Long-awaited new station could be open in six years
SKELMERSDALE’S long discussed rail station could finally open within six years, according to Network Rail plans.
The West Lancashire town is currently the second largest in the whole of the North West not to be served by a station, though funding of more than £5m has been secured to further build the case for new stations in Skelmersdale and at Headbolt Lane in Knowsley.
The plan would extend Merseyrail services from the current terminus at Kirkby station to serve Headbolt Lane, Rainford and Skelmersdale.
Skelmersdale would then become the new interchange for Merseyrail, and Northern Services on to Wigan and Manchester.
In early 2017, Glenburn Sports College/Westbank Campus site was identified as the preferred location and West Lancashire Borough Council has also designed its Local Plan proposals, detailing the future of the borough, to strengthen the case for a station being built.
But West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper said she was concerned by “continued silence” over the project and, after contacting West Lancashire Borough Council, Lancashire County Council and Merseytravel, has now been given projected dates for the project.
Under current plans, a feasibility study is due to completed by mid-2019 and if this is approved, Network Rail will move to a detailed design stage which will run through to late 2021/22.
Construction would then begin in 2022-2023, with a train service possibly coming into operation by late 2023/24.
Ms Cooper MP said: “Residents have waited decades for adequate transport links and I have been campaigning for a train station for Skelmersdale since being elected here in 2005.
“This latest correspondence confirms that the agencies involved have a clear timeline to follow in order to deliver this major project.
“However, the project will only proceed to the final development stages if funding is made available by the Secretary of State for Transport.
“I will continue to lobby the Department for Transport (DfT)and this Secretary of State or the next, to ensure they prioritise Skelmersdale Railway as a significant infrastructure project deserving of DfT investment.
“Having launched the campaign for a railway station with local residents when we were standing collecting signatures on petitions in the shopping centre of a weekend to demonstrate the support for this scheme, to speaking in Parliament on the subject and taking every opportunity to press the transformation a railway station would bring to Skelmersdale, we have come a long way in our aim of securing a railway station in the town.
“I have consistently said that a railway station in the heart of Skelmersdale will open up a world of economic and social opportunities for the town and its residents.”
A spokesman for Lancashire County Council added: “The county council has contributed £4.32m, along with £765,000 from Merseytravel, for the detailed study currently underway as part of the rail industry process to establish some of the detail that we need to make a full business case for the significant funding that will be needed to deliver a rail connection for Skelmersdale.”