Labour Party, who run unopposed. Kirkby is in the European parliamentary constituency of North West England which has nine Members known as MEPs. Kirkby lies within Merseyside in North West England, it is 180 miles north-west of London, 5 miles north-west of Huyton, the borough administrative headquarters. The River Alt flows through the extreme south west of the
Ormskirk railway station
Ormskirk railway station in Ormskirk, England, is an interchange between Merseyrail services from Liverpool Central and Northern services from Preston on the Ormskirk branch line, 12 3⁄4 miles northeast of Liverpool. The station building and three arch road bridge are both Grade II listed structures; the station was built by the East Lancashire Railway's Liverpool and Preston Junction section, opened on 2 April 1849. From 13 May 1859, the station was owned by the Yorkshire Railway. From 1 January 1923 the station was owned by the London and Scottish Railway. British Railways nationalised all railways on 1 January 1948 and the station became part of the London Midland Region. A branch line to Rainford Junction via Skelmersdale was opened by the ELR in March 1858 shortly before it was absorbed by the L&YR – this left the main line to Preston just to the north of the station; the line from Liverpool was subsequently electrified in 1913, with the suburban EMUs using a bay platform at the southern end of the station to keep them clear of the busy main line to Preston, used as the L&Y's principle route to East Lancashire, the Fylde and Scotland.
The original Liverpool terminus of the line was closed in 1977, when the route became one of the three branches of the new Northern Line and trains began running to a new underground terminus at Liverpool Central. Since 1996, it has been part of the Merseyrail franchise run by Serco-Abellio; the current station consists of a single platform. An interesting characteristic is how the electric Merseyrail track and the unelectrified Northern track is on the same alignment, with electric and diesel trains using opposite ends of the same platform; the line is cut by a large buffer separating the track sections. Passengers wishing to transfer from an electric train to diesel train walk a dozen yards or so along the same platform to move between trains. A similar layout exists at Kirkby station. Prior to the Beeching Report of 1963 and the subsequent restructuring of the rail network, there were two main through platforms; the electric Liverpool commuter trains would pull into the southern bay platform.
This practice ended following the withdrawal of through trains between Liverpool and Preston via this route. Local services from Preston, East Lancashire & Blackpool towards Liverpool were either withdrawn or terminated at Ormskirk from October 1969 with the last through trains running on 3 May 1970. From the 4 May 1970, the line was split with all trains using the former Liverpool platform; the bay platform is now a footpath leading to the bus station. Only a single Merseyrail 3rd rail electric line runs into the platform, the route towards Liverpool becomes double outside the station; the line from Ormskirk to Preston has been single track since the summer of 1970, except for a passing loop at Rufford. The former link between Ormskirk and Southport, via the Burscough Curves, was closed in 1962; the Skelmersdale Branch has been lost, having closed to passengers in 1956 and to all traffic seven years later. It was lifted in 1968; the station underwent a £1.5 million renovation during 2009. Among the refurbishments include a new booking hall, waiting room, toilet facilities, ticket counters and new automatic swinging doors, as well as a remodelled and landscaped path and bicycle route up to the bus interchange.
The station is classed as eco-friendly and gets its green credentials by using a system that harvests rainwater, as well as other various energy-saving measures. During October & November 2018 the height and layout of the platforms were adjusted to prepare for Merseyrail's new fleet of trains which are due to be introduced from 2020; the station is staffed, 15 minutes before the first train and 15 minutes after the last train, has platform CCTV. There is a payphone, waiting room, booking office and live departure and arrival screens, for passenger information; the station has a free car park, with 108 spaces, as well as a 2-space cycle rack and secure storage for 28 cycles. The station and platforms have full disabled access but the car park has uneven ramp access. Services to Liverpool Central operate running every 15 minutes during the day and every 30 minutes at other times. Services to Preston now run hourly Monday–Saturday and operate through to Blackpool South, however this through service is unadvertised - destination boards and timetables indicate Preston as the destination.
There is no Sunday service. There have been calls from local authorities and the local rail user group to reopen both curves at Burscough to allow the reinstatement of through trains from Ormskirk to Southport, as well as to reinstate through services between Preston and Liverpool via Ormskirk and to rebuild and reopen the Skelmersdale branch. Merseytravel's 2014 Liverpool City Region Long Term Rail Strategy does not back plans for an Ormskirk to Skelmersdale route, but it suggests that a new bi-level interchange at Burscough Bridge could be built, to provide improved interchange facilities between the Ormskirk branch and the Wigan to Southport line, in addition to reopening the curves and extending electrification through to Preston and Southport. Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Long Term Rail Strategy document of October 2017, page 37, states a review to introduce new Merseyrail battery trains will be undertaken in 2020, in view to put Preston interchange station onto the Merseyrail network by extending
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a underground commuter rail network and train operating company serving Liverpool and the surrounding Liverpool City Region, England. It is a part of Serco-Abellio, is formed of two electrified lines of the National Rail network known as the Northern Line and the Wirral Line which run underground in central Liverpool and Birkenhead, providing a metro-style service. A third line, separate from the metro-style network, is named the City Line, a term used by the governing body Merseytravel referring to local services it sponsors on the Liverpool to Manchester Lines and Liverpool to Wigan Line operated by Northern; the Merseyrail network has 75 miles of route, of which 6.5 miles are underground. Carrying 110,000 passengers each weekday, or 34 million passengers per year, it forms the most used urban railway network in the UK outside London; the network is operated by a joint venture between franchise holder Serco and Abellio, who superseded Arriva Trains Merseyside in 2003. The contract is for 25 years expiring in 2028.
Serco-Abellio operate a fleet of 59 trains and as of 2015. The large comprehensive urban network was formed in 1977 by merging separate rail lines by the construction of new tunnels under Liverpool city centre and Birkenhead. Although financial constraints have prevented some of the 1970s plans for the network being realised, the network has been extended, with additional extensions proposed. Point-to-point or return tickets are purchased from staffed offices or ticket machines, but the system is integrated with Merseytravel's City Region-wide pass system, which encompasses the Mersey Ferries and city and regional bus networks; as of March 2019 Merseytravel ticketing is transitioning to the local Walrus smartcard system, including Merseyrail travel. The Merseyrail name became the official brand for the network in the days of British Rail, surviving several franchise holders, although the name was not used by Arriva when holding the franchise. Despite this, Merseytravel continued the Merseyrail branding at stations, allowing the name to be adopted colloquially.
Merseyrail is referred to as "Merseyrail Electrics" by National Rail Enquiries, as "Serco/Abellio Merseyrail" by Merseytravel. The network is composed of two lines known as the Northern Line and the Wirral Line which are operated by the Merseyrail train operating company and are electrified throughout using the third-rail 750 V DC system; the Power Supply to the Third Rail is monitored and controlled by the Electric Control Room at Sandhills. The City Line is operated by Northern with funding from Merseytravel; the line is electrified with one branch, the Liverpool to Manchester line via Warrington, operated by diesel trains. Trains on the Northern Line and Wirral Line cover the Liverpool City Region, their total track length is 75 miles, with 68 stations. The lines connect Liverpool city centre with cities and towns on the outer reaches of the city region, such as Southport and Chester. Frequent intermediate stops serve other sections of the urban area. Trains run at an off-peak interval of fifteen minutes on most branches, with lines converging to provide a frequency of up to every five minutes within central Liverpool, under the Mersey to Birkenhead.
Although these two lines of the system by the strictest definition only fulfil the requirements of a pure rapid transit network, its legislative isolation from the national franchise system, high frequency in the central, underground sections, operation as a self-contained network make it comparable to one or, more comparable to European S-train systems. The three lines interchange as follows: Northern and City Line services interchange at Liverpool South Parkway and Hunts Cross in the south of the city. Wirral and City Lines interchange at Lime Street in the city centre. Northern and Wirral lines interchange at Liverpool Central and Moorfields in the city centre The Northern Line is shown in blue on the Merseyrail map and denoted by the above wordmark on underground stations. Services operate on three main routes: from Hunts Cross in the south of Liverpool to Southport via the Link tunnel from Brunswick Station through central Liverpool, from Liverpool Central to Ormskirk and from Liverpool Central to Kirkby.
Each route operates a train every 15 minutes from Monday to Saturday, giving a frequent interval between trains on the central section. Some additional trains run at peak hours on the Southport line. Connections are available at Southport to Manchester Airport. On matchdays at the stadiums of Liverpool F. C.'s Anfield and Everton F. C.'s Goodison Park, Northern Line services connect with the SoccerBus service at Sandhills to transport fans to the stadiums. The buses depart at frequent intervals from Sandhills station and a ticket combining both methods of travel is available. Kirkdale station is within walking distance of Goodison Park; the Wirral Line is shown in green on the Merseyrail map and denoted by the above wordmark on underground stations. Services operate from the four terminus stations of: Chester, Ellesmere Port, New Brighton and West Kirby; each line from the terminus stations runs to Hamilton Square underground station in Birkenhead and through the Mersey Railway Tunnel, continuing aro
Buffer stop
A buffer stop, bumping post, bumper block or stopblock, is a device to prevent railway vehicles from going past the end of a physical section of track. The design of the buffer stop is dependent, in part, on the kind of couplings that the railway uses, since the coupling gear is the first part of the vehicle that the buffer stop touches; the term "buffer stop" is of British origin, since railways in Great Britain principally use buffer-and-screw couplings between vehicles. Several different types of buffer stop have been developed, they differ depending on the intended application. Buffer stops with anticlimbers; these are important for passenger railway applications, because the anticlimbers prevent telescoping of the railroad cars during a head-on impact. Buffer stops for a knuckle coupler or an SA3 coupler Buffer stops with traditional "buffers" on either side Hydraulic buffer stops Friction buffer stops If there is extra room behind the bumper block, there is a sand or ballast drag, designed to further retard a runaway train.
One such accident occurred when a Northern Line train powered past the bumper block at Moorgate station in 1975 on the London Underground system. Because of its mass, a train transfers an enormous amount of kinetic energy in a collision with a buffer stop. Rigid buffers can safely cope only with low-speed impacts. To improve stopping performance, a way of dissipating this energy is needed, through compression or friction. Following a buffer stop accident at Frankfurt am Main in 1902, the Rawie company developed a large range of energy-absorbing buffer stops. Similar hydraulic buffer stops were developed by Ransomes & Rapier in the UK; when it is desired to slow or stop moving trains, without erecting a solid buffer stop, dowty retarders may be employed. They press upwards against the wheels, may optionally be turned off as required. Raja Trains Depot in Tehran Stopping speed: 20 km/h Stopping distance: 20 m. Wheel stops or car stops are used to stop small numbers of light vehicles at the end of level storage tracks or to chock individual vehicles on shallow grades.
22 October 1895 – Gare Montparnasse, France – express train overruns buffer stop and falls into street below. 4 April 1901 – at the Top Points of the Lithgow Zig Zag, a train lost control on the 1 in 42 gradient and failed to stop at the buffer stops, coming to rest overhanging Ida Falls Gully, with an immediate 200 ft drop in front of the engine. 1902 – Frankfurt am Main, Germany – Serious buffer stop collision inspires development of Rawie range of energy-absorbing buffer stops. 27 July 1903 – Glasgow St Enoch – 16 killed 27 injured 1948 – diesel train through buffer stops at Los Angeles. 15 January 1953 – Union Station, Washington, D. C. – Federal Express No. 173, pulled by PRR 4876, overruns the stop. The locomotive enters the concourse of the station building before falling through the floor. A temporary floor was built over the hole and locomotive for the upcoming inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower before the locomotive was cut into three pieces and shipped to Altoona, for repairs. 1972 – BART train went through buffer stops due to fault in automatic train operation.
28 February 1975 – Moorgate Underground rail crash – 43 killed, 74 injured – buffer stop collision made far worse by small size "tube" train running into large dimensioned dead-end tunnel beyond. The tunnel could accommodate full-size surface stock thus permitting the smaller train to concertina inside the tunnel. 13 April 1978 – Budapest, Hungary – commuter train overruns a buffer stop owing to brake failure and crashes into the station building. 16 killed, 25 injured. 8 November 1986 – Hua Lamphong, Thailand – 5 killed, 7 injured – buffer stop collision made by an unmanned train at a speed of 50 km/h. 8 January 1991 – Cannon Street station rail crash, London – 2 killed, 200+ injured – commuter train hits buffer stops. 11 July 1995 – Largs – Class 318 EMU goes through buffer stops. 24 July 2001 – ScotRail commuter train hits the buffers as it pulls into Edinburgh Waverley injuring seven people. 26 October 2006 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – a Star LRT train goes through buffer stops at the end of a stabling area and ends up dangling over street.
The train appears to have been empty of passengers. 21 December 2009 – Zagreb, Croatia – commuter train number 5100 from Sisak Caprag crashes into the platform bumper. The cause was antifreeze fluid in the locomotive's braking system which had frozen because of the low outside temperature. Luckily, the speed of the train was only between 20 km/h. 60 people from the train were injured, 7 of them seriously. There were no injuries among people on the platform; the engineer leaned out of the cab window to warn people on the platform that his brakes had failed and that the train would crash at the end of the platform. 25 July 2010 – Stavoren railway station, the Netherlands – A maintenance train collided with a buffer stop at the single-track terminus station. The train rammed a small shop, stopped at the square behind it. Only two people were injured, out of four people on the train; the accident happened late at night, when passenger services had finished. The cause is being investigated. 1 January 2011 – Malmö, Sweden – An X 2000 train reverses into the buffer stop.
The last car telescopes over the power unit. The driver was the only person on board the train, he sustained minor injuries. 2 March 2011 – San Francisco 4th and King Street Station, San Francisco, California – A Caltrain com
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