ALMOST 50 jobs will be created with the re- opening of a south Liverpool rail depot next month.

The Allerton rail maintenance site, next to the Liverpool South Parkway rail interchange, shut in early 2008 with the loss of 13 jobs when train company and freight operator EWS lost the contract to service the Voyager fleet for Virgin Trains, after a change in a franchising agreement that switched a cross- country contract from Virgin to Arriva.

Staff working there at the time feared the depot had been earmarked for conversion to a housing development.

However, an increase in capacity on Northern Rail services has led to the depot’s re-opening to provide maintenance for Northern’s rolling stock.

The depot will re-open on December 9 and will create a total of 47 new jobs, including 33 Northern Rail roles which attracted 337 job applications, the company said.

Northern Rail, a joint venture between Serco and Dutch rail company Abellio, who also operate the Merseyrail franchise, said it was overwhelmed by the response to vacancies for skilled train maintainers, depot train drivers and depot supervisors.

Ian Bevan, Northern Rail managing director, said: “We would like to thank all those who applied for a position at Allerton and were delighted to see so many put themselves forward.

“The level of response shows what a fantastic pool of skilled workers Merseyside has to offer, and we are thrilled to welcome them to our team.”

The company, which operates services between Liverpool and the North East, said the new depot had been the subject of a dramatic refurbishment over the past nine months in partnership with the UK’s rail infrastructure operator and site owner Network Rail.

Northern Rail said its new depot will service the additional trains that Northern will receive on December 11, as part of the Department for Transport’s rolling stock programme, delivering an additional 2m seats on Northern services every year.