Green light for £460m plan for bigger, faster trains
LIVERPOOL city leaders have approved a brand new fleet of Merseyrail trains that will come into action by 2020.
The £460m project will mean the replacement of the current 40-year-old trains – the oldest in the country.
The trains will be able to carry up to 60% more passengers – an extra 468 at peak times – while retaining the same number of seats.
This will be achieved through the trains being a little longer, but also through more spacious areas around the doors and more open and wider aisles with plenty of handrails and grab poles for passengers at peak times.
There will be more space for cycles, prams, buggies, luggage, wheelchairs, and other mobility aids, including seats that will lift to make extra space.
The trains will also be faster. Merseyrail estimates that journey times between Southport and Hunts Cross will be cut by up to nine minutes.
Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson said: “The people of our city region need and deserve new trains. Merseyrail is one of the top performing networks in the country and we want to keep it that way. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for custom built trains that will be safer and carry more people, more quickly.
“A better rail service will bring a boost to the regional economy of £70m every year, plus 1,000 new jobs.”
He added: “Unusually, these trains will be owned by us locally, meaning we can make sure the trains are exactly what passengers want and that they are ready for our future plans.”
Members of the public and the rail network union RMT have raised concerns about the axing of train guards and Merseyrail turning to driver-only operations.
A spokesperson for Merseytravel said: “The new trains will be operated differently, with the driver – assisted by cam- eras along the length of the train – responsible for the opening and closing of the doors and the dispatch, rather than the guard.
“This mode of operation, driver controlled operation, was put forward by all bidders in meeting the recommendations of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) report into the fatal incident at James Street in 2011.
“While this method of dispatch doesn’t require a second person to operate the train, it is recognised that local people value onboard staff.
“As a result, new cus- tomer service roles, based in the train saloon will be created. It will mean staff are on hand to assist and advise passengers, targeted at key locations and times.”
Cllr Liam Robinson, chair of the Merseytravel committee said: “These new trains will be fit for the future, safer and faster and at no additional cost to passengers or council tax payers. It is a ‘must do’ project; the benefits are clear.
“That is not to say that we’re not sensitive to the staffing implications of such a decision. In an ideal world we’d like to have a second member of staff on every train to ensure the highest level of customer service, but there aren’t the resources to do that. Some guards will have the opportunity to be employed in a new on-board customer service role and others will be able to take advantage of other redeployment opportunities.”