<P> From 5 March 2015, Class 319 trains started electric operation on this route from Liverpool to Manchester Airport via the Oxford Road viaduct . Manchester Victoria station itself is now electrified and at the new timetable changeover on 17 May 2015 Liverpool to Manchester Victoria stopping services also began electric operation using the same rolling stock . </P> <P> As a result of completion of the Manchester Castlefield Junction to Newton - le - Willows Junction electrification, TransPennine Express services between Manchester Airport and Glasgow Central / Edinburgh Waverley now use new Class 350 EMUs and are re-routed along a portion of the northern Liverpool to Manchester route before joining the West Coast Main Line at Golborne Junction . TransPennine Express Class 185 DMUs which formerly operated the Manchester Airport - Glasgow / Edinburgh service are now being redeployed to other routes . </P> <P> The Department for Transport initially announced in July 2009 that the northern route of the Manchester to Liverpool line was to be electrified with 25 kV, 50 Hz AC, overhead line . The electrification process was originally due to be completed by 2013 however, following a change of government in 2010, the work was delayed by the government meaning that, while the Manchester to Newton - le - Willows section was completed by December 2013 to enable Manchester - Scotland electric services, the remaining section to Liverpool was not completed until 5 March 2015 . Now that the electrification of the line is complete and electric services are running, the journey time between Liverpool and Manchester has been reduced from around 45 minutes today, to 30 minutes due to the greater acceleration achieved by electric trains and the raising of the speed limit along the line from 75 to 90 mph . Class 319 EMUs have been fully refurbished and transferred from the Thameslink route to operate between Liverpool and Manchester, while Thameslink services will be operated by new energy - efficient trains, which were originally due to be delivered between 2011 and 2013 . Electrification also offers electric haulage options for freight trains, giving a secondary route to the West Coast Main Line from Liverpool . </P> <P> The southern route runs from Liverpool Lime Street via Warrington Central to Manchester Piccadilly . There are four passenger trains per hour (tph) in each direction between Liverpool and Manchester, which are usually operated by a variety of Class 185, Class 150, Class 156, Class 158 and Class 142 Diesel Multiple Units . These services are run by a number of rail companies and the time intervals are not evenly spaced out; there are large gaps between some services, and at other times trains leave within minutes of each other . First TransPennine Express uses modern Class 185 trains, while other operators run a mixture of older rolling stock . While TransPennine Express' once per hour service generally take 45 minutes to reach Manchester from Liverpool Lime Street, some Northern services take an hour and ten minutes to cover the 35 miles . The line's newest station is Liverpool South Parkway which opened in June 2006 after its estimated construction cost of £ 16 million had doubled to £ 32 million by the time it was completed . This station replaced Allerton and Garston stations and has frequent bus links to Liverpool John Lennon Airport . This route is busier than the northern route in terms of service frequency (2 express & 2 stopping trains per hour each way over the entire route, compared to 1 express, 1 semi-fast and 1 through stopping train via Earlestown, though additional Arriva Trains Wales and TransPennine Express services use the eastern end of the northern route). </P>

Manchester oxford road to liverpool lime street stops