Virtual reality to show plan for £100m rail station

Liverpool City Region metro mayor Steve Rotheram said he wanted to have the new station open by 2027

Rail passengers will get chance to see what a planned £100m railway station could look like using virtual reality.

The Liverpool Baltic Merseyrail station, which metro mayor Steve Rotheram previously said could be in use by 2027, was announced in 2022.

Work could be under way in 2025 and new designs have been unveiled ahead of a public consultation on the scheme.

A virtual reality "walkthrough" will allow the public to imagine themselves inside the station.

Liverpool Baltic is one of four new stations announced by Rotheram

Neil Grabham, managing director of Merseyrail, said the images showed an "incredibly complex project".

“I would encourage everyone to visit the drop-in events to judge for themselves how the new station will look and work for customers," he added.

The new station is part of Mr Rotheram’s “Merseyrail for All” commitment to reach communities that are not connected to the local rail network, using battery-powered technology.

'Pipeline of new stations'

The engagement period will begin on 3 June and close on 26 July and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority said the drop-in sessions would be "within weeks".

Mr Rotheram said Liverpool Baltic "is just the first in a pipeline" of new stations planned in Daresbury in Halton, Woodchurch in Wirral and Carr Mill in St Helens.

The opening date for the new station has been called into question, however.

In January Tony Killen, combined authority rail development advisor, told the organisation’s overview and scrutiny committee an opening date of March 2028 was likely.

Mr Rotheram told the Local Democracy Reporting Service earlier this year that he stood by his 2027 prediction.

He said: “Thankfully staff and officers don’t decide what happens in the Liverpool City Region, it’s the directly elected mayor and that happens to be me at the moment and I’ll be the one who decides on that."