Liverpool City Region to Invest £1.6 Billion in Public Transport Improvements

Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram has unveiled plans for a new 1.6 billion GBP investment into the region’s public transport network that will see the construction of a slew of new railway stations, the implementation of rapid transit links and improved smart ticketing system across the network.

The investment, the largest the city region has ever received, will seek to better connect communities, boost potential productivity, generate economic growth and enable regeneration.

Secured in June; the Transport for City Region (TCR) settlement was officially confirmed by the Chancellor ahead of the 2025 Spending Review, with the Liverpool City Region acting as the first Combined Authority to publish its plans for TCR-related investment.

Plans will see the improvements made to public transport services across Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St. Helens and Wirral.

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said:

This £1.6 billion settlement is the largest transport investment in our region’s history and a massive statement of intent towards delivering the greener, more accessible, more affordable and better-connected public transport system our 1.6 million residents deserve.

Fundamentally, this long-term plan is about inclusive growth. That means new, step-free rail stations, rapid transit links, and smart ticketing that connects communities directly to jobs, new homes, cultural attractions, and of course major regeneration projects.

The proposed plans, which will go before the Combined Authority this month, will include the largest-ever investment in local rail station infrastructure, committing to advancing work on a set of three new stations: Carr Mill (St Helens), Woodchurch (Wirral), and Daresbury (Halton), alongside schemes at Liverpool Baltic and a newly-redeveloped Runcorn station.

Said station projects are intended to expand the reach of the city region’s overall rail network, including a new connection to Sci-Tech Daresbury.

The city region will also utilise 100 million GBP of the total investment to advance the implementation of an all-new Rapid Transit network, which will aim to offer fast services between Liverpool city centre, John Lennon Airport and key locations across North Liverpool.

The new system will be inspired by such initiatives as the Belfast Glider; and is intended to support wider regeneration and improve access to a number of major destinations, including Liverpool FC’s Anfield Stadium through the use of traffic priority measures and infrastructure upgrades.

A portion of the investment will be used to transform the city region’s bus network; supporting the introduction of a new fleet, new depot infrastructure and a concentrated implementation of franchising.

The strategy also focuses on investment into a number of major infrastructure projects; such as the new St Helens transport interchange, and the investment of over 60 million GBP into the rollout of multimodal smart ticketing across the city region.

Additional areas set to benefit from the investment include highways across the region; which will see 300 million GBP invested to both enhance asset management and support its overall commitment to targeting zero road traffic deaths or injuries, as well as upgrades of key corridors to improve road infrastructure for cars and buses, as well as the establishment of new walking and cycling links.

Overall, network improvements are expected to result 20% more residents having access to Liverpool City Centre by public transport within 30 minutes, in addition to a marked increase in the number of residents being directly linked to town centres across the region.

Finally; funding plans will also seek to aid in the development of large-scale regeneration projects in Bootle, Huyton, Birkenhead and other town centres across the region, including the support of a number of planned residential and commercial development in Liverpool North, which, if successful, will deliver over 10,000 new homes.

The plan has been assembled with feedback rom both residents and public transport users, with the latest round of consultation scheduled for early 2026.