Merseytravel has decided its ‘plan B’ for improving transport links to Kirkby, following the Government’s rejection of a tram connecting the town to Liverpool.
The Department for Transport claimed, when it threw out the passenger transport executive’s bid for £170M in funding for the Merseytram project, that money would be available for other suitable improvements.
The Merseyside strategic transport engineering group last week agreed a new strategy focusing on rail and bus improvements. Electrification of Merseyrail’s northern line would be extended by 1.6km and a new station built at Kirkby. There would also be an overhaul of Kirkby’s bus station.
Merseytravel had yet to calculate full costings, because the improvements had to be hastily added to the local transport plan 2.