With the Randox Grand National 2024 at Aintree taking place between Thursday 11 – Saturday 13th April, Merseyrail will be running an extensive timetable to enable people to travel from Liverpool City centre to the races at Aintree across all three days of the festival.

The trains will run to a special service on Merseyrail’s northern line to provide maximum capacity, as people once again travel to one of the most famous race meetings in the world.

The trains are planned to run every 7 ½ minutes each way between Aintree and Liverpool Central / Moorfields from 11:30 – 13:00 so passengers can get to the races, and between 16:30 – 20:30 to bring people back to Liverpool on each day of the festival.

Trains outside of these times will continue to run every 15 minutes.

Customers travelling on Merseyrail services across these three days, even if they aren’t travelling to or via Aintree, are encouraged to check their train services on the Merseyrail app or website before travelling.

There will be slight changes to services on the rest of Merseyrails’ network so that this special service can be implemented.

The changes are as follows:

• Ormskirk line: An amended 15-minute service will run between Liverpool City Centre and Ormskirk. Aughton Park and Town Green stations will see a 30-minute service, to free up trains to run on other services to Aintree.
• Headbolt Lane line: Trains running between 11:00 – 14:00 and between 17:00 – 21:00 will start and finish their journeys at Sandhills. Those travelling to Moorfields, Liverpool Central, Rice Lane, Fazakerley, Kirkby, or Headbolt Lane will have to change trains at Sandhills between 11:00 – 14:00 and 17:00 – 21:00.
• Southport line: Trains will run to a different timetable than normal, with services still running every 15 minutes
• Wirral line: Trains will be running to the normal timetable. Passengers heading for Aintree are requested to change trains at Moorfields.

To avoid queuing, customers are advised to buy tickets in advance either online, at ticket machines or ticket offices before their day of travel.

Day Saver tickets are available and will be emailed directly to customers who buy them via the Merseyrail website.

Those who are coming to the races from further afield, and who are intending to travel on Merseyrail services as their last journey en-route to Aintree must have their tickets as hardcopy in a printed format, this includes e-tickets bought from other train companies and Trainline.com.

Entertainment and surprises will be provided to those who travel by train to the festival at Aintree, which is the biggest regional event of the year.

Staff will also be on hand handing out flip-flops to those who have suffered sore feet having spent a long but worthwhile day at the races.

We are delighted to once again provide a special timetable for The Randox Grand National 2024 Festival. This is a huge event for the Liverpool City Region, and Merseyrail is proud to play such a vital role in ensuring people have a great day at the races. Not only are we providing a seven-and-a-half-minute service, but as usual we will have entertainment and fun at the main stations festival goers will travel through. It’s always a busy time for us across the Merseyrail network, so I would advise anyone travelling over the three days to check before you travel by using the journey planner on our website or the Merseyrail app.”

Suzanne Grant, Chief Commercial Officer and Deputy Managing Director at Merseyrail