Olive Mount chord
| Olive Mount chord | |
|---|---|
A view of the north end of the chord, where it meets the Canada dock branch, with reconstruction work progressing
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| Overview | |
| Status | Operational |
| Locale | United Kingdom (Liverpool North West England) |
| Coordinates | 53°24′29″N 2°55′37″W / 53.408152°N 2.926923°WCoordinates: 53°24′29″N 2°55′37″W / 53.408152°N 2.926923°W |
| Stations | 0 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 2009 |
| Owner | Network Rail |
| Technical | |
| Number of tracks | Single track throughout |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Loading gauge | W10 |
The Olive Mount chord in Liverpool, England, is a 300-metre stretch of railway track between Olive Mount Junction, in Olive Mount cutting, and Edge Lane Junction that provides access to the Canada Dock Branch (more usually known today as the Bootle Branch).
The Olive Mount Chord was built as part of the L&NWR's Canada Dock branch railway, which opened in 1866. It was constructed to ease transition between the branch and the main L&NWR line into and out of the Liverpool area. It was taken out of use following a fire in the signal box at Edge Lane Junction on 21 January 1987 and subsequently lifted as the declining levels of dock traffic meant the cost of repairing the box or altering the signalling to allow remote operation from Edge Hill PSB was not justified. The delays resulting from its removal were a limiting factor in access to the Port of Liverpool.
On 27 June 2006, Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for Transport, revealed that the Olive Mount Chord was one of several projects to be included in the government's productivity transport innovation fund.
On 20 January 2008, the green light was given to reopen the line to make the ferrying of freight between the Port of Liverpool to the West Coast Main Line easier. The works will remove the need for reversing at Edge Hill and for crossing lines in and out of Lime Street and it is hoped will remove large vehicles from congested areas, including Switch Island.
Over the Bank Holiday weekend of early May 2008, the Chat Moss line was closed to rail traffic to allow a facing crossover to be installed between the inbound (to Liverpool) and outbound (to Manchester) lines. This crossing was placed on site on Sunday 4 May 2008 and is located east of Mill Lane bridge. The work on this weekend involved the use of a Kirow rail mounted crane.
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