Prior to the introduction of the 1970–71 London Midland Region timetable, it was a secondary main line from Liverpool to Scotland, Blackpool, and Yorkshire.

With express trains eliminated, stopping services at the village stations en route were improved, and have retained a similar frequency to this day.

[1] In 1969, the Labour Minister of Transport Richard Marsh refused to agree to British Railways request to withdraw local passenger services between Ormskirk and Preston, and to close the stations at Burscough Junction, Rufford and Croston.

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority announced in July 2021 that trials of a BEMU version their new Class 777 on the Merseyrail network had shown that they were capable of travelling up to 20 miles (32 km) without a charge.

[3] The battery-electric version of the Class 777 would allow the possibility of Merseyrail services from Liverpool to Skelmersdale, Wrexham, Warrington, Preston and Runcorn, without full line electrification.