Kirkby railway station is situated in Kirkby, Merseyside, England. The station is an interchange between Merseyrail services from Liverpool Central and Northern services from Manchester Victoria via Wigan Wallgate. It is situated 7.5 miles (12 km) north-east of Liverpool Central and is the operational terminus of both the Kirkby branch of Merseyrail's Northern Line and the Kirkby Branch Line from Wigan. History The original station was built in 1848, as part of the Liverpool and Bury Railway (later part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway system). The station was situated on the western side of the bridge that bisects the site and consisted of two platforms. The L&BR subsequently became part of the main L&YR route between Manchester Victoria & and prior to the 1923 Grouping carried fast expresses between the two cities in addition to sizeable volumes of local passenger traffic and freight. After the nationalisation of the railway network in 1948, the use of the line as a through Liverpool to Manchester route declined but local commuter traffic levels remained significant (19 trains per day each way ran along the line in 1965, though a few ran non-stop between Liverpool & Wigan). Nevertheless, this did not stop the station & line from being listed for closure in the 1963 Beeching Report (along with the neighbouring Liverpool to commuter line). The closure plans were subsequently rejected by the government in December 1967 and the station then became part of the newly created Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive's rail network in 1969. 1970s From the following year, the line through the station was singled to reduce track maintenance costs, with the Wigan-bound platform being taken out of use. It was then rebuilt in 1977, when the line from Liverpool was electrified. Electric operations commenced on 2 May of that year, along with the end of through running between Bolton/Wigan and Liverpool. The station configuration was altered due to the closure of the terminus at Liverpool Exchange on 30 April 1977. Its replacement with new underground stations at & Central meant that the diesel services from Manchester, & Wigan serving the station could no longer operate beyond as diesel multiple units were banned from operating in the new tunnels for safety reasons. In order to maintain a through service to the city, the section from Walton Junction to Kirkby was third-rail electrified, with the remainder of the line towards and Wigan remaining