Maghull North will be located just off School Lane, between the existing Maghull and Town Green stations on the Ormskirk branch of Merseyrail’s Northern Line. Tony McDonough reports.

Plans for a new railway station in Maghull have moved a step closer after Sefton Council granted planning permission for the £13m scheme.

Maghull North will be located just off School Lane, between the existing Maghull and Town Green stations on the Ormskirk branch of Merseyrail’s Northern Line.

The station is a key piece of infrastructure in the Sefton Local Plan, supporting demand from an adjacent new housing development which will include 370 homes.

It will also offer relief for the existing station in the town.

The project is being funded through the Government’s Local Growth Fund, Merseytravel and the Homes and Communities Association, which currently owns the land on which the station will be built.

It will form part of the wider £340m investment by Network Rail and the Liverpool city region in rail improvements over the next three years. Facilities at the new station will include:-

• A staffed station building and ticket office with passenger toilet.
• Passenger waiting facilities on platform
• Step-free access with lifts and a bridge to, from and between both platforms and the station building.
• 156-space car park with blue badge, motorcycle parking and cycle storage.
• Pedestrian and cycle routes from School Lane and Park Lane to the station and bus stops on School Lane.
• Future provision for electric vehicle charging points.

Work is due to start on site in August with the station opening planned for May 2018.

Cllr Gordon Friel, Merseytravel deputy chair and lead member for rail, said: “It is another example of our Long Term Rail Strategy being put in to practice and will encourage more people to use public transport for both commuting to work and leisure activities.

“We look forward to working with our partners in Network Rail, Merseyrail and Sefton Council when the work to build the station gets underway later this year.”

Claire Rawson, Network Rail’s project sponsor, added: “This station part of a £340m investment in the railway of the Liverpool city region and it will play a vital part in accommodating the growing number of passengers using the network now and in the future.”