Rail passengers travelling between West Kirby and Liverpool face disruption for two weeks in April due to platform upgrade works to prepare the network for new trains.
From 7 – 22 April, a rail replacement bus service will call at stations between West Kirby and Birkenhead North, where commuters will be able to board a train to complete their journey.
Three trains an hour will run from Bidston to Liverpool from 15-22 April.
The combination of bus and train travel will mean journeys from West Kirby to Liverpool will take just over an hour, rather than the usual 30 minutes.
The platform adjustments are needed so that new sliding step technology on the new trains can be used, enabling wheelchair users, prams and cycles to get on and off with ease.
David Powell, Merseytravel’s Programme Director for Rolling Stock, said: “We appreciate that passengers need to adjust their journeys but they have been great at planning ahead and that really does help us keep people moving so it’s a huge thank you from all of us.
“This is a hugely important piece of work and there are a lot of people working both on the front line and behind the scenes to make sure it’s running as smoothly as possible with minimal disruption to passengers.
“When we researched passenger opinion in 2013/14 one of the points raised was the gap between the sliding step and the platform edge. These works will result in the step meeting the platform edge and will clearly benefit passengers in terms of getting on and off the train.
“Ultimately, this is all about our new trains that will be arriving from 2020 and will be owned by the people of the Liverpool City Region.”
Andy Heath managing director for Merseyrail said: “Merseyrail has developed a robust rail replacement bus timetable to help passengers travel as easily as possible during each phase of work and minimise any disruption to their journey.
“Passengers will still be able to get to their destination, however we encourage them to plan their journeys in advance and allow extra time.”
More information and further details about how journeys will be affected can be found here.
