Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram has hailed the benefits of bringing buses back under public control as a new express service promises to connect more than 25,000 additional residents to Liverpool John Lennon Airport in under an hour.
The new X3 express service will launch on Sunday 6 September, connecting St Helens town centre directly with Liverpool John Lennon Airport. Its introduction coincides with bus services in St Helens returning to public control for the first time in more than 40 years.
Rotheram said the new route demonstrated what bus franchising could deliver for passengers.
Writing on social media, the Labour mayor said:
“This is bus franchising in action.
“Better connections, better services and more control over how our network works for local people.
“And this is just the beginning.”
The Combined Authority estimates the X3 will put more than 25,000 additional people within a 60-minute public transport journey of the airport, rising to more than 100,000 people within 80 minutes when onward bus and rail connections are included.
Passengers will travel on brand-new, publicly owned, UK-built low-emission buses featuring air conditioning, USB charging, level boarding, audio-visual announcements and improved accessibility.
The new airport connection is part of a much wider overhaul of bus services. From September, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority will have greater control over routes, frequencies and service standards rather than leaving those decisions principally to commercial operators.
St Helens passengers will also see additional evening and weekend services, routes extended to serve hospitals and some services that currently operate every two hours increased to hourly.
Rotheram said the decision to take back control was about more than changing who operates buses.
“When I said we were taking back control of our buses, it was never just about changing who runs them. It was about building a public transport network that works for local people.”
The rollout will continue across the Liverpool City Region, with Wirral following in October and Liverpool, Knowsley and Sefton scheduled to move to the franchised system by the end of 2027.
The changes form part of Rotheram’s ambition to create a more integrated, affordable “London-style” public transport system across the city region.
For Labour, the new X3 provides a practical example of what greater local control of public transport can mean: routes designed around where passengers need to go, improved services and public investment focused on connecting communities to jobs and opportunities.
