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Building work on a new Liverpool rail station at the former Archbishop Blanch school site could begin within two years, Liverpool’s mayor today said.

Joe Anderson revealed earlier today the school site is being considered for a rail station near the city centre, close to the new Royal Liverpool Hospital.

He told the ECHO an outline planning application was expected to be submitted before the end of the year.

Archbishop Blanch School is re-locating to Wavertree from its existing site on Mount Vernon Road, near the city centre – almost two miles away.

The mayor said a new railway station for the Mount Vernon Road site would be part of plans to equip Liverpool to benefit from HS2 and would be carried out alongside the development of Lime Street station, which he described as “not fit for purpose”.

He told the ECHO: “Doing nothing is not an option or the city will get left behind.”

Mayor Anderson added: “This gives us an opportunity with an extra station to come in to that end of the city centre.

“We have got to plan for the future, the city is growing and the economy is growing and we need better connectivity.”

The mayor told the ECHO the former school site was a good location for a new station because it already had Wapping Tunnels carrying the Edge Hill line underneath.

He added that it was close to the new Royal hospital and to the expanding universities.

Mayor Anderson said: “It will free up capacity for the likes of Lime Street station.

“We’ve got a decision to make in terms of how we improve Lime Street. There’s only two lines there.

“It’s an exciting opportunity. It’s something the city is in need of.”

Liverpool council currently owns the former Archbishop Blanch site and Mayor Anderson said a new station there would be funded by a mixture of funding from the authority which would bring returns from Network Rail, as well as central government financing, grants and Merseyrail input.

The mayor said: “We could get building work started within two years for the Archbishop Blanch site.

“We’re also going to have to develop the lines around which is going to take a longer time.”

A spokesman for Liverpool council said: “The concept of a new station is part of a wider strategy to make enhancements to our rail connectivity, both at city-regional level and also our East-West and North-South connections. It’s about ensuring there’s enough capacity to meet Liverpool City Region’s aspirations to drive forward economic growth over coming decades and that we have the infrastructure in place to do so.”

The ECHO revealed last month a study into which new train stations should be Merseytravel’s top priority has been commissioned.

The project is the latest step in the travel authority’s ‘Long Term Rail Strateg’ and will consider the benefits of building new stations.

A spokesman for Merseytravel told the ECHO today: “No decisions have been taken on any potential new stations within Liverpool city centre.

“Within our Long Term Rail Strategy (which was published last year and has a 30-year horizon), we have identified a number of possible new stations and, also, the potential to open new lines.

“We are currently going through a station prioritisation process for the potential sites identified in that strategy, but we are not currently at the stage to take any decisions in respect of new city centre stations.”

Other potential sites for a new city centre station have previously included reopening St James station, near the Baltic Triangle district.

The ECHO this week revealed how Lime Street station could be shut down for up to two months while major improvement work there is carried out.

Network Rail, who own and maintain the station, have confirmed the closure is on the cards - possibly in 2017 or 2018.

Network Rail said they are currently considering options for completing the upgrade of Lime Street.

It is part of a £1bn investment in the north of England railways which has already seen electrification of track between Liverpool and Manchester.

The proposed work will see an additional platform at Lime Street and improve the layout of platforms across the station to improve flexibility, maximising train access to the station and making provision for longer trains to stop.

Last week the ECHO revealed that new improved platforms at Liverpool Lime Street station able to accommodate lengthier trains were among the transport investments being planned by the government.