Liverpool's Lime Street - the world's oldest mainline station
Liverpool Lime Street was built as the main terminus station for the city of Liverpool in the early days of the railways. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. The original station was designed by architects John Cunningham, Arthur Holme, and John Foster Jr, though subsequent elements have been added to other designs.
A branch of the West Coast Main Line from London Euston terminates at the station, as does the original Liverpool and Manchester Railway - Britain's first inter-urban line - who were responsible for the original construction to replace a less well-located station at Crown Street.
When the original Lime Street station opened, it was still not completed, and work continued on various parts of the building over the following years. The structure is extremely elegant, and includes many features which would be copied all over the country.
Within six years of its opening, the rapid growth of the railways had necessitated the expansion of the original station. This involved the installation of a single curved glazed roof built with an innovative iron segmental-arched vault train-shed. It was completed in 1849.
During 1867, further expansion of Lime Street Station was required. The original train-shed was replaced by a new one designed by the London and North Western Railway, which is still in use, and is the north vault of the present station. The second train-shed vault, added in 1874, now comprises the south vault of the station.
As a result of the Railways Act 1921, which grouped the majority of railway companies together to create 'the Big Four', Lime Street Station passed into the ownership of the newly formed London, Midland and Scottish railway. The station played an early role in the development of mail trains, as the Post Office first dispatched mail by train from Lime Street.
The station’s concourse was remodelled in 1955, and again in 1984.
Lime Street station is fronted by a large building designed in the Renaissance Revival style, the former North Western Hotel, a railway hotel, which has since been converted to apartments. Since the 1970s the main terminal building has also provided direct access to the underground Lime Street Wirral Line station on the Merseyrail urban network
The station is one of 18 major stations managed by national railway infrastructure company Network Rail. In Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations, written by heritage commentator Simon Jenkins, Lime Street was one of only ten to be awarded 5/5 stars.
Further reading
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