Mayor Rotherham’s 2nd class ‘bendy-bus’ shows lack of ambition for our City Region, say Lib Dems.
As he prepares to unveil the Lib Dem vision for Liverpool the City Region, Lib Dem Metro Mayor candidate Rob McAllister-Bell has slammed the current Mayor Rotheram’s total lack of ambition for local transport.
This comes after huge public backlash over Labour's proposed "trackless tram" which has been called out as a "glorified bendy-bus". In light of the backlash, the Liverpool ran an articles on the 7th April with the leadline 'God help Liverpool' if city gets Glider transport system say people in Belfast. This has poured even more cold water on Labour's headline transport offer.
“Our region deserves world class transport links but, while other regions speed ahead, a failure of political vision is causing Liverpool to fall behind,” says Rob McAllister Bell.
“Plans are being developed for a high speed rail link from Liverpool to Manchester Airport, but the best Labour can promise for our local airport is bendy bus dressed up as a tram.”
“A real rail link is needed to Liverpool Airport, so that we can support local jobs and provide passengers with greener travel options. As Lib Dem Metro Mayor, this would be a top priority for me,” says Rob.
The Lib Dems preferred option would be to bring abandoned rail tunnels under the city centre back into use, extending the Merseyrail Northern Line to Edge Hill, Mossley Hill, West Allerton and South Parkway, before heading to Liverpool Airport.
The alternative would be to run a tram-train along the existing rail until Speke Retail Park, before finishing the last 1 1/2 mile as an on-street tram.
The plans would include taking derelict railway land next to Edge Hill station to create a large park and ride site to help persuade drivers out of their cars. New stations would be built at Wavertree, Smithdown Road, and Speke.
The Liberal Democrats would also investigate expanding the Merseyrail network further to include mid-Wirral, St Helens, Ormskirk to Southport, and Gateacre in South Liverpool.