Race fans heading to and from this year's Grand National Festival at Aintree will get the chance to travel on one of the region's new state-of-the-art Merseyrail trains.
The next stage of the roll-out of the new trains will begin on the Ormskirk line of the network in time for the showpiece racing event. Following the fleet’s launch on the Kirkby line, passengers will start to see the new trains in passenger service on the Ormskirk line from next Monday (April 10).
For the Grand National Festival, it is planned that some services heading to and from Aintree will be operated by the new trains before their wider introduction on the line over the coming weeks.
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Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “The day that passengers travelling on the Ormskirk line – including myself - have been waiting for is finally here and our new trains are ready to welcome them on board.
“We’ve been working tirelessly to make sure the roll out of our new trains goes as smoothly as possible – and I’m delighted that we’re on track to launch them on the Ormskirk line at the same time that we’re gearing up to host the Grand National.
“Visitors from around the world flock to our region for Aintree races every year and this is our chance to show them the very best that our area has to offer – including some of the best trains in the land.
“Designed in consultation with local people, they’re some of the most accessible and sophisticated in the entire country, with great new features like level access with sliding step technology, more room for bikes and wheelchairs, phone charging and Wi-Fi onboard.”
The roll-out of the new trains began with the Kirkby line earlier this year, which is now fully stocked with new trains. There have been some teething problems with the roll-out and at one point all the new vehicles had to be withdrawn over a software issue.
Once the Ormskirk line roll-out is completed, attention will turn to the Wirral line and then onto the Hunts Cross line.
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