Engineering Focus

I think it's fair to say that for decades Birkenhead has been a town in decline, having once been a very large town with a population of 110,000 and an important hub for shipbuilding. However, by the 1980s shipbuilding had started to decline and by 1993 the last remaining shipbuilder Cammell Laird was forced to close. The name Cammell Laird has since returned to Birkenhead all be it primarily as a ship repairers, although in recent years it has won contracts to build the flight deck for HMS Queen Elizabeth and to build RRS Sir David Attenborough. Despite the return of shipbuilding to Birkenhead the town has continued to decline. Whilst it does still have a large population, by the 2011 census this had shrunk to 88,000 from a peak of 110,000 in 1901. By any measure, Birkenhead remains a large town, but it has always played second fiddle to Liverpool, both in terms of shipping and commerce. Birkenhead retains a large working dock, but it is nowhere near as big as that of Liverpool. I...

Originally published in Rail Magazine issue 920 The Merseyrail network currently consists of 75 miles of railway, 6.5 miles of which are underground, split between 2 lines serving a total of 68 stations. The line is electrified by means of 750v DC third-rail and is served by 56 Class 507 and 508 EMUs, however, these units are due to be replaced by new, Class 777 trains over the next couple of years. Prior to the outbreak of Covid 19 the network carried 110,000 passengers per day and Central Station where the Wirral Line intersects with the Northern Line was the second busiest station in the North West with over 14 million entries and exits between 2018-2019. Current extent of the Merseyrail network Rail maps on Redbubble, available on mugs, prints and much more The Merseyrail network is, in effect a self-contained network which has 8 termini, 6 of which join the national rail network where passengers can transfer on to services which operate beyond the Merseyrail network. These incl...