In the event the Seacombe portion of the line was not built at this stage as it would have been particularly expensive. Accordingly, the railway was constructed as a single line from Hoylake to Wallasey Bridge Road only, a distance of just over five miles. It was inspected by Captain Ritchie of the Board of Trade on 16 June 1866 and was opened to traffic on Monday 18 June 1866. However this apparently did not result in a regular train service until 2 July 1866, following a further inspection by Ritchie on that date. 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. "All the stations were of the most elementary type, having cinder platforms very scantily supplied with buildings, a state of affairs which in the case of the intermediate stations has persisted to the time of electrification."