In the 1923 grouping the Wirral company became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, which electrified the line (except the Seacombe branch) in 1938, allowing passenger services to be integrated with the Liverpool urban system.

[3] The Hoylake company desposited further bills in quick succession, showing a desire to reach far beyond the initial area and break the Great Western Railway (GWR) and London and North Western Railway (LNWR) duopoly in the Wirral; these proposals included a long viaduct over the River Dee to Mostyn.

[3] There were six trains a day, four on Sundays, running from "Birkenhead Docks" (i.e. Wallasey Bridge Road) to Hoylake; an omnibus connection was operate to Seacombe.

"[4] Although passenger business was very brisk at first, this soon tailed off and the financial performance of the company was very poor, and the train service was reduced.

One of the conditions of sale was that the purchaser was to pay, beyond his bid for the land, for everything found upon it a valuation made by the auctioneers, Messrs. Churton and Elphick.

The solicitor representing the railway company protested against anything but the land being sold; but the auctioneer said he was acting under the authority of the Court of Chancery, and proceeded to put up the four "lots".

[6]In fact Vyner had bought back his own land, and generously did not force closure of the railway for some time.

However he must have lost patience eventually, for on 30 June 1870 a writ of ejectment was secured for him, and the Hoylake Railway was required to remove all its movable assets from the affected land.

The section of line westward from Leasowe to Hoylake, outside Vyner's area of interest, was kept in operation for the time being, from 8 July 1870.

Road coaches provided connections from Leasowe level crossing, where there was no proper station, and Birkenhead and Seacombe.

In 1873 the company opened a street tramway between Wallasey Bridge Road and the Woodside ferry terminal in Birkenhead.

[2][4][3] The company extended the railway line from Hoylake to West Kirby,[note 5] and, at the other end of the system, also made the short connection between Wallasey Bridge Road and the docks.

Woodchurch was a place on the Dee Extension a little south of the present-day Upton station on the Hawarden Bridge line.

The Mersey Railway had extended its own line to meet the Wirral at Birkenhead Park, and that extension too opened on 2 January 1888.

[2][3] Writing in 1914, Mercer observed that the Wirral had become known as "'The Dormitory of Liverpool' owing to the number of people who reside on the Cheshire side of the Mersey and travel across under the water daily to and from business.

The Wirral Railway extended from a triangular junction west of Birkenhead Docks to Wallasey, Grove Road.

The Wirral Railway's interest in the line was at an end, but the MS&LR and the WM&CQR acquired running powers to Seacombe, which they later exercised.

Writing in 1928, McNaught said At present the only through connection to and from the Wirral section is represented by one or more through carriages running once daily in each direction between New Brighton and London (Euston).

Instead of entering the terminal station at West Kirby, this train passes direct on to the joint line there, and is detached at Hooton to join a through express from Birkenhead (Woodside).

This innovation has been very popular since its introduction in 1923, as the journey from Birkenhead to New Brighton, though only some 5 miles as the crow flies, is in actuality somewhat inconvenient, involving either the crossing of Birkenhead Docks by swing bridges, or a ferry trip to Liverpool landing stage, there changing to a Wallasey Corporation steamer, to complete the journey.Since being taken over by the L.M.S., the Wirral line has been re-laid throughout, and comfortable modern rolling-stock placed in service.

It had been proposed to electrify at 1,500 v dc overhead, but this was technically impossible through the Mersey Tunnel, so the third rail system was adopted.

[note 8] When the trains were running in the Mersey Tunnel where there is a gradient of 1 in 27, provision was made to increase the notching point of the acceleration relay.

This could be actuated by a sealed push-button in the driver's cab, for use in exceptional circumstances, such as a six-car train operating with one motor coach out of action.

There was a 50-foot gap in the conductor rails at each end of the Birkenhead Park station: the only such changing point on any British Railway.

[8] The new service was inaugurated on 13 March 1938,[note 9] with trains running through to Liverpool through the former Mersey Railway route, now also, of course part of the LMS.

[2][11] Bidston West to North curve closed officially on 28 November 1983, but the dominant traffic had been iron ore trains which ceased in 1980.