Mersey Railway
The Mersey Railway was the first part of the passenger railway connecting the communities of Liverpool, Birkenhead, and now the rest of the Wirral Peninsula in England, which lie on opposite banks of the River Mersey, via the Mersey Railway Tunnel. The railway opened in 1886 with four stations using steam locomotives hauling unheated wooden carriages; in the next six years the line was extended and three more stations opened. Using the first tunnel under the Mersey, the line is the world's oldest underground railway outside London.
The Illustrated London News showing the opening of the Mersey Railway Tunnel | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1886–31 December 1947 |
| Successor | British Railways |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
Because the steam locomotives created a polluted atmosphere in the tunnel, many passengers reverted to using the river ferries and the railway was bankrupt by 1900. Recovery came after the railway adopted electric traction in 1903. The Mersey Railway remained independent after the railway grouping of 1923, although it became closely integrated with the electric train services operated by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway over the former Wirral Railway routes after 1938. The Mersey Railway was nationalised, along with most other British railway companies, in 1948.
The tunnel and railway are still in use today as part of the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail rail network.