Aintree | |
---|---|
Location | |
Place | Aintree |
Local authority | Sefton |
Coordinates | 53°28′26″N 2°57′23″W / 53.4740°N 2.9563°WCoordinates: 53°28′26″N 2°57′23″W / 53.4740°N 2.9563°W |
Grid reference | SJ366978 |
Operations | |
Station code | AIN |
Managed by | Merseyrail |
Number of platforms | 2 |
DfT category | E |
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries |
|
Annual rail passenger usage* | |
2011/12 | 1.147 million |
2012/13 | 1.108 million |
2013/14 | 1.142 million |
2014/15 | 1.084 million |
2015/16 | 1.059 million |
Passenger Transport Executive | |
PTE | Merseytravel |
Zone | C1/C3 |
History | |
2 April 1849 | Station opens |
? | Renamed Aintree Sefton Arms |
6 May 1968 | Renamed Aintree |
National Rail – UK railway stations | |
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Aintree from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
Aintree railway station is a railway station in Aintree, Merseyside, England. It is on the Ormskirk branch of the Merseyrail network's Northern Line. Until 1968 it was known as Aintree Sefton Arms after a nearby public house. The station's design reflects the fact it is the closest station to Aintree Racecourse, where the annual Grand National horse race takes place.
Opened by the East Lancashire Railway in April 1849, then taken over by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway ten years later, it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The line then passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.
The L&YR electrified both routes from Liverpool Exchange in 1906 (two years after a successful trial of the system on the neighbouring line to Southport), extending it subsequently as far as Ormskirk by 1913. The western end of the North Mersey Branch from Gladstone Dock & Bootle (which had opened in 1866 and joined the main line immediately south of the station) was also equipped with the third rail in 1914, though Gladstone Dock station only remained open for passenger trains until July 1924. Services henceforth ran to Bootle Oriel Road and on to Exchange until they were withdrawn by the British Transport Commission on 2 April 1951. The main line via Walton was also used by longer distance local & express trains from Exchange to Preston, Blackpool, Scotland and East Lancashire in addition to the intensive electric commuter service and some of these also stopped at Aintree, especially when the nearby race course hosted the famous Grand National meeting.