Merseytram
Merseytram was a proposed light rail system for Merseyside, England. Originally proposed in 2001, forming part of the Merseyside Local Transport Plan, it was to consist of three lines, connecting the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley with central Liverpool. The project was postponed due to funding problems before eventually being formally closed down by Merseytravel in October 2013. Planned services City Centre Loop The hub of the Merseytram system was to be a loop around Liverpool city centre. Designed to be constructed in two stages (simultaneous with Line One and Line Two), the loop would have covered major transport hubs (Liverpool Lime Street, for mainline services; Moorfields for the Merseyrail network; Paradise Street Interchange for city bus services; and the Pier Head for Mersey Ferry services). Other destinations included the Kings Dock Arena & Conference Centre, the main shopping centre (including the Liverpool One retail development) and tourist attractions such as St George's Hall, Tate Liverpool, the Albert Dock and the World Museum and Walker Art Gallery. Line One Line One was to leave the City Centre Loop at Monument Place and head in a north east direction along London Road and via the Royal Liverpool University Hospital to West Derby Road and out to West Derby and Croxteth, terminating at Kirkby; a distance of some . Line Two Line Two, which was intended to open in 2008, would leave the city centre loop at Lime Street and head east to Prescot and Whiston, via Paradise Street, Knotty Ash and Page Moss. Line Three Line Three would have terminated at Liverpool John Lennon Airport via Liverpool South Parkway and may have used some running alongside the Edge Hill to Runcorn line. History 19th Century Liverpool had an extensive tram network in the early-20th century, which was one of the most advanced in the UK. The network included large sections of reserved track in the centre reservations and side reservations of the dual carriageway system that was developed by Liverpool City Engineer, John Brodie. Brodie understood that ordinary railway sleeper track was less expensive than road tram track and thereby justified the increased width of the new roads. The reservations also allowed trams to by-pass road congestion. 20th Century After World War II, trams fell out of favour and Liverpool City Council voted to scrap the system in 1957. The controversial decision was made by the casting vote of the mayor – a protocol requirement in the event of a hung vote. During the 1960s and 1970s, public transport development in Liverpool concentrated on integration and expansion of the dispersed urban rail lines into a complete rapid transit network with bored tunnels and stations in the centre serving a large part of the city and Merseyside. The resulting metro-like network was called Merseyrail. One of the main proposals was the creation of an Outer Rail Loop by the electrification of a former passenger route through the eastern suburbs, a six platform underground interchange station at Broad Green, and using existing lines in