Mayors to ask government to back Liverpool-Manchester rail plans

The development of a new rail line between Liverpool and Manchester can “balance up the economy of the country” and provide better economic growth than anywhere else in the UK, Metro Mayors will argue today.

As part of a delegation travelling down to Westminster, Mayors Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham will call on the government to back plans for the construction of a new Liverpool-Manchester railway to underpin wider proposals for a “Northern Arc.”

The leaders of the Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester combined authorities will present a report to ministers today outlining how the new line – which would stretch from Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Piccadilly – could deliver a £15bn boost to the economy. Mr Rotheram and Mr Burnham will ask for the government to make good on proposals for £17bn allocated for the rail link last year.

There are hopes construction on the line, which would include a new Liverpool gateway stop, could begin in the 2030s. It would drastically reduce journey times between the two cities to around 20 minutes.

After the previous Conservative government announced plans to do away with HS2, Mr Rotheram and Mr Burnham were invited to advise on the best solution for improved connectivity between the two cities as part of the Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme, which will continue in its stead. Initial plans for the line were unveiled in 2023 as a commitment from both men as part of the Mayoral manifestoes.

Mr Rotheram and Mr Burnham believe the scheme, which would also lead to a redevelopment of Liverpool Central station, could underpin a huge investment zone stretching from the Mersey to the Pennines, which they are calling a “Northern Arc.”

The North West section alone, encompassing the Liverpool City Region, Cheshire, Warrington, and Greater Manchester, covers an area home to 5.4m people, two Investment Zones, and an annual economic output of £150bn. Currently, the average train journey between Liverpool and Manchester takes 53 minutes for a distance of less than 40 miles.

As of December 2024 there are only two trains per hour from Liverpool to Leeds, and one from Liverpool to Manchester Airport. The development of the new line would seek to address this issue, as well as the continuing issues around capacity at both Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly.

Under the proposals, three stops would be incorporated between the two main hubs, including a new Liverpool gateway – the location of which is still to be considered – Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Airport. The report submitted to the government has underlined the need to “completely transform” Liverpool Central station, already the busiest underground station outside London.

Mr Rotheram told the LDRS: “What’s going to be said is a very clear message to our government, that there’s huge potential in the north. We’re calling something now the northern arc, because they’ve had the Oxford and Cambridge arc for some time now.

“It could realise a greater potential income and economic growth than the counterpart down south. It will be around £90bn to the GVA (gross value added) of the country, and the government’s number one mission is economic growth.

“You can get more economic growth here than you can in other parts of this country. We’ve already sort of been promised by a previous government, £17bn, £5bn of that was from the Northern Powerhouse Rail link and £12bn of it was from the HS2 to Manchester link, so that’s a £17bn envelope, but of course, it depends on the route and we’re yet to design the route alignment because that needs agreement with local authorities.

“Once that’s completed and that is ongoing, we will know whether the £17bn is enough.”

The Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor added how government supporting the plans he and Mr Burnham will unveil today would go towards tipping the economic scales towards vital investment in the north.

He said: “The Northern Arc will cost considerably less than some of that infrastructure that’s being built so this is something that the government should do to balance up the economy of the country, but it’s something that the people in the North, quite rightly deserve, because there’s huge latent potential here.”