What extensions should be made to the Merseyrail Network?

[BerkshireRails]

Here is a few ideas I had for extending the Merseryrail network, all routes would be 25kv unless otherwise stated. I know some of these are planned. Due to the number of issues with the 777s it might be worth getting a fleet of level baording 717s for extensions.

Kirby Headbolt Lane to Wigan Wallgate (4tph)
Ormskirk to Preston (4tph)
Wrexham to Bidston (4tph)
Cressington to Liverpool Airport (12tph)
Ellesmere Port to Helsby (4tph)
Ormskirk to Skelmersdale (4tph)

 

[Bletchleyite]

The highest priority one in my view should be extending from Headbolt to Wigan Wallgate, though I think I would only extend 2 of the 4tph. The layout of Headbolt (if a footbridge with lifts was added) does work with this as it's a single line with a freight siding on the Wigan side so you could easily have a bay for terminating services and a through platform. What you'd need to do is remove the current Wigan platform and concrete block and lower the track level down to meet the present ticket office side platform, and add appropriate signalling.

I really can't decide about Wrexham-Bidston. My inclination here is that being a much longer run which would make a different style of train with toilets more desirable would mean it would ideally make more sense for TfW to obtain suitable units to run a half hourly service terminating at the currently disused platform at James St, with a lift added to this platform. However it is a long battery run to Wrexham so this might not yet be feasible without extra electrification.

Liverpool Airport should be done by taking the WCML slow lines down what is now a road via a couple of Speke stations to the Airport. This is much easier to do because of the position of these lines with regard to ground level. 4tph of EMUs could then shuttle between Lime St and the Airport; if Wapping Tunnel ever gets done an Ormskirk-Airport service could replace this. This would provide a proper service at Mossley Hill and West Allerton too, with those stops taken out of the WMT services. It could even be considered to do it by way of tram-train which would be cheaper as you could cross roads on the level and run it down the central reservation of the existing roads rather than closing them to dig out a proper segregated heavy rail line. (Note tram, not fake tram )

Helsby would be easy to do but only viable in conjunction with major housing development.

Ormskirk-Preston I struggle with, again it's too long and thin for 777s. I think extending to Burscough would be viable but it's really nothingness beyond that. Perhaps a sensible option would be 2tph to extend from Ormskirk to Burscough via the South Curve terminating at a new bay at Burscough Bridge, and a Southport-Preston service via the North Curve, taking up the local stops from the Manchester service.

 

[Djgr]

Ellesmere Port to Helsby (4tph)

Unfortunately this would just carry hot air. There is minimal demand. Ellesmere Port struggles as it is. Ince and Elton are pretty small and inconveniently the station is actually situated in neither village but between the two. Stanlow and Thornton is "resting".

What might work is a commuter service from Ellesmere Port into Manchester, ideally not stopping at every shack on the way. There is a lot of commuter traffic from the Wirral and North Wales on the M56 and there is space at Ellesmere Port for a sizeable park and ride.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Unfortunately this would just carry hot air. There is minimal demand. Ellesmere Port struggles as it is. Ince and Elton are pretty small and inconveniently the station is actually situated in neither village but between the two. Stanlow and Thornton is "resting".

I think you'd need substantial housing development to make it worthwhile. It could happen if the oil sites closed - how likely is this? I have a feeling I recall reading that expansion of Ince/Elton is generally not considered a good idea because of the added risks posed by being so close to a major oil terminal.

What might work is a commuter service from Ellesmere Port into Manchester, ideally not stopping at every shack on the way. There is a lot of commuter traffic from the Wirral and North Wales on the M56 and there is space at Ellesmere Port for a sizeable park and ride.

There has been one and it was hardly used, hence it dropping to a shuttle now.

 

[Djgr]

terminating at the currently disused platform at James St, with a lift added to this platform.

For a "disused" platform this gets a lot of use, with not infrequent disruptions. I'm not sure losing this "slack asset" would be a good idea.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Aug 2025 ==

I think you'd need substantial housing development to make it worthwhile. It could happen if the oil sites closed - how likely is this? I have a feeling I recall reading that expansion of Ince/Elton is generally not considered a good idea because of the added risks posed by being so close to a major oil terminal.



There has been one and it was hardly used, hence it dropping to a shuttle now.

I'm not sure I would choose to live there! And I do drive through Elton frequently. Highly unlikely oil terminal would close and be replaced by housing.

 

[Bletchleyite]

For a "disused" platform this gets a lot of use, with not infrequent disruptions. I'm not sure losing this "slack asset" would be a good idea.

What's got worse to cause it to be used more, 777s? It was rarely used in my youth, though I have set foot on it when the Loop was closed due to engineering works once.

 

[Trainbike46]

Unfortunately this would just carry hot air. There is minimal demand. Ellesmere Port struggles as it is. Ince and Elton are pretty small and inconveniently the station is actually situated in neither village but between the two. Stanlow and Thornton is "resting".

Isn't Ellesmere Port to Helsby currently operated as a shuttle? That would make for a very unattractive service currently, and would suggest the cost of extending the Merseyrail service would be limited. For anyone travelling across Ellesmere port, you would remove one change, making the journey more attractive, and so hopefully increase passenger numbers.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Aug 2025 ==

For a "disused" platform this gets a lot of use, with not infrequent disruptions. I'm not sure losing this "slack asset" would be a good idea.

If it gets used a lot, it should be fitted with a lift

 

[BerkshireRails]

The highest priority one in my view should be extending from Headbolt to Wigan Wallgate, though I think I would only extend 2 of the 4tph. The layout of Headbolt (if a footbridge with lifts was added) does work with this as it's a single line with a freight siding on the Wigan side so you could easily have a bay for terminating services and a through platform. What you'd need to do is remove the current Wigan platform and concrete block and lower the track level down to meet the present ticket office side platform, and add appropriate signalling.

It looks like the Freight siding is taking the place of Platform 2 Up Headbolt on the Wigan side so it should be possible to extend the double track between Rainford and Headbolt Lane. So would it not make sense to just run 4tph to Wigan even if it 2tph fast and 2tph stopping, like how the Chester branch works at some stations? But an interesting idea.

I really can't decide about Wrexham-Bidston. My inclination here is that being a much longer run which would make a different style of train with toilets more desirable would mean it would ideally make more sense for TfW to obtain suitable units to run a half hourly service terminating at the currently disused platform at James St, with a lift added to this platform. However it is a long battery run to Wrexham so this might not yet be feasible without extra electrification.

I think the solution is Dual voltage traction then you don't have to worry about range and keep the smaller depot battery rather than the larger independent multiple unit battery. That is an interesting idea however would it not be easier to run around the loop as you have to slot into the timetable anyway to get to the James Street?

Liverpool Airport should be done by taking the WCML slow lines down what is now a road via a couple of Speke stations to the Airport. This is much easier to do because of the position of these lines with regard to ground level. 4tph of EMUs could then shuttle between Lime St and the Airport; if Wapping Tunnel ever gets done an Ormskirk-Airport service could replace this. This would provide a proper service at Mossley Hill and West Allerton too, with those stops taken out of the WMT services. It could even be considered to do it by way of tram-train which would be cheaper as you could cross roads on the level and run it down the central reservation of the existing roads rather than closing them to dig out a proper segregated heavy rail line. (Note tram, not fake tram )

A Tram-Train idea using something like the class 398s with TfW seems a reasonable idea instead of a proper heavy rail tunnel from Cressington Station hence the choice to head off the Northern Line. The only real issue with tram-trains is keeping to a strict timetable unless you have ample stand time at the interchange between Rail and Tram and signal priority.

Helsby would be easy to do but only viable in conjunction with major housing development.

Unfortunately this would just carry hot air. There is minimal demand. Ellesmere Port struggles as it is. Ince and Elton are pretty small and inconveniently the station is actually situated in neither village but between the two. Stanlow and Thornton is "resting".

What might work is a commuter service from Ellesmere Port into Manchester, ideally not stopping at every shack on the way. There is a lot of commuter traffic from the Wirral and North Wales on the M56 and there is space at Ellesmere Port for a sizeable park and ride.

Ellesmere Port to Helsby is more providing a decent railway link. I think the Park & Ride should go at Helsby once Merseryrail runs there as you get better links since you gain TfW and Northern services from Chester.

Ormskirk-Preston I struggle with, again it's too long and thin for 777s. I think extending to Burscough would be viable but it's really nothingness beyond that. Perhaps a sensible option would be 2tph to extend from Ormskirk to Burscough via the South Curve terminating at a new bay at Burscough Bridge, and a Southport-Preston service via the North Curve, taking up the local stops from the Manchester service.

I keep on hearing that Ormskirk to Preston is planned route which makes sense as you moving the interchange to one station rather than interchanging at a smaller station.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The other common suggestion for Burscough would be to close Bridge and replace it with an interchange station where the lines cross, a bit like Tamworth. That would work, and could be part funded by planning gain by developing the farmland around the line crossing with some relatively high density flats around the station which would be desirable for commuting to Liverpool, Preston and Manchester, but you would probably in that case want to run the 777s to Preston, which I just think is sub-optimal in lots of ways. Though I suppose in that case you could terminate 2 of the 4tph there as demand to Burscough would be much higher (it is growing even now and becoming quite desirable). Or even just have buffer stops at "Burscough Interchange High Level" and a single unit hourly service to Preston should be just about possible, with it looking a bit like Headbolt on a bridge.

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

I would extend the Ellesmere Port service to Runcorn via Helsby, and put a platform face on the Folly Lane branch line, or possibly send on to Liverpool South Parkway, ideally timetabled to work nicely with the Chester-Liverpool TfW service. Given Runcorn often feels left out of the Liverpool City Region politics, this could greatly assist. A less desirable option would be to send it to Warrington Bank Quay via Runcorn East.

Given the suitable battery tech is already available now, I'd not be against sending 2tph from Liverpool to Chester on to a bay at Crewe, replacing and enhancing the Crewe-Chester shuttles, particularly if Beeston and Tarporley ever reopens. The third rail at Chester is likely to be removed within this decade in any event, or whenever it gets resignalled.

 

[Djgr]

What's got worse to cause it to be used more, 777s? It was rarely used in my youth, though I have set foot on it when the Loop was closed due to engineering works once.

I think it is just used more in times of disruption now. For most travellers from the Wirral being turfed off at James Street is not the end of the world, as Liverpool city centre is very walkable. On the other hand, being stranded "across the water" can be very painful.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Given the suitable battery tech is already available now, I'd not be against sending 2tph from Liverpool to Chester on to a bay at Crewe, replacing and enhancing the Crewe-Chester shuttles, particularly if Beeston and Tarporley ever reopens.

The shuttles are suboptimal, but personally I'd rather see the Holyhead service return to Crewe (and onto Birmingham again via Stafford if HS2 P2 is ever built) as a second train per hour through onto the Coast than Merseyrail do a very long run there. Holyhead-Cardiff/Birmingham via Shrewsbury just makes no practical sense, it exists purely for political reasons. By all means have the "crack express" one each way per day that way to tick the political box, but really the Sunday pattern of that starting at Chester and everything from Holyhead going to Crewe makes a lot more sense. (The Sunday service is basically as it was before the politically motivated nonsense of stopping the through Holyhead-Crewe service applied to weekdays and Saturdays).

The third rail at Chester is likely to be removed within this decade in any event, or whenever it gets resignalled.

Are the shunt batteries sufficient to deal with that? There aren't enough 777s with traction batteries to run the whole Chester service with them.

 

[Djgr]

I think the Park & Ride should go at Helsby once Merseryrail runs there as you get better links since you gain TfW and Northern services from Chester.

I'm not sure that there is an obvious location for a Park and Ride. Railtrack flogged off the obvious land for "exec" homes.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think it is just used more in times of disruption now. For most travellers from the Wirral being turfed off at James Street is not the end of the world, as Liverpool city centre is very walkable. On the other hand, being stranded "across the water" can be very painful.

It does seem that Merseyrail now makes far more use of semifast running and terminating short than it once did. In the 80s and 90s a late train would just be pulled out and put back in on time with a round trip cancelled - I never in my youth experienced a semifast service, not even once, and only once ever a terminating and reversing at Maghull.

With regard to Burscough an interesting question is whether you could actually do that without an extra unit. The Ormskirk service had an extra unit put in when Maghull North was opened, and is now artificially slowed down to avoid two units wanting to be at single platform Ormskirk at once. While the old 25 minutes is probably unachievable (the hustle alarms put paid to that, though the DOO may speed it up a bit to compensate due to not needing to wait for the crew door to close before dispatching, and "ding ding, ding ding" takes about 5 seconds) I reckon you could get it down to maybe 30, and it's presently 35, which coupled with the long layover at Ormskirk could mean a run to Burscough Junction (or a new Interchange) and back could at least be fitted in? Though it might be better with another unit so you could keep Junction and add in Mill Dam Lane south of Burscough which was proposed in the 70s and is probably needed now there's lots of housing going up there.

 

[BerkshireRails]

I'm not sure that there is an obvious location for a Park and Ride. Railtrack flogged off the obvious land for "exec" homes.

You could build the Park & Ride in the V of the station.

 

[HSTEd]

I think an extension to Wigan should probably be the priority, if for no other reason to remove an operational annoyance for the wider railway.

I think Wrexham Bidston would also be a good idea but might require more electrification which would have to be sold to the ORR. That West of England line proposal would be a good sign for that.

I understand that an extension to Preston seems a bit far, but right now the line is just an awkward stub that serves noone very well. Even if all you did was just run an hourly extension to Preston it would still probably be more useful than the status quo.

Again probably depends on the results of the West of England proposal
.

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

The shuttles are suboptimal, but personally I'd rather see the Holyhead service return to Crewe (and onto Birmingham again via Stafford if HS2 P2 is ever built) as a second train per hour through onto the Coast than Merseyrail do a very long run there. Holyhead-Cardiff/Birmingham via Shrewsbury just makes no practical sense, it exists purely for political reasons. By all means have the "crack express" one each way per day that way to tick the political box, but really the Sunday pattern of that starting at Chester and everything from Holyhead going to Crewe makes a lot more sense. (The Sunday service is basically as it was before the politically motivated nonsense of stopping the through Holyhead-Crewe service applied to weekdays and Saturdays).



Are the shunt batteries sufficient to deal with that? There aren't enough 777s with traction batteries to run the whole Chester service with them.

The shunt batteries would be fine from Bache to Chester, but I understand there are plans to fit more of the 777s with batteries in any event, with funding coming from a number of sources and under other schemes, should they come to fruition.

There is a very positive business and safety case to be made from removing the third rail around Chester and the lines near the depot and sidings for a number of reasons, as well as opening up vastly more flexibility with the platforms there.

 

[Brubulus]

Wrexham-Bidston could probably be done with a fast charger at Wrexham Central and a 2tph service. The lack of onboard toilets should not prevent this from happening.

The solution for the Ormskirk line is to re-instate a Burscough curve and create a Southport-Preston service while extending Merseyrail to Burscough.

Headbolt Lane to Wigan Wallgate is a no brainer and Upholland can be re-named to Skelmersdale.

Ellesmere port to Helsby is also a no brainer

One of the more controversial ones is that I think the Hunts Cross line should be extended to Oxford Road if LMR ever happens, providing a 4tph local service on the CLC.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Kirby Headbolt Lane to Wigan Wallgate (4tph)
Ormskirk to Preston (4tph)
Wrexham to Bidston (4tph)
Cressington to Liverpool Airport (12tph)
Ellesmere Port to Helsby (4tph)
Ormskirk to Skelmersdale (4tph)

It seems to me that the 4 I have left above - and probably with the addition of Southport to Wigan Wallgate - probably will happen at some point. For Wrexham - Bidston, there's political pressure which may lead to funding, and for the others it's a matter of eliminating inconvenient short-distance diesel operations in favour of add-ons to an existing system.

That leaves the airport link and Skem. Those would be new routes and would need substantial new money - which means that the benefits would have to be seen to be enough to outweigh the costs. For Skem, the last time we talked about this the consensus seemed to be that the best cost/benefit ratio could probably be got by having some sort of Skem Parkway on the Headbolt Lane - Wigan line (maybe a new station, maybe an enhanced Upholland station): the branch into the middle of Skem would probably never wash its face financially. For the airport it's important to balance giving the Speke estate a fixed commuter link to town with producing something affordable for the airport - and that means being realistic that Liverpool John Lennon is never going to be a serious rival to Manchester Airport.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Headbolt Lane to Wigan Wallgate is a no brainer and Upholland can be re-named to Skelmersdale.

I agree with this as a way of creating a Skem station, ideally by creating a new P&R site and accessible entrance on Pimbo- there is spare land for this. A bus round Skem could connect with it. I'd agree the centre of Skem is not necessary - the Glenburn site is too far from the Concourse to be useful anyway, and there is unlikely to be much inbound commuting anyway.

One of the more controversial ones is that I think the Hunts Cross line should be extended to Oxford Road if LMR ever happens, providing a 4tph local service on the CLC.

Absolutely 100% not. It would import Castlefield delays onto Merseyrail.

I'm not opposed to buffer stops at Warrington Central, but under no circumstances whatsoever should anything ever run from Merseyrail onto Castlefield.

 

[Djgr]

For the airport it's important to balance giving the Speke estate a fixed commuter link to town with producing something affordable for the airport - and that means being realistic that Liverpool John Lennon is never going to be a serious rival to Manchester Airport.

...although its latest passenger numbers put it ahead of Newcastle, Leeds/Bradford and East MIdlands.

 

[BerkshireRails]

...although its latest passenger numbers put it ahead of Newcastle, Leeds/Bradford and East MIdlands.

Which increases justification for a rail link.

Absolutely 100% not. It would import Castlefield delays onto Merseyrail.

I'm not opposed to buffer stops at Warrington Central, but under no circumstances whatsoever should anything ever run from Merseyrail onto Castlefield.

100% agree as any spare capacity would better used by the Bee Network with a Interchange station at Warrington Central would be the compromise.

 

[daodao]

Here is a few ideas I had for extending the Merseryrail network, all routes would be 25kv unless otherwise stated. I know some of these are planned. Due to the number of issues with the 777s it might be worth getting a fleet of level baording 717s for extensions.

Kirby Headbolt Lane to Wigan Wallgate (4tph)
Ormskirk to Preston (4tph)
Wrexham to Bidston (4tph)
Cressington to Liverpool Airport (12tph)
Ellesmere Port to Helsby (4tph)
Ormskirk to Skelmersdale (4tph)

The strict answer to the question in the thread title (What extensions  should be made .....?) is none, but one or two extensions might be desirable, in particular 2tph from Kirkby (not Kirby) Headbolt Lane to Wigan Wallgate using class 777 BEMUs. An extension from Hunt's Cross to Gateacre, again using class 777 BEMUs, might also be worthwhile.

I strongly doubt that any of your other suggestions would have a realistic business case. Liverpool Speke Airport isn't busy enough at present to warrant a heavy rail link and your other suggestions are for poorly used lines (in one case a long-closed line) through lightly populated areas largely or wholly outwith Merseyside.

 

[duffield]

...

Ormskirk-Preston I struggle with, again it's too long and thin for 777s. I think extending to Burscough would be viable but it's really nothingness beyond that. Perhaps a sensible option would be 2tph to extend from Ormskirk to Burscough via the South Curve terminating at a new bay at Burscough Bridge, and a Southport-Preston service via the North Curve, taking up the local stops from the Manchester service.

I've certainly seen a lot of people board at Burscough Junction just to change a few minutes later at Ormskirk, it seems pretty absurd and I think this should be a priority if there's a little but not very much money available.

But maybe given the cost of reinstating the curves a very simple scheme just to extend Merseyrail to Burscough Junction and to interchange end to end with Northern there is more realistic than any scheme involving Burscough Bridge, useful as that would be.

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

The strict answer to the question in the thread title (What extensions  should be made .....?) is none, but one or two extensions might be desirable, in particular 2tph from Kirkby (not Kirby) Headbolt Lane to Wigan Wallgate using class 777 BEMUs. An extension from Hunt's Cross to Gateacre, again using class 777 BEMUs, might also be worthwhile.

I strongly doubt that any of your other suggestions would have a realistic business case. Liverpool Speke Airport isn't busy enough at present to warrant a heavy rail link and your other suggestions are for poorly used lines (in one case a long-closed line) through lightly populated areas largely or wholly outwith Merseyside.

Bidston to Wrexham is almost certainly going to happen, it's more a question of when. Infrastructure work is already being undertaken and committed to now to create a load more capacity on the line.

I would bet the house that there will be a 777/1 at Wrexham by 2030, although not 4tph.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've certainly seen a lot of people board at Burscough Junction just to change a few minutes later at Ormskirk, it seems pretty absurd and I think this should be a priority if there's a little but not very much money available.

But maybe given the cost of reinstating the curves a very simple scheme just to extend Merseyrail to Burscough Junction and to interchange end to end with Northern there is more realistic than any scheme involving Burscough Bridge, useful as that would be.

Yes, I'd say that should be done sooner rather than later, and it could potentially be done very cheaply indeed. Burscough looks to Liverpool and the prevailing accent is soft Scouse, whereas places north of there look to Preston. And it is possible that if the paths work a single-unit hourly service could be operated between Burscough and Preston rather than requiring two which spend quite a bit of time sitting around (though it might require a few line speed improvements to make it reliable). If my suspicion is correct that you could squeeze in Burscough without an extra unit by using the capabilities of the 777s to speed up Liverpool-Ormskirk by about five minutes (which should be easily possible given how slow it is at present), this could overall actually save money aside from the capital cost of a bit of redoubling towards Burscough so the units pass in the right place, or if you're only going to send half to Burscough that can be done with the single line but would require a reversing siding for the other unit (I once worked out a timetable for this, it's on here somewhere, and it can't work without one).

(If it did look likely I'd be investing in property in Burscough as prices would be likely to go through the roof!)

 

[urbophile]

Here is a few ideas I had for extending the Merseryrail network, all routes would be 25kv unless otherwise stated. I know some of these are planned. Due to the number of issues with the 777s it might be worth getting a fleet of level baording 717s for extensions.


Cressington to Liverpool Airport (12tph)

I'm puzzled by this one. There is a disused trackbed heading south out of Cressington, where the current line veers off to the left, but a housing estate has been built over most of it. How do you envisage a line getting from there to Speke?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'm puzzled by this one. There is a disused trackbed heading south out of Cressington, where the current line veers off to the left, but a housing estate has been built over most of it. How do you envisage a line getting from there to Speke?

This is why I think going off the WCML slows is a better idea. Using 25kV/battery tram-trains (so they could deal with the gradients and electrification wouldn't be needed) it would be easy to ramp this to street level and off down Speke Hall Avenue (which has plenty big enough central reservations) to the Airport stopping at a couple of stations for Speke itself along the way.

 

[BerkshireRails]

I'm puzzled by this one. There is a disused trackbed heading south out of Cressington, where the current line veers off to the left, but a housing estate has been built over most of it. How do you envisage a line getting from there to Speke?

My plan would be to use tunnel boring machine and create a Heathrow Central style stations for Liverpool Airport and Speke.

 

[bramling]

The highest priority one in my view should be extending from Headbolt to Wigan Wallgate, though I think I would only extend 2 of the 4tph. The layout of Headbolt (if a footbridge with lifts was added) does work with this as it's a single line with a freight siding on the Wigan side so you could easily have a bay for terminating services and a through platform. What you'd need to do is remove the current Wigan platform and concrete block and lower the track level down to meet the present ticket office side platform, and add appropriate signalling.

I really can't decide about Wrexham-Bidston. My inclination here is that being a much longer run which would make a different style of train with toilets more desirable would mean it would ideally make more sense for TfW to obtain suitable units to run a half hourly service terminating at the currently disused platform at James St, with a lift added to this platform. However it is a long battery run to Wrexham so this might not yet be feasible without extra electrification.

Liverpool Airport should be done by taking the WCML slow lines down what is now a road via a couple of Speke stations to the Airport. This is much easier to do because of the position of these lines with regard to ground level. 4tph of EMUs could then shuttle between Lime St and the Airport; if Wapping Tunnel ever gets done an Ormskirk-Airport service could replace this. This would provide a proper service at Mossley Hill and West Allerton too, with those stops taken out of the WMT services. It could even be considered to do it by way of tram-train which would be cheaper as you could cross roads on the level and run it down the central reservation of the existing roads rather than closing them to dig out a proper segregated heavy rail line. (Note tram, not fake tram )

Helsby would be easy to do but only viable in conjunction with major housing development.

Ormskirk-Preston I struggle with, again it's too long and thin for 777s. I think extending to Burscough would be viable but it's really nothingness beyond that. Perhaps a sensible option would be 2tph to extend from Ormskirk to Burscough via the South Curve terminating at a new bay at Burscough Bridge, and a Southport-Preston service via the North Curve, taking up the local stops from the Manchester service.

I agree with Wigan. It seems an obvious one to do, and would surely be fairly well used (even though Wigan means more to Manchester than Liverpool). The other quick win I’d do would have to be Skelmersdale, though from Headbolt Lane not from Ormskirk.

In the longer term, Edge Hill spur perhaps, though which routes to link up to it would be a matter of interest.