Wirral Railway - Definition and Overview

The Wirral Railway (WR) was originally incorporated in 1863 as the Hoylake Railway (HR), with powers to build lines from Birkenhead to New Brighton, and to Parkgate on the western side of the Wirral Peninsula; the latter line was not built. Between 1872 and 1882 the HR was renamed twice, and extensions of the line from Hoylake to West Kirby and to Seacombe in Birkenhead were authorised. The line was finally incorporated as the Wirral Railway in 1882.

The lines ran from Birkenhead Park to West Kirby, with branches to New Brighton and Seacombe. Since the Railway performed suburban and seaside resort functions, its services were mainly passenger. The Birkenhead Park station had a cross-platform connection with the electric trains under the River Mersey. All the stations on the line were very close together, in order to serve the population of the north Wirral. The total length of line was 13.5 miles.

In 1938 the WR was converted to electric train running to both New Brighton and West Kirby. The trains operate through the Mersey Railway Tunnel to Liverpool.