A train service connecting Merseyside with Wales has been described by the region's transport boss as "awful", with new plans revealed for a "Metro-style" service from Liverpool to Wrexham.
Cllr Liam Robinson, chair of Merseytravel, said the line connecting Bidston, Wirral, with Wrexham is the "forgotten child of the city region's railway network", and that it must improve.
Describing the current hourly service as "substandard", he revealed there are plans in the pipeline for a new service to connect the city in North Wales with Liverpool city centre.
Plans are at an early stage, but the details were revealed by Cllr Robinson at a Westminster Social Policy Forum event taking place in Liverpool city centre on Friday.
But he first had some strong words to say about the service currently operated by Transport for Wales.
He told the meeting at Liverpool's Holiday Inn: "One of the things that I am very, very conscious of is that we have the Bidston to Wrexham line that genuinely is the forgotten child of the city region's railway network.
"It's a very poor-quality service traditionally enjoyed... actually, I'm not going to say enjoyed, because it's awful, that links up Bidston in the Wirral all the way down to Wrexham.
"As poor as that railway service has been for decades, we actually know that it's seen 75% passenger growth in the past 10 years - that's the official figure.
What it's really like dealing with Northern delays:
"But we actually know that because the trains are so full at peak times, and the conductor can't get through to check tickets, it's probably more like 100%. We know the demand on that line has gone up significantly."
He said because it connects so many enterprise zones along its route, such as the upcoming Wirral Waters development in Bidston, the line's economic potential is "absolutely huge".
Cllr Robinson said: "There's lots of very detailed work we are doing with the Department for Transport and Welsh Government looking at how we can significantly improve standards of service on that line.
"How can we improve the line speed? It takes far too long as an end to end journey. How can we run more services? At the moment, the current hourly service is substandard. That's committed to go up to a half-hourly service, something the Welsh Government through their rail franchise are going to be delivering.
"But we have got a much more ambitious plan for that line working with all of those partners. We genuinely want to see a Metro-style service on that line coming all the way through into the heart of Liverpool. We don't think the stop at Bidston is the right one."
Transport for Wales was contact for a comment.
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