Thanks for the correction, I've corrected my above post now.
Went through Liverpool Central today twice on the Northern Line and once on the Wirral Line.
Loads of extra staff on at Moorfields helping out with questions like "Can I get any Wirral Line train to Lime Street?" and so on, for people having to find alternative ways of traveling.
I took this snap of a rail replacement bus on Lime Street.
Thanks, indeed I see after looking at another photo on Wikipedia which has both RTs and an RTL on it that you are correct. I have again corrected the original post.
I have only seen people board via the front doors so far. I remember back around mid-1990s when one particular bus company in Liverpool had bought a large number of ex-London buses having middle doors. What they did back then was to place some sort of horizontal bar over the middle doors, effectively locking them shut. I am currently unsure if this is also the case with these rail replacement buses or if they are just not opening them. Or perhaps it was just that the bus I saw depart was not very busy and therefore they did not open them on that occasion.
Apologies for the delay in replying, I finally travelled on the bus replacement service today, for the first time.
The answer is that they are indeed using the middle doors too. Which I used when alighting. As someone who's not accustomed to using them it's quite striking how useful they are. Saved me a bit of time anyway.
All stops on the circular route have one or two members of staff permanently assisting passengers. So that would probably deter jumping on via the middle doors. Although, it's not likely much of an issue in this case, as the service from what I've seen on a Saturday at least appears a bit underused. And no-one seems too terribly fussed about scrutinising tickets.
I can understand people who may not be able to walk very far or very quickly or who may have bags of shopping would find this bus replacement very useful. But generally, an unencumbered person walking a brisk pace would be able to beat it almost all of the time. This being due to the numerous traffic lights and the road system in Liverpool city centre. This possibly explains why only something like 1% (at a rough guess) of rail passengers using Moorfields station seem to be using it. Well, that and the fact that Moorfields isn't in such a bad location for the shops etc.. anyway. Travelling on the upper deck almost feels like taking a ride on a tour bus, particularly, when you're right next to an actual tour bus.
On the rail-replacement bus service, looking down Water Street towards the River Mersey.
As for Liverpool Central station itself, the Northern Line platforms still look unchanged, except that there are now metal barriers erected around the platfrom egdes. The Wirral Line platform however has now had the 1970s style plastic fittings removed, exposing the concrete lining behind them. So, they seem to be getting on with that quite well so far.
Thanks for the info.
I took a few snaps in my lunch break back on 17th April, mainly for nostalgia reasons. This was using a 10-year old camera from work with a 16MB memory stick and I was in a bit of a rush at the time, so quality not too great.
Part of the false ceiling visible on this one
The very handy escalator from Northern Line direct to Wirral Line
Ticket barriers
"M to go" shop
Photo booth on concourse
Part of the wall from Northern Line platform 1
The question is, is the existing M to go to go?
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Also, if anyone is interested, I shot this 20-second video today from a Wirral Line train passing through.
Apologies for the poor quality, due to the reflections from the train interior.
But you can at least see that work is in progress.
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