Merseyrail in talks over brand new train fleet

MERSEYRAIL is in talks that could lead to a £400m spending spree on an entirely new fleet of bespoke trains, while massive station and travel improvements for passengers are in the pipeline.

The aim is to to have a thoroughly modern service up and running by 2018-2019, saying goodbye to the existing electric trains – the oldest still running anywhere in the UK.

Also on the table is electrification of Liverpool’s second line to Manchester – the one that goes through South Parkway and Widnes linking the Northern Line - and a half-hour service from the city to London.

Merseyrail bods celebrate
the 10th birthdayBy the time they are replaced, Merseyrail's trains will be pushing 50 years of age. But to hide their wrinkles, the fleet is to undergo an immediate makeover, itself costing thousands of pounds.

Interior improvements are planned and they are to be smartened up on the outside with new coats of paint and new livery.

Details were revealed when a trackside celebration was held at Rock Ferry station to mark the 10^th birthday of the current 25-year Merseyrail franchise.

Currently Merseyrail, part owned by the nationalised Dutch Railway system, operates the services using trains and carriages sub-leased from Merseytravel, who in turn lease them from Angel Trains, the company that owns the fleet.

Cllr Liam Robinson, chair of Merseytravel and former manager of Lime Street Station in his day job, said talks involving all the service's partners had already started about a replacement fleet.

Options include everything from using refurbished trains to an entirely new fleet, designed for running on the Merseyrail network.

Old, old

Cllr Robinson told Liverpool Confidential: “As the trains would have a working life of 40 to 50 years, a purpose built fleet is one of the options. Nothing is being ruled out.

“The one certainty is by the end of this decade the existing fleet will be reaching the end of its working life. The trains we use today continue to provide excellent service, largely due to an excellent maintenance staff. But even now they are the oldest trains in operation anywhere in the country.”

Commenting on the cost of the project, Cllr Robinson said: “Just one coach would cost a million pounds, and to replace the entire fleet with new coaches and driving units, coupled with the other changes we want, we could be looking at £400m.

“It is not just about new trains, it is about the whole experience for rail users, from getting to and from stations, to new ticketing arrangements, to improvements to the track.”

Moorfields station will be the next of the big stations on the network to undergo a major upgrade.

Merseyrail’s  Northern and Wirral Lines have 67 stations and 75 miles of track, less than seven miles of which are underground. Carrying over 100,000 passengers everyday, Merseyrail is one of the most heavily used railway networks in the UK outside London.

Meanwhile Cllr Robinson is also pushing for Liverpool’s second line to Manchester – the one that goes through South Parkway and Widnes – to be electrified, with the Department of Transport and Network Rail.

Next year, electric trains will operate for the first time on the Lime Street to Manchester line through Rainhill  (the original 1830 line, the world’s oldest inter-city passenger link).

He says Merseytravel is also pressing the Department of Transport, Network Rail and Virgin to introduce a 30-minute frequency between Liverpool and Euston, doubling the current service.