“History is truly being made this morning,” said Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, as he addressed a crowded room at the Royal Armouries in Leeds on Wednesday.
Burnham and Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram took to the stage at UKREiiF to announce the formation of a Liverpool-Manchester Railway Board. The group is charged with crafting a strategy for the £17bn rail link between the two cities that maximises potential benefits to the region, while also linking the Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester investment zones.
“It’s not going to be like HS2,” Rotheram told the audience. “This is going to happen.”
The board consists of Liverpool City Region Mayor Rotheram, Greater Manchester Mayor Burnham, Manchester City Council Leader Cllr Bev Craig, Liverpool City Council Leader Cllr Liam Robinson, Warrington Council Leader Cllr Hans Mundry, and Manchester Airport Group managing director Chris Woodroofe.
They are also seeking members from the private sector, with Burnham and Rotheram making a call for any of those interested to get in touch during their announcement at UKREiiF.
Craig added her own message to potential private sector partners, discussing the scheme’s wider ambition: “We’ll be looking to experts across the country, to partners from business, to be able to look at how we can make this not just move forward for success for Manchester and Liverpool, but be that linchpin for the transformation of travel across the North.”
The future line will connect through Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Airport. The government announced its support for the route in March.
Rotheram and Burnham, alongside the other rail board members, unveiled their vision for what they hope the rail line could achieve.
MAG’s Woodroofe spoke about the potential to cut travel time from Liverpool city centre to Manchester Airport from more than an hour to 25 minutes.
Mundry played up the potential of Warrington Bank Quay’s redevelopment, with the former Unilever soap factory site offering the potential for 3,000 homes and 18m sq ft of offices. Adding a railway to that would only increase the possible economic growth of the area.
The rail line could also feature plans to fix capacity issues at stations on both ends.
“I think it’s fair to say that the stations in both cities are a wee bit tired,” Robinson said.
He added later: “We think there are huge opportunities here, not just to revolutionise the capacity of stations within Liverpool city centre, but to turn them into poles of growth in their own right…
“There’s a huge opportunity in all of this to develop something that’s not solely a transport hub in its own right but, crucially, is an economic gateway to our city and similarly at the other end in Manchester and beyond.”
Building on that, Robinson spoke about the potential for the line to end at Liverpool Central, rather than Liverpool Lime Street.
Craig also reiterated her desire for an underground Manchester Piccadilly station – an option that is still on the table, according to government.
“We aren’t exaggerating when we say this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get it right,” she said. “We need to get it right and fit for the future.”
UKREiiF continues through 23 May at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. Stay up-to-date on the latest coverage of the convention on our UKREiiF news hub.