St James station closed in 1917 but images and a video fly-through of a proposed new Merseyrail station to serve the fast-growing Baltic Triangle in Liverpool have been released – and you can help choose a name. Tony McDonough reports

New images and a video fly-through of the proposed new Merseyrail station for Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle have been released.

Planned for the former St James station, which closed in 1917, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (CA) has decided on a shortlist of three names for the station which it is putting to a public vote.

Along with its partners on the scheme, Network Rail, Merseyrail and Liverpool City Council, the CA wants to build the station on the existing Northern Line route between Southport and Hunts Cross. It would be located between Liverpool Central and Brunswick stations.

The original St James station opened in 1874 and was named after the nearby parish church. It closed in 1917 as a cost-cutting measure during World War I. Until a decade ago there was little demand for a station in the area.

However, since then the Baltic Triangle district, just south of the city centre, has been transformed from a collection of abandoned and derelict dock warehouses into one of the fastest-growing creative, digital and leisure hubs in the UK.

Thanks to the initial efforts of workspace providers Baltic Creative CIC and Elevator Studios, the district is now home to hundreds of businesses as well as cafes, bars, restaurants and more than 1,000 apartments. Another 3,000 apartments are under construction or in the pipeline.

To avoid any confusion with the existing James Street station in Liverpool city centre, a decision has been taken to pick a new name for the station that will reflect the modern area in which it will be located. The three names to choose from are:

• Liverpool Baltic
• Liverpool Parliament Street
• Liverpool Riverside

The public vote is open until 5pm on Friday 18 February and can be accessed by clicking here. You can view the full CGI flythrough video via YouTube by clicking here.

The artists impression CGI images and video (which show the basis of the basic design of the station but do not necessarily reflect the final finishes and fittings) bring to life the ticket office, cycle storage, escalators and platforms, showing what the station layout will be once completed.

The original St James station opened in 1874 and was named after the nearby parish church. It closed in 1917 as a cost-cutting measure during the First World War and was never re-opened.

The scheme will enter the next stage of design development in the new year. Land has already been purchased to safeguard the site of the new station ticket office building. The current plans aim for the station to be open in 2025, subject to funding being secured for the construction stage.

Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said: I am ambitious about the future of public transport in our region and Liverpool’s new station – alongside another new station at Headbolt Lane in Kirkby – are only the first step towards an expanded ‘Merseyrail for all’ network.

“I want our region to have what London has had for years – a transport system that is affordable, reliable, and easy to use. But I also want local people to feel a sense of ownership over our system network.

“Our new trains are publicly owned, as is our new fleet of hydrogen buses and we’re working to take greater public control of the wider bus network. As part of that, we’d love to hear your views on what we should call this new station.