Liverpool to get late night trains for Eurovision

0205 Eurovision train
Merseyrail is changing services for Eurovision Credit: Merseyrail

Merseyrail have announced special Eurovision timetable arrangements, including late night trains for the Big Eurovision Welcome on Sunday 7 May and The Grand Final on Saturday 13 May.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to join in the celebrations with many from outside the region and the UK travelling to Liverpool.

To make sure everyone can get back to their homes and hotels Merseyrail will be extending its services with extra services, but some city centre stations will be closed at certain times on certain days.

Merseyrail says this is to help manage the large number of people expected in the city centre and to ensure the safety of all passengers.

Rail workers to strike on day of Eurovision final and FA Cup Final

The announcement comes after rail workers at 14 train operators say they will strike on the day of the Eurovision Song Contest final after union leaders rejected the latest offer aimed at resolving a long-running pay dispute.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will walk out on 13 May after the union’s executive turned down a “clarification“ on an offer from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG).

This does not affect Merseyrail.

Sunday 7 May:

  • 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 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 20:00.

  • Passengers wanting to travel from Liverpool city centre on the Wirral line after 20:00 must use Liverpool Central station only.

  • Passengers wanting to travel on the Northern line after 20:00 must use Moorfields station only.

  • Late night trains will run on Northern and Wirral lines on the evening of Sunday 7 May into the early hours of Monday 8 May 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

  • 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 8 May – Friday 12 May

To support the semi-final events: A normal weekday timetable will run on Northern and Wirral lines.

James Street station will be closed from 20:00 each evening to ensure theeffective management of large numbers of passengers expected to be travelling around the city.

Saturday 13 May - Grand Final Day.

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 to help manage the large number of people expected.

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 13 May into the early hours of Sunday 14 May calling at all stations.

The times of the last trains on each line can be found here.

Jane English, acting Managing Director, said: “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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