Graham Norton and Ryan Clark become train announcers welcoming Eurovision fans to Liverpool
Listen to Eurovision host Graham Norton welcoming visitors to Liverpool
Familiar voices will be sounding out across Liverpool as Eurovision hosts Graham Norton and Julia Sanina turn announcers to welcome passengers to the city.
The duo are also joined by Eurovision commentator Eurovision Rylan Clark to record the special messages which will play across the Merseyrail network from Friday 5 May.
Passengers will be greeted in English, French and Ukrainian before being welcomed to the host city.
Passengers will be greeted in English, French and Ukrainian before being welcomed to the host city.
With the trio's distinct voices, they will urge passengers not to be a ‘diva' and to ask for ‘a little help’ from a friendly member of staff if needed.
Listen to Rylan's Merseyrail announcement
The announcements finish with the words ‘let the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 begin!’
The trip have recorded individual messages for each station in the city centre along with instructions to alight for key Eurovision venues.
Rylan was first asked to record the announcements after ‘loving’ a post on social media with one of Liverpool's new £500m publicly owned trains wrapped in Eurovision branding.
The star responded: "Are you mad. YES."
The city is hosting this year's Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of war-torn Ukraine.
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.
Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram said: “A world class spectacular such as Eurovision deserves world class transport – and we’re pulling out all the stops to make sure fans and locals will arrive to the party in style.
“We’ve decorated our new state-of-the-art publicly owned trains and hydrogen buses inEurovision branding and organised late-night bus and train services to make sure no one has to miss a second of the celebrations - and, when people arrive to our train stations, they might even be greeted by a famous voice or two!
“We’re expecting hundreds of thousands of visitors to descend on the Liverpool City Region for a week-long celebration of music, dance, fun and frivolity - and it’s fantastic to see everyone pulling together to make this a truly unforgettable experience for people from the moment they step foot in our wonderful city.”
Passengers travelling around the region during Eurovision are advised to plan their journeys and allow extra time to travel as services are expected to be busier than usual.