Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram expressed his own frustrations at the progress
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram expressed his own frustrations at the progress
Work to make Broadgreen station more accessible faces a lengthy delay after delivery of the scheme “significantly slipped.” A £1.2m scheme to make the site in L14 more user-friendly for those with mobility constraints had been expected to be completed by March last year.
A new report to go before members of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) when it meets on Friday will confirm the project could face almost two further years before it is completed. Documents to go before regional leaders said this was down to “circumstances beyond the control of Merseytravel.”
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram told a phone-in on BBC Radio Merseyside earlier this month how taking stations back into public control would help speed up the process in future. Some commuters took to social media to question why the scheme had been delayed.
The Access for All (AfA) programme was launched by the Department for Transport (DfT) in 2006 to address the issues faced by passengers facing mobility constraints such as wheelchair access, heavy baggage, pushchairs, and cycles. The funding is used to create an obstacle free, accessible route from the station entrance to the platform.
The Liverpool City Region’s AfA programme, which included Broad Green and four other stations on the Merseyrail network) was approved as a single project with a total £9.8m grant for the period April 2019 to March 31 last year. The four other sites were completed within the timescale.
Works planned for Broadgreen included the installation of two lifts on each platform. Northern Railways, as the station operator, are leading this project on behalf of Merseytravel.
The report, which members will consider on Friday alongside a proposal to extend the lifetime of the project, said: “The original timescales for the delivery of the scheme have significantly slipped due to circumstances beyond the control of Merseytravel and linked to gaining the necessary technical approvals and matters necessitating the replacement of the original principal contractor appointed by Northern Railways, to undertake the detailed design and construction works.”
Northern are in the process of appointing a new contractor to design and install new lifts and a station building. The document added: “In the interim a different Northern framework contractor is making the site safe and secure and making good the work that has been carried out to date.”
As a result, a works completion date has now been set for December 31, 2026, with a financial completion date earmarked for March 31, 2027. The document said signing off on the change request will enable full delivery of the scheme and “improve accessibility, safety and comfort for all passengers using Broad Green station.”
In a phone in on BBC Radio Merseyside, Metro Mayor Rotheram said there were limitations over who the Combined Authority could appoint to complete work on the site. He said: “We can’t go out and contract with anyone we want.
“If we take the stations back, we can get this done much more quickly.”