Liverpool LRT gets go-ahead

International Railway Journal, Feb, 2003

MERSEYSIDE, with Liver pool at its heart, has been given British government approval--and a [pounds sterling]170 million financial contribution--for the [pounds sterling]225 million Line 1 of the Merseytram project. The remaining [pounds sterling]55 million of funding will come from the European Union and local public and private sector backers.

The full Merseytram project includes three lines. Line 1 will link Liverpool city centre to Croxteth and Kirkby; Line 2 will run to Page Moss and Prescot; and Line 3 to Speke, Garston and Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

The 19km Line 1 will have 30 stops and will also include a city centre loop. It will be operated by a fleet of 21, 30m-long, low-floor LRVs, each capable of carrying 200 passengers. The LRVs will operate on five-minute peak headways with a journey time of about 40 minutes from Kirkby to Paradise Street. Merseytravel, the main promoter, hopes to open Merseytram in 2006-7.