Wirral Council leader welcomes city region's £1.6bn transport investment
Plans for a record-breaking £1.6bn investment in Liverpool City Region’s public transport including new railway stations, rapid transit links and smart ticketing across the entire network have been welcome by the LEader of Wirral Council.
The city region’s biggest ever public transport investment is designed to better connect communities, including major new housing developments, while boosting productivity, driving economic growth and unlocking regeneration.
The Transport for City Region (TCR) settlement was secured in June and confirmed by the Chancellor ahead of this year’s Spending Review. Liverpool City Region is breaking new ground as the first Combined Authority to showcase its ambitious plans for TCR investment – paving the way for faster, greener, and more connected journeys across the region.
Network improvements are expected to result in a 20% increase in residents able to access Liverpool City Centre by public transport within 30 minutes as well as a marked increase in the number of residents being directly linked to town centres across the region.
The funding will also lead to a 20% increase in residents living within 800 meters of a step-free rail station – while ensuring fairer access to public transport across the city region’s six boroughs of Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral.
Leader of Wirral Council, Cllr Paula Basnett, said:
This unprecedented investment in Wirral from the Combined Authority will see dramatic improvements in transport connections which will help underpin our efforts to grow our local economy and bring forward much needed new homes across the borough.
The funding will help us open up key sites across Wirral for long-awaited development through creating better roads, and giving more access to public transport and active travel links. For example removing barriers such as the flyovers in Birkenhead will allow us to make major new developments such as the 1600 new homes coming to Borough Yard at Hind Street better connected to the town centre.
Major new investment at Woodchurch to create a new railway station will also extend access to convenient public transport for a major residential area connecting even more of Wirral, as well as strengthening links with Liverpool and the wider city region.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said:
This £1.6 billion settlement is the largest transport investment in our region’s history and a massive statement of intent towards delivering the greener, more accessible, more affordable and better-connected public transport system our 1.6 million residents deserve.
Fundamentally, this long-term plan is about inclusive growth. That means new, step-free rail stations, rapid transit links, and smart ticketing that connects communities directly to jobs, new homes, cultural attractions, and of course major regeneration projects.
A key focus of the plans is to support the building of thousands of new homes in locations that will be well connected to major employers and the region’s growth industries.
The funding will help to unlock significant large-scale regeneration projects in Bootle, Huyton, Birkenhead and other town centres across the region - including supporting the planned residential and commercial development in Liverpool North, which has the potential to deliver more than 10,000 new homes – including thousands of affordable homes – create thousands of jobs, and transform public spaces through investment in active travel infrastructure, highway upgrades and enhanced connectivity.
The £1.6bn investment comes on the back of several years of record level investment in transport across the region, including the rollout of a £500m fleet of state-of-the-art trains, the purchase of more than 100 new all-electric zero-emission buses, the extension of the Merseyrail network to Headbolt Lane in Kirkby and the building of the first new Mersey Ferry in more than 60 years.
The proposals for this latest round of funding – which are set to go before the Combined Authority this month – are designed to enable the further overhaul and expansion of the region’s public transport system, accelerating delivery of Mayor Rotheram’s vision of a network that is greener, more accessible, more affordable and better connected.
The approach also aligns with the Liverpool City Region’s latest Local Transport Plan which outlines how the network is set to grow and change by 2040. The plan, otherwise known as LTP4, is put together using feedback from residents and transport users with the latest round of consultation scheduled for early in the new year.
How will the £1.6bn be spent?
- Rail Investment: At the heart of the plans is the largest-ever investment in local rail station infrastructure. This includes advancing work on three new stations—Carr Mill (St Helens), Woodchurch (Wirral), and Daresbury (Halton)—alongside committed schemes at Liverpool Baltic and a redeveloped Runcorn station. These projects will expand the reach of the region’s rail network, including a new connection to Sci-Tech Daresbury, where a direct rail link is expected to support 8,000 new jobs.
- Rapid Transit: £100m will be used by the region to push forward with a commitment to deliver a new Rapid Transit network, offering fast, modern, and reliable services between Liverpool city centre, John Lennon Airport, and key locations in North Liverpool. Inspired by successful models like the Belfast Glider, this system will support wider regeneration and improve access to major destinations including Liverpool FC’s Anfield stadium and Everton’s Hill Dickinson stadium, using traffic priority measures and other road infrastructure upgrades to speed up journey times.
- Bus Transformation: Money will also be used to accelerate plans to transform the bus network, supporting the introduction of a brand-new fleet, new depot infrastructure, and the rollout of franchising—returning buses to public control for the first time in nearly 40 years.
- Seamless Travel: The strategy focuses on achieving seamless travel through better connections and integration between rail, bus and active travel. This includes further funding for major infrastructure projects like the new St Helens transport interchange and more than £60m to support the crucial rollout of multimodal smart ticketing across the region.
- Safer, Smarter Roads: More than £300m investment in highways will enhance asset management and support the region's commitment to targeting zero road traffic deaths or injuries. A programme of major upgrades to key corridors to improve road infrastructure for cars as well as buses and create new walking and cycling links.
What are the key investments being made in Wirral and the region?
- Wirral Schemes
- New station development at Woodchurch.
- Active travel and highways improvements to serve a regenerated Birkenhead town centre and the Borough Yard urban village at Hind Street supporting 1600 new homes.
Funding for Dock Branch Park, which will see a disused rail line in Birkenhead transformed into a welcoming green space and active travel corridor.
- City region-wide investment:
- Bus franchising, giving more local control over fares, routes and timetables
- More than £300m investment in highways to improve road infrastructure for cars as well as buses and create new walking and cycling links.
- Integrated smart ticketing which will allow passenger to switch between modes whilst always being guaranteed the best fare for their travel
