Rotheram pushes for public ownership of Merseyrail

From July 2028, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority will take over the regional train network – provided Mayor Steve Rotheram can secure approval for his plans from council leaders.

Rotheram has put forward proposals to bring Merseyrail into public ownership once the current agreement with the operator ends in 2028.

Leaders from Liverpool, Halton St Helens, Knowsley, Sefton, and Wirral will vote on the matter at the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority meeting next week. All the council leaders are members of the Labour Party, like Rotheram. The exception is St Helens Council Leader Cllr George Woodward, who is a member of Reform UK.

The move to taking over the train network is not a new one. The combined authority first started exploring ownership options in March 2025. Grant Thornton and Ernst & Young have advised the combined authority on the process thus far.

Moving Merseyrail into public ownership will ensure that profits are reinvested into the infrastructure, as well as aid Rotheram in his push to create a single integrated travel network for the city region, in line with similar schemes in Greater Manchester and Greater London.

“People don’t obsess about whether they are getting on a bus, a train or a ferry – they just want to get where they’re going as quickly and cheaply as possible,” Rotheram said.

“My ambition is simple: one network, one vision, working in the interests of the 1.6m people who call our city region home.

“Taking back control of our trains will help us do exactly that. It will give us greater freedom to join up services, improve connections, reinvest more money back into the network and make decisions based on what works for passengers.”

If approval is secured for the plans, £5m will be released from Merseytravel reserves to do more preparation work for the move into public ownership.  Read the combined authority report.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has spent more than £500m on improving its transport infrastructure, including building stations at Maghull North and Headbolt Lane. Tap-and-go ticketing has been rolled out and the busses are on their way to becoming publicly controlled as well.

During his 2024 mayoral campaign, Rotheram pledged to build new stations at Woodchurch in Wirral, Carr Mill in St Helens, and Daresbury in Halton by 2030. He has also pushed for a new station in the Baltic Triangle part of Liverpool. This, however, has been considerably delayed.