This is presumably a road 'signalled' crossing, not a railway level crossing in whatever form?
Many thanks for the update.
What does this mean? Surely not a new level crossing when they are supposed to be doing away with them? (or is it an underpass - pedestrian subway - under a road, in which case I can see the point.
www.google.com
It's a stepping stone towards Skelmersdale. Better to get the first bit in place and then extend, rather than hold up the whole scheme because some detail at Skelmersdale hasn't been agreed yet.
Lancashire council are still trying to get all the funding in place, it's a few years off being ready to go that far. At least Merseytravel are factoring it into their plans.
Skelmersdale is not in Merseyside or the Liverpool City Region so Merseytravel would not fund the whole extension to Skelmerdale, pesumably as far as Rainford Junction.
And from what I recall from a few months ago the business case for extension to Skelmersdale was not good.
Noone can predict the future, not even highly paid consultants with the best will in the world. Skelmersdale is never going to be a bustling, energising town but you have to spend some money in the North if you wish to level it up so I would recommend just putting a punt on it.
I agree with your sentiment. The trouble is, funders look at all the schemes demanding their money and pick the one likely to have the best 'value for money', which means it needs a good business case. If it isn't good then something else that can demonstrate a better case gets the money.
I think the scrapping of HS2 to Leeds and the gross reduction of the Northern Powerhouse project makes me rather sceptical about funders' motivations and knowledge but that is for another thread.
And without being totally cynical about the "levelling up" agenda, there are better uses for the money in North West England (and no that does not include electrification to Bescar Lane and the like!)
Skelmersdale was built as an overflow town for people from Liverpool in the 1960s but with no railway connections other than a station on the outskirts at Upholland. Extension of the Merseyrail will brng massive benefits to the lives of local people with renewed historic link. This cannot be measured in a business case because it is not there yet.
This is a very good point. Business cases really look backwards to existing patterns of use. Where there is a little economic activity or it is for an area of low wage levels then the case falls. A better comparison would be with the Ormskirk line that has really created a corridor of prosperity. The performance of the new station will show this.
It certainly would from Tanhouse!
