During the late 90s in the lead up to privatisation, the Northern Line of Merseyrail took a hit with major reductions. Naturally this tied in with the fleet gradually being culled from 76 units to just 53. The Southport line, which had earlier in the decade seen all-day 6 car operation and a 7/8 minute peak hour interval, was reduced to just a handful of pairs during the busiest times. The Ormskirk and Kirkby lines, too, lost some of their 6 car workings in the peaks. There are now eight paired sets on the Northern Line during both morning and evening peak (5/6 on the Southport route and 3/2 on the Ormskirk route respectively), with a couple of complementary workings on the Southport route.
The Wirral Line was less affected, as it did always requiring fewer units on a daily basis, although the number of 6 car services here in the peak times were too whittled down. Nowadays just one pair runs during evening peak and three in the morning.