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Economic Development

£200m rail project to link Merseyside with North Wales

The proposals would also see the creation of a new super-hub in Chester

Liverpool Lime Street station(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)

Proposals for a £200m rail upgrade linking Merseyside with North Wales through a new super-hub at Chester are set to be outlined next week.

The investment would include £80m to connect Liverpool to Wrexham including £20m for a new station at Shotton in Flintshire, £60m to modernise and upgrade Chester Station and another £60m to speed up the North Wales main line to Holyhead.

The proposals will be presented at Regional Recovery 2021, an online conference due to be held on Wednesday February 24.

Leading the bid will be Cllr Louise Gittins, leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council and chair of Growth Track 360, the campaign group launched by a cross-border alliance of business and political leaders.

Taking part will be º£½ÇÊÓÆµ Government ministers Paul Scully MP from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, David Davies MP from the Wales Office and Welsh Government economics minister Ken Skates.

Cllr Gittins said: "Growth Track 360 is pursuing a two-track strategy, firstly by seeking investment in the region of the Mersey-Dee cross-border area and North Wales and secondly seeking to influence major strategic º£½ÇÊÓÆµ rail investments like HS2.

"We want a transformation of the Wrexham line to Bidston on the Wirral into a Liverpool to Wrexham service that runs services similar to the MerseyRail network and forms the basis of a cross border metro system based on rail
hubs with connecting bus services and travel corridors.

"These local investments will enable better, economy-boosting connectivity from Liverpool to North Wales and Cheshire and to the big º£½ÇÊÓÆµ rail investments in HS2 at Crewe to London and the Midlands, Northern Powerhouse
Rail at Warrington to Manchester, Leeds and the Northern Cities and access to Manchester and its international airport."