Wirral Street Car
Map of the proposed route.
Operation
LocaleWirral
OpenTBD
LinesOne
RoutesBidston Dock to Woodside Ferry Terminal
Owner(s)Wirral Waters, Wirral Council and Merseyrail (project partners)
Infrastructure
Track gaugeStandard
Websitehttps://www.wirralwaters.co.uk/projects/wirral-street-car/ Wirral Street Car

The Wirral Street Car is a proposed tramway from Bidston Dock to Woodside Ferry Terminal to provide transport links for the Wirral Waters development.[1] The line will use pre-existing rolling stock as well as incorporating both the disused Birkenhead Dock Branch and the Wirral Tramway that already operates as a heritage service from the Wirral Transport Museum to Woodside Ferry Terminal.[2][3]

History

Plans for the Street Car were first announced in February 2013, intending to redevelop part of the abandoned Birkenhead Dock Branch route into a streetcar system.[3] The plans involved connecting Wirral Waters to the Merseyrail network at the Birkenhead North and Hamilton Square stations, utilising the stretch of dock branch trackbed along Beaufort Road and Corporation Road, with inner and outer loops around Vittoria Dock and East Float, respectively.[4][5] Options to connect this new system to Conway Park and Birkenhead Park stations are also available, along with a further extension for the Wirral Tramway to Seacombe ferry terminal.[4]

In November 2018, the details of a consultation by Wirral Council & Peel Land and Property called the 'Streetscape Project' were announced.[6] The consultation is not directly focused on the street cars but the concept of a street car service is featured heavily, with the consultation suggesting that the scheme could be completed "over the next five years."

References

  1. ^ "Wirral Street Car". Wirral Waters. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  2. ^ "How to find us". Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Peel reveals streetcar plan for Wirral Waters". Liverpool Echo. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Wirral Streetcar: Pioneering small-start systems in the UK" (PDF). Sun Link. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Wirral Streetcar". Wirral Waters. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  6. ^ Houghton, Tom (20 November 2018). "This is when trams will FINALLY return to Merseyside". liverpoolecho. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
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