Eurovision is expected to see thousands of people head to Liverpool and Merseyrail has now revealed that it will be supporting the event with special timetable arrangements. The timetable will see late-night trains added for both The National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome which takes place on Sunday the 7th of May as well as The Grand Final which takes place on Saturday the 13th of May.

Merseyrail will put in place additional services in order for Eurovision fans to return to their homes or hotels across the city region following the event. The rail operator has also added further plans right through the Eurovision Song Contest week which will make sure that passengers remain safe each day and will see the closure of some city centre stations at specific times in order to efficiently manage the large numbers anticipated for the event.  To find out more about these closures please visit: http://merseyrail.org/Eurovision

Passengers travelling with Merseyrail are advised to plan well ahead and to check timetables before setting off on a journey alongside leaving more time than usual due to the likelihood of queuing or short notice changes to services.

Merseyrail has put in place the following support for event attendees:

For The National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome on Sunday the 7th of May:

• A Sunday timetable will operate every 30 minutes for Northern and Wirral lines. which will also see extra late-night services added to support people getting home after the event.
• Liverpool Lime Street Low-Level station will close for the entire day due to its proximity to the event.
• James Street station will close from 20:00
• Passengers travelling from Liverpool city centre using the Wirral line after 20:00 will need to use Liverpool Central Station only.
• Passengers travelling on the Northern line after 20:00 will need to use Moorfields station only.

Late-Night Trains operating on Northern and Wirral lines during the evening of Sunday the 7th of May and into the early hours of Monday the 8th of May will call at all stations.

The last train times for each line are as follows:

• Chester line will see the last train depart Liverpool Central at 00:30
• West Kirby line will see the last train depart Liverpool Central at 00:18
• New Brighton line will see the last train depart Liverpool Central at 00:24
• Southport line will see the last train depart Moorfields at 00:11
• Hunts Cross line will see the last train depart Moorfields at 00:22
• Kirkby line will see the last train depart Moorfields at 00:27
• Ormskirk line will see the last train depart Moorfields at 00:18

Wirral line passengers can only board late-night trains at Liverpool Central and Northern line passengers can only board late-night trains at Moorfields. All other stations will only allow passengers to alight and exit the station.

No passenger services will operate into Liverpool city centre once the normal timetable ends.

For the semi-final events taking place from Monday the 8th to Friday the 12th of May:

• A normal weekday timetable will operate on Northern and Wirral lines.
• James Street station will close from 20:00 every evening in order to allow the efficient management of large numbers of passengers travelling across the city.

For The Grand Final on Saturday the 13th of May:

• Trains will operate every 20 minutes across all parts of the Merseyrail network, except for the Ellesmere Port line which will operate at a 30-minute frequency. This timetable will allow services to operate into the early hours of Sunday morning.
• Liverpool Lime Street Low-Level station and James Street station will close for the full day in order to efficiently manage the large number of people anticipated to attend the event.
• Wirral line trains will call only at Liverpool Central in the city centre.
• Northern Line trains will call only at Moorfields in the city centre.

Late-night trains will run on Northern and Wirral lines on Saturday the 13th of May and will operate into the early hours of the morning of Sunday the 14th of May, calling at all stations.

The times of the last trains for each line are as follows;

• Chester line will see services depart from Liverpool Central at 00:15, 00:45, 01:15, 01:45 and 02:15
• West Kirby line will see services depart from Liverpool Central at 00:10, 00:40, 01:10, 01:40, 02:10 and 02:40
• New Brighton line will see services depart from Liverpool Central at 00:25, 00:55, 01:25, 01:55 and 02:25
• Southport line will see services depart from Moorfields at 23:59, 00:19, 00:33, 01:05, 01:35, 02:05 and 02:35
• Hunts Cross line will see services depart from Moorfields at 00:08, 00:40, 01:10, 01:40, 02:10 and 02:40
• Kirkby line will see services depart from Moorfields at 00:25, 00:55, 01:25, 01:55 and 02:25
• Ormskirk line will see services depart from Moorfields at 00:15, 00:45, 01:15, 01:45, 02:15 and 02:45

Saturday the 13th of May will see Wirral line passengers only able to board late-night services at Liverpool Central and Northern line passengers only at Moorfields. All other stations will only allow passengers to alight and exit the station.

No passenger services will operate into Liverpool city centre following the end of the normal timetable.

Jane English, acting Managing Director, said:“We have been working closely with Eurovision organisers, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Liverpool City Council and other stakeholders to draw up these comprehensive plans which aim to support this internationally important event.”

“The Eurovision event is a huge moment for Liverpool and the wider city region, and I’m confident that the plans we have at Merseyrail will ensure that everyone will have a great time and get back to their home or hotel when the partying ends.”

“Although we are running a 20-minute timetable on Saturday 13 May, we have increased capacity on all lines. This means there will be around an additional 40 trains after midnight.”

“Our stations and trains will be extremely busy during this period, but please be patient and follow the advice of Merseyrail staff.”

“Travel light if you can. Busy services will mean less room for large items of luggage. We will get everybody where they need to be when they need to be there through the whole week.”

“Passengers really need to plan ahead, and check timetables and information on the Merseyrail website, app or Twitter account before travelling.”