Liverpool Echo 16th January 2018  “Transport leaders insist a plan for a high-speed rail network that could link Liverpool to Manchester in 20 minutes and to London in an hour and a quarter WILL happen – but say it could take decades.

The plan launched today says a new high-speed line should be built from Liverpool to Manchester via Manchester Airport. That could link to a new trans-Pennine line and faster services to Hull or Newcastle. That Liverpool-Manchester line would also link to a junction on the HS2 high-speed line, giving Liverpool fast links to London too. The Manchester line has long been backed by Liverpool leaders but its inclusion in today’s plan means it is now backed by politicians across the North.

Asked directly if the Liverpool high-speed link would happen, Cllr Liam Robinson, chairman of Merseytravel, said: “I’m confident it will, but that’s because of the determination of the North to make sure it doesn’t slip off the radar. This is vital to us in Liverpool city region but, speaking as one, people in Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle and everywhere in between are saying this has to happen. … I’m confident in a couple of decades all this will come to pass.”

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