Liverpool City Region's brand new publicly owned trains will be out in action on the Ormskirk line in time for the Aintree Festival and Grand National as its phased rollout across the Merseyrail network moves into its next stage.
Passengers are already seeing the new trains in action on the Kirkby line following the fleet's launch and on Monday the 10th of April it will be the turn of the Ormskirk line.
It is also planned that some services which travel to and from Aintree will be operated using the new trains in order to support the Grand National Festival prior to the train's wider introduction on the line over the weeks to come.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said:
“The day that passengers travelling on the Ormskirk line – including myself – have been waiting for is finally here and our new trains are ready to welcome them on board!
“We've been working tirelessly to make sure the rollout of our new trains goes as smoothly as possible – and I'm delighted that we're on track to launch them on the Ormskirk line at the same time that we're gearing up to host the Grand National.
“Visitors from around the world flock to our region for Aintree races every year and this is our chance to show them the very best that our area has to offer – including some of the best trains in the land.
“Designed in consultation with local people, they're some of the most accessible and sophisticated in the entire country, with great new features like level access with sliding step technology, more room for bikes and wheelchairs, phone charging and Wi-Fi onboard.”
A £500m public investment to support the needs of local passengers has seen the innovative and highly
accessible new trains feature more space for bikes, prams and wheelchairs, the trains also feature USB sockets and real-time journey information.
To find out more about the new trains and further details of the fleets rollout, please visit: http://www.merseytravel.gov.uk/newtrains
The Class 777 are such incredible new trains that Merseyrail have ordered to replace the Class 507 and Class 508. And perhaps Merseyrail should order more Class 777s if necessary.