Business and transport leaders have met to mark an unprecedented level of investment in the Liverpool City Region’s rail network.

The event celebrated the achievements of the first five years of the Liverpool City Region’s (LCR) 30 year, long term rail strategy whilst also looking to the future, with the local launch of Transport for the North’s Strategic Transport Plan which aims to supercharge connectivity across the North and commits to new high-speed links to Liverpool.

£340m will have been invested in LCR rail schemes by the end of 2019, with an additional £460m currently being invested in locally owned, state-of-the-art trains and infrastructure for the Merseyrail network.

Under TfN proposals, Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), a new £39bn investment, would connect LCR to HS2 via a new twin track line between Liverpool, Manchester and then on to other northern cities.

The benefits of this to the Liverpool City Region alone would be £15bn in economic growth, 24,000 new jobs, 11,000 new homes and 3.7m more visitors a year.

Metro Mayor for the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram said:

“The last five years has seen our rail ambitions grow, and with a real shift in focus from the infrastructure itself to what it can deliver for the economy, opening up new opportunities and promoting social inclusion, not least by helping create more jobs and connect people to them.

“Our passenger numbers will more than double in the next 30 years, with freight demands increasing too. Our plans for better local connections as well as those regionally, across the north and nationally sees us pushing beyond and challenging the confines of our current rail network – one which limits capacity and our potential, as well as reinforcing outdated geographical borders which don’t reflect the changing economic picture and people’s modern lives.”