UK train station in English industrial town to reopen after £10million upgrade

RAIL passengers in St Helens will benefit from a huge multi-million upgrade of a local train station.

Train journeys inMerseyside will get better next month when Lea Green Railway opens to the public.

Plans to renovate the rail hub were first announced back in 2021, with construction work on the site starting the following year.

Located just a few miles from St Helens, a town in Merseyside, the huge £10million renovation has improved several parts of the station, including its ticket office.

Improvements have also been made to its waiting room, toilet facilities, customer facilities and car park.

The improvement work is part of the £15million St Helens Southern Gateway project, which aims to increase public transport use in the area.

Even with the improvement works ongoing, trains continue to operate from Lea Green Railway Station, with services operating to Liverpool Lime Street Station, Manchester Airport and Hull.

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “Anyone from St Helens will know how important Lea Green is for getting about – and now, it finally has the facilities to match.

“From a proper new ticket office and waiting room, more parking spaces and better access, this upgrade is going to make a big difference to people’s day-to-day lives.

“It’s part of our wider plan to build a transport network that’s fit for the 21st century – quick, reliable and affordable – and shows what we can do when decisions are made here, not in Westminster.”

Elsewhere in Merseyside, Liverpool's Baltic Triangle, which has previously been likened to New York City's meatpacking district, is set to benefit from a new train station.

The new station will be located onMerseyrail's Northern Line, with services running from Hunts Cross to Southport calling at stations like Liverpool Central and Brunswick.

Liverpool Baltic Train Station will have a single-storey building with a red exterior as well as two towers that will feature as a beacon for the community.

If theDepartment for Transportapproves planning permission, construction work on the station is slated to start later this year with the station opening in 2027.

It is one of four train stations planned inLiverpool, with other rail hubs potentially including Daresbury, Halton, Woodchurch on the Wirral and Carr Mill inSt Helens.

The UK is celebrating 200 years of railway journeys, with events taking place across the country.

London Waterloo, London Bridge and London Victoria stations are running exclusive behind-the-scenes tours.

Rail enthusiasts who don't live inLondoncan take part in other celebrations, like Inspiration, aunique train that will call at 60 different train stationslater this year.

The train, which is currently being kitted out, will sport an eye-catching livery, and it features three exhibitions, including Railway Firsts, Wonderlab on Wheels and Your RailwayFuture.

Earlier this year, Sun Travel looked back on200 years of train travel in the UKfrom heap seats in roofless ‘cattle trucks’ to 6-course meals in First Class.

And the new £460million Curzon Street Station will open in Birmingham – the first of its kind in the UK in 130 years.

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