Broad Green Station, Liverpool

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Today I arrived in Liverpool for three nights to look after my sister’s cat, Cleo. And to take photos and drink pints with my friend JB.

I caught the train from Marsden to Broad Green, a short walk from my sister’s. It’s a station I’ve been using since the summer of 1966, when my parents moved nearby. Back then it was a lovely station with four platforms, and old buildings. Unfortunately, I haven’t got a photo of it back then. But if you look at the station’s Wikipedia page there’s a black and white photo that gives an idea of what it looked like.

According to Wikipedia, it’s the oldest active railway station in the world, it opened in 1830.

When the M62 was built in 1974/5, the station was rebuilt with just two platforms. The Wikipedia page has numerous photos showing what it looked like after the rebuild.

The station is currently being rebuilt again, a new ticket office and lifts. The above photo shows the works. It all started in May 2023 (as far as I can tell) and is not scheduled to be completed until the 31st of December 2026. Outrageous. At the bottom of this page there’s a photo of the M62 viaduct just outside the station. It was built in under two years. The Empire State building was built in 1930/31, two years.

So why is it taking over three and a half years to rebuild Broad Green station?

After dropping my rucksack at my sisters, I met JB in the Ship and Mitre for an extended session. The pub is in my top ten British pubs.

Update 11th June 2025

The other night I was watching Michael Portillo catching trains in Northern France. He mentioned Château Gaillard, a castle built by Richard 1st between 1196 and 1198. It took less than two years to build. Back in those days everything had to be done by hand, so why is the Broad Green station rebuild taking so long?

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