Passengers using Hunts Cross station will now benefit from a step-free route from the street to the platform with the opening of new lifts and footbridge
Hunts Cross railway station hosted the official opening of its new 16-person capacity lifts and footbridge on Wednesday the 29th of September. The brand new facilities will bring improved accessibility for those travelling with mobility needs, wheelchair users, children in buggies, heavy luggage or bicycles.
The opening saw a ribbon-cutting ceremony take place and was attended by Councillor Liam Robinson, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Transport Portfolio Holder, Garston and Halewood MP Maria Eagle, Andy Heath who is managing director of Merseyrail alongside ward councillors.
This latest round of funding will see Mersey Rail passengers benefit from improved accessibility projects such as the installation of new lifts at Hillside and St Michael's stations over the next few months. Northern passengers will also be pleased to learn that Broad Green station on the City Line is set to see the installation of new lifts in 2023 alongside plans which are also underway to install a second lift on the Northern line platform at Liverpool Central next year.
These improvements in accessibility are helping bring Metro Mayor, Steve Rotherham's ambitious aims to create a London-style transport network for the Liverpool City Region that will be fast, straightforward to use, accessible to all and budget-friendly. Accessibility improvements will also support the introduction of the region's new cutting-edge trains which feature innovative sliding step technology and will be phased into service later in 2022.
Cllr Liam Robinson, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Transport Portfolio Holder said: “Mayor Steve Rotheram has made clear that his ambition is to make the city region public transport network one of the most accessible in the UK and the opening of these new lifts and footbridge at Hunts Cross station takes us another step closer to realising that aim.
“Being able to independently travel across our rail network can have a huge impact on people's everyday lives.
“Our long-term aim is still to make every station step-free from pavement to platform and alongside the work we are already carrying out at Hillside, St Michael and Broad Green, the recent bid we submitted to DfT for further funding will help bring us nearer to that target.”
Andy Heath, Managing Director of Merseyrail, said: “It is fantastic to see this next important step towards our aim of Merseyrail becoming the first network in the UK to have step-free access at every platform on our network. I know the people of Hunts Cross and the wider community will welcome this fantastic new facility.
“Our purpose as a business is to provide a railway that the communities we serve can be proud of, and we are delighted to be working alongside the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and our other key partners to deliver station improvements such as this.
“In the coming months, this new lift and the further five being launched on our network this year will be perfectly complimented by our new fleet of class 777 trains. These will see level-boarding on platforms become the norm – with Merseyrail setting the standard nationally for a truly inclusive railway.”
