Southport Lord Street railway station

Southport Lord Street
The frontage of Southport Lord Street railway station, now part of a Travelodge hotel chain.
Location
Place	Southport
Area	Sefton
Coordinates	53°38′43″N 3°00′43″W / 53.6452°N 3.0120°W / 53.6452; -3.0120Coordinates: 53°38′43″N 3°00′43″W / 53.6452°N 3.0120°W / 53.6452; -3.0120
Grid reference	SD331170
Operations
Original company	Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway
Pre-grouping	Cheshire Lines Committee
Post-grouping	Cheshire Lines Committee
Platforms	5
History
1 September 1884	Station opened
7 January 1952	Station closed to passengers
7 July 1952	Station closed completely
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

Southport Lord Street (also known as the Ribble Building) was a railway station located on Lord Street, Southport, Merseyside, England. It was the terminus of the Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway from Liverpool.

The station closed in 1952, and the building has subsequently been used as a bus station and supermarket, and is now a hotel.

Southport Lord Street railway station opened on 1 September 1884, as the Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway's (SCLER) northern terminus, which ran from Aintree Central in the northern suburbs of Liverpool. The new line provided passengers with an alternative through route to Liverpool city centre, to that run by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (Southport Chapel Street - Liverpool Exchange).

Unfortunately, from the very beginning, the SCLER line was no competition to that of the L&Y's more direct coastal route, as the route of the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) into Liverpool skirted around the eastern areas of Liverpool, travelling down to Hunts Cross in the south and then back up to Liverpool Central High Level. The line only proving to be relatively popular during the summer months and never really taking off as a commuter route. During late 1942 the timetable showed five CLC trains each weekday to Southport of which two started at Manchester (Central).

The building itself was a grand affair, fronting directly onto Lord Street. The station consisted of five platforms and a footbridge, linking all the platforms. It had been intended by the SCLER to link their tracks to that of that L&Y's, providing the CLC with access to the northern suburbs of Southport. However, this had never been agreed with the LYR, so the provision of the footbridge on this basis, was a rather foolhardy decision to make.