Four Merseyrail stations will see lifts installed to ensure step-free access ‘from pavement to platform’ in a £19m investment. Tony McDonough reports

Four Merseyrail stations, two in Liverpool and two in Wirral, will see lifts installed in an investment costing £19m.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority will use £9.5m from its £1.6bn City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement towards the cost of the upgrades. A further £9.5m will come from Network Rail’s Access for All accessibility scheme.

New lifts will be installed at Aigburth and Walton in Liverpool, and at Port Sunlight and Rock Ferry in Wirral, to ensure the stations are step-free from pavement to platform.

During his election campaign, Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram pledged to ensure all local rail stations are fully accessible by 2030. Work on the stations will complement the sliding step facility on the region’s new £500m trains.

Once the work is completed, 80% of the city region’s station will have step-free access for passengers with reduced mobility and those with bikes and prams.

“For too long, our local rail network has not been designed around the needs of those who rely on it the most, leaving some of the most vulnerable in our communities cut off from their local stations,” said Mr Rotheram

READ MORE: New images show Liverpool Central vision

READ MORE: Accommodation BID ‘generates £47m for Liverpool’

“Since I was elected, we have invested tens of millions of pounds to improve step-free access across our train stations, which is why we are now one of the most accessible networks in the country – but I know there is still more work to be done.

“That is why I have pledged to make every station on our local rail network fully accessible by the end of the decade and this latest investment will take us one step closer to making that ambition a reality.”