 STROLLING around the site of the new Liverpool South Parkway interchange with Merseytravel supremo Neil Scales is a bit like going to see a friend's baby for the first time. He's probably more nervous about it than you are, but in reality you're never going to say anything other than how good it looks. LSP as we will all come to know it - and hopefully, love it - is very much Mr Scales's baby. He's not only the chief executive of the transport authority (Merseytravel) which commissioned it but also lead engineer on the project. It says so in rather large letters on the sign outside the Mather Avenue building site, perhaps a rare nod towards vanity from the straight-talking North Easterner. If you've seen Mr Scales's name quite a lot in the Daily Post over the last 18 months it is, of course, because of the trials and tribulations of Merseytram, a project he has been trying to make a reality for more than five years. Its future still hangs in the balance, with a meeting of regional council leaders and executives on Friday the latest hurdle to be faced. But while Merseytram has been gathering all the headlines, a smaller but possibly equally significant project has been taking shape in south Liverpool. LSP - basically a new Allerton station with Garston moved a few hundred metres down the track to join it - will open in June 2006 to provide a direct rail link to Liverpool JLA. Passengers who use rail services to reach LSP will be just a seven-minute bus ride away from the John Lennon terminal. Through-ticketing for customers will leave them in no doubt that this is JLA's train station. A park-and-ride will cater for around 240 cars with a possible extension to come. Standing on the raised concourse which will carry passengers from platform to platform, JLA's control tower is clearly visible in the distance. So why was Mr Scales so anxious to be involved in the project, both as executive and engineer? He said: "I was determined we were going to make the best possible job of this for the people of Merseyside. "It is going to become one of the key gateways to Merseyside and I was determined we were going to have a high quality product." You sense a feeling of ownership as he runs through the capabilities of the new interchange. | 
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