Ormskirk railway station in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, is a cross-platform interchange between Merseyrail services from Liverpool Central and Northern Trains services from Preston on the Ormskirk branch line, northeast of Liverpool. The station building and three arch road bridge are both Grade II listed structures. History The station was built by the East Lancashire Railway's Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Junction section, and opened on 2 April 1849. From 13 May 1859, the station was owned by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. From 1 January 1923 the station was owned by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. British Railways nationalised all railways on 1 January 1948 and the station became part of the London Midland Region. A branch line to via was opened by the ELR in March 1858 shortly before it was absorbed by the L&YR – this left the main line to Preston just to the north of the station. The line from Liverpool was subsequently electrified in 1913, with the suburban EMUs using a bay platform at the southern end of the station to keep them clear of the busy main line to Preston, which was used as the L&Y's principal route to East Lancashire, the Fylde, Cumbria and Scotland. 1977 The original Liverpool terminus of the line () was closed in 1977, when the route became one of the three branches of the new Northern Line and trains began running to a new underground terminus at Liverpool Central. Since 1996, it has been part of the Merseyrail franchise currently (2016) run by Serco-Abellio. Station layout The current station consists of a single platform. An interesting characteristic is how the electric Merseyrail track and the unelectrified Northern track is on the same alignment, with electric and diesel trains using opposite ends of the same platform. The line is cut by a large buffer separating the track sections. Passengers wishing to transfer from an electric train to diesel train walk a dozen yards or so along the same platform to move between trains. A similar layout exists at Kirkby station. Prior to the Beeching Report of 1963 and the subsequent restructuring of the rail network, there were two main through platforms. The electric Liverpool commuter trains would pull into the southern bay platform. This practice ended following the withdrawal of through trains between Liverpool and Preston via this route. Local services from Preston, East Lancashire and Blackpool towards Liverpool