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Liverpool and Manchester could be getting a much-needed link-up.
We can’t believe this didn’t exist already, but plans have been proposed for two of the biggest cities in the north of England –Manchester and Liverpool, the nation’s third- and fourth-biggest metropolises, respectively – to be connected with a brand-new train line. Consider us on board.
Mayors of both cities Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham, joined by former rail minister Huw Merriman, are backing the project, and are asking the government for its support.
In the proposals, it reveals the new Liverpool-Manchester Railway (as it’s officially being called) could allow Mancs and Scousers to get between the two cities in just 32 minutes, down from the current average time of 49 minutes. It’s thought that the fresh route would expand the number of people living within a 30-minute commute of both cities by more than half a million.
The train line would connect Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly via Liverpool Gateway station, Warrington Bank Quay, and Manchester Airport. Construction of this line alone is estimated to inject a whopping £15 billion into the economy and generate 22,000 jobs.
Back in 2023 the Tories committed £17 billion to a new railway line between Liverpool and Manchester following the cancellation of HS2’s northern leg, but it remains to be seen whether this funding remains.
Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram said there is ‘hardly a person in the North who hasn’t felt the frustration of slow, unreliable journeys, or missed out on things because of creaking, outdated infrastructure’.
He added: ‘With the right backing, we can get spades in the ground in the early 2030s and deliver the world-class railway we deserve.’
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Manchester said: ‘A new Liverpool-Manchester Railway would be shorter than both London’s Elizabeth line and East West Rail connecting Oxford and Cambridge, but would punch well above its weight in both growing the UK’s economy and better connecting our high-growth sectors.’
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