Government has committed £100m for three new rapid transit routes as part of a £1.6 billion transport boost for the Liverpool city region
Metrolink tram in St Peter's Square, Manchester city centre
Metrolink tram in St Peter's Square, Manchester city centre
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Liverpool could soon have a “tram style system” as part of a huge £1.6bn investment in the region’s transport infrastructure. It comes after the government’s £100m commitment for three new rapid transit routes to John Lennon Airport, Anfield stadium and the Hill Dickinson at Bramley-Moore Dock.
As part of the government’s spending review in June, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced more than £600bn in funding across the next few years. £15.6bn of this is dedicated to local transport projects across the country, including £1.6bn for the Liverpool City Region.
An update on these plans was presented at Knowsley Council’s “Inclusive Growth and Skills Scrutiny Committee” last night, Tuesday (November 11). Elected members were asked to consider the finalisation of the Local Transport Plan (LTP), the forthcoming public consultations on projects such as bus franchising, and the role Knowsley will play in helping to deliver the LTP.
One area of significant interest will a new fleet of buses that will form part of the region’s soon-to-be franchised bus network. This was welcomed by Cllr Edna Finneran who said people in Halewood are bearing the brunt of a poorly connected service and missing out on job opportunities and access to public services.
This point was expanded on by the Labour and Co-Operative councillor for Knotty Ash and Dovecot Park ward, Cllr Harry Doyle, who said: “It is a complex thing to look at the bus services, because we haven’t got it right up to now. We’re having problems.
“Edna mentioned going from Halewood to Widnes, but going from Kirkby to Halewood within our own borough is very difficult, two or three buses to start off with, but I’m looking two or three bus stops ahead.
“Are we looking at a tram service? Because we’re mentioning in Manchester, which has got a very good tram service. I’ve been on a few times, and it does get people from A to B, what they want to do. But we are A to B to C to D, which doesn’t help our residents, and that’s my main point.
“Are we looking a bit further ahead when we get the franchise, of a tram service?”
Responding to Cllr Doyle’s question, head of franchising at Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Kara Wood, said: “We are looking at a rapid transit option for the city region.
"There’s this huge ambition around the pace at which we want to start to see a rapid transit option. So it isn’t a tram system. The costs involved in delivering a tram system are extreme.
“However, we do believe that the rapid transit options […has] got huge potential. There’s a lot of ambition around its delivery, and the costs are significantly less than than would be associated with tram system.”
Expanding on this point, Huw Jenkins from the Liverpool City Region, added: “In the mayor’s manifesto, and in our short term and medium term delivery plan, there’ll be a focus on three rapid transit routes in the local city region.
So to Anfield, to Bramley Moore, to North Liverpool and the location of the new town and to the airport, but they’re very much the first three.
“Those routes aren’t set in stone. We’ll be doing a lot of development work on those over the coming months and years, particularly the coming months, but the longer term plan I talked about could well include plans for additional rapid transit routes as the technology matures.
“We see this as a really important way of filling gaps in the network at much lower cost than the tram. But we were very open minded about things that bus rapid transit could be a step towards a tram style system in time.”