Merseyrail has announced that a record-breaking 76,000 racegoers used the train operators services to travel to and from The Grand National Festival last weekend.

Merseyrail will help to share the success locally by making charitable donations.

The rail company once again supported the sporting festival, giving away 10,000 pairs of famous flip flops, implementing additional services to the racecourse, and delivering live music and entertainment to passengers at Aintree station in partnership with Greatest Hits Radio and Radio City.

The Rag Tag Misfits also entertained passengers at Liverpool Central station.

Merseyrail doubled the capacity and frequency of trains to Aintree with the return of its popular 7.5 minute service, making it the easiest way to get to and from the racecourse.

Additional staff supported passengers at Aintree, Liverpool Central and Moorfields stations and the network delivered a reliable and punctual service throughout the festival.

A total of £11,500 of the revenue generated will be shared between Merseyrail’s Charity of the Year, Alder Hey Children’s Charity and a cause to be chosen by Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor, Steve Rotheram.

This contribution comes just two weeks after Merseyrail announced Alder Hey as their Charity of the Year, this kicks off the partnership with a £10,000 donation.

Fundraisers from Alder Hey also collected over £7,000 from generous passengers at Aintree Station and Liverpool Central Station across the three days.

What did the officials say?

Andy Heath, Managing Director at Merseyrail, hailed the event as a great success. He said:

“We were really pleased to support The Grand National Festival and help ensure that racegoers had a fantastic experience on our network with live music, flip flops and our additional services.

“Our staff did a fantastic job of supporting passengers throughout the event and I’d like to thank all of our partners who were involved.

“Around 76,000 passengers passed through Aintree station and I’m absolutely delighted that £5,750 will go towards continuing the fantastic work that Alder Hey Children’s Charity do.”

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