Glider buses best fix for transport woes - mayor

The so-called "bendy buses", which already operate in Belfast, are also known as Gliders

Glider buses funded by a £100m transport boost for Liverpool will be "the best quick fix" to link up the city's airport and football stadia, the city region mayor has said.

Liverpool City Region has been handed £1.6bn by Chancellor Rachel Reeves as part of a £15bn transport spending announcement.

The £100m will be spent on a new rapid transit bus system on three routes to take passengers from Liverpool John Lennon airport to the city centre and to Liverpool and Everton's stadiums, Steve Rotheram said.

Money will also be spent on a new fleet of buses across the city region, being rolled out in St Helens first in 2026, and on three new railway stations.

The challenge of how to transport people from the airport into the city centre was a central debate in last year's Liverpool City Region mayoral election.

The nearest railway station is Liverpool South Parkway, which still requires passengers to catch a bus or a taxi to reach the terminal building.

Transport for fans attending Everton's new stadium has also faced criticism and it is hoped the gliders would address these concerns, although a timescale for their introduction has not yet been published.

Rotheram said the gliders were something he had first seen in Belfast.

'Fill the gaps'

The 59ft (18m) articulated vehicles can carry about 30% more passengers than an average double decker bus.

They have been described as "bendy buses" and look a bit like trams but have wheels and are designed to operate on roads.

In Belfast they run on dedicated lanes.

Rotheram said details needed to be worked out on how the vehicles would use the roads in Liverpool but part of the money announced earlier would pay for any required infrastructure improvements.

Opposition councillors in Liverpool have criticised the plans for not being ambitious enough.

But Rotheram said the gliders would "fill in the gaps" in the city's transport network.

He told BBC Radio Merseyside: "We need to connect those areas with significant footfall much more quickly."

A planned Liverpool tram system – Merseytram - which would have linked Liverpool's major landmarks and eventually other parts of Merseyside was scrapped in 2013.

Asked if the gliders were a poor relation to a tram system, the metro mayor said: "We haven't got a tram system and if we had a tram system like we should have done with Merseytram then I would be using this money to extend that and build on it but we would need an act of parliament to start that journey."

Rotheram said he would "bite your hand off" for trams in the region and added it might be something future politicians could resurrect, but with the gliders scheme "we've asked what can be done most quickly".

Concerns have been raised about how football fans will travel to and from Everton's new stadium

Leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat group on Liverpool City Council councillor Carl Cashman said the investment in Liverpool was welcome but described it as a "second best" deal.

He said: "Manchester, Yorkshire and Birmingham get new tram lines while Liverpool is left behind with more of the same. Buses."

Alan Gibbons who leads the Community Independent group of councillors in Liverpool said the announcement of these bus routes "falls far short of the needs of the city".

He added: "It is ridiculous there is no Merseyrail train link to John Lennon Airport.

"Transport links in this city are inadequate, particularly when it comes to cross-city travel. So much more is needed."

Money from the £1.6bn pot will also be invested in the city region's rail network, with three new stations – Carr Mill in St Helens, Woodchurch in Wirral, and Daresbury in Halton.

Rotheram said: "We have seen with our new stations at Maghull North and Headbolt lane in Kirkby that people who might not have used public transport jump on the train."

A new station has already been agreed for Liverpool's Baltic area.