It was a shambles at Liverpool Lime Street earlier. No Virgin or LM services southwards due to engineering work, they were buses to Crewe. Also the EMT services were buses into Lime Street due to engineering works at Allerton Junction too. Most passengers for London and all points eastwards were heading across to Manchester via train to catch trains from there, to avoid the buses.
Combine this with TPE Sunday services currently running via Manchester Victoria, then there were a good couple of hundred people with associated luggage trying to shoehorn their way onto the 1 train per hour from Liverpool that was actually going into Piccadilly for the assorted onward connections.
This train also happens to be the (only) hourly stopping train between Liverpool and Manchester on a Sunday so it is also having to carry all the local traffic too, which even on a Sunday is quite sizeable.
Sadly that 1 train per hour was a 2 car 156, and left hundreds behind at Liverpool. It left late while they tried to get everyone to move out of the way of the doors, then got later and later as it went along towards Manchester due to the loading / unloading problems en route. This then delayed the TPE service behind, which got later and later and then lost it's slot up the Calder Valley and ended up following the stopper up there too. The TPE service was also very busy with Airport and London passengers who couldn't fit on the Airport direct train, and were trying to work out how to get to Piccadilly from Victoria with all their luggage in time to catch their trains / flights.
All in all, Jubilee or no Jubilee, it was the usual Sunday shambles of grossly overcrowded trains in the North.
