UP to £32m of funding has been committed to a new bus interchange in St Helens as part of a major investment into the region’s transport network.

Members of the region's combined authority signed off on more than £100m being pumped into a massive upgrade of bus services this afternoon.

The injection of finance is the latest move to improve bus travel since the landmark decision to take services back into public control last year.

Franchised services are expected to begin from St Helens in 2026 and throughout the wider region by 2027.

As a result, more than £32m from the proposed investment package will fund the building of a new bus and multimodal transport interchange in the town.

The project is part of a wider programme of works to regenerate the town centre and is being jointly delivered with St Helens Council.

As part of the regional cash boost, millions are proposed to be used to reintroduce bus lanes across Liverpool for the first time in a decade.

Some of the city region’s busiest routes will also be targeted with new money in a bid to improve journey times.

Alongside this, zero-emission buses will be purchased to go alongside 58 electric double-deckers secured in April via the zero emission bus regional area fund.

Funding will also be targeted at some of the region’s busiest bus routes – including the 10A from Liverpool to St Helens, 53 from Liverpool to Crosby and 86 Liverpool to John Lennon Airport – with the aim of improving punctuality, reliability and journey times.

It was revealed in September last year how 10 years on from being scrapped by then Mayor Joe Anderson, bus lanes throughout Liverpool would be brought back. The city council has confirmed it will look to bring back priority lanes across five routes.

Documents outlining the proposed spend have confirmed around £7m will be set aside to bring back the lanes. This is part of the £108m to be drawn from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS).

Mayor RotheramMayor Rotheram

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “It’ll improve and increase the bus offer in St Helens and the wider city region.

"As well as improvements to bus, active travel and the public realm, that’ll also all be enhanced, there’ll be connections to current and forthcoming housing developments, so again thinking strategically and not just in silos.”

Mayor Rotheram added how the projects were a “good example of what you can do when you start linking things together” outside of Westminster and Whitehall.