Rail journeys in the Southport area are so bad that a seven-mile journey to the university town of Ormskirk takes at least 85 minutes by train.
Southport MP Patrick Hurley said that poor rail connectivity in the North West is “holding our region’s economy back” as he called for urgent investment in public transport.
Mr Hurley suggested that connecting the ‘Burscough Curves’ for an estimated £30 million would be a superb value quick win which would restore direct rail travel between Southport, Preston and Ormskirk.
He also criticised the appalling quality of existing rail services between Southport and Manchester, which saw no services at all for three Sundays in a row last November.
Speaking in a debate on Transport Connectivity
In Parliament, Patrick Hurley said: “North West public transport is not up to scratch. Specifically, our railway journeys are nowhere near good enough.
“They are holding our region’s economy back, and we need change.
“Take my constituency for instance: there is no direct public transport link from one side of the constituency to the other, despite it being overwhelmingly urban.
“Try to take public transport from Birkdale to Rufford — a journey of 10 miles — and a single ticket will cost £21, while the journey will take one hour and 11 minutes and involve changing trains three times. It is literally 10 miles away; it would almost be quicker to walk.”
Speaking of the poor Northern rail service between Southport and Manchester, he said: “In November, there were no services at all on Sundays for three weeks in a row, and more than a quarter of all journeys were either delayed or cancelled. When the trains do turn up, passengers are greeted with what the chief exec of Northern Rail has called
“some of the worst-performing rolling stock in the country.”
That cannot be allowed to continue.”
Mr Hurley also called for direct rail travel to be restored between Southport, Preston and Ormskirk.
He said: “The constituency’s connectivity has also been directly impacted by the well-known 1960s cuts to railway services. The closure of two simple railway curves in Burscough, just outside of constituency, means that the seven-mile journey from Ormskirk to Southport takes 85 minutes by train, and that the notional 20-mile journey to Preston involves passengers changing at Wigan, which is itself 20 miles out of the way.
“We are lucky, though, because unlike in other parts of the country, the railway curves at Burscough were never built over — they are still there, just overgrown and unloved.
“It would cost an estimated £30 million to reinstate them, which would once again connect the towns of Merseyside and west Lancashire, and strengthen travel-to-work routes, promoting the economic growth we all want so desperately.”
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