Merseyrail’s
new
‘powerless’
station


at
Headbolt
Lane
opens
tomorrow.

Running
on
an
extension
of
the
line
from
the
previous
Merseyrail
terminus
at
Kirkby,
the
new
trains
will
be
battery
powered
and
so
the
new
line
has
no
third
rail.

Headbolt
Lane,
which
has
cost
£80
million,
will
open
with
an
hourly
service
to
Liverpool
Central,
but
this
will
be
increased
gradually
to
four
trains
an
hour.

It
is
hoped
that
as
the
battery
trains
continue
to
arrive
in
Liverpool,
Merseyrail
services
could
be
extended
to
Manchester,
Wrexham,
Warrington,
Preston
and
Runcorn,
because
the
new
trains
do
not
need
a
750V
conductor
rail.

Liverpool
City
Region
mayor
Steve
Rotheram
said:
‘As
a
Kirkby
native,
I
know
how
long
local
people
have
been
talking
about
a
station
at
Headbolt
Lane.
Thanks
to
devolution
and
the
power
it
gives
us
to
shape
our
own
destiny,
we’ve
turned
that
talk
into
reality.

‘We’ve
invested
£80
million
in
this
fully
accessible,
state
of
the
art
station,
and
it
will
be
the
first
to
be
served
by
our
new
battery
powered
trains.
These
trains
are
the
first
of
their
kind
in
the
country
and
will
help
us
to
significantly
reduce
our
carbon
footprint,
paving
the
way
for
a
cleaner,
greener
integrated
London-style
transport
network.

‘Headbolt
Lane
station
sets
a
new
standard
for
public
transport
in
this
country,
and
it’s
the
very
least
that
our
residents
deserve.
We’re
incredibly
grateful
to
local
people
and
passengers
on
the
Kirkby
line
for
their
patience
and
understanding
throughout
this
project.
I
hope
they’ll
agree
with
me
that
it’s
been
worth
the
wait.’

Great
Western
Railway
bought
some
battery-powered
rolling
stock
from
the
former
company
Vivarail
in
February
this
year,
and
is
hoping
to
introduce
battery
trains
on
the
West
Ealing
to
Greenford
branch
in
west
London.

However,
at
the
time
GWR
engineering
director
Simon
Green
said:
‘We’ve
been
working
closely
with
the
Vivarail
team
on
this
exciting
project
for
some
time,
and
we
are
delighted
we
have
been
able
to
step
in
and
make
sure
its
important
work
can
continue.

‘There
have
clearly
been
some
setbacks
that
mean
we
will
need
to
review
the
existing
plans
and
timescales,
but
we
will
continue
to
work
with
Network
Rail
and
the
Department
for
Transport
to
get
the
project
back
on
track.’