Bootle Oriel Road railway station was opened as
Bootle on 1 May 1876 by the
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) on its to line (the former
Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway) to replace two stations, and , it was sited between them. The station was constructed by Dransfield and Company at a cost of £6,684 (equivalent to £ in ). The station was built largely of "yellow glazed bricks with an over-abundance of roofing supported on numerous iron columns". There are four platforms, the centre ones being a wide island, connected by a subway. the booking office faces onto Oriel Road and there is a cab rank. There an additional two tracks that avoid the station on the western side behind a wall descending to Bankfield Goods Yard. The station was renamed to
Bootle Oriel Road on 2 June 1924. Most of the services through the station were going to or from and , there were additional commuter services on this line that terminated at prior to electrification in 1904 and afterwards. From 1906 to 1951 services also ran through the station on a route from to . Passengers from the
London and North Western Railway's station could access the station via a long sloping footpath and a short walk along Oriel Road. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway amalgamated with the
London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922 and in turn was
Grouped into the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. Nationalisation followed in 1948. In 1978 the station became part of the
Merseyrail network's
Northern Line (operated by
British Rail until
privatised in 1995). ==Facilities==