‘The National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome’ will take place outside of St. George’s Hall on Sunday the 7th of May.
The ticketed event will see 25,000 people attend the opening ceremony, which will mark the start of the iconic song contest.
Due to the number of people heading to the event, Network Rail is offering advice and tips to passengers:
- Plan your journey in ahead by checking www.nationalrail.co.uk
- Allow more time for travel – queueing systems will be in operation at Liverpool Lime Street during Eurovision at the busiest periods with extra staff on hand to support visitors, find venues and help people get to and from station platforms safely. In order to efficiently manage capacity, the queue will extend out of the station on Bolton Street.
- Travel light–as trains will be extremely busy, it is best to keep luggage and bags to a minimum.
- Know exactly how to get home – The event will finish at 10pm and passengers are urged to plan their journey home ahead instead of relying on catching the last mainline rail services.
Kyla Thomas, Network Rail Liverpool Lime Street station manager, said: “You can feel the excitement really building in the city with Eurovision almost upon us, and we have good plans in place to make people’s journeys through Lime Street station as smooth as possible.”
“On the opening night this Sunday, I’d urge people to plan their route home carefully, allow extra time for journeys, and not rely on the last trains as they will be extremely busy.”
Late-night services on Sunday the 7th into the early hours of Monday the 8th of May will operate on Northern and Wirral lines and will call at all stations using a Sunday timetable which will see services run every 30 minutes to support event goers get home.
During the event, some city-centre stations
will be closed or only open for exiting purposes during the busiest times:
- Liverpool Lime Street Low-Level station will be closed for the entire day on Sunday the 7th of May. This is because of the station’s proximity to the event.
- James Street station will be closed at 20:00.
- Passengers who need to travel from Liverpool city centre using the Wirral line after 20:00 will need to use Liverpool Central Station only.
- Passengers who need to travel on the Northern line after 20:00 must use Moorfields station only.
To find out more about extended services during Eurovision, please visit: http://www.merseyrail.org/plan-your-journey/eurovision
Jane English, Merseyrail’s acting managing director, said: “Merseyrail will be running services until after midnight on Sunday 7 May to help get everybody home after the Eurovision Big Welcome event.”
“We’ve worked closely with our partners and stakeholders to be able to provide the extra services that will be needed as this huge event gets underway in the city centre.
“We urge passengers to carefully check their journey plan, allow plenty of time, and to be patient as our stations and trains are likely to be very busy. It’s important that passengers use the correct city centre stations depending on what service they are using. Wirral line passengers must use Liverpool Central, while Northern line passengers must use Moorfields station.”
Passengers are asked to follow the advice given by their individual train operators if heading to Liverpool on Sunday the 7th of May.
Chris Jackson, Northern regional director, said: “We know the network is going to be extremely busy over the course of the Eurovision event–particularly so this Sunday, where demand is likely to outstrip capacity. Anyone planning to travel in or out of Liverpool Lime Street should allow extra time for their journey and have a Plan B in mind.”
“We will have extra staff on duty–but customers should be aware that it is likely to be a very challenging situation.”
Simon Brooks, Avanti West Coast station manager at Liverpool Lime Street, said: “With the stage set for the Eurovision Song Contest and our plans in place, we’re excited to play our part in welcoming fans to Liverpool for what promises to be a brilliant spectacle.”
“As the week’s festivities begin, we’d like to remind anyone attending the opening ceremony to plan ahead, allow extra time for their journeys, be aware of their last train home, and check the Avanti West Coast website for the latest travel updates.”
Kathryn O’Brien, TransPennine Express customer experience and operations director, said: “As we eagerly anticipate the world’s biggest singing competition, it’s very important we keep the increased number of customers travelling to Liverpool Lime Street as safe and happy as possible.”
“We will have TPE staff out and about across the network over the coming week and into next weekend to provide help and advice to our customers and we will do all we can to keep people on the move.”
“We urge customers to plan ahead carefully, consider their travel options and make other arrangements, where necessary if travelling to and from Eurovision.”
Johnny Wiseman, London Northwestern Railway customer experience director, said: “Eurovision Week promises to be a fantastic celebration for the whole country and we’re looking forward to carrying thousands of passengers to and from Liverpool.”
“We’re adding hundreds of extra seats to some of our most popular trains, but passengers should still expect services to be very busy and allow themselves plenty of time to complete their journeys.”
Passengers are also urged to be aware of upcoming ASLEF and RMT strike action taking place on Friday the 12th and Saturday the 13th of May, and coincides with the Eurovision Grand Final. Advice is given to check travel advice with individual rail operators throughout Eurovision week as revised timetables will be released via journey planners as soon as they have been confirmed allowing passengers to know which trains will be able to operate on the strike days.
Merseyrail services will not be affected by strike action on either date.
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