A number of amendments are being made to road, rail and ferry options over the next two weeks
Passengers are being urged to plan journeys before travelling with a host of changes being made to festive transport services across Merseyside. Amendments are being made to train, bus and ferry services over the next two weeks as people prepare to celebrate Christmas and New Year.
With some services finishing earlier than usual, particularly on Christmas Eve, passengers are urged to check timetables before travelling, to avoid being caught out. Despite Mersey Tunnel toll increases to be signed off for the New Year, the Queensway and Kingsway routes will be free between 10pm on Christmas Eve and 6am on Boxing Day.
Cllr Steve Foulkes, chair of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority transport committee said passengers should check before travelling to any festive events during what is a busy period on the roads and rails. Changes are also being made to Merseytravel advice centres.
Supported bus services will cover most hospital routes between around 12 noon and 6pm on Christmas Day. Merseyrail’s special Boxing Day services will make a return stopping at selected stations on both the Northern and Wirral lines.
Merseyrail is the only operator in the region to offer Boxing Day services. Officials are also urging passengers where possible to buy travel tickets in advance and online.
Cllr Foulkes said: “This time of year is always very busy for everyone and the work that our frontline public transport colleagues do over this period is always hugely appreciated. We would like to thank our staff working on the trains, tunnels, Mersey Tunnel Police, buses, ferries, travel centres, ticket offices and our customer contact centre, for helping keep the city region moving during the festive period and enabling the public travel safely to enjoy meeting family and friends.
“Whether travelling for work, leisure, shopping or simply to visit relatives, we would urge passengers to make sure that they plan their journeys in advance as there will be changes to services across the city region at this time.”
Mersey Ferries will not operate on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Friday 27 Dec and New Year’s Day. River Explorer Cruises will operate between Saturday 28 and Tuesday December 31 from the Pier Head at 11am, then hourly until the last service which departs from the Pier Head at 3pm, arriving at Seacombe 3.20pm.
There will be no commuter service during this period. Normal service will resume on Thursday January 2 with the first commuter service at 7.20am from Seacombe and the first River Explorer Cruise departing from the Pier Head at 10am.
On Boxing Day, the 917, Taxi One and Soccerbus services will operate as normal during the Liverpool v Leicester City match while the Soccerbus and 919 services will be running on December 29 when Everton host Nottingham Forest.
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