Bebington

At the recommendation of renowned Bluesky user Phil McDuff, I went to Bebington today both to observe its train station and use its wonderful Central Library. One of the first things I noticed was the running-in boards. These do not use the usual Merseyrail formula of M logo with grey line underneath, but use the horrible thin font Merseyrail logo which I hate. 

On a much happier note, I also noticed this lovely worn Rail Alphabet sign showing where the ticket office and trains to Liverpool are. However, there's something different about this sign in my brain so if you are a railway font nerd please tell me what it is or if I'm imagining it!

When I went out of the station I saw a really epic station building (advertising censored because I hate advertising) with horrible METRO branding on it, as well as an old cube sign and a new cube sign!!!

I shall leave you with two more photos - one of the spooky subway tunnel, and one of the amazing architecture of Bebington Civic Centre, one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen.

Wallasey Village and the Mystery of the Down Platform Ticket Office

 Wallasey Village is a relatively based station, all the people who work at the ticket office are really epic. The design is very 1930s, it has massive concrete overhangs to shelter you from the rain.

If we look the other way, we can see nothing! As may be expected, however previously there used to be a barrow crossing here and on the nearest track you can still see that there is a gap in the third rail where the crossing was.

The Merseyrail cube signs (of which there are two! Quite unusual for such a small station) have recently been replaced with the hated METRO branding, a precursor to the "Transport for Liverpool City Region" which is coming. I hate that name a lot, nothing wrong with the name "Merseytravel"!

Now we come to the mystery in the title of this article - the down platform ticket office! It's not really much of a mystery to be honest, I just find it interesting that it continues to be present yet has never been open as long as I have been to this station (and I have been many times)! I have often thought about asking the station staff about it but that seems quite embarrassing. I would love to know what is actually in it though, could be some properly old Merseyrail memorabilia. 

I shall leave you with a view of the down platform itself, which has a tiny waiting room with a weird wooden floor, though I haven't photographed that!

The opening of Conway Park station

Conway Park station in Birkenhead was opened in April 1998 by Neil Kinnock (yuck!) with a plaque, but then it didn't actually open until the 22nd of June of that year! In the Wirral Globe it was written that the station could get 7000 passengers a day, which seems very optimistic compared to the actual passenger usage of the station (https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/7435855.kinnock-puts-town-on-track-for-21st-century/ https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/7435283.conway-park-station-opens-plus-smart-bus-service/).

It was believed that the station would improve the business in the nearby Grange shopping centre, and the Birkenhead News described the station as "state-of-the-art" (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003738/19980624/027/0027). The Birkenhead News article also mentioned the potential 7000 passengers a day! I am unsure what the source of this number was!

An advertisement for the new station in the Liverpool Echo

 Wikipedia (reliable source) says that in 2023/24, Conway Park got 647,000 passengers. Dividing this by 365 gets the figure of 1772.6 passengers a day, quite a lot lower than the estimate provided at the time of opening!

 The station provides easier access to the main shopping areas of Birkenhead for users of the West Kirby and New Brighton parts of the Wirral Line, as previously users of this line would have had to walk from Hamilton Square or Birkenhead Park, or change at Hamilton Square for access to Birkenhead Central.