16.12.16
Liverpool leaders give green light to new Merseyrail fleet
The Merseyrail network will be getting brand new publicly-owned trains after Liverpool city-region leaders authorised the £460m project today (Friday 16th December).
The state-of-the-art trains, which will be publicly-owned by Merseytravel, are set to replace Merseyrail’s nearly 40-year old fleet of current trains starting from the end of 2020.
The new trains will be safer and faster than their predecessors as they will be able to carry 60% more passengers, cut journey times by up to nine minutes on some routes, and have the capabilities to travel to locations further afield if the Merseyrail network is expanded.
Joe Anderson, Liverpool mayor and chair of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA), said: “Merseyrail is one of the top performing networks in the country and we want to keep it that way. This is a once in a generation opportunity for custom built trains that will be safer and carry more people, more quickly.
“A better rail service will bring a boost to the regional economy of £70m every year, plus 1000 new jobs. It’s also one of our first ‘devo deal’ successes for the city-region as we’ve got commitment for funding that will help make this project happen.”
Although the trains will be owned by Merseytravel, they will be built and maintained by Swiss manufacturer Stadler after they successfully beat off the likes of Mitsui and Siemens in the race to provide the trains. Key features of the trains will include intelligent air conditioning and an airy, one room saloon with no dividing doors.
The combined authority’s approval of the deal marks the end of an extensive procurement process which started in October 2015 when the Merseytravel committee put the project out to tender for new rolling stock.
New trains were seen as necessary for Merseyrail due to the increasing costs of maintaining the four-decade old fleet and capacity issues caused by a gradual rise in passenger journeys.
The new trains’ project also includes infrastructure upgrades to power supplies, platforms and track, refurbishment of the depots at Kirkdale and Birkenhead North and the ongoing maintenance of the trains, building into Merseytravel’s long-term plans to expand.
Cllr Rob Polhill, leader of Halton and lead member for transport on the LCRCA, said that the decision does not just concern the trains themselves but the fact that they will be able to operate beyond the current Merseyrail boundaries in future years, fitting the authority’s long-term rail strategy.
“The new trains will help us improve links within and beyond our area, linking in to the wider Northern Powerhouse Rail agenda,” Cllr Polhill said.
Controversially, the trains will be driver-only operated, a sticking point at the moment given the strikes currently taking place on the Southern rail network, with reductions in paid posts necessary over the next four years in order for Merseyrail to be able to fund the ‘must-do’ project.
Cllr Liam Robinson, chair of the Merseytravel Committee, said of the decision: “In an ideal world we’d like to have a second member of staff on every train to ensure the highest level of customer service, but there aren’t the resources to do that.”
However, the Merseytravel committee has agreed to guarantee continued employment for all current Merseyrail guards, with a number of guards set to be converted into new on-board customer services roles. It is hoped that all necessary reductions in posts will be reached through redeployment, voluntary redundancies and retirement by the time the new fleet comes into service in 2020.
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