The plan for the new Liverpool-Manchester rail line has been revealed

Plans for an extra line between Liverpool and Manchester have been announced by the cities’ new combined rail organisation.

Liverpool-Manchester Rail Council has unveiled a plan for a new link between the cities, which will also include major investment in several stations.

The new line will run between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly, via the refurbished stations at Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Airport.

An underground station was also planned at Manchester Piccadilly, along with improvements to Liverpool Central.

Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram, mayors of Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region, said the scheme would boost the economy in the North West of England.

The pair, along with other local politicians, recently launched the rail council with the aim of improving connectivity between the two regions, which have had rail links since the first intercity line opened in 1830.

Mr Rotheram told the UK Property Infrastructure and Investment Forum in Leeds that the new project was a “nationally significant infrastructure scheme”.

He said it could cut travel time between the two cities from more than an hour to 25 minutes.

He said unlike the abandoned HS2 link to Manchester, the scheme “will happen”.

“It’s not going to be like HS2 and promise after promise and nothing delivered,” he said.

“We have the budget, we want to increase it, but we really have the best interests of the cities of Liverpool and Manchester and the Liverpool city region and the Manchester city region at heart.”

Mr Burnham said the mayors had been given confirmation that £17bn of public funding, which was to be used for HS2, was still available to “deliver this new railway”.

However, he added that the funds are only a “starting point” and the board will also seek private investment.

“The economy gets bigger if you build the railroad the right way,” he said.

“It’s going to be a really exciting project to work on, and that was always supposed to be a step up, wasn’t it?

“This is us doing it for ourselves, setting our own ambition, where we hope the UK government will allow us, so finally, after all the pain of the rail debate, we’ve sort of arrived at the right station “.

Manchester Airport managing director and rail board member Chris Woodroofe said the new line would help more people “experience the benefit of a direct high-speed connection to a major international airport”.