Helsby and Alvanley railway station

The station was the terminus of the Helsby branch operated by the Cheshire Lines Committee and later British Railways.

The station was located on the eastern side of Chester Road (the A56), in Helsby, Cheshire, England.

Alvanley was a village located to the south of Helsby and the station was situated on that side of the town, that, and the fact that the other station, belonging to the Birkenhead Railway (formerly the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway) had opened in 1852 and already taken the name Helsby, led to the station being called Helsby and Alvanley.

[1] The station was planned and authorised by Parliament in 1861 and 1862 as part of the West Cheshire Railway (WCR).

[2] In 1865, before the line opened in 1869, the WCR became part of the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) and it was not long afterwards, in 1875, that the CLC opened its extension to Chester which effectively turned the Helsby branch into a goods branch, this affected how the branch was operated, the station had a chequered, and confusing, history of openings:[1][2][3] Construction of the link beyond the station to connect with the Birkenhead Railway at West Cheshire Junction was delayed and the junction [a] did not open until 14 June 1871.