Manchester to Liverpool Line

Electrification

The Department for Transport initially announced in July 2009 that the northern route of the Manchester to Liverpool line was to be electrified with 25 kV, 50 HzAC, overhead line. The electrification process was originally due to be completed by 2013 but following a change of government in 2010, the work was delayed meaning that, while the Manchester to Newton-le-Willows section was completed by December 2013 to enable Manchester - Scotland electric services, the remaining section to Liverpool was not completed until 5 March 2015. Now that the electrification of the line is complete and electric services are running, the journey time between Liverpool and Manchester has been reduced from around 45 minutes to 30 minutes due to the greater acceleration achieved by electric trains and the raising of the speed limit along the line from 75 to 90 mph (121 to 145 km/h). Class 319 EMUs have been fully refurbished and transferred from the Thameslink route to operate between Liverpool and Manchester, while Thameslink services will be operated by new energy-efficient trains, which were originally due to be delivered between 2011 and 2013. Electrification also offers electric haulage options for freight trains, giving a secondary route to the West Coast Main Line from Liverpool.