Halton Curve

Halton Curve (now formally known as the Frodsham Single Line) is a short bi-directional railway line which links the Chester–Warrington line to the Weaver Junction–Liverpool line within the borough of Halton, Cheshire. The route, which is 1 mile 54 chains (2.7 km) long, is between Frodsham Junction (north of Frodsham) and Halton Junction (south of Runcorn). After having no regular services for more than four decades, the line was upgraded and reopened in 2019 by Network Rail, enabling hourly passenger trains between Chester and Liverpool. The route, which was opened by the London and North Western Railway on 1 May 1873, created a direct link between the industries in North Wales and the factories of south Lancashire and the Port of Liverpool. Passenger services also used the route. However, the Great Depression in the 1930s began the steady decline in heavy industry and manufacturing in southern Lancashire. Although the route escaped the Beeching cuts in the 1960s, all passenger services were withdrawn by the mid 1970s. The double-tracked line was reduced to a single track in the early 1990s. A concerted campaign was launched to improve services on the line after it was nearly closed by Network Rail in the early 2000s. In 2014 work began to upgrade the line so that it could be reopened for daily rail services. In May 2019, the first regular passenger trains restarted between Liverpool Lime Street and Chester via Liverpool South Parkway, Runcorn, Frodsham and Helsby.