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Liverpool - Manchester train journeys down to 30 minutes

A £160m electrification upgrade to reduce train journey times between Liverpool and Manchester could be ready by the end of next year.

Improvements to the rail link could cut travel time between the cities to just 30 minutes.

The new service will run along the Chat Moss line. Currently journeys take around 45 minutes on the hourly fast service, and the slowest services, with more station stops, can take over an hour. The upgrade could also bring benefits to businesses and property owners, as the value of houses along the route could rise when the electrification is completed.

The news has been welcomed by Merseytravel.

Chairman Cllr Liam Robinson said: “Cutting travel times between Liverpool, Manchester and beyond through electrification and potentially increasing the number of trains per hour by reinstating tracks, makes the train a more attractive option for travel.

“It could be one of the deciding factors in getting a commuter to stay in Merseyside rather than relocate and in getting people from outside to consider the wealth of opportunities here. A journey of little more than 30 minutes also offers an even greater incentive for people to come and explore our city region. It can only be good for our economy.”

The work is part of the Northern Hub project, funded by the Department for Transport and delivered by Network Rail. As well as dramatically reducing travel times, there will be two trains running every hour rather than the current single service. New rolling stock will be used on the route.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “The next phase of electrification will be delivered in December 2014, when electric trains will be able to run from Liverpool to Manchester via Newton le Willows and Liverpool to Wigan. From a Liverpool perspective, the electrified railway, with some journey time improvements will see the current journey time over the Chat Moss route to Manchester Victoria drop from the current 43 minute journey to 30 minutes.

“From December 2014, there will be one extra train an hour between Liverpool and Manchester, this will be a transPennine service, so initially a diesel train until electrification of the transPennine route is completed.”

Commenting on concerns regarding the availability of suitable rolling stock, a Northern Rail spokeswoman said: “We are currently in discussion with the Department for Transport on the implications of providing electric trains to operate on the line from December 2014.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Transport said: “Negotiations are ongoing with Northern Rail to ensure passengers get all the advantages of electrification as soon as possible after the upgrade work is complete.”

Work is currently being undertaken by contractor Balfour Beatty. It involves putting in the overhead electricity lines to power the trains. The service will be improved largely because the new trains will be able to accelerate at greater speeds after station stops such as St Helens Junction and Newton-le-Willows.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .