£100m Liverpool Baltic Station plans set for approval

It was revealed in November how two years after it was first announced, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) had formally submitted a planning application for the reimagining of the former St James stop in the Baltic Triangle area.

Redevelopment of the long unused stop on the edge of the city centre was announced in 2022 with Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram aiming to get passengers on track by “late” 2027. It is thought the work on the station, which will be located on the Northern Line, could begin as early as the end of this year subject to city councillors signing off when they meet next week.

It is hoped development of the station could support hundreds of jobs and deliver 17,000 journeys per day once open. Last September, members of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority gave the go-ahead to £96m being drawn down to open the new stop on the edge of the city centre.

Members of Liverpool Council’s planning committee will be recommended to approve the plans when they convene next week. The application site comprises an existing cutting to the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network, located midway between Liverpool Central Station and Brunswick Station, where an underground train station once stood but was closed in 1917 during the First World War.

The station will comprise an overground single-storey building with a tall wraparound parapet, a mezzanine level, new widened underground platforms and four lift/emergency exit shafts. The station’s ticket lobby and staff facilities would be located at ground floor level.

Planning documents made public by Liverpool Council said the proposed development is envisioned as a “modern, accessible transport hub of civic importance, significantly contributing to the revitalisation of the Baltic Triangle neighbourhood and surrounding areas.” The construction phase is projected to generate around 330 jobs at a region level with £155m in benefits over a 60-year period upon completion.

Desire for a new station dates back to 2012, with the identification of the reopening of the former St James Station as vital to the success of the Baltic Triangle’s development. In March 2014, Merseytravel agreed to collaborate with Liverpool Vision to investigate the cost and projected usage of reopening the station.

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By January 2015, Merseytravel confirmed plans to conduct a study on the station’s potential reopening during the 2015–16 financial year with it marked as a “top rail project” by Merseyrail a year later. The main station building will be situated on a triangular plot bordered by Stanhope Street to the south, Ashwell Street to the east and north, and the Merseyrail Northern railway line cutting to the west.

Access to the station will be from Stanhope Street and Ashwell Street. However, this has caused concern from Paul Garrett, who owns and operates Ashwell Motors on the street of the same name.

Mr Garrett warned he might have to relocate should the plans go ahead. The proposals will be debated by city councillors at Liverpool Town Hall when they meet next week.