Completion date for £15m Lea Green railway station renovation revealed

The project, which had initially aimed for a completion date during summer last year, has been hit with delays due to bad weather hindering groundworks. 

A key part of the station upgrade involves the previously oversubscribed car park being replaced with a modern decked car park.

Lea Green station in March 2024 (Image: NQ)

This is set to increase park and ride capacity to around 450 vehicles, enabling it to become a key commuter station for people who work in neighbouring cities.

Significant upgrades include a new station building at Lea Green with waiting room, toilets and other customer facilities.

Development has progressed, albeit behind schedule, with previous announcements suggesting public transport bosses were aiming for a completion date of summer 2023.

Last October, St Helens Borough Council, Liverpool City Region and Northern said in a joint-statement that there had been delays due to wet weather over the summer which had put back brickwork and said at the time construction was expected to be concluded by the end of December.

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However, further delays have meant work has not yet been finished at the site.

In January it was said final works were still currently taking place to both the ticket office and car park. 

When asked by the Star for an update, a Liverpool City Region Combined Authority spokesperson said: “Work is continuing on site at Lea Green to complete the multi-story carpark and new station building.

"We anticipate the construction phase of the project to be completed by the end of April 2024.

“Although work on site will be finished at that point, the new facilities cannot be brought into customer and staff use immediately as they require authorisation from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), a requirement for all rail infrastructure projects of this type.

“We anticipate the facilities will be open for passenger use in summer 2024. We will work together with the ORR and partners to get the facilities signed-off for use as soon as possible.

“Whilst this work takes place customers can still access rail services from the station during this time. We thank passengers for their patience throughout the works and look forward to them being able to use the new facilities soon.”