The cash hit faced by Merseytravel as a result of Covid-19 continues to impact plans for the rollout of new trains.
Additional costs to the transport body are being felt as a result of the pandemic as uncertainty around recovering passenger numbers increases.
A financial performance report to Liverpool City Region Combined Authority ’s transport committee has explained how progress on the new rolling stock has been “has been negatively impacted by Covid-19 with delivery being delayed, which has placed upwards pressure on the overall costs of the project.”
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It added that the project’s business case was built around higher passenger revenues, however the pandemic has caused uncertainty around the recovery of traveller numbers on the network.
The report said: “To the extent that the original business case assumptions are unachievable there will be additional costs to Merseytravel stemming from the project over the medium term that are currently outside the budget.”
It is understood that additional expenditure also came about through the testing of new train designs which were made more challenging and time consuming by the pandemic.
The new fleet is part of Mayor Rotheram’s vision to create 'Merseyrail for All' - a commitment to connecting under-served communities to the Merseyrail network.
This is a wider element of the Metro Mayor’s commitment to deliver Mayor Rotheram a London-style, integrated public transport region for the city region that brings together bus, rail, ferry and active travel in one simple, affordable and easy to use transport network.
In July last year, testing of the new £500m rolling stock began as they replace the existing 40-year-old fleet.
The battery-powered trains are said to use up to 30% less energy than the existing models on the network.
It is expected that the new trains will run on services to a new station being created at Headbolt Lane, Kirkby.
Initial earthworks are now underway at the site, which is anticipated to open in 2023.
The financial performance report will go before the combined authority committee this afternoon.
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