Combined Authority to install lifts at two Merseyrail stations in Liverpool and Wirral at a cost of £9.5m. Tony McDonough reports
New lifts will be installed at two Merseyrail stations in Liverpool and Wirral at a cost of £9.5m with a further two stations also set to be upgraded.
Leaders of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority will be asked to approve the cash for the new lifts at Aigburth, on the Merseyrail Northern Line, and Rock Ferry which is on the Wirral line serving Ellesmere Port and Chester.
Two other stations, at Port Sunlight in Wirral and Walton in Liverpool, are also in line for new lifts. These plans are still currently in the design phase.
This funding package, part of the Inaccessible Stations Programme, will be recommended for approval at the November Combined Authority meeting paving the way for work to start at Aigburth and Rock Ferry in the New Year.
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has pledged to ensure all local rail stations are fully accessible by 2030. This is combined with the sliding step technology on the region’s new £500m trains which allows level boarding for all passengers.
“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
“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.”
This funding is part of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, a pot of £710m set aside for major transport infrastructure projects.
Matched funding for lifts at four stations – Aigburth and Walton (Liverpool) and Rock Ferry and Port Sunlight (Wirral) – was confirmed by the Department of Transport’s Access for All scheme earlier this year.
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This will bring the number of accessible stations to 66, while the Combined Authority presses ahead with future plans to ensure all 83 stations have step free access from pavement to platform.
Formby, Birkenhead North, Orrell Park, Meols, Birkenhead Park, Hunts Cross, Hillside and St Michael’s stations have already had new lifts installed.