On Thursday 7th July, Lancashire County Council and West Lancashire Borough Council received notification from the Department of Transport that the Skelmersdale Rail Link Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC), which was formally submitted to Central Government in September 2021, had been rejected and would not be considered for the next stage of development.
Lancashire County Council’s Cabinet member for highways and transport, Charlie Edwards has said that work will continue to bring other transport improvements to the town, despite the setback to the plans
Other options being looked at include a bus link between Skelmersdale and the planned new railway station at Headbolt Lane in Kirkby, which has featured within the county council’s recently submitted Bus Service Improvement Plan. The Department of Transport have said it will now engage with the county council and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to look into these options in more detail.
The preferred location for the new rail station had already been confirmed as the former Glenburn Sports College and Former West Lancashire College sites on Yewdale in the centre of Skelmersdale, which have already been secured by Lancashire County Council.
The project was expected to cost between £210m and £700m and would have put Skelmersdale on the rail map and offer travellers direct connections to Manchester City Centre, Liverpool City Centre, Wigan and Kirkby, as well enabling connections to the national rail network and even HS2 services in the future.
The SOBC was developed and submitted by Lancashire County Council, working in partnership with organisations including Merseytravel, Network Rail and West Lancashire Borough Council.