The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has announced that it will be investing £19m into improving transport accessibility at four railway stations.
New lifts will be installed at Aigburth, Port Sunlight, Rock Ferry and Walton to ensure the stations are step-free from pavement to platform, with work currently taking place at Broad Green.
The investment will mean 80% of city region stations will have step-free access from pavement to platform.
The Combined Authority is investing £9.5m into the scheme through its £1.6bn City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement with a further £9.5m secured via Access for All accessibility funding.
The total cost of the schemes will be approximately £19m with work taking place over the next few years.
Once the Broad Green scheme is complete, 62 of the city region’s 83 railway stations will have step-free access to platform.
New lift installations have also taken place at Formby, Birkenhead North, Orrell Park, Meols, Birkenhead Park, Hunts Cross, Hillside and St Michaels.
Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram, said: “At its best public transport can be a great leveller, connecting people from all walks of life with jobs, opportunities and each other.
“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 one of the most accessible networks in the country – but I know there is still more work to be done.
“That is why I have pledged to make every station on our local rail network fully accessible by the end of the decade and this latest investment will take us one step closer to making that ambition a reality.
“From the £500m we have invested in our new fleet, to the tap-and-go ticketing we will be introducing soon – and the pipeline of new stations we are building – I want to ensure that everyone can benefit from the incredible transformation we are delivering across our local rail network.”
Achievements and innovations in transport accessibility will be celebrated at the third annual CiTTi Awards, which will be held on 26 November 2024 at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Nominations are open now! Please visit www.cittiawards.co.uk to learn more about this unmissable event for the UK’s transportation sector
