On Monday 24th August 2026, I took on a slightly different challenge to find out which is the shortest branch line on the Merseyrail network. With three branches to choose from New Brighton, Headbolt Lane and Ellesmere Port. I wanted to put them to the test and see exactly how long each journey would take from the point where the lines split. I made my way up to Hooton, where my challenge would begin, and from here I started working my way across the different branches, timing each journey and taking in the stations along the way. The aim was simple: ride each branch line and find out which one would come out on top as the shortest, while also enjoying another day out exploring the Merseyrail network.

Once I boarded the train towards Ellesmere Port, I settled in for the short journey, with the service calling at Little Sutton and Overpool along the way. Just before the train departed from Hooton, I started my timer to record exactly how long the journey took from the start of the branch line to Ellesmere Port. I wanted to make this as accurate as possible, so I made sure to stop the timer as soon as I arrived at Ellesmere Port station, giving me my first recorded journey time for the branch.

After spending a little time at Ellesmere Port, I boarded the next train back towards Hooton and repeated the process, starting the timer as we departed Ellesmere Port and stopping it upon arrival back at Hooton. By timing the journey in both directions, I could work out an average journey time for the Ellesmere Port branch line, rather than relying on just one journey. This would give me a fairer result for my challenge to find out which of Merseyrail’s three branch lines is actually the shortest.

From Ellesmere Port, I took the train back towards Hamilton Square, retracing my journey along the Ellesmere Port branch line before arriving back at the busy interchange. Once at Hamilton Square, I changed trains and boarded a service towards Birkenhead North, continuing my journey across the Wirral. From Birkenhead North, I would then take the next train towards New Brighton, where I would continue with the next part of my challenge and begin timing the New Brighton branch line to see how it compared with the Ellesmere Port branch.

I have always loved travelling down the line from Birkenhead towards New Brighton, as this part of the Merseyrail network holds a lot of memories for me. New Brighton was home for most of my life, and I spent many years travelling along this line, whether that was heading to Mosslands School, meeting friends, going into Birkenhead or later travelling to college. There is something quite special about travelling along a route that you have known for so many years, as so many of the stations and places along the way bring back memories from different parts of my life.

Merseyrail also played a big part in helping me become more independent. Having the ability to simply head to the station, jump on a train and travel around the Wirral and into Liverpool gave me a real sense of freedom. Over the years, these trains became a familiar part of everyday life, and even now, travelling back down the line towards New Brighton brings back that feeling of being at home. It was really nice to be back on this familiar stretch of railway as part of my challenge, but this time I was travelling it with a completely different purpose – to find out exactly how long the New Brighton branch takes and how it compares with the other Merseyrail branches.

From New Brighton, I had just one more branch line left to complete, so I boarded the train towards Moorfields before making my way to Sandhills station. Sandhills is a useful interchange on the Merseyrail network, with passengers able to change here for services towards Ormskirk and Southport, as well as being one of the closest stations for reaching Everton Stadium. From Sandhills, I boarded my next and final train towards Headbolt Lane, ready to complete the last part of my challenge. However, to keep the timings consistent and make the comparison as fair as possible, I didn’t start my timer until the train departed Kirkdale, marking the official start of the Headbolt Lane branch and the final time I needed to record for my challenge.

Finally arriving at my last station of the day, Headbolt Lane, meant that I had completed all three of Merseyrail’s branch lines and could finally compare the timings I had recorded. After putting all the results together, the shortest recorded journey was the Headbolt Lane branch at 08:12.67, while the average journey time came out at 08:52.70. With all three branches timed in both directions, I had the results I needed to finally answer the question I had set out to solve at the beginning of the day.

And there we have it — after travelling across the Wirral and Merseyside, timing each branch line along the way, Ellesmere Port is the shortest Merseyrail branch line in terms of journey time, according to my timings. It was a really enjoyable little challenge and gave me an excuse to travel along some familiar parts of the network while looking at them from a completely different perspective. I hope you’ve enjoyed following along with this adventure, and let me know in the comments what you think of the results and whether you would have guessed Ellesmere Port would come out on top!