Disruption warning as bridge over the River Alt is set to be replaced

MERSEYRAIL is replacing the rail bridge that crosses the River Alt, at Hogshill, between Hightown and Formby, between:- Monday, 19 August and Friday 23 August 2024.

All is now on track for Network Rail engineers to begin to replace the bridge over the Alt with a new concrete structure, that will make it safe and reliable for years to come.

As a result of the building work, train services will be unable to run between:- Hall Road and Formby, on the Northern Line.

Please note that journey times will be extended while the work takes place on the lines, both to and from Southport, so please allow additional time for their journeys.

A rail replacement bus will operate between:- Hall Road and Formby, calling at Hightown Station over for these 5 days.

In addition, there will be non-stop buses running between:- Southport and Hall Road, from approximately:- 6:30 am to 9 am and 4 pm to 6:30 pm.

Merseyrail says a normal timetable will be in operation from the start of service on:- Saturday, 24 August 2024.

The cycle/footpath, that goes from Hogshill Crossing to Hightown, along the side of Altcar Training Camp will also be closed during this work.

Do you know when this railway bridge was last upgraded? If you do, please let us know...



Related facts...

Something interesting about the location of this bridge is that back in 1902 when a decision was taken by the Directors for the line to be electrified, the site next to this bridge was picked as the location of the line's Power Station. This electrification project to run trains on 600 volts DC made the line the 1st such project in the country to do so. The network trains still use a 3rd live rail to this day, but now it carries 750 V DC. Sadly, the Powerhouse was demolished and Sanderling Park, a new housing development was built in 2016.

The Merseyrail once again has some of the most accessible and sophisticated commuter trains within the entire country, thanks to the new custom-built 777 units, which you can see in this footage, along with the outgoing 507 unit.

Another fact is that the location of the bridge is also thought to be near the location of the Formby Lighthouse.

Did you know that the Merseyrail crosses the river Alt twice on its network? This urban river is located in the North West of England. This river rises in Huyton, at Hag Plantation, and flows through Croxteth Park, West Derby, and Maghull. It then snakes towards the River Mersey, passing between Formby and Hightown, before it empties into the Mersey Bay, near to where the Mersey itself flows into the Irish Sea. The channel was created around 14,000 years by glacial ice which crawled South from the Irish Sea basin. Much of the length of the river lies below high tide level, particularly in the lower reaches near Formby and Hightown, so in 1779 the river was straighted in an attempt to stop flooding. This attempt to fix the issue has resulted in other issues over the years. Consequently, since 1972, the Alt has been pumped from the source into the river's estuary at Hightown. The Alt's pumping stations pumps out 80 cubic meters of water per second, through the station's tributaries, into the Irish Sea.

Also, the river once had a Mesolithic settlement on it, located a few miles upstream, at Lunt Meadows.