Merseyrail can go ahead with proposals to expand matchday passenger capacity at Sandhills station after winning planning consent at the second attempt. Tony McDonough reports
Merseyrail’s plan to alleviate passenger congestion on Everton FC matchdays will go ahead after councillors approved the proposal.
In August, Liverpool City Council’s planning committee deferred a decision on the proposals pending a site visit. Councillors were heavily critical of Merseyrail accusing the rail operator of treating fans like “cattle”.
However, on Tuesday the plan was approved following a site visit. The proposals, for the station, close to Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, include an extension of the existing corralling area for destination specific queue routes.
Merseyrail will also provide additional passenger welfare facilities, permanent toilet provision and an area for future potential catering services.
And there will be additional stair access to the existing ramp connection to the platform footbridge and a new bus stop / interchange astride the boundary at DunesWay.
Addressing the meeting city council principal major projects officer Simon Crawshaw said that following a Premier League game against Manchester United, 8,500 people had used the station in the 55 minutes after the final whistle.
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He added: “The platforms and routes through the station would become severely crowded without the management systems. This will provide improvements to the existing system, with 150% more capacity in the queuing area.”
This latest upgrade will provide some improvement to the now regular matchday congestion but many Everton fans believe much more needs to be done. There are calls for a rebuild of the station. However, this is likely to cost at least £100m.