Lime Street or bust? The options for Liverpool’s HS2 station
Martin Sloman
HS2, the planned high speed rail route from London to the North, is a controversial project. National media bombard us with stories of costs out of control, natural habitats being devastated and eco warriors being evicted from tunnels and tree houses. There are also the persistent rumours that all or part of the project is to be cancelled. However, make no mistake, HS2 is happening.
As I write this, construction is well underway on Phase 1 of the project (London to Birmingham) and Phase 2A (Birmingham to Crewe) will start in 2024. Early next year, a parliamentary bill will be submitted for a further phase – 2B-West (Crewe to Manchester and Wigan). That leaves Phase 2B- East (Birmingham to Leeds via the East Midlands), which is currently rumoured to face delay or cancellation.
Attitudes to HS2 vary from enthusiastic support in the cities to be served by the new route to vehement opposition in the communities – mainly in London and the South-East – that will suffer the environmental impact. However, here in Liverpool, the reaction has been muted. That is because HS2 is not coming to Liverpool or, at least, the route won’t be coming, the trains will be.
The Liverpool City Region Linking Liverpool campaign and the business-led lobby group 20 Miles More have both highlighted the importance to the city and region of being on the high-speed rail network. This is now a realistic possibility due to the emergence of the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) proposal, a new route which would link the major cities of the North of England and in so doing, connect Liverpool to HS2. However, if HS2 and NPR are to come to Liverpool, we will need a station to serve them. The existing Lime Street is simply not big enough.
Finding a suitable site for a new terminus station within Liverpool city centre is no easy matter and so, at the end of 2020, Metro Mayor, Steve Rotherham set up a commission to locate a suitable site. Describing his vision as “much more than a rail station”, the Mayor seemed keen to set an ambitious agenda.
“I want it to be an architecturally stunning gateway which offers a mix of leisure, retail and office accommodation,” he said.
If HS2 and NPR are to come to Liverpool, we will need a station to serve them. The existing Lime Street is simply not big enough
The commission is chaired by Everton CEO, Denise Barrett-Baxendale who outlined the importance of the project to the whole area:
“The city region is faced with the momentous task of rebuilding its economy after the pandemic. This project is exactly what is needed to boost the region and bring much needed jobs and prosperity to the area, something I am extremely passionate about.”
No date has yet been announced for the commission to report. That leaves scope for speculation but, before getting into the details, let us look at some of the issues the commission face. In particular, why is this new station so important? To answer that, we first need to understand what we mean by HS2 and NPR and the economic impact that they promise to deliver.
High Speed 2
High Speed 2 (HS2) is basically a conventional railway – straighter and a little wider than the ones we are used to – but one capable of very high speeds - and I mean very high. Trains running on HS2 will regularly reach 225 miles per hour (mph), putting them amongst the fastest in the world. For comparison, the Avanti Pendolino trains currently running from Lime Street to London only achieve 125mph.
Trains will come in two types. ‘Captive’ trains will be wider than conventional British trains and so confined to the HS2 network. These trains will work the London to Birmingham service from the first day of HS2 operations and, eventually on to Manchester and Leeds. ‘Classic (or Conventional) Compatible’ trains will run from the high-speed network onto the existing railway network and so will be narrower. It is these trains that will serve destinations such as Liverpool. Both types of trains will be formed from either one or two 200m long units and both will have the same performance in terms of top speed, acceleration, and braking. All trains are passenger only with no freight services allowed on the high-speed network. Each 200m unit, which will probably be formed from up to ten carriages, will carry up to 550 passengers, so a full length 400m train will carry 1,100 passengers. That’s an 87% increase in passenger capacity compared to the longest Pendolino trains currently in use.
One disputed aspect of HS2 is the capacity of the new line in terms of trains per hour. HS2 has determined that 18 trains per hour (tph) is viable but has proposed a slightly lower service pattern of 17 tph for the completed route. This combination of speed and capacity has not been achieved anywhere else in the world and civil engineer Doug Oakervee, who carried out a review of the project in 2020, recommended a more conservative 14 tph – eventually increasing to 16tph. This capacity constraint along the whole HS2 line has implications for the Liverpool station project - as I shall explain later.
The routing and phasing of HS2 are shown in the following diagram:
Phase 1 (currently under construction) goes from an enlarged London Euston station to Birmingham. In so doing, it will roughly follow the line of the London and Birmingham railway, which opened in 1837 (the year of Queen Victoria’s coronation) and will use the original terminus at Curzon Street.
Phase 2a will extend Phase 1 from Birmingham to just south of Crewe. This phase is much shorter and less complex in terms of bridges, tunnels and station works, so will not start physical construction until 2024, but will be completed by the end of this decade or early next – HS2 aren’t being specific.
Phase 2b will consist of two arms to form a ‘Y’. The western arm will tunnel under Crewe to join the existing network just south of Wigan. A branch will run from Tatton (near Warrington) to an extended Manchester Piccadilly via a new Manchester Airport station. The eastern arm will run from Birmingham to Leeds with a station at Toton to serve Nottingham and Derby. Sheffield will be served via a spur line linking to the classic network. From Leeds a junction with the classic line connects to York and Newcastle.
As Phase 2b does not connect to Liverpool, the benefits to the city in terms of journey time reduction will arise solely from the first two phases. So, all being well, in less than a decade from now, travellers from Lime Street to London will be able to board a sleek new HS2 train that will whisk them to London in one hour 34 minutes – a good half an hour faster than the best current time. The first part of the journey will be on the conventional network with stops at Runcorn and Crewe, but from then on it will be non-stop 360kph to the capital. The first stop within London will be Old Oak Common in the west of the city where there will be a connection to Crossrail giving direct services to the West End, City, Canary Wharf and Heathrow Airport.
So far so good, but the main purpose of HS2 is capacity and its ability to meet growing demand for rail services and it is that which drives the need for both a Liverpool HS2 station and a new rail route linking Liverpool to HS2. Prior to the recent Covid pandemic, passenger demand for rail travel was at an all-time high and climbing. Opponents of HS2 often point to how working from home has become the ‘new normal’ and so the demand driving the new line has disappeared. It is too early to confirm or deny this claim but the forty years prior to Covid (according to Statista) saw a more than doubling of UK rail passenger journeys. It is a reasonable assumption that demand will recover and continue to grow - if at a slower rate. In addition, reduced journey times and improved connectivity make rail travel more attractive and will likely increase demand.
Currently, Liverpool to London passenger services are mainly provided by Avanti, who will hold the franchise until 2026, (when train services will be operated by a new body to be called Great British Railways). As part of their franchise agreement, they are to increase the number of peak services from Liverpool to London from one to two per hour. From 2022, they will introduce new seven car trains on the route, which will supplement the current eleven car Pendolinos to give a combined capacity of 1042 passengers per hour - only marginally fewer than the 1100 to be provided when these services are replaced by HS2. (HS2 plan two 200m long trains from Liverpool to London per hour). By comparison, Manchester and Birmingham will have capacity for three 400m long HS2 trains per hour serving a potential 3,300 passengers. There is, consequently, a genuine fear that Liverpool to London trains will be ‘standing room only’ from day one of the new service.
Of course, demand can be controlled by raising the cost of tickets. No information is currently available on HS2 pricing, but the aspiration is that it will match current levels. Clearly, deterring passengers from using the new service through exorbitant prices would be counter-productive and it would be politically difficult for Liverpool services to be singled out for higher pricing given that these services will run for some of their route on existing tracks.
However, we are not just talking about HS2 capacity from Liverpool to London but total rail capacity from our city, including freight. HS2 trains eat up track capacity because at high speed they require a longer distance to stop and need sufficient space ahead to prevent them catching up with slower passenger and freight trains. Therefore, moving these north-south trains onto new, dedicated routes frees up track space on the existing network for many more services. This additional connectivity is one of the main selling points of HS2, but it is not something that we will experience in the Liverpool City Region.
High speed trains from Liverpool will not access the HS2 route until they get to Hough, two miles south of Crewe and some 38 miles from Lime Street. Train speeds on this section vary due to track curvature and other restrictions and the current Pendolinos do not get up to their maximum speed of 200kph until they get to the main west coast rail route at Weaver Junction near Runcorn. Pendolinos tilt around curves, enabling them to go faster, so non-tilting HS2 trains may be limited to 110mph, which will increase overall journey time. However, the main problem with this section is limited capacity arising from long stretches where four tracks are reduced to two.
As previously mentioned, the west arm of Phase 2b will not connect to Liverpool. However, it will relieve capacity somewhat on the west coast route between Crewe and Warrington by removing high speed trains from Scotland to London and Birmingham. Even so, this section of route will remain a critical north-south corridor – with conventional passenger trains from Liverpool to Birmingham via Crewe and freight trains from the Port of Liverpool, the North and Scotland. To this must be added the two HS2 services from Liverpool and one from Lancaster via Warrington. Given that both passenger and freight services are expected to increase in the future, there is likely to be a major issue with capacity over this section.
It follows that the Liverpool City Region faces the double whammy of insufficient capacity on HS2 to London and insufficient released capacity on the existing network to improve connectivity to other destinations. This capacity issue is the likely reason why consultants KPMG, in their 2013 analysis of the GDP uplift attributable to HS2, gave Liverpool a rating varying from 1.2% to -0.5% - lower than some towns and cities not connected to the network. Amazingly, Liverpool may experience a net drop in GDP because of one of the greatest infrastructure investments in UK history – hardly successful ‘levelling up’.
Northern Powerhouse Rail
A frequent criticism of HS2 is that it is a London-centred project – a rail route that, by making travel to the capital easier, uplifts the London economy far more than that of the connected cities. Authorities across the north of England plan to counter this through the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) initiative - linking the major cities of the north with the intention of boosting the economies of all.
There are few details about NPR currently available, but we do know that it will be a high(ish) speed passenger network consisting of several new rail routes and part of Phase 2b of the HS2 network. It will link Liverpool to Manchester and on to Leeds, Sheffield, Hull and Newcastle. The section from Liverpool to Manchester will consist of a new route from Liverpool via Warrington to Tatton, where it will join the Manchester spur of HS2. A curve at Tatton will link to the HS2 main line, as shown in the following diagram:
Whilst only outline details of the NPR route are currently known, one clear advantage is that it will by-pass the congested Crewe to Warrington section of the West Coast Main Line mentioned above. That will be a major boost to the Liverpool City Region because capacity released on the existing route will then be available for new passenger and freight services to other places.
With Liverpool directly connected to HS2 by a new high capacity and faster rail route, journey times to London will further reduce. No official journey times have been published but it is reasonable to assume that a time of I hour 15 minutes (including a Warrington stop) will be achievable. That compares to the HS2 figure of 1 hour 34 minutes and so should increase demand for Liverpool-London services even further.
We now need to look at how that demand will be satisfied within the city of Liverpool itself.
Lime St
Lime Street has been Liverpool’s main rail terminus since its opening in 1836. In 2017, major remodelling works lengthened and widened the platforms and added one more. However, no work specific to HS2 has been carried out. Consequently, when Phases 1 and 2a open, we must assume that the HS2 trains will take over the platform space vacated by the current and planned Avanti services.
The new platforms will comfortably serve the 200m long HS2 units, but the geography of the site, with St Georges Hall at the front and 50 foot high cutting walls at the rear does not lend itself to the much longer platforms required for 400m trains. Passenger growth will need to be accommodated by increasing the number of 200m HS2 units and, therefore the number of platforms dedicated to HS2 services. To this we must add the platforms dedicated to NPR services (likely to be a minimum of four trains per hour). It becomes clear that the platform space required for the additional capacity freed up by HS2/NPR will be severely restricted. However, there is a possible solution to this problem, which involves removing the Merseyrail City Line trains that currently terminate at the station. This could be done by diverting these services to Liverpool Central – a long term aspiration of Merseyrail, and one which would require re-use of the abandoned Wapping Tunnel from Edge Hill plus some new tunnelling.
Platform capacity is not the only issue. As mentioned earlier, HS2 is likely to be capacity constrained between Birmingham and London (based on the recommendations of civil engineer Doug Oakervee) and so we cannot assume that there will be paths made available for additional Liverpool services. (The current plan is for one 200m unit from Liverpool to couple at Crewe with a similar unit from Lancaster via Warrington to run to London as a 400m unit). Consequently, the use of Lime Street could become a hostage to fortune with expansion of services to London only available on the slower existing network.
Lime Street is an iconic station. Few provincial stations can match the great expanse of its twin arched roofs or the grandeur of the Victorian North-Western Hotel (soon to be the Radisson Red) at its front. Lime Street is right in the heart of the city and faces directly onto the magnificent, columned splendour of St Georges Hall. It could easily satisfy Steve Rotherham’s ‘stunning gateway’ aspiration in the same way that London St Pancras has fulfilled that brief for HS1.
On the other hand, its location, surrounded by historic and cultural buildings, does not lend itself to the commercial, retail, and residential development planned for Manchester Piccadilly or Birmingham Curzon Street. Whilst it does boast an underground Merseyrail Wirral Line station, road access is not easy and the development of a transport hub to deal with a major increase in passenger throughput would be problematic. If we are to resolve some of these problems, we need to look elsewhere.
A new HS2 / NPR Station
Freed from the constraints of Lime Street, we can look to develop a 21st century terminal suited to both HS2 and NPR. What would such a station look like? A full size HS2 station will be 415m long and at least 50m wide to allow for a minimum of four platforms. It will also have to be straight and level over its full length. Connectivity to the wider region is going to be very important and so it needs both good rail and road access. Moreover, the location needs to be in an area where its economic impact will be maximised. An HS2 station should be a catalyst for regeneration and growth. It follows that the construction of this station and its associated infrastructure should not involve demolition and disruption on a scale that detracts from its benefits.Then, of course, it must be architecturally stunning - it will be a gateway to our city and region.
Should we find a site with the potential to fulfil all these requirements, we need to consider how it will connect to the high-speed rail network. We await the publication of the Integrated Rail Plan before we know how the proposed route will enter Liverpool. However, a reasonable assumption is that it will approach the city centre via Edge Hill to the east, rather than from the north and south. That is the most logical direction for a route from Warrington and Manchester and follows existing infrastructure such as the original Liverpool and Manchester Railway and the M62 motorway. (Paralleling existing routes is one way of reducing the impact of new infrastructure).
From Edge Hill, its route into the city centre would need to be underground if large scale demolition is to be avoided. That could require a completely new tunnel or, possibly, re-use of the abandoned Waterloo or Wapping tunnels that once served dockside goods depots. In practice, these tunnels have insufficient width for two HS2 tracks (having been built to restricted dimensions) and so a parallel single-track tunnel would probably be required. However, overall costs would be reduced.
Is there a site that fits all the requirements? Probably not, but this diagram shows a few suggestions.
1. Lime Street
This is not the historic station discussed above but a new station on an adjacent site. (e.g. on the south side of Lord Nelson Street – the site of the existing station car park and Liner Hotel). Approach tracks could be by means of the Waterloo / Victoria tunnel.
Pros:
• Historically, Liverpool’s main station.
• Good location for main city retail area and cultural quarter.
• Existing station architecturally impressive with North-Western Hotel refurbishment enhancing its appeal.
• Merseyrail Wirral Line connection.
Cons:
• Very restricted site. Expansion would require major demolition.
• Ground level difference over length of station requiring major excavation and / or platforms in tunnel.
• Road access awkward.
• Built-up and historic area doesn’t lend itself to significant development.
One variation on this option might be sitting the new station slightly further away. For example, on the land behind the World Museum / Central Library / Art Gallery block vacated by the former flyovers. Another possibility is that a new station could focus on serving shorter, classic trains allowing the existing station to concentrate on HS2 and NPR services. This would reduce building costs. However, it would be very difficult to accommodate 400m long trains in either configuration.
2. Former Exchange Station, Tithebarn Street
Until recently, this site was mainly given over to surface car parks – although the Liverpool Exchange (formerly Mercury Court) office development occupies the southern part.
Pros:
• Central location near to main business district and within walking distance of the Town Hall.
• Existing station buildings would give an elegant frontage.
• Easy access to both Wirral and Northern lines of Merseyrail.
• Good road access via Leeds Street.
• Large, mainly undeveloped site.
• Local area ripe for regeneration as homes or offices.
Cons:
• Demolition of existing Liverpool Exchange offices required.
• Pall Mall development currently proposed for site (not yet started).
• Approach tracks would require significant tunnelling.
• Platforms would need to span Leeds Street.
This is a very appealing site given its location and connectivity, and one which could stimulate commercial and retail development in this part of the city centre. Conflicting proposals for the site would be a major issue but office buildings could be built above the new station as an ‘air rights’ development.
3. Exchange Station Approaches (North of Leeds Street).
This is a large, disused site formerly occupied by the approach tracks to the abandoned Liverpool Exchange Station. It is to the north of the Infinity Waters towers, which have commenced (but then stalled) on site.
Pros:
• Large undeveloped site.
• Adjacent to Merseyrail Northern Line enabling the creation of an interchange station.
• Good road access via Leeds Street.
• Local area ripe for development (Pumpfields).
• Walking distance to Ten Streets and Liverpool Waters.
Cons:
• Approach tracks would require significant tunnelling.
• Relatively remote from the city centre.
This site is less central than Exchange Station but avoids some of the construction issues associated with the former site. However, it is in an area ripe for redevelopment and could become a catalyst for the regeneration of the northern part of the city centre.
4. Clarence Dock
This is a large expanse of land formerly occupied by Clarence Dock power station. It is within the Liverpool Waters redevelopment site.
Pros:
• Existing, undeveloped, waterfront site. Ideal for landmark structure.
• Central to Liverpool Waters development and adjacent to Ten Streets.
• Would stimulate home and office development.
• Easy link to Edge Hill via disused Waterloo Tunnel.
• Reasonable road access.
Cons:
• Site earmarked for Peel Holdings Liverpool Waters development.
• Remote from the Merseyrail network.
This undeveloped plot has the potential to fulfil the ‘stunning gateway’ remit given its location and the space available. Though its position within Liverpool Waters would significantly affect current development plans, placing a new station here could be an incentive for people and offices to locate in the area.
5. Wapping
This is the site of the former Wapping Goods Depot, closed in 1972. It fronts directly onto Wapping.
Pros:
• Large undeveloped site in an area earmarked for development.
• Close to ACC, Exhibition Centre, Albert Dock and Baltic Triangle.
• Easy link to Edge Hill via disused Wapping Tunnel.
• Good road access.
Cons:
• Catering for 400m long trains would require significant property demolition and alterations to the historic Wapping Tunnel.
• Remote from Merseyrail network.
Again, a site with potential for a ‘stunning gateway’ and in a prominent position in the city centre. It is in an area that has seen considerable development in recent years.
6. Underground
A station constructed in large diameter bored tunnels.
Pros:
• Location not determined by surface geography allowing optimum positioning for economic impact and connectivity.
• Minimal visual intrusion.
• Minimal demolition requirement.
Cons:
• Very high cost given dimensions of HS2 terminus and onerous requirements for sub-surface construction.
• Potential lack of political support from central government due to cost.
• Existing underground infrastructure would restrict location and constructability.
• Difficulty of providing an ‘architecturally stunning gateway’.
To construct a station on the scale required for HS2 / NPR would be a major feat of engineering given the size of the tunnels required. It would, probably, be ruled out on price but could be considered if other cheaper alternatives prove impractical.
7. Edge Hill
The most obvious site for this station would be to the north of Edge Hill Station, adjacent to Wavertree Road, a site currently occupied by retail units. Another possibility would be to the south of the station on the site of the former Spekeland Sidings.
Pros:
• Cheaper construction due to removal of the need to build in the city centre.
• Good connections to LCR road network via M62 and Queens Drive.
• Potential Merseyrail connections via Wapping and Waterloo tunnels.
• Adjacent to Knowledge Quarter, Wavertree Technology Park and Littlewoods Studios.
• Area has potential for regeneration.
Cons:
• Remote from city centre – most journeys will require an onward trip to destination.
• Success would depend on further public transport investment.
• Too ‘out of town’ to have a major economic impact.
Edge Hill is close to the centre of Liverpool and would be accessible to a large part of the population by both road and rail. However, most passengers using the station would need to change onto another form of transport to access locations in the city centre. It would be a cheap option and worth considering.
And Finally…
The above is by no means an exhaustive list and it will be interesting to see what options the Station Commission identify. What I hope this proves is that there are several sites, all of which fulfil part of the station remit but fall short in other respects. There is no perfect choice that ticks all boxes. The final decision will depend to a large extent on what qualities are deemed most important. An ‘architecturally stunning’ gateway may not have good regeneration potential or connectivity. Other solutions may be well connected with a strong case for economic impact but come at the expense of unacceptable levels of demolition and dislocation.
The final selection of a station site will take a great deal of study and will need to address far more parameters than I have listed. We need to be aware that the likelihood of a Liverpool HS2 / NPR station being built will depend to a large extent on continual government commitment to the North of England and the Liverpool City Region. However, it is by no means simply wishful thinking given the size and economic importance of this area.
Rail investment tends to last for a very long time – Liverpool Lime Street has been around for the best part of two centuries. To get this decision right, we need this city to think big. To put aside political expediency and narrow commercial interests. It’s time to think long term with an eye to those future generations of Liverpolitans who will take our region forward. Let’s remember that the Railway Age began in Liverpool and it is far from over yet.
Martin Sloman is a civil engineer and former railway consultant. He is an active member of the ‘20 Miles More’ lobby group.