Work begins on the £9.5m installation of lifts at two Merseyrail stations – on in Liverpool and one in Wirral – with a further two stations also set for accessibility upgrades. Tony McDonough reports
Work has started on the installation of lifts at two Merseyrail stations – Aigburth in Liverpool and Rock Ferry on the Wirral Line.
And Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which is funding the £9.5m project, says two more stations on either side of the River Mersey – Walton and Port Sunlight – will also see new lifts installed.
Lifts have already been installed at Formby, Birkenhead North, Orrell Park, Meols, Birkenhead Park, Hunts Cross, Hillside and St Michael’s stations in recent years – enabling step free access from pavement to platform.
This will mean three quarters of the network’s stations will be fully accessible to passengers with mobility issues, prams, bikes and wheelchairs. It is part of Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram’s plan to make the city region’s rail network step-free by 2030.
Merseyrail recently drew praise from British Paralympic legend and disability rights campaigner Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, who hailed the new trains, platform improvements and lifts as an example of what can be done to make rail travel as easy as possible for everyone.
Mr Rotheram said: “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.
“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 the most accessible network in the country – but I know there is still more work to be done.
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“We have already made great progress with level-boarding on our new £500m trains and now we want to make sure all our stations are accessible to all too. This funding will help us continue our journey towards that aim.”
Completion of the work at Aigburth, Rock Ferry, Port Sunlight and Walton will bring the total number of fully accessible stations in the city region to 66 out of 87.