Liverpool Port Rail Link Go -Ahead

[wallasey]

Is this still going ahead? Has there been any confirmation of the stations being built?

The Chord will be re-opened...thats for definite from what I can gather in Merseytravel. As for stations; I think the only one they have on the cards at the moment is one for LFC, but to make the whole project pay, more will be built no doubt.

[Kev]

May 7 2008 by Alan Weston, Liverpool Daily Post

A GIANT crane got into action as part of a £7.6m project to create a fast route into the Port of Liverpool.

The 13-metre Kirow crane, one of only five in the UK with a huge lifting capacity of up to 1,200 tonnes, laid the new tracks as part of the Olive Mount Chord project – a key freight link between the Port of Liverpool and the West Coast Main Line.

The scheme involves reopening a disused stretch of railway line, linking the Bootle line with the line to London and Manchester.

The line, about a quarter of a mile long, has been closed for 20 years.

Cllr Mark Dowd, chairman of Merseytravel and a former train driver himself, said: “This is a key phase of the works. The sheer size and scale of this crane has enabled us to progress these track works quickly.

“It will bring direct benefits to people living in Bootle and the dock route. We need to find ways to cut down the number of heavy vehicles passing through the town from the motorway junction at Switch Island and this scheme could help us achieve that.”

Neil Scales, chief executive and director general of Merseytravel, said: “Improving rail access to the Port of Liverpool will bring tremendous economic and environmental benefits to both Liverpool docks and Merseyside.

“It will create a fast route into the Port, allowing it to expand and create more employment and it will ease both congestion and pollution through the ability to transfer increased amounts of container cargo from road to rail.”

Merseytravel is contributing £5.6m to the project, which is also being supported by Network Rail, the Northwest Regional Development Agency, district councils and the European Regional Development Fund.

The contribution is one of Merseytravel’s largest during 2008.

It will help move freight in and out of the docks more quickly and ease road congestion, and will also remove the need for freight trains to reverse at Edge Hill, slashing rail times by cutting the need to cross lines into and out of Lime Street at Edge Hill.

It is hoped work could be completed by the end of this year.

[Ged]

My mate once looked at a house in Church road on the main road route out of Seaforth docks. It had subsidence according to the surveyor caused possibly due to the sheer weight in numbers of artics using the route to switch island. Soundproofing boards were put up on part of the stretch too.

[Kev]

The construction of a new freight link between the Port of Liverpool and the West Coast Main Line is under way with the laying of the tracks.

more

[Kev]

A PIONEERING machine, used only a handful of times in the UK, has helped lay tracks in a key rail project to create a fast route into the Port of Liverpool. Read

[taffy]

I have to say I'm astonished by earlier short sighted policies to remove easy rail access to ports such as Liverpool and Garston. Let's hope the reinstated link will take some of the heavy port traffic off the roads.

Perhaps also re-instate the Bridgewater canal barge usage to carry wheat from the Liverpool docks to Kellogg's Cornflake factory in Trafford Park, Manchester. These days it goes by large tanker lorries.

[Kev]

Dec 16 2008 by Marc Waddington, Liverpool Echo

A MAJOR new rail link to Liverpool?s ports is on track to be completed in the new year.

The ?7.8m scheme will include the reopening of the Olive Mount tunnel after 20 years, and the completion of a 750-metre stretch of freight link track.

It will mean the main line east of Wavertree Technology Park station will be linked to Seaforth Docks and give better access to the West Coast mainline.

It is hoped that as well as making access to the ports easier, the Olive Mount Chord scheme will also cut congestion on the roads around the ports and surrounding areas.

Stuart Waldron, chairman of the Merseyside and Halton Freight Quality Partnership, said the rail link, a partnership involving Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, Network Rail, Peel Ports, Mersey Maritime and the NWDA, will provide a much-needed boost.

He added: ?The line is substantially complete. It has taken a number of years, unfortunately, because of the time it takes to bring together such funding packages.

?But we are on track and it should be operational in the new year, and it should attract businesses to the port.?

Agencies behind the scheme are also hopeful it will make the Port of Liverpool more attractive to investors, countering the government?s controversial plans to introduce backdated tax increases for portside businesses.

About 70% of the north west?s freight is handled at Liverpool, but the ports can only be accessed via a line at Edge Lane. The reopened stretch of track will link Bootle to the Liverpool to Manchester line.

Network Rail spokesman Keith Lumley said that rail passengers would also notice the benefits of the scheme.

He added: ?Building the line saves a complicated manoeuvre involving a train having to reverse at Edge Hill to get on and off the line to Seaforth Docks.

?Such a manoeuvre can have a serious impact on passenger train performance to and from Liverpool.?

marcwaddington@liverpoolecho.co.uk

[Waterways]

Whose idea was it to rip the track up 20 years ago? Some very stupid things are done. They also tor down the concrete rail flyover at Edge Hill too. If this was still there it would make matters easy for Merseyrail to expand using the Wapping and Waterloo tunnels.

[Kev]

THE costs of building a crucial new road into the Port of Liverpool to relieve congestion could rise to ?200m ? five times the original estimate. Read