This weekend is the Liverpool Giants and there are some changes to train services in the area to keep passengers moving.

The Giants will be parading through the city for the third and final time.

From Thursday 4 until Sunday 7 October, the world-famous street theatre company Royal de Luxe, from Nantes, will visit both Liverpool and Wirral.

Various train operators have plans in place to keep people moving throughout the weekend, some of which are list below:

London Northwestern Railway

London Northwestern Railway train services to and from Liverpool will operate with extra train carriages on Saturday to get passengers to and from the events.

Additional stops at Winsford at 10:39 and 14:39 will be made for services heading to Liverpool.

There will be a queueing system at Liverpool Lime Street to keep passengers moving.  Pedestrians will exit via Lord Nelson Street and enter via Skelhorne Street.

Northern

On Saturday 6th October, Northern will have a reduced service due to an RMT strike, which could lead to disruption.

There will be a reduction in services and an early finish for trains heading out of the city.

Train services to and from Liverpool on Saturday 6 October

• Wigan stopping service: half hourly from Wigan first train 8.54am – final train from Liverpool 6.49pm
• Wigan express calling at St Helens Central only: hourly first train from Wigan at 8.51am – final train from Liverpool 6.36pm
• Manchester Oxford Road to Liverpool via Warrington Central: hourly first train from Manchester 8.12am – final train from Liverpool 6.13pm
• Manchester Victoria to Liverpool via St Helen’s Junction: hourly first train from Manchester 8.31am – final train from Liverpool 6.30pm

Merseyrail

On Thursday 4 October 2018, Merseyrail will have a normal timetable will be in place. However, there will not be additional late night trains and passengers are urged to check train times before travelling.

On Friday 5, Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 October, Merseyrail will be operating a special event timetable. This includes a limited stop service – this will run across the network and some stations will be closed. This will allow Merseyrail to deliver a more reliable service.

For the safety of passengers, Liverpool Lime Street low level and James Street stations will both be closed to the public. Wirral line passengers have to use Liverpool Central only, and Northern line passengers should use Moorfields only.

On Friday 5 and Saturday 6 only, Merseyrail will be running no trains on the Ellesmere Port line and a 20-minute train shuttle service between Chester and Hooton. Services on the Hunts Cross line will start and terminate at Liverpool South Parkway.

On Sunday 7, trains will run on the Ellesmere Port line and services will run to Hunts Cross.

What did the officials say?

Managing Director at Merseyrail, Andy Heath, said:

“We are always pleased to support events in the City Region and to help us deliver a reliable service to both commuters and those travelling to the event, we have made necessary timetable changes. Both the timetable change and limited stops mean we can deliver a more frequent and strengthened service as much as possible to support the volume of passengers we are expecting on the network during the Giants event. Our stations will be extremely busy, queuing systems will be in place at stations and staff will be available to support passengers. We encourage all passengers to plan ahead and allow extra time for their journeys.”

Craig Harrop, Interim Regional Director at Northern, said:

“We are pleased to be working in partnership with Merseytravel and others in Liverpool City Region to help visitors to the city enjoy The Giants for a third time.

“We are doing everything we can to run as many services as possible to support the event and keep customers on the move.

“On Saturday however, as a result of RMT strike action, we will only be able to run a very limited service, with most trains starting after 8am and finishing before 7pm. Those services we are able to run will be extremely busy and I am calling on our customers to plan their travel carefully and, where possible, to seek alternative means of travel to and from Liverpool.”

“Customers may also face some disruption on Sunday and, again, I would ask anyone who plans to use Northern services to travel into the city to plan ahead and check train running information.”

Jonny Wiseman, head of stations for London Northwestern Railway said:

“The Giants have always drawn a large following, and particularly for their final year in the city, we want to make sure everybody gets to where they need to be. There will be additional carriages on many of our services, to help with the additional travellers. If you are attending events, make sure you plan ahead and leave plenty of time to get to your destination.”

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