The station was built at a crossing point between two railway lines that had until then been served by separate stations. The first was the
Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) line from
Liverpool Central to Manchester via
Warrington Central, which ran from west to east. The second was the line built by the
St Helens Railway from
Liverpool Lime Street to
Warrington Bank Quay, which crossed from northwest to southeast. The latter route became part of the Liverpool branch of the
West Coast Main Line in 1868 when it was connected to a new route from
Crewe via the then-new
Runcorn Railway Bridge. The original line to Warrington Bank Quay is now closed to passenger trains. The two lines were served by two separate stations in the area, respectively
Garston and
Allerton (though the latter was also located in Garston). The first proposals for an interchange station at Garston were made in the 1960s and 1970s, when the
Merseyrail semi-underground network was being planned. At the time, the suggestion was that the new station and
Broad Green would be interchanges between long-distance trains and trains on an outer orbital line (the
North Liverpool Extension Line). and
East Midlands Trains services began calling at the station. In December 2010 a further service was introduced, when
First TransPennine Express services added the station as an extra stop on their services from Liverpool to and
Scarborough. In May 2011,
Blackpool North services which operated from
Lime Street were extended to start and terminate at Liverpool South Parkway. The service is operated by
Northern Trains and does not call at stations between South Parkway and Lime Street. The service from Lime Street is unchanged. Trains travelling from Blackpool North to Liverpool South Parkway have a 15-minute dwelling time at Liverpool Lime Street. In early 2017 Liverpool South Parkway served as a temporary hub for national trains whilst Lime Street was closed due to a landslide. In September, platform 4 was temporarily extended by to allow intercity services to serve the station whilst Lime Street station was shut for refurbishment work. In mid-2018 the station again acted as a hub whilst Lime Street was upgraded.
Criticism Originally scheduled to open in December 2005, the project fell behind schedule, and finally opened on 11 June 2006. The construction cost, originally estimated to be £16million, had doubled to £32million by the time construction was completed.
Merseytravel rejected criticism of the delays and cost increase, stating that it had been caused by factors beyond its control, such as the collapse of
Railtrack, increasing steel costs and poor weather causing flooding at the construction site. Tom Wileman, regional director of bus operator
Stagecoach, described Liverpool South Parkway as a "
white elephant". However, from 28 September 2008, Stagecoach service 82 was rerouted to serve the station; and, from December 2008, trains operated by Stagecoach-owned
East Midlands Trains began calling. ==Facilities==