Commuters face disruption ahead of new train fleet roll-out

Train operator Merseyrail has warned of disruption to the Northern line network next month linked to the introduction of its new train fleet – almost three years after the first delivery of the new £460m rolling stock.

Liverpool Central station will be closed to Northern line passengers and there will be no services on the Hunts Cross line for four days in November, to allow for essential works to take place.

The works will see adjustments made to tracks and line-side equipment to ensure new trains in an eight-car formation will be able to serve the station.

For the work to be completed quickly and safely, Liverpool Central station will close to Northern line services from 22:00 on Sunday, November 6, until the end of service on Wednesday, November 9.

A summary of services that are affected is as follows:

• Hunts Cross line: The Hunts Cross line will not operate between 22:00 on Sunday, November 6, until the end of service on Wednesday November 9. A rail replacement bus service will be in operation between Moorfields station and Hunts Cross station. The bus service will not call at Liverpool Central station.
• Southport and Ormskirk line: From 22:00 on Sunday, November 6, until 20:00 on Wednesday, November 9, Southport and Ormskirk line services will operate every 20 minutes and start/terminate at Moorfields station. After 20:00 services will operate every 30 minutes.
• Kirkby line: From 22:00 on Sunday, November 6, until 20:00 on Wednesday, November 9, Kirkby line services will operate every 20 minutes and start/terminate at Sandhills station. After 20:00 services will operate every 30 minutes starting and terminating at Moorfields station.
• From 20:00 on Wednesday, November 9, Southport, Ormskirk and Kirkby line services will start/terminate at Sandhills station. A rail replacement bus service will run between Sandhills and Hunts Cross stations. The bus service will not call at Liverpool Central station.
• All routes will reopen as normal for the start of services on Thursday, November 10.
• Wirral line services will not be affected.

Zoe Hands, chief operating officer at Merseyrail, said: “These planned works are a vital part of the modernisation of the Merseyrail network and will enable the introduction of the new Class 777 trains.

“We would like to apologise to our passengers for the disruption that is being caused and thank them for their patience while this essential work is being carried out.
“You can be assured that we did not take the decision to close Liverpool Central station to Northern line services lightly.

“The work is expected to finish as planned on Wednesday night, and all services will be fully operational on Thursday, November 10.”

Passengers can find out detailed information about the planned disruption at www.merseyrail.org/plan-your-journey/planned-disruption.aspx

Passengers who require assistance getting between Liverpool Central and Moorfields should contact customer relations via www.merseyrail.org, or speak to a member of staff at any Merseyrail ticket office.

The new train fleet, built by Swiss manufacturer Stadler, began tests in Germany in October 2019, and the first units arrived on Merseyside in December 2019, ahead of a planned roll-out in 2020.

However, as exclusively revealed by TheBusinessDesk.com in August 2019, introduction of the new fleet was always going to be delayed due to problems with signalling systems at certain stations.

Merseyrail rush hour services will comprise eight cars with the new fleet, which are longer than the six-car sets with the current fleet, meaning the new peak hour trains will overlap the signalling system at some stations.

This means that points behind the trains cannot be set properly to allow the new rolling stock to manoeuvre at stations, including Liverpool Central – one of the busiest stations in the country – Southport station and Hunts Cross.

Transport authority, Merseytravel, had already carried out a costly programme of work at 53 Merseyrail stations to ensure platforms were the right height for sliding step technology on the new fleet, meaning there is no gap between the platform and the train.