The Liverpool-Manchester Railway Partnership Board is calling on the government to commit to start construction of a new line between the cities in the early 2030s.
The board, chaired by former Rail Minister Huw Merriman, wants the project to be included in the government’s 10-year Infrastructure Strategy, saying the new line has the potential to provide a £15 billion boost to the economy and generate 22,000 jobs during construction.
Merriman, along with North West Mayors Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham, as well as civic and business leaders, want the line to kickstart a £90bn economic transformation of the region.
The proposed route would run between Liverpool Lime Street and new underground through-platforms at Manchester Piccadilly, with intermediate stops at Liverpool Gateway, Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Airport.
Liverpool and Manchester are currently linked by two routes; the northern Chat Moss line into Manchester Victoria and the former Cheshire Lines Committee line to the south that runs via Warrington Central and into Manchester Oxford Road.
Explaining the case, the board’s new report, Connecting the North West to drive national prosperity, says: “The rail network in this growth corridor is under immense pressure, struggling to accommodate a mix of long-distance, local, and freight services, all vying for capacity on one of the world’s oldest rail networks.”
It also describes central Manchester’s rail network as “broadly at capacity and unable to accommodate additional services”.
Presently the average journey between Liverpool and Manchester is 53 minutes, with only two trains per hour able to go faster. Warrington to Manchester Airport takes 54 minutes by train, double the typical car journey time.
The report also says the region suffers from “persistently unreliable services” with 10% of Manchester Victoria trains cancelled in 2023, making it the second highest figure in the UK. Nearby Oxford Road station was joint third with 9%.
Phased approach to proposed route
A phased delivery is proposed starting with the section from Millington to Manchester Piccadilly. The board is encouraging the government to continue with the hybrid bill for the section of line, originally due to be part of HS2 Phase 2b as well as LMR. The bill was part of the King’s Speech in 2024 after the previous Conservative administration committed £17bn to LMR after cancelling HS2 Phase 2b.
The second phase would be the section west towards Warrington Bank Quay, where new low-level platforms would connect with the West Coast Main Line.
West of Warrington, the precise alignment hasn’t been confirmed, although it’s set to at least part of the new redundant freight route passing the decommissioned Fiddlers Ferry Power Station and Widnes.
A new Liverpool Gateway station in the south east of the city, near the homes to Ford, JLR, AstraZeneca and other businesses, as well as Liverpool John Lennon Airport, is planned. Like the alignment, an exact location has not been finalised.
LMR would then require a new tunnel to provide access into Lime Street.
The board argues that a phased construction would help “spread capital costs, unlock benefits on a rolling basis, and provide long-term certainty to supply chains”.
As well as a commitment to putting the project in its Infrastructure Strategy, LMR wants development funding in the government’s Spending Review next month.
“This isn’t another ‘big rail’ vanity project. It’s a practical, deliverable plan focused on people, place and prosperity. We’re not turning up cap in hand. We’re offering leadership, solutions, and the chance to pilot a new model for infrastructure delivery – one that’s rooted in local knowledge and national interest,” the report says.
Freight
The report says LMR could free-up at least four daily cross-Pennine freight train paths in each direction which, it says, could remove up to 321,000 HGV journeys from the road.
The report acknowledges that the number of freight paths is limited, but a new route could release capacity to the Port of Liverpool via the Chat Moss Line as well as proposed intermodal facilities at ILP North and an expanded Port Salford.
Highlighting current constraints, the report adds: “On average, a Biomass freight train leaving the Ports of Liverpool today takes up to 8.5 hours to travel the 99 miles to Yorkshire via Manchester – an average speed of just over 11mph, which also impacts on how intensively the underlying rail assets (and rolling stock) can be used for moving goods.”
Freightliner’s Trafford Park terminal could be replaced with a new facility after the government backed plans to redevelop the area in February. Freightliner has said it’s examining a potential move to a new site near St Helens, which would be near the Chat Moss line.
The LMR report added: “Enhanced freight capacity to Chat Moss line supports relocation and wider regeneration of Old Trafford as well as improved passenger services to the new development.”
Mayors
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said the new line would form part of a wider vision to unlock £90bn of economic growth, as well as 500,000 new homes.
“We’re putting forward a serious, deliverable plan that does things differently – developing plans at a regional level instead of a top-down approach,” he said. “Not cap in hand, but shoulder to shoulder with government. We’re offering a new way of doing things: faster, fairer, and better value. With the right backing, we can get spades in the ground in the early 2030s and deliver the world-class railway we deserve.”
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, added: “A new Liverpool-Manchester Railway would be shorter than both London’s Elizabeth line and East West Rail connecting Oxford and Cambridge, but would punch well above its weight in both growing the UK’s economy and better connecting our high-growth sectors.”
Merriman said lessons must be learned from the past, including HS2, and urged the government to “invest in infrastructure to achieve its number one priority of growing the UK economy”.
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