Everyday that passes without Merseyrail’s new fleet of trains being in operation is ‘a blow’, according to Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram.
A deal to purchase a 52-strong fleet of state-of-the-art new trains from a Swiss manufacturer was finalised in 2016, but the project to deliver the new Merseyrail trains has been hit with a number of delays - with the global pandemic being one of the main reasons. Platform upgrade work took place in 2019 with testing of the new fleeting beginning in the region last year.
There have been renewed hopes that the first services operated by the new trains will be running by autumn, but the Mayor has stressed that it has been an uncomfortable wait so far. Mayor Rotheram was speaking yesterday at the City Region ’s first Active Travel Summit where he was asked by the ECHO if delivery of the project would be a crucial step forward in furthering a sustainable travel network - hopes for which were bolstered by £710m of Government funding last November.
READ MORE: Where are our new Merseyrail trains and when will they arrive on our network
Mayor Rotheram told the ECHO: “Everyday the new trains aren’t on the tracks is a blow. I'm not over egging that at all. I'm desperate to see them [in operation for the public] but I have to be patient.”
Mayor Rotheram noted that “certain things need to be done sequentially” when commenting on the time it is taking to get the new trains on the tracks. The project has already been hit with issues stemming from factory flooding, international travel restrictions for engineers and the ‘ping-demic’, but rigorous testing amounts to one of the biggest hurdles the new trains have to clear.
The Combined Authority confirmed to the ECHO on Monday that each new train needs to complete 500 miles of fault free testing before it can be cleared for service. However the Metro Mayor suggested that the testing can now only be conducted at certain times, suggesting there were fewer windows to carry out the testing with Merseyrail returning to a timetable offering services every 15 minutes.
He added: “We can't introduce the trains until they've been rigorously tested - 500 miles of fault free testing. They have to run on the tracks and they can only run at certain times. Currently we’re back to [trains every] 15 minutes so there are less slots.”
The Metro Mayor remained confident that the first services involving the new trains will run before the end of the year, although this will not happen on every line all at once. He said: “We will see Liverpool Central to Kirkby station one first. I’m desperate for that to happen before the end of this year.”
