Merseyrail has announced its special late-running timetable for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool next week.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to join in the celebrations of the showpiece song contest when it arrives in the city next week, with many from outside the region and the UK travelling to Liverpool to attend the event.
The largest numbers of visitors are expected to flock to The National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome on Sunday May 7, and the Grand Final on Saturday May 13.
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Merseyrail will be extending its services to help music fans can get back to their homes and hotels across the city region. The operator said special plans will be in place throughout the Eurovision Song Contest week, to ensure the safety of all passengers every day.
This means that on some days city centre stations will close at certain times to help manage the large number of people expected to attend the events. Details on access to city centre stations are available on the Merseyrail website, merseyrail.org/Eurovision.
Passengers are being asked to think ahead, plan journeys by checking timetables before and on the day of travel, and to leave more time for their journey as there may be queues and short notice changes to services.
Sunday, May 7 to support The National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome: A Sunday timetable will run every 30-minutes on the Northern and Wirral lines, with extra late night services to help people get home after The National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome.
Liverpool Lime Street Low Level station will be closed all day due to its vicinity to the event. James Street station will be closed from 8pm. Passengers wanting to travel from Liverpool city centre on the Wirral line after 8pm must use Liverpool Central station only.
Passengers wanting to travel on the Northern line after 8pm must use Moorfields station only. Late night trains will run on Northern and Wirral lines on the evening of Sunday, May 7 into the early hours of Monday May 8 calling at all stations. The times of the last trains on each line are as follows;
Chester line: The last train will depart from Liverpool Central at 00:30
West Kirby line: The last train will depart from Liverpool Central at 00:18
New Brighton line: The last train will depart from Liverpool Central at 00:24
Southport line: The last train will depart from Moorfields at 00:11
Hunts Cross line: The last train will depart from Moorfields at 00:22
Kirkby line: The last train will depart from Moorfields at 00:27
Ormskirk line: The last train will depart from Moorfields at 00:18
Wirral line passengers will only be able to board late night trains at Liverpool Central, and Northern line passengers at Moorfields. All other stations will only allow passengers to alight and exit the station. There are no passenger services into Liverpool city centre after the end of the normal timetable.
Monday, May 8 – Friday, May 12 to support the semi-final events: A normal weekday timetable will run on Northern and Wirral lines. James Street station will be closed from 8pm each evening to ensure the effective management of large numbers of passengers expected to be travelling around the city.
Saturday, May 13 to support the Grand Final: Trains will run to a 20-minute frequency on all parts of the Merseyrail network, except for the Ellesmere Port line which will run to a 30-minute frequency. This timetable allows trains to extend into the early hours of Sunday morning.
Liverpool Lime Street Low Level station and James Street station will be closed all day. This is to help manage the large number of people expected at The Grand Final.
Wirral line trains will only call at Liverpool Central in the city centre. Northern Line trains will only call at Moorfields in the city centre.
Late night trains will also run on Northern and Wirral lines on Saturday, May 13 into the early hours of Sunday, May 14 calling at all stations. The times of the last trains on each line are as follows;
Chester line: Trains will depart from Liverpool Central at 00:15, 00:45, 01:15, 01:45 and 02:15
West Kirby line: Trains will depart from Liverpool Central at 00:10, 00:40, 01:10, 01:40, 02:10 and 02:40
New Brighton line: Trains will depart from Liverpool Central at 00:25, 00:55, 01:25, 01:55 and 02:25
Southport line: Trains will depart from Moorfields at 23:59, 00:19, 00:33, 01:05, 01:35, 02:05 and 02:35
Hunts Cross line: Trains will depart from Moorfields at 00:08, 00:40, 01:10, 01:40, 02:10 and 02:40
Kirkby line: Trains will depart from Moorfields at 00:25, 00:55, 01:25, 01:55 and 02:25
Ormskirk line: Trains will depart from Moorfields at 00:15, 00:45, 01:15, 01:45, 02:15 and 02:45
On May 13 Wirral line passengers will only be able to board late night trains at Liverpool Central, and Northern line passengers at Moorfields. All other stations will only allow passengers to alight and exit the station. There are no passenger services into Liverpool city centre after the end of the normal timetable.
Jane English, acting managing director, said: “We have been working closely with Eurovision organisers, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Liverpool City Council and other stakeholders to draw up these comprehensive plans which aim to support this internationally important event.
“The Eurovision event is a huge moment for Liverpool and the wider city region, and I’m confident that the plans we have at Merseyrail will ensure that everyone will have a great time and get back to their home or hotel when the partying ends.
“Although we are running a 20-minute timetable on Saturday 13 May, we have increased capacity on all lines. This means there will be around an additional 40 trains after midnight. Our stations and trains will be extremely busy during this period, but please be patient and follow the advice of Merseyrail staff.
“Travel light if you can. Busy services will mean less room for large items of luggage. We will get everybody where they need to be, when they need to be there through the whole week. Passengers really need to plan ahead, and check timetables and information on the Merseyrail website, app or twitter account before travelling.”
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