Liverpool City Region has announced that Headbolt Lane station will open on 5 October and will be served by the UK’s first battery-powered passenger trains.
The fully accessible 80 million GBP station will become the new terminus of the Kirkby branch of the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network. It will also be the final stop on Northern’s Manchester-Wigan-Kirkby services.
For the first time in the UK, battery-powered trains will be used to serve the new station, thus removing the need for a live third rail. This technology could enable the Merseyrail network to expand to previously inaccessible destinations, including as far as Manchester, Wrexham, Warrington, Preston and Runcorn.
The new service will be rolled out in phases. Initially, one Merseyrail train to Liverpool Central will stop at the new station each hour, prior to a gradual increase to four trains per hour.
“We’ve invested £80m in this fully accessible, state of the art train station – and it will be the first to be served by our new battery-powered trains. These trains are the first of their kind in the country and will help us to significantly reduce our carbon footprint, paving the way for a cleaner, greener integrated London-style transport network.
“Headbolt Lane station sets a new standard for public transport in this country – and it’s the very least that our residents deserve. We’re incredibly grateful to local people and passengers on the Kirkby line for their patience and understanding throughout this project – I hope they’ll agree with me that it’s been worth the wait!”
The new station and the region’s publically-owned trains are key components of the Mayor’s plans to deliver a devolved London-style transport network that aims to deliver quicker, cheaper, greener and more reliable services in the Liverpool region.
