THE next stage of a major overhaul to transport - the Glider - has visited St Helens today as part of a roll out across the Liverpool City Region. 

As part of his manifesto to win a third term, Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram pledged to introduce a rapid transit bus system to serve key routes across the area.

The vehicle - on loan from Belfast and decked out in Merseytravel yellow – will be tested to see how it could work across hotspots throughout the city region.

The ten-wheeled vehicle, first dubbed a trackless tram, will undergo tests throughout Liverpool to begin with, to establish key changes that may need to be made to the city’s infrastructure with a view to a full roll out by 2028.

The system will be similar to Belfast’s Glider, which launched in the Northern Irish capital in 2018 and runs on two separate lines using dedicated and mixed traffic lanes.

The scheme cost around £100m in total.

The vehicle will further be on show at the following sites: 

Friday 23 August – Green Oaks Shopping Centre, Widnes – 09:00am-03:00pm