The world's 'first railway town' has launched a bid to host the Great British Railway's new headquarters.
Newton-le-Willows is home to the oldest recognisably modern railway station in the world- with Earlestown station opened in 1830. The station sat on the Liverpool to Manchester line which was also opened in 1830.
Much of the town's heritage and history is built on the importance of the station and the role it played in the development of modern railways. For this reason, it is no surprise that the town has lodged a bid to be the base for Great British Railways' new headquarters.
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After it was announced that the new headquarters would be based outside of London, a competition was launched to find the most suitable candidate- with the winning town receiving high skilled job opportunities brought in by the development. Transport secretary Grant Shapps described this as a 'great boost' for the winner.
Newton-le-Willows councillor Seve Gomez-Aspron shared his case for the town's suitability for the contest in an interview with BBC Radio Merseyside. He said: "We have a longer, bigger railway history than almost anyone else on the list that has applied.
"The Liverpool-Manchester railway line passed through here, Newton-le-Willows is the mid-point of that and George Stephenson actually lived here while they were building the railway."
The councillor also claims that the town had a hand in another piece of railway history. He says that day two of the famous Rainhill trials started late, because the workers were getting drunk at Newton racecourse the night before.
Newton-le-Willows railway station was recently rebuilt by St Helens Borough Council for £20m, making the station fully accessible. Cllr Gomez-Aspron added: "If the government are serious about levelling up, it would be great to bring the headquarters of the railways back to the birthplace of the railways."
The borough is among 43 local authorities vying for the title of 'home of the railways.'
