Wirral train commuters face travel nightmare

Commuters who get the train between Liverpool and Wirral are set for a travel nightmare next year - with no services running for six weeks from January

Published 5th Aug 2016

Commuters who get the train between Liverpool and Wirral are set for a travel nightmare next year - with no services running for six weeks from January.

Engineering work on the line means there'll be no trains operating beyond Birkenhead from January 3rd until February the 12th.

Some services will then resume - but the disruption in total will go on for six months.

Network Rail is carrying out essential renewal work on the city centre underground sections of the Wirral line.

It means that Wirral line trains will not be able to serve Moorfields, Lime Street and Liverpool Central stations.

At certain times, trains towards Liverpool will be unable to travel beyond Birkenhead Central and Birkenhead North. Northern line services will remain unaffected throughout and will call at Moorfields and Liverpool Central as normal.

The track in the underground ‘loop’, which forms the one way section of the Wirral line under Liverpool city centre, was built in the 1970s - and Network Rail say the concrete that supports the track in the single bore tunnels needs to be replaced.

Network Rail will also replace the track under the riverbed between James Street and Hamilton Square at the same time.

They say the work will mean the railway is reliable for the next decades of intensive use by our train services.

Bosses have pledged to do everything possible to ensure that Wirral line passengers can continue to travel into Liverpool city centre, using alternative transport, such as replacement bus services and Mersey Ferry services.

Over the next few months, they've pledged to give customers more information on the options, ahead of the work getting underway.