Kirkby branch line

Kirkby branch line
A Northern Trains Class 150 at Headbolt Lane railway station
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	North West England
Termini	Wigan Wallgate Headbolt Lane
Stations	6
Service
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	Northern Trains
History
Opened	20 November 1848[1]
Technical
Line length	12.25 miles (19.71 km)[2][3]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map (Click to expand)

v t e Kirkby branch line
Legend
Manchester–Southport line to Manchester Pemberton Loop Wigan Wallgate West Coast Main Line Manchester–Southport line to Southport Pemberton Orrell Upholland Rainford Skelmersdale branch St Helens Railway Headbolt Lane Kirkby North Mersey Branch Merseyrail Northern line to Liverpool

The Kirkby Branch Line is a branch railway line from Wigan to Headbolt Lane. The line's original route was from Liverpool to Bury and later the most northern of the Liverpool to Manchester lines.^[3] The line was split at Kirkby in 1977 with the western section forming a high frequency branch of the electrified Merseyrail Northern Line, also referred to as the Kirkby branch line. The Kirkby branch to Wigan remained a low frequency (one train per hour) diesel operated service by Northern Trains from Headbolt Lane to Manchester.^[4]