• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Liverpool Central closure.

Status
Not open for further replies.

jaigee

Member
Joined
6 Jan 2011
Messages
151
Just a reminder that Liverpool Central closed today, the Wirral Line until August 25th and the Northern Line until October 22nd.

Earlier on the BBC local news website was showing a photograph of Liverpool South Parkway captioned as LiverpoolCentral!
 
Last edited:
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

73001

Member
Joined
2 Jun 2010
Messages
396
Location
Liverpool
That's almost as bad as the Merseytravel press release which states that 'Iconic London Routemasters' will be running around Liverpool to help commuters get about whilst it closed! They are actually just 10 year old standard double deckers which happen to have been in London and were sat around in a yard waiting for disposal/redeployment.
 

Bevan Price

Established Member
Joined
22 Apr 2010
Messages
7,320
Just a reminder that Liverpool Central closed today, the Wirral Line until August 25th and the Northern Line until October 22nd.

!

Two points - first, wonder if it will be completed on schedule ?

Second - anyone travelling on the Hunts Cross line to the city centre - the rail replacement buses from Brunswick only go as far as Berry Street ( on the edge of the centre), instead of going to the usual rail replacement stop in Great Charlotte Street (a short walk from Central). So, allow plenty of time if you have appointments, or are making connections to other services.
Hunts Cross - Southport services will run non-stop through Central, and you can connect to/from other Merseyrail services at Moorfields.
 

pemma

Veteran Member
Joined
23 Jan 2009
Messages
31,474
Location
Knutsford
That's almost as bad as the Merseytravel press release which states that 'Iconic London Routemasters' will be running around Liverpool to help commuters get about whilst it closed! They are actually just 10 year old standard double deckers which happen to have been in London and were sat around in a yard waiting for disposal/redeployment.

Are they former Arriva London buses?
 

Green Lane

Member
Joined
5 Apr 2010
Messages
332
Location
Birkenhead, Merseyside
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.
DSCF3620.jpg


Reg no YN51KVG. Putting that in to flicker reveals several photos from last year of the same bus on route 3 - Crystal Palace. Like this one where it's behind an RTL:-

6582849821_a75b390d84_o_d.jpg
 
Last edited:

73001

Member
Joined
2 Jun 2010
Messages
396
Location
Liverpool
Arriva didn't get the contract for this replacement, Abellio did and they are using their old buses with Selwyns drivers (from Runcorn).
 
Last edited:

Polarbear

Established Member
Joined
24 May 2008
Messages
1,705
Location
Birkenhead
Three days into the closure & things seem to be working pretty well in & around Liverpool. Loads of extra staff deployed at Moorfields to assist customers & provide crowd control during the day.

There's some degree of segregation of passenger flows at Moorfields, with passengers for Kirkby services being directed to the passageway that links the Wirral & Northern lines, with other Northern Line Customers using the other passageway between the 2 station entrances.

Additionally, I note that the Old Hall Street entrance has had it's opening hours extended for an experimental period to see if that helps smooth the flow of passengers.

Certainly, I've not experienced any problems so far & it's good to see a TOC so well organised. :D
 

91101

Member
Joined
25 Oct 2007
Messages
439
I have to say, that following a recent visit to see MR at Aintree, they really are fantastic at event management!! Head and shoulders off some other operators!!
 

JB1601

Member
Joined
4 Aug 2011
Messages
58
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.
DSCF3620.jpg

Are they using the middle doors or just the front?
Most people from home in the Wirral who've visited me in London express amazement that more people don't just jump on at the back without paying! (this is the standard double-deckers where you're not allowed to do that)
 

Eire Sprinter

Member
Joined
7 Jan 2012
Messages
174
Location
Hibernia.
Nice photo of that rail replacement bus.

I expect by the Brunswick bus only going as far as Berry St. the assumption is being made that passengers will walk down Bold Street into the City Centre. Using an Elliot St./ Great Charlotte St. stop would have given better connectivity.
 

Green Lane

Member
Joined
5 Apr 2010
Messages
332
Location
Birkenhead, Merseyside
Just got more complicated that's actualy an RTL (Leyland) not RT (AEC) the radiator and badge is the clue.
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.

Are they using the middle doors or just the front?
Most people from home in the Wirral who've visited me in London express amazement that more people don't just jump on at the back without paying! (this is the standard double-deckers where you're not allowed to do that)
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.

Nice photo of that rail replacement bus.

I expect by the Brunswick bus only going as far as Berry St. the assumption is being made that passengers will walk down Bold Street into the City Centre. Using an Elliot St./ Great Charlotte St. stop would have given better connectivity.

Thanks, I'd mistakenly picked up my old camera instead of my newer one on Monday when taking that picture. It was a very dull morning and if I'd had my new camera with me, the photos would have come out much brighter. That older camera struggles a bit in low light, so it's slightly underexposed. But still, the colour seems OK on it! The full resolution version looks better, where you can red the text more clearly, but I've just put the image on Photobucket for now, which has scaled it down to 800x600.

As for the Brunswick buses, yes I saw one of those too at Brunswick Station on Monday. Sometimes I get the 82 bus back from my friend's house, who lives in the Dingle. Very often it's quite slow from Berry Street onwards as the traffic in Renshaw Street can be very often quite busy. For many people I can understand that simply walking down Bold Street would be quicker than staying on the bus.
 

Statto

Established Member
Joined
8 Feb 2011
Messages
3,208
Location
At home or at the pub
Fortunate the Wirral Line has 3 other stations in Liverpool City Centre so passengers can be spread out between the stations, however the Northern Line only has Moorfields in the City Centre, although Moorfields is big enough to cope, i wouldn't fancy going there in the Peaks for the Northern Line.
 

AntoniC

Member
Joined
28 Dec 2011
Messages
862
Location
Southport
I caught a train from Moorfields to Southport, last Friday afternoon in Peak hour and I have to congratulate Merseyrail on how well organised they are !.

They have pens on the concourse above the platforms for trains heading North to Southport/Ormskirk and trains heading South to the Wirral.

You queue up and approx 5 mins before your train is due, your allowed onto the platform to catch your train.

I caught mine no problem at all !.
 

Harlesden

Member
Joined
23 Jun 2010
Messages
968
Location
LONDON NW10
That's almost as bad as the Merseytravel press release which states that 'Iconic London Routemasters' will be running around Liverpool to help commuters get about whilst it closed! They are actually just 10 year old standard double deckers which happen to have been in London and were sat around in a yard waiting for disposal/redeployment.

I was wondering where the buses had gone. There is an enclosed piece of land (where a factory once stood) three minutes walk from my house. Until recently there were around 50-60 decommissioned London buses parked up there - now there are only 15-20. Double and single deck vehicles, mostly Transdev branded
 

Green Lane

Member
Joined
5 Apr 2010
Messages
332
Location
Birkenhead, Merseyside
Are they using the middle doors or just the front?
Most people from home in the Wirral who've visited me in London express amazement that more people don't just jump on at the back without paying! (this is the standard double-deckers where you're not allowed to do that)

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. :D

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.
IMG_5576.jpg


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. :)
 
Last edited:

John55

Member
Joined
24 Jun 2011
Messages
800
Location
South East
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. :D

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.
IMG_5576.jpg


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. :)

The work done at Central LL on the island platform is to remove the false ceiling above the platform and to start erecting fencing near the platform edge. Upstairs it may be rather different.

The trains are still reversing in the platforms as normal.
 

Green Lane

Member
Joined
5 Apr 2010
Messages
332
Location
Birkenhead, Merseyside
The work done at Central LL on the island platform is to remove the false ceiling above the platform and to start erecting fencing near the platform edge. Upstairs it may be rather different.

The trains are still reversing in the platforms as normal.

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. :lol:

Part of the false ceiling visible on this one
DSC01367.jpg


The very handy escalator from Northern Line direct to Wirral Line
DSC01368.jpg


Ticket barriers
DSC01374.jpg


"M to go" shop
DSC01375.jpg


Photo booth on concourse
DSC01373.jpg


Part of the wall from Northern Line platform 1
DSC01369.jpg


The question is, is the existing M to go to go? :lol:

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

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. :D
 
Last edited:

robertclark125

Established Member
Joined
12 Mar 2008
Messages
1,616
Location
Cardenden, Fife
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. :lol:

Part of the false ceiling visible on this one
DSC01367.jpg


The very handy escalator from Northern Line direct to Wirral Line
DSC01368.jpg


Ticket barriers
DSC01374.jpg


"M to go" shop
DSC01375.jpg


Photo booth on concourse
DSC01373.jpg


Part of the wall from Northern Line platform 1
DSC01369.jpg


The question is, is the existing M to go to go? :lol:

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

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. :D

Video's not working. Any chance you can youtube it?
 

Green Lane

Member
Joined
5 Apr 2010
Messages
332
Location
Birkenhead, Merseyside
Video's not working. Any chance you can youtube it?

Hi yes, it appears you are correct. Although the Wikimedia Commons site had previously been working fine, it seems that yesterday, it could not deliver enough bandwidth to play the video without interruption and the embedded player was locking up. I first thought it was something wrong at my end, but apparently not!

Anyway here it is now on youtube :) :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1zRV9v-uJI

Regards!
 

pemma

Veteran Member
Joined
23 Jan 2009
Messages
31,474
Location
Knutsford
I noticed today the Lime Street buses depart from the opposite side of the road to the station with no big notices standing out at the upper level about replacement buses.

The buses seemed to be carting around fresh air today but the weather was reasonable in Liverpool today so maybe people preferred to walk.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top