Work has begun on installing lifts at two more Merseyrail stations – with a further two in the design stage.
A £9.5m investment will see Aigburth and Rock Ferry stations soon become fully accessible to passengers with mobility issues, prams, bikes and wheelchairs.
Plans are also being drawn up for lifts at Port Sunlight and Walton which, once complete, will see fully accessibility at three quarters of the city region’s rail stations.
The work is part of Mayor Steve Rotheram’s ambitious plan to make the city region’s rail network step-free by 2030.
Together with sliding step technology on the new £500m publicly owned trains which allows level boarding for all passengers, the station improvements will make Liverpool City Region home to the country’s most passenger friendly and accessible rail network.
The city region's network recently drew praise from British Paralympic legend and disability rights campaigner Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, who hailed the new trains, platform improvements and lifts as an example of what can be done to make rail travel as easy as possible for everyone.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said:
“For too long, our local rail network has not been designed around the needs of those who rely on it the most, leaving some of the most vulnerable in our communities cut off from their local stations.
“Since I was elected, we have invested tens of millions of pounds to improve step-free access across our train stations, which is why we are now the most accessible network in the country - but I know there is still more work to be done.
“We have already made great progress with level-boarding on our new £500m trains and now we want to make sure all our stations are accessible to all too. This funding will help us continue our journey towards that aim.”
Lifts have already been installed at Formby, Birkenhead North, Orrell Park, Meols, Birkenhead Park, Hunts Cross, Hillside and St Michael's stations in recent years – enabling step free access from pavement to platform.
Completion of the work at Aigburth, Rock Ferry, Port Sunlight and Walton will bring the total number of fully accessible stations in the city region to 66 out of 87.
The investment is part of the Mayor’s vision to build an integrated London-style transport system that is quick, simple, affordable, and accessible to all.
Improving the rail network is happening in parallel to major investments across the wider transport network including the purchase of more than 100 zero-emission double-decker electric buses, a £32m transport interchange for St Helens town centre, £26m for the first new Mersey Ferry in over 60 years and £100m for the new Liverpool Baltic rail station.
Image credit: Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
