Manchester Metrolink faces financial crisis – Merseyrail struggling to survive

THE Government has confirmed it will provide support for England’s light rail systems to ‘allow essential services to continue’.

The announcement on

April 24 came three days after the metropolitan mayors of Liverpool and Greater Manchester held a press briefing highlighting the fact heavy rail and buses were being given financial supports, but light rail and some other systems had been ignored.

In the briefing, held remotely, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham warned that the region’s Metrolink system could be shut down unless funding was provided swiftly by the Government, indicating that support was needed within ‘days rather than weeks’ following a fall in monthly income from around £6million to ‘well below £1million’ because of the coronavirus ‘lockdown’.

Liverpool City mayor Steve Rotheram added that while the Merseyrail system is funded differently, passenger levels were 83% down for this time of year.

He said: “We’re not getting support locally on Merseyrail; we’re just about keeping our heads. The fare box has literally fallen through the floor. We are still running services but we’re losing £1.2m a week.”

Mr Burnham said the whole Metrolink network might be “mothballed” with services now reduced to a 20-minute frequency, a 40% reduction in mileage, and 225 staff furloughed because of a 95% reduction in passenger use.