Kirkby’s £80m Headbolt Lane station opens tomorrow
Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram said the completion of the three-platform Merseyrail station was a tangible example of what devolved powers can deliver.
“As a Kirkby native, I know how long local people have been talking about a station at Headbolt Lane,” he said.
“Thanks to devolution and the power it gives us to shape our own destiny, we’ve turned that talk into reality.”
The £80m scheme has completed on time despite the recent collapse of Buckingham Group, the contractor delivering the project, and will welcome its first train tomorrow [Thursday 5 October].
Work to complete the 300-space car park is ongoing and is due to complete in the coming weeks.
The station will initially be served by one Merseyrail service an hour to Liverpool Central, then services will gradually increase to four trains per hour.
Designed by Seed Architects, Headbolt Lane Station will have step-free access throughout, as well as offer cycle storage spaces, and passenger waiting facilities. There will also be a bus interchange.
In addition to Merseyrail services, the station will also have a Northern service from Wigan and Manchester.
The development forms part of the plans to build a new rail link to Skelmersdale, which would connect to the Merseyrail network via the Kirkby branch.
The delivery of the long-awaited station will also have environmental benefits.
“We’ve invested £80m in this fully accessible, state-of-the-art train station – and it will be the first to be served by our new battery-powered trains,” Rotheram said.
“These trains are the first of their kind in the country and will help us to significantly reduce our carbon footprint, paving the way for a cleaner, greener integrated London-style transport network.”
The battery technology removes the need for a live third rail, which could enable the Merseyrail network to run to places previously inaccessible, including as far as Manchester, Wrexham, Warrington, Preston and Runcorn.
More than 20,000 people in the Northwood and Shevington areas of Kirkby are set to benefit from having the new rail service on their doorstep. Around 60% of households do not own a car in these areas, according to Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
Fantastic news but what about Baltic Station Steve
Steve must be exhausted
By Anonymous
I’m from Kirkby but would rather see a train link to Anfield or the Airport. Once again Andy Burnhams assistant misses.
By Paul82
Great news. Onwards with Merseyrail extensions to Wigan, Preston, Warrington and Helsby utilising these trains’ battery capability please!
By Mancunian
Why does Rotheram want to run Merseyrail trains to Preston and Manchester, the new trains are paid for by Liverpool City Region and we should get the most benefit. I am ok with the trains going to Wrexham and Skem as they have traditional affiliations with Liverpool,but Rotheram needs to build more stations in our region eg Vauxhall , Smithdown, etc, so we can get better use from the network. As regards Headbolt Lane does that name mean anything to anyone except those who live there, it’s not too late to change or amend the name to Kirkby-Headbolt Lane, or Kirkby Northwood, otherwise hardly anyone will know where it is.
By Anonymous
Are the trains on the northern line actually going back to every 15 minutes then? Because trains are packed like sardines atm and are every 30 because of how long this station actually took to develop.
By Martin
why every hour ? Even now from old kirkby station they are every 30min, they stop a fazakerley for 8/10 mins before moving on & the samething happens on return. The lead up to christmas shopping is going to be jam packed.
By Anonymous
Will Frankenstein be opening it?
By Lurch
Mersey rail services have been as bad as avanti recently.
By Anonymous
When will 4 hourly trains from Kirkby to Liverpool Central be reinstated
By Anonymous