City Line (Merseyrail)

The City Line is the name given to local rail routes out of Liverpool Lime Street railway station. It appears on maps of the Merseyrail network as red, and covers the Liverpool–Wigan line as well as the two routes of the Liverpool–Manchester lines. Although it is branded under the Merseyrail name, the routes are operated by Northern on behalf of Merseytravel rather than by the Merseyrail franchise.

The City Line can trace its origins back to the dawn of the railway era, as it incorporates most of the route of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened in 1830 having Broad Green Station the oldest operating station in the world. Other early railway companies whose lines are now part of the City Line include the Cheshire Lines Committee and the London and North Western Railway.

These disparate local railway services were not marketed under a common name until 1972, when Merseyside PTE introduced the Merseyrail brand for services which were operated by British Rail on its behalf. The PTE applied the City Line name to local services out of Liverpool's main station at Lime Street.

Around this time, ambitious plans were floated to electrify parts of the City Line and incorporate it into the Northern line, via the Wapping Tunnel from Edge Hill to Liverpool Central. However, after work started, they were abandoned.

In the 1990s, as part of the Government's rail privatisation, the City Line services became part of the North Western Trains franchise (later taken over by FirstGroup and renamed First North Western). Merseytravel continue to use the City Line name and stations retain the Merseyrail branding and familiar M logo.

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