Two hundred years and two days after the founding of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company, there are hopes that the two cities could be on the verge of a new railway revolution.
Those are the hopes shared by Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, his Liverpool City Region counterpart Steve Rotherham – plus Bev Craig and Liam Robinson, council leaders in both cities. This is because they are members of the new Liverpool-Manchester Railway Board, which has been tasked with establishing a new line between the largest urban areas in the North West.
“This is North West history being made today,” Andy Burnham announced at the UK Property, Investment and Infrastructure Forum in Leeds on Wednesday (May 22). “On that day, May 20, 1824, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company was founded. Here we are 200 years and two days later. Before you are the first members of the new Liverpool-Manchester Railway Board.”
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If this comes to fruition, passengers will be able to fly between the center of Liverpool and Manchester in just 35 minutes. They will get off at the refurbished Liverpool Central Station or the new tube station at Manchester Piccadilly.
There will be just four stations on the line – the other two being Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Airport – as the committee also looks at splitting stops on commuter services, freight trains and high-speed intercity routes onto different tracks. In total, the project will cost at least £17bn, it is thought.
And despite the tempting sum, when the committee was announced, there was a common feeling among the four politicians that this time the project would not fail.
It’s because of some moves in parliament last night, said Andy Burnham. Firstly, the HS2 Crewe to Manchester Bill has been officially amended to become the Northern Powerhouse Rail Manchester – Liverpool Bill.
“So there is a bill in parliament to support the work of this committee,” Mr. Burnham noted. ‘Critically’, he added, Rail Minister Huw Merriman also ‘confirmed in Parliament that an underground station for Manchester Piccadilly is on the table and in a letter to Steve [Rotherham] that the worst option for Liverpool is ruled out’.
The shadow Labor government is also said to support the plans if they win power in this year’s election.
The development represents ‘real progress’, Mr Burnham said. But he can be more encouraged by the fact that the government has ‘confirmed’, in his words, that £17 billion is ‘still in the pipeline to deliver this new railway’.
And while it’s a welcome budget to start with, it reveals a potential pitfall in this new rail plan – according to the mayor’s admission.
“I think we’re trying to say ‘how are we going to pay for those ambitions in central Liverpool, Warrington, the airport and central Manchester?'” Mr Burnham added. “It’s up to us to see if we can figure out a way to do that and fund a real railway for the North West.”
However, even with question marks over how much of the new project will be guaranteed funding – and no firm commitment to the much-coveted new Piccadilly and Liverpool Central stations – all four represented confidence.
One proposed solution to the funding issue is land value pooling, where ‘increase in land value resulting from political decisions’ is taken into account in the balance sheet. ”, Coun Bev Craig explained at a press conference afterwards. “Land value adoption is one mechanism for realizing this, but it’s a broader request from the government reform sector anyway — not specific to this line — so it’s not necessarily as unusual as it might sound, as cities across the country are seeking similar powers.” “
The board of directors also wants to work with private companies – even open up the possibility of expressions of interest – to bring the project to fruition. In addition, there is the aforementioned plan to review where in Greater Manchester freight trains, which currently run through the city centre, go. Mr Burnham wants to see the Trafford Park freight terminal moved to Port Salford, or the Parkside development in Warrington, just over the Wigan border, to reduce rail congestion.
Additionally, there are still long-term ambitions for a direct line ‘via Manchester to Bradford and Leeds’, he told reporters.
Any potential Yorkshire expansion appears to be secondary to the Liverpool-Manchester link. But that doesn’t mean it will be here anytime soon.
“That company then built that railroad in six years,” Mr. Burnham said. “Can we do that?” he then asked the panel.
“It’s a tall order,” replied Steve Rotherham. “I don’t know about that,” added Mr. Burnham to answer his own question. “But we will do our best.”