Merseyrail is set to be brought back under public ownership again.
The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority plan to reclaim control of the local transport network when its current concession period will expire in July 2028.
Fittingly, the move will coincide with the 50th anniversary of Merseyrail’s launch which is being hailed as a ‘momentous’ decision by the local government arm.
Mayor Steve Rotheram has been assessing the legal requirements, financial implication and operating model of a potential return to public control since March.
It has now been concluded that the model was ‘deliverable, achievable and secures the best option for securing strategic control’ of the network in the long term.
Mayor Rotheram said: “This is one of the most significant decisions we’ll take in shaping the future of transport in this city region.
“It’s a much bigger question than who operates the railway, it’s about who it works for.
“For too long, decisions about services that people rely on have been taken at an arm’s length rather than the communities they affect.”