Liverpool estate where 'some kids have never been on a train'

From the BBC^» British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

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A railway station planned for an estate where some children have "never been on a train" could make a huge difference to young people's lives, local people have said.

The Woodchurch estate on Wirral is to be linked to the rail network as part of a £1.6bn investment scheme.

Staff at Fender Primary School said that despite the estate being only four miles from the seaside, some children had never been there.

Discussions around building a station to directly serve the estate have been going on for more than a decade. The exact location of a station is still to be confirmed, and it is expected to take until about 2030 for planning permission to be given. Once built, it would link the estate to Liverpool and Wrexham.

Emma Simms, a staff member at Fender school, said: "A lot of the children do not have the opportunities to leave the estate whether that is for days out or holidays. We have conversations with children who have never been on the trains."

Staff at the school said a new station would cut down on travel time, open up school, university and job opportunities, and give children more life experiences.

Sue Lee, who has lived in the area for 20 years, feels the new station would bring more value and investment to Woodchurch as well as open up opportunities. She said: "Just trying to get off the Wirral at all is a tricky one. You can but then you have to go to Birkenhead to get the train somewhere. This just enhances all your options." She said her daughter was an athlete and in the past, sometimes they had to get taxis to competitions because there were just no other options. "A lot of children do not get off the estate," she said. "If there is something right there it makes it a lot easier to go to places they might not necessarily go to." However, there's still some scepticism after years of promises.

Maureen Cain said: "It's a good place to live, it really is and I think it will be really uplifted." However, she said: "Until it happens, no one will be jumping for joy. I think people get fed up and think that until it happens, we aren't going to be happy about it."

Wirral councillor Jerry Williams, who grew up on the estate, said connectivity was one of the most important issues on the estate. The Labour councillor for Upton said there was "a degree of isolation on a lot of the estate" and "to have a station there is really going to transform things".

When the funding was announced, it was welcomed by top politicians in Wirral. Matthew Patrick, Wirral West's MP^▸ and former councillor for the area, said: "People here deserve good jobs, better transport links, stronger schools and great leisure services."