Upton  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Upton,Wirral England | ||||
| Grid reference | SJ279882 | ||||
| Managed by | Transport for Wales | ||||
| Transit authority | Merseytravel | ||||
| Platforms | 2 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | UPT | ||||
| Fare zone | B1 | ||||
| Classification | DfT category F2 | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 1896 | Opened | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2020/21 |  2,974 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  12,784 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 18,278 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 15,360 | ||||
| 2024/25 | 22,192 | ||||
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Upton railway station serves the village of woodchurchUpton and theNoctorum area ofBirkenhead, on theWirral Peninsula,England. The station is situated on theBorderlands line.Transport for Wales operates the station and all trains serving it.
Upton Station was opened to passengers on 18 May 1896, as part of theDee and Birkenhead Railway.[1] The station became part of theNorth Wales and Liverpool Railway, less than three months later, on 7 July 1896.[1]
The station had a booking office on the road bridge which spans the two platforms.[2][3][4] Staffing ended on 20 April 1969,[5] with the booking office removed during redevelopment of the station and expansion of the road bridge in the 1970s. The station had a brick-built waiting room situated on each platform.[4][6]
Adjacent to the station there was a coal and goods yard with a cattle pen.[7] From 1 February 1965, the goods yard only handled coal, and closed on 28 April 1969.[7] The site of the goods yard now has aCo-operative supermarket. Access to the yard was operated by a small signal box with a 24-lever frame, which was used until 25 June 1969.[8] The signal box was situated at the southern end of the Bidston-bound platform.[9]
Iron ore freight trains also passed through the station.[3][9] These freight trains operated fromBidston Dock to theJohn Summerssteelworks inShotton. TheClass 9F locomotive92203, later named asBlack Prince, worked the final steam-hauled iron ore train in November 1967.[10][11][12] The freight service itself ended around 1980.
Proposals have been put forward to electrify the track as part of the proposedBorderlands line electrification scheme.Merseyrail would like to see the line electrified and incorporated into theWirral line to link with its own third-rail service, with a doubling of the frequency of services.[13] This would allow the station to serve as a part of a direct service toLiverpool.
Transport for Wales have anAdopt a Station initiative. Upton station is on their list of adopted stations and has been adopted by a member, or members, of the public.[14]
In June 2018 it was announced that, as part of the newKeolisAmey operation of theWales & Borders franchise, the frequency of trains on the line would increase to 2tph from December 2021.[15] This was then delayed to May 2022.[16]
However, in May 2022, the planned timetable with the increased service was revised with the additional services removed,[17] therefore any increase in frequency was scrapped,[18] due to timetable conflict with freight services, as of September 2025[update], the service frequency increase has not been approved by theOffice of Rail and Road.[19]
The station facilities are somewhat rudimentary. Although longer, each platform is surfaced to receive four carriages only.[20] The station is unstaffed at nearly all times, but has platformCCTV.[21] Each of the two platforms has a waiting shelter with seating. There is nopayphone orbooking office, but there are electronic departure and arrival screens for live information to passengers. There is no official stationcar park, but very limited parking outside the station, at the drop-off point, on the old Ford Road bridge.Wheelchair andpram access to each of the two platforms is possible, and relatively easy, via the ramp-staircases. Though, as yet, platform access has not been modernised to the standard of that atHooton.
From Monday to Saturday, there is a service every 45 minutes betweenBidston andWrexham Central (two-hourly in the evening and on Bank Holidays).[22] There is a service every 90 minutes each way on Sundays. Services are timed according to aClass 153Super SprinterDMU,[23] although usually provided by a Transport for WalesClass 150/2Sprinter DMU.
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heswall | Transport for Wales Borderlands Line | Bidston | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Storeton | Great Central Railway North Wales and Liverpool Railway | Bidston | ||
Upton Station is on the list ofstations adopted as part of theAdopt a Station initiative of Transport for Wales.
53°23′09″N3°05′02″W / 53.38583°N 3.08389°W /53.38583; -3.08389
