Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}

{{Infobox rail line

|box_width = auto

|name = Liverpool, Ormskirk
and Preston Railway

|color =

|logo =

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|image = Sandhills railway station in 1977.jpg

|image_width =

|caption = Approaching Sandhills from the north.

|type =

|system = National Rail

|status = Operational (as two separate lines)

|locale = Lancashire
North West England

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|owner = Network Rail

|operator = Northern

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|gauge = {{RailGauge|sg|allk=on|disp=br}}

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|map = {{Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway}}

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}}

{{Infobox UK legislation

| short_title = Liverpool, Ormskirk, and Preston Railway Act 1846

| type = Act

| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom

| long_title = An Act for making a Railway from the Liverpool and Bury Railway to the North Union and Blackburn and Preston Railways, with Branches therefrom, to be called "The Liverpool, Ormskirk, and Preston Railway."

| year = 1846

| citation = 9 & 10 Vict. c. ccclxxxi

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| royal_assent = 18 August 1846

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| millbankhansard =

| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/9-10/381/pdfs/ukla_18460381_en.pdf

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}}

The Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway in north-west England was formed in 1846 by the {{visible anchor|Liverpool, Ormskirk, and Preston Railway Act 1846}} (9 & 10 Vict. c. ccclxxxi). It was purchased by the East Lancashire Railway the following year and opened to traffic on 2 April 1849.

The railway ran from a junction with the Liverpool and Bury Railway near Walton northwards via {{rws|Ormskirk}} to a west-facing junction with the Blackburn & Preston Railway just east of Lostock Hall. Documents from 1847 signed by Joseph Locke, Sturges Meek and Mackenzie, Brassey & Stephenson show elevations, plans and sections for bridges on line. A direct route to {{rws|Preston}} from Lostock Hall was opened on 2 September 1850 and a branch line from Ormskirk to Rainford Junction via {{rws|Skelmersdale}} on 1 March 1858.

From May 1859, it became part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway system, following the ELR's absorption by that company. Under L&YR ownership, it became the company's main line from Liverpool to Preston & East Lancashire and carried through express trains to Blackpool and Scotland via {{rws|Blackburn}}, {{rws|Hellifield}} and the Settle-Carlisle Line as well as significant quantities of freight to the docks in Liverpool. From 1891, it was linked directly to the West Coast Main Line by a new connection near {{rws|Farington}} built as part of the work to upgrade that part of the route to four tracks. The southern end of the route was subsequently electrified by the L&YR in stages between 1906 (as far as Aintree) and 1913 (through to Ormskirk).

Today the line still operates, though through services between Liverpool and Preston/East Lancashire were withdrawn in 1969/70. The section between Liverpool and Ormskirk forms part of Merseyrail's Northern Line and the section between Ormskirk and Preston forming Northern's Ormskirk Branch Line. The two sections meet at Ormskirk station on the same alignment but are now separated by buffers in a rare type of cross platform interchange.