Liverpool City Region Secures £96 Million for New Liverpool Baltic Station on Merseyrail Northern Line

Reviving the Historic St James Site for Liverpool's Creative Baltic Triangle

LIVERPOOL, Merseyside — In a transformative leap for northern England's public transit infrastructure and urban regeneration, Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) have officially secured full planning approval and authorized a decisive £96 million capital funding package for the brand-new Liverpool Baltic railway station. Positioned on the busy Merseyrail Northern Line between Liverpool Central and Brunswick stations, the landmark project revives the historic subterranean site of the former St James station, which closed its doors over a century ago in 1917.

Financed through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) allocated by the UK Department for Transport, Liverpool Baltic will provide high-frequency, direct rapid rail transit into the booming Baltic Triangle creative and digital tech district, while serving the densely populated residential neighborhoods of Toxteth and the southern waterfront. The direct rail link eliminates cumbersome bus transfers, connecting workers, creatives, and residents seamlessly into the wider Merseyrail commuter grid.

World-Class Station Architecture and Universal Step-Free Accessibility

Designed to set a modern architectural benchmark for regional UK rail, the new Liverpool Baltic station features an open, luminous street-level ticket hall and passenger pavilion on Bains Place and St James Street. The station incorporates an expansive, double-height entrance atrium clad in zinc and industrial red brick honoring Liverpool's maritime heritage, complete with automated ticket gates, fully staffed customer assistance desks, real-time digital passenger transit displays, and accessible restroom facilities.

In strict alignment with Mayor Rotheram’s accessibility charter, the station delivers 100 percent step-free access from street level to platform and train. High-capacity redundant passenger elevators and gently graded ramps guarantee frictionless boarding for passengers with limited mobility, parents with prams, and cyclists, setting a new gold standard for railway accessibility across Merseyside.

Deploying Pioneering Battery-Electric Class 777 Trainsets

Passenger services calling at Liverpool Baltic will be operated using Merseyrail's cutting-edge fleet of 53 Stadler Class 777 trainsets. Owned entirely by the public of the Liverpool City Region following a £500 million investment, these world-class trains feature wide articulated walkthrough carriages, air conditioning, phone charging sockets, intelligent level-boarding sliding steps, and advanced regenerative braking technology.

Crucially, selected units are fitted with state-of-the-art onboard lithium-ion traction battery packs, allowing trains to operate seamlessly beyond the traditional third-rail electrified grid. This breakthrough technology will enable future direct rail links between Liverpool Baltic and non-electrified routes toward Skelmersdale and Wrexham, turning the new station into a flexible multimodal transit junction.

Cornerstone of Mayor Rotheram's 'Merseyrail for All' Network Strategy

Civic leaders, business chambers, and transport advocates praised the station approval as an indispensable milestone in Mayor Rotheram’s flagship 'Merseyrail for All' vision. The station layout incorporates a secure, covered 100-space active travel bicycle storage hub, electric vehicle charging bays, and direct pedestrian links connecting into Liverpool City Council's expanding network of protected cycleways along Parliament Street.

By diverting an estimated thousands of daily car journeys away from Liverpool’s congested arterial roads, Liverpool Baltic will significantly reduce urban nitrogen oxide and carbon emissions. Mayor Rotheram emphasized that the £96 million scheme will anchor sustainable commercial growth, stimulate affordable residential development, and support Liverpool City Region's binding pledge to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.