19.07.12
Liverpool could need a new station by 2020
Liverpool’s Central Station is in the middle of a £20m upgrade, with the Wirral line platform re-opening in a month’s time – but Network Rail has long believed a new platform or even new underground station may be necessary by 2020-2025.
The station’s current upgrade was commissioned to meet concerns about overcrowding and safety issues arising thereof. The city’s underground network hosts 18 million passengers annually.
Network Rail is providing £15m of the £20m cost of expanding Central Station, with the transport authority Merseytravel covering the remaining £5m.
Despite the large investment in refurbishment, the 2009 Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) for Merseyside found thatLiverpool’s underground rail services will see passenger growth such that the station’s new facilities will be unable to safely accommodate passenger numbers by the first half of the 2020s.
The RUS says: “Between 2020 and 2025 the number of passengers will have grown to a level that cannot be accommodated by improvements to the existing station facilities.
“In the same time period overcrowding of the station during weekday peak periods will prevent the required increase in weekday peak service frequency…This means either a new underground platform or a new station will be required at a potential cost of hundreds of millions.”
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