A NEW railway line could be constructed through the centre of Warrington.

Transport for the North has revealed its final preferred route for the proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail plan, which involves a mixture of new lines and major upgrades including electrification.

And one of its key recommendations includes the creation of a new rail link running from Liverpool to Manchester via the town centre.

The current routes into Manchester are already suffering high levels of congestion which heavily impacts Warrington.

The number of trains at the new Warrington West station has been less than promised as rail firms say Manchester is too busy to accomodate anymore.

The scheme, which also involves a new line from Manchester to Leeds via Bradford and improvements on the railway from Manchester to Sheffield, could create up to 74,000 jobs across the north by 2060.

Transport for the North has written to the Government urging it to back its plans for ‘badly-needed’ investment in the rail infrastructure.

If passed, the phased construction is scheduled to begin in the mid-2020s.

Northern Powerhouse Rail director Tim Wood said: “This is the culmination of years of work on the original Northern Powerhouse vision to radically connect the north’s communities by rail, create jobs and boost the northern economy for decades to come.

“Communities and businesses want to see certainty on what will be delivered and when in order to make key investment decisions and create new opportunities.

“We hope that the significant body of evidence, worked up alongside the Department for Transport, will be reflected in an ambitious commitment to investment in the north in the Government’s integrated rail plan – we can then swiftly press on with joint delivery for the northern public.

“We’ve done the work together, now let’s get on and deliver for the north together.”

The project also recommends connecting Sheffield to HS2, with upgrades onwards to Leeds and then Hull.

‘Significant’ improvements would also be made to the East Coast Mainline from Leeds to Newcastle via York and Darlington.

It is hoped that the plans will add £14.4billion to the UK’s economy and take around 58,000 cars of the country’s roads.