IMPROVED rail links between the city and Liverpool's John Lennon Airport are being sought by regeneration group Chester Renaissance.
Airport-bound passengers must currently endure a 1.5-hour journey by travelling into Liverpool city centre and back out again to Liverpool South Parkway station, with a bus link for the final stretch.
Chester Renaissance, Merseytravel and the airport have been talking about how to reopen the 2.5km Halton Curve which would provide a direct link to Liverpool South Parkway, cutting journey times for people from Chester and North Wales.
Rita Waters, chief executive of Chester Renaissance, said: “We want, as a city, the Halton curve to be reopened, if not the Halton Curve, we want a direct link from Chester to Liverpool SouthParkway.
“That’s the official train station for the airport.
“You almost feel, once you get to the station, that you are in the airport. There are destination boards, you can buy tickets.”
She added: “It’s very important we have got that connectivity.”
Rita said Dutch Airline KLM was now operating alongside Easyjet, offering daily flights to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport from where passengers can connect to hundreds of destinations worldwide.
Merseytravel commissioned a report in 2005 from the Centre for Economic and Business Research, which indicated a revived Halton Curve would create almost 1,000 jobs.
The company is currently carrying out a detailed feasibility study on how much it would cost to fully reopen the line, which is currently only single track in the direction of Chester to maintain a minimal service.
