A MAJOR project to launch a permanent exhibition at Edge Hill station to mark its place in world history is to step up a pace in 2011.Campaigners believe Edge Hill could become one of the city’s biggest tourist attractions as part of an ambitious scheme to celebrate the oldest working railway station in the world.
Now heritage groups such as Merseyside Civic Society and Friends of Williamson Tunnels are joining forces with the Edge Hill campaign to add their collective weight to the proposals for a World Rail Expo at the station.
Leading campaigner Fred O’Brien said: “The National Rail Museum in York attracts a million visitors a year, and we believe a World Rail Expo at Edge Hill could be just as big as an attraction.
"The potential is tremendous.
“For far too long, Edge Hill has been in the shadow of Liverpool city centre and the waterfront.
"Yet it boasts the world’s oldest working rail station.
"Hundreds of thousands of people travel through the station to and from Lime Street every day, without realising its importance in the world of rail transport.
"The station opened in 1836 and has been in use ever since.”
The potential transformation of Edge Hill was given a major boost when Cllr Mark Dowd, chairman of transport authority Merseytravel, launched an initiative to officially recognise the importance of the forgotten station.
Merseytravel’s Rail Services Committee gave its backing and agreed to set up a working party to explore the potential.
Representatives from Network Rail (which owns the track and buildings), the National Rail Museum (NRM), in York, and Northern Rail (NR) were invited to discuss further developments.
