The 60,000 seat stadium, designed by the American architect HKS, was officially unveiled today and will go for full planning this week.

Yet its capacity is much smaller than the American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks would like. However, the transport problems associated with pushing the stadium to an 80,000 capacity - which the stadium design caters for - appear difficult to overcome.

The favoured option remains a new rail link based along the former Bootle line which still carries freight and runs close to Stanley Park.

Engineers are now looking at the feasibility of converting part of the track to carry passenger traffic and running off a spur to a new station to be created outside the new stadium.

The cost is likely to be high, perhaps £30 million, but significant grant aid could be available, as such a line would significantly increase Merseyside's transport infrastructure.

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry acknowledged that the Bootle rail option remained possible.
"To increase the capacity above 60,000, we need a further step change in our approach which is why we, together with Liverpool City Council and Merseytravel, are investigating the possibility of reopening the Bootle Branch railway line for passenger use," he said.

The possibility of public funding  for the project comes from Merseyside's Objective 1 status, whereby European Union finance can be tapped for infrastructure projects which bring an "integrated system" which benefits the wider public.