Author: Ollie Cowan

Events including the Three Festivals Tall Ships Regatta, the Liverpool Bordeaux Wine Festival and a homecoming parade for Liverpool FC on Sunday 27 May should they win the UEFA Champions League are all expected to attract thousands of people to the waterfront and city centre.

Merseytravel, bus and rail operators and other partners have put plans in place using all available resources to support people as they travel.

People are strongly advised to plan their journeys as transport services will be much busier than normal, both before and after these events, due to an increase in demand and queues are expected.

A summary of key travel information and advice is below but travellers should check with transport operators for more detailed and up to the minute information both in the run up to and on their day of travel.

Key advice and information:

• Plan ahead and allow extra time for your journeys – services will be busier, expect queues.
• Check timetables – be prepared for some changes to services, particularly for buses as there will be diversions due to road closures.
• Be prepared and be patient as it will be extremely busy. Leave plenty of time to get where you want to go.
• Consider picking your journey times carefully and staggering your day to avoid busy times.
• The Mersey Ferries are a good cross river option with hourly services during the weekend.

Sunday 27 May – if the Liverpool FC homecoming parade takes place:

• Large numbers of people are expected to come in and out of the city, there will be significant demands on public transport, with queuing expected.
• Travellers need to plan and allow extra time for journeys – services will be busier.
• Check timetables in the run up to and on the day of travel – be prepared for some changes to services, particularly for buses as there will be diversions due to road closures.
• Be prepared and be patient as it will be extremely busy. Leave plenty of time to get where you want to go.
• Consider picking your journey times carefully and staggering your day to avoid busy times.
• There are engineering works on mainline routes into Liverpool which will reduce the number and frequency of services.
• Lime Street mainline station will be very busy, queuing systems will be in place
• James Street and Lime Street lower level stations will be closed to help manage the expected crowds.
• Remember that bus and rail services will be running Sunday services.
• Bring water, hats and sun cream in the event of hot weather.
• Consider staying local and utilise the full length of the route. Decide which part of the route you want to wait at and arrive in plenty of time.

Merseyrail

Merseyrail will be running a strengthened service with 6 carriage trains on selected lines throughout the bank holiday weekend to accommodate the increased number of passengers that are expected to enjoy the weather and city centre events.

Sunday 27 May

The normal Sunday service will run with trains every 30 minutes however services will increase to every 15 minutes on the Southport line from 10:10. Services from Chester will depart 5 minutes earlier and arrive in to Chester 5 minutes later than the usual timetable.

If the Liverpool FC homecoming parade takes place, both James Street and Lime Street lower level will be closed to help manage the expected crowds. Wirral Line passengers will need to use Liverpool Central only and Northern Line passengers must use Moorfields only, as both of these stations are able to better accommodate the increased number of people that are expected to travel.

In the event that the parade does not go ahead, both James Street and Lime Street lower level stations will remain open and both Liverpool Central and Moorfields will serve Wirral and Northern line passengers as normal.

Monday 28 May

Merseyrail services will depart Chester 5 minutes earlier and arrive in to Chester 5 minutes later than the usual timetable.

Northern Rail

There is planned strike action by members of the RMT union on Northern rail services on Saturday 26 May. There will be very limited services running. Travellers should check the Northern Rail website and National Rail Enquiries on their day of travel for the most up to date information.

Lime Street Station

Lime Street station will be incredibly busy this weekend and passengers will see crowd control queuing measures in place. This will ensure that Network Rail and train operators can keep passengers moving safely.

Upgrade works on the Halton Curve near Frodsham and Weaver Wavertree resignalling scheme will mean changes to journeys over the bank holiday. Passengers are reminded to check before they travel and leave plenty of time for their journey.

Bus services

Arriva services are due to run as planned, with double deck buses on as many routes as possible to increase capacity.

Stagecoach services are due to run as planned.

Bus users should be prepared for some changes to services, particularly as there will be diversions due to potential road closures.

Mersey Ferries

Services will be running as usual. Please be aware that on Monday 28 May, special cruises are in operation to follow the Tall Ships event, visit the Mersey Ferries website for more details.

Mersey Tunnels

On Sunday 27 May, as the potential Liverpool FC homecoming parade is planned to pass the Mersey Tunnels’ entrances and exits, closures will be required and will be published in advance via the Mersey Tunnels website.

On Monday 28 May off peak traffic is expected to be higher than normal due to the bank holiday and people travelling to and from the day’s events.