We need to get on the right track for growth
MANY will be delighted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement last week, after much deliberation, that the HS2 high speed rail link will finally be built.
And now it is time to really begin connecting communities in the North and creating real wealth outside of London and the South East.
Here in Southport we are lucky to enjoy superb public transport links with Liverpool.
Earlier this month, Merseyrail won the best performing regional rail operator award at this year’s Golden Whistle Awards.
The train company had its best performing year in 2019, with 96% of trains running on time.
That news will surprise no-one who uses the line on a daily basis.
Merseyrail has recently unveiled its new fleet of 52 new trains, part of a £500m investment in the network with space for 50% more passengers in the Liverpool city region.
Jump on a train at Southport Station – they depart every 15 minutes, sometimes more frequently during rush hour – and you will complete the 19.6-mile journey in just 44 minutes.
But while Southport’s links to the south are excellent, trying to connect to towns and cities to the north or east becomes more difficult.
Southport is a stunning seaside tourist town which attracted more than nine million visitors last year.
This was partly due to our packed events calendar, which includes Southport Air Show, Southport Flower Show and Southport Comedy Festival; business tourism through conferences; and through attractions such as Southport Pleasureland, Southport and Ainsdale beaches and Lord Street.
Southport has highly ambitious plans to significantly grow our visitor numbers – and we mean really substantially – but to be able to do that, we have to make it easier for people to get in and out of our resort.
Southport Pleasureland is about to undergo a massive expansion and transformation.
The amusement park aims to move from a holiday attraction to an allyear-round visitor destination, taking in neighbouring land such as Princes Park and the old pitch and putt, with lots of exciting new rides planned.
Bliss Hotels is leading a £15m regeneration of the Waterfront area; while attractions including Southport Theatre & Convention Centre, Southport Splash World, the market and the pier are undergoing radical upgrades.
New hotels are in line to be built.
As a result, visitor numbers are set to rocket over the next few years – as long as local transport links can be improved.
About 7,000 jobs in Southport already depend directly on the tourism industry and we need that to grow, not just in terms of numbers, but also in the quality and variety of roles available.
But while the 19.6-mile train journey to Liverpool takes just 44 minutes, if you ask Google for directions via public transport to head north to Preston (17.2 miles away) it will take you one hour and 34 minutes, while travelling east to Ormskirk (8.7 miles) will set you back one hour and nine minutes.
The route to Manchester became so bad, with so many delayed or cancelled services on outdated rolling stock, that Northern had its licence to operate the route revoked.
All of this is holding Southport back.
Car travel, which the government is trying to reduce, doesn’t offer many solutions.
The commute to Preston is a tortuous one, while the proposed Ormskirk Bypass was shelved by Lancashire County Council.
Until the 1960s people could travel by train directly between locations including Preston, Blackpool and Ormskirk, until the controversial Beeching cuts severed ties.
Why have we gone backwards?
It’s time we began moving forwards.
Last week, Southport MP Damien Moore and West Lancashire MP Rosie
Cooper met to discuss the possibility of reopening the Burscough Curves which would bring those routes back into use.
And Damien Moore put the case directly to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the House Of Commons.
They must first put together a compelling business case in order for the government to act.
There are many arguments in their favour.
|Mr Moore said: “If you drive down the road between Southport and Preston every day, then you will know that it is full.
“But this isn’t just about reconnecting Southport and Preston by rail.
“Preston is a major hub station on the West Coast Main Line.
“It would allow people from places such as Cumbria, the Lakes, Glasgow and elsewhere to connect easily with Southport through Preston.”
The boost to Southport would be huge.
Mr Moore said: “I always talk about our local economy and trying to increase footfall that will benefit the whole town.”
Moving forwards, HS2 should mean that communities all over the North will benefit economically.
It is just the start of what our region needs in terms of improving connectivity, by rail, bus, bicycle, and car.
But the northern rail revolution has to be about more than just HS2, which will take many years to realise.
Reconnecting Preston, Ormskirk and Southport offers the chance for a quick-win, high-impact solution at relatively low cost.
Southport is pushing ahead with really exciting plans to grow visitor numbers by expanding our range, size and quality of attractions, so we now have to work hard to make our town more accessible to tourists and visitors.
We also need better access to places including Ormskirk Hospital, which houses our children’s A&E and maternity services; the rapidly-growing Edge Hill University in Ormskirk;
and the bustling city of Preston, which is closer than Liverpool to Southport.
But that journey is only as the crow flies – it is sadly further away when you factor in rail or road travel.
We must get Southport better connected. Our town’s growth depends on