Steve Rotheram spent £500 million of your money on trains that don’t fit through the tunnels. Now he wants to take over the whole network. God help us all.
He wants to take ownership of Merseyrail. But Steve Rotheram — the Mayor of the Liverpool City Region — can’t even get an 8-car service to Cressington.
The man many now call “Stea Rotten” has spent half a billion pounds of council tax payers’ money on trains that were too big for the tunnels. Trains that don’t work in the summer. Trains that don’t work in the winter. And now he wants more control.
The question is simple: why would anyone give this man more power?
The half-billion-pound mistake
The new trains were supposed to be the future. Instead, they’ve become a symbol of everything wrong with the Mayor’s leadership.
One insider said:
“They spent £500 million on trains that don’t fit through the tunnels. Let that sink in. Half a billion pounds. And nobody checked the measurements.”
Nobody checked the measurements.
Half a billion pounds.
And nobody thought to measure the tunnels.
Another added:
“They don’t work in the heat. They don’t work in the cold. They’re either breaking down or being pulled from service. And the Mayor’s answer is to ask for more control. It’s insane.”
Insane is the right word.
But the Mayor calls it ambition.
Cressington’s fiasco
Cressington has become the epicentre of the Mayor’s rail failures. Commuters and residents say they can’t get a train when they need one — especially on Everton match days.
One commuter said:
“On match days, the trains get pulled. They prioritise the football crowds and leave the rest of us stranded. It’s favouritism. Pure and simple.”
Another added:
“I’ve missed appointments. I’ve been late for work. I’ve stood on the platform for an hour while empty trains passed by because they were being held for the match. It’s disgusting.”
Empty trains.
Passing by.
While ordinary people stand on the platform.
That is not public transport. That is a private taxi service for football fans — paid for by you.
The vanity project
If the trains weren’t bad enough, the Mayor has also spent thousands on a name change — rebranding the much-loved Merseyrail as “Metro Rail” because it coincides with his own office: the Metro Mayor Combined Authority.
One critic said:
“It’s pure ego. He changed the name because it matches his title. Thousands of pounds on new logos, new signage, new branding. And for what? Nobody asked for it. Nobody wanted it.”
Another added:
“Merseyrail was a name people were proud of. It meant something. Now it’s been replaced by something that sounds like a budget gym membership. It’s a waste.”
Merseyrail was loved.
Now it sounds like a loyalty card.
But the Mayor got what he wanted: his title on the map.
From corrupt to inept
Liverpool’s previous mayor was mired in scandal. Voters hoped for change. Instead, according to critics, they got something worse: not corruption, but incompetence.
One political observer said:
“At least with corruption, you know what you’re dealing with. This is different. This is a man who genuinely believes he’s doing a good job while everything falls apart around him.”
Another said:
“He calls it ambition. The rest of us call it delusion. You can’t run a rail network on vanity projects and football favouritism.”
Voters traded one disaster for another.
And now the Mayor wants more control.
The money pit
Current owners describe the network as a “money pit” — a system in desperate need of repair after years of underinvestment. And yet the Mayor wants to take it over.
One source said:
“It’s like watching someone beg to buy a burning house. The network needs hundreds of millions in repairs. The trains don’t work. The tunnels are too small. And he’s standing there saying ‘give me the keys.’ It’s madness.”
A burning house.
And he’s begging for the keys.
No comment
Steve Rotheram’s office has not responded to requests for comment.
But for the commuters of Cressington and beyond, the message is clear: they don’t trust Stea Rotten with their trains — or their money.
As one commuter put it:
“He couldn’t even get us a train on a Saturday afternoon. And now he wants to own the whole network? God help us all.”
