‘Set new standard’ - Liverpool rolls out UK’s first battery-powered trains from new £80m station

The UK’s first battery-powered passenger trains hit the tracks in Merseyside on Thursday as the Liverpool City Region continued its roll out of a new £500m publicly owned fleet.

The trains will run from Kirkby’s brand new Headbolt Lane train station, following an £80m investment in the travel hub. Metro mayor Steve Rotheram said it will “set a new standard for public transport in this country”.

In a phased roll-out of the new technology, the station will initially be served by one Merseyrail service per-hour to Liverpool Central, then services will gradually increase to four trains per hour.

The battery-powered trains are part of the mayor’s plan to deliver a London-style transport network and to help the Liverpool City Region hit its net-zero carbon target for 2040.

LCR’s new fleet also includes 52 of 777 class trains, the first of which rolled out from out from Liverpool Central station back in January 2023.