Hooton–Helsby line
Wirral Line train (left) and train to Helsby (right) at Ellesmere Port.
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Network Rail
ELR	HHJ
Locale	Cheshire North West England
Termini	Hooton Helsby
Stations	5
Service
System	National Rail
Services	Wirral Line Ellesmere Port–Helsby(–Warrington)
Operator(s)	Merseyrail Northern Trains
Depot(s)	Allerton TMD Birkenhead North TMD
Rolling stock	Class 777 Class 150
History
Opened	1863
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge
Operating speed	60 mph (95 km/h) (except Hooton and Helsby)
Route map (Click to expand)Show geographic map Legend mi+ch Chester & Birkenhead Rly toRock Ferry North Junction Hooton 0+02 Hooton South Junction Chester & Birkenhead Rly toChester West Junction 1+47 Little Sutton 2+28 Overpool West End Sidings, Eastham Oil Terminal 3+44 Ellesmere Port East End Sidings 5+67 Stanlow & Thornton 6+66 Ince & Elton West Cheshire Railway toNorthwich Chester–Warrington line toChester 8+60 Helsby 8+67 Helsby Junction Chester–Warrington line toWarrington Bank Quay Show route diagram Legend Wirral line toHooton 0:00 Ellesmere Port M53 motorway 0:02 Ellesmere Port East Sidings 0:04 Stanlow and Thornton 0:07 Ince and Elton M56 motorway West Cheshire Railway toMouldsworth Chester to Manchester Line toChester 0:10 Helsby 0:15 Frodsham Halton CurvetoRuncorn Sutton Tunnel 1565 yd 1431 m 0:20 Runcorn East West Coast Main Line toCrewe 0:28 Warrington Bank Quay West Coast Main Line toCarlisle Timings are from Ellesmere Port Show passenger service

TheHooton–Helsby line is a railway line in the north-west ofEngland that runs fromHooton on theChester–Birkenhead line to the village and junction station atHelsby where it joins theChester–Warrington line.

The line fromHooton toHelsby was opened in 1863. The line was built by theBirkenhead Railway which had been taken over by the LNWR and theGreat Western Railway (GWR) jointly in 1860.

The section west ofEllesmere Port has been part of theMerseyrail network since 1994. This part of the line iselectrified. There are no longer through train services to Liverpool's city centre viaBirkenhead.

A branch at Helsby connected the line to the formerWest Cheshire Railway toNorthwich via Mouldsworth Junction. The line closed in 1991 and tracks were lifted in 1995.

Services previously used to operate fromHooton toHelsby. This service was relatively frequent (every half-hour until 1993), operating viaEllesmere Port. It was withdrawn after the line was electrified west of Ellesmere Port. Station signs atInce and Elton railway station still display signage relating to services to/from Hooton.

Services are operated byMerseyrail as part of theWirral Line network with trains running every 30 minutes. From Hooton services continue toLiverpool via theChester–Birkenhead line.^[1]

Northern did, until May 2019, operate aDepartment for Transport-set minimum service^[2] of three trains daily in each direction betweenEllesmere Port andHelsby,Cheshire.

There were 6 passenger services each day (except Sunday):^[3]

05:10 Liverpool Lime Street to Ellesmere Port
06:33 Helsby to Ellesmere Port
18:50 Helsby to Ellesmere Port

06:19 Ellesmere Port to Helsby
06:53 Ellesmere Port to Warrington Bank Quay
19:10 Ellesmere Port to Manchester Victoria

In previous years, services have operated towards Hooton via Ellesmere Port andLiverpool Lime Street via Warrington Bank Quay.

Since the May 2019 and the introduction of the "Northern Connect" Chester to Leeds services the Ellesmere Port line timetable was altered.

There still are 6 services per day excluding Sunday.

Services are:

05:10 Liverpool Lime Street to Ellesmere Port

06:17 Ellesmere Port to Helsby

06:34 Helsby to Ellesmere Port

07:15 Ellesmere Port to Leeds

All of the above are operated by the same unit.

Another unit operates the below services:

15:38 Leeds to Ellesmere Port

18:23 Ellesmere Port to Manchester Victoria - Unit then goes to Newton Heath Depot just north of Manchester Victoria.

This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2020)

Ellesmere Port saw frequent freight traffic until 1996 with branches to several wharves as well asEastham Oil Terminal.^[4] In 2005 a single track line to Manisty Wharf in Ellesmere Port was reopened for a regular coal flow toFiddlers Ferry power station.^[5][4][6] This freight route enters Ellesmere Port from Helsby.^[7]Freightliner Heavy Haul currently operates the service, with two trains per day.^[5][8]

In 2008Quinn Glass was planning expansion and wanted to serve their 205 acres (0.83 km²; 0.320 sq mi) site atElton which outputs 1.2 billion glass containers per year for the food and beverage industry^[9] near the Ince & Elton railway station by rail. Network Rail Route Strategy states that Quinn Glass is interested in additional passenger and freight services on this line. It is also thought that planning permission requires Quinn Glass to maximise upon existing public transport links.^[10] A trial service ran on 7 April 2011 and a twice-weekly service every Wednesday and Friday commenced on 13 April 2011.^[11][12] Those services were operated byFreightliner Heavy Haul and transported sand fromSibelco's Middleton Towers Quarry inMiddleton, Norfolk.^{[13][14][15][16][17][18]}

At present the sand is transported by road the final five miles to the Quinn Glass plant from a former Cawoods siding in Ellesmere Port beside theManchester Ship Canal, south of Manisty Wharf, but from November 2011 trains were due to begin using a dedicated terminal at the plant itself.^[11][19][20] It was announced during this month that construction work had been delayed due to the discovery of a badgersett on the proposed site. Completion of the new line was set back to the end of June 2012 with a reported total cost of more than £2 million.^[21] In November 2012 it emerged that Quinn Glass had broken a planning condition requiring the rail terminal to be operational by November 2011.^[22] The company cited additional demands by Network Rail and theEnvironment Agency's decision to switch off the Frodsham Marshes pumping stations as causes of delay. Quinn Glass have since been granted an extended period byCheshire West and Chester council during which to complete the project.^[23]

• Hooton; opened October or November 1840; still open;
• Sutton; opened 1 July 1863; renamedLittle Sutton 1886; still open;
• Overpool; opened 15 August 1988; still open;
• Whitby Locks; opened 1 July 1863; renamedEllesmere Port 1870; still open;
• Stanlow & Thornton; opened 23 December 1940 for refinery workers; opened to public 24 February 1941; (service suspended since 3 February 2022)
• Ince; opened 1 July 1863; renamedInce and Elton 1884; still open;
• West Cheshire Junction; divergence of line to Mouldsworth;
• Helsby; opened September 1852; still open;

Three of the four stations between Helsby and Ellesmere Port are unstaffed. Two of them, Ellesmere Port and Ince and Elton, are accessible for those in wheelchairs. Stanlow and Thornton and Helsby both have footbridges as their only means of exit. Facilities at Ince and Elton and Stanlow and Thornton are basic, comprising little more than covered waiting areas and timetable information. Ellesmere Port has full ticket-selling capabilities, including a Ticket Vending Machine and a staffed ticket office, along with real-time information displays and help points. Helsby has real-time information displays and a Ticket Vending Machine.

• Media related toHooton–Helsby line at Wikimedia Commons

• Rail transport in Cheshire
• Railway lines in North West England
• Railway lines opened in 1863

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