Update issued for people using two Merseyrail lines

Merseyrail has issued an update for passengers on two different lines. The rail operator had announced at 9pm yesterday (November 11) that there would be reductions to the timetables on the Headbolt Lane and New Brighton lines today (November 12) due to an increased number of its new fleet of trains undergoing maintenance.

However, Merseyrail has confirmed this afternoon that a full timetable will be restored tomorrow (November 13). A spokesperson told the ECHO: "Following today’s temporary changes, we can confirm that a full timetable will operate on the New Brighton and Headbolt Lane lines from start of service on Wednesday 13 November."

On Monday, a Merseyrail spokesperson had said: "Our New Brighton and Headbolt Lane lines will be operating a reduced timetable on Tuesday 12 November, this is due to an increased number of trains undergoing maintenance. We are working with Stadler who are responsible for the maintenance of Merseyrail’s trains, to ensure a normal timetable can be restored on both lines as quickly as possible. The reduced timetable will operate from the start of service tomorrow."

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Yesterday's news and how it was delivered caused anger among commuters. On X (formerly Twitter), Sean said: "Let’s face it, the whole roll-out has been an absolute farce. The new trains have been consistently unreliable for 18 months and rush hour capacity has been significantly reduced to the point that injury due to overcrowding is a daily risk."

Social media user Phil said: "Appalling lack of notice. If this had to happen commuters should have been informed last week to plan ahead. However maintenance of trains shouldn't affect timetables with proper planning."

The new fleet of Class 777 trains started to be rolled out across the Merseyrail network in January 2023, with that process still ongoing. In their first year, the fleet faced lots of difficulties including delays, breakdowns and software issues - at one point all the new trains had to be taken out of operation due to a software issue.

The problems intensified when the new £80m Headbolt Lane station opened in Kirkby, with a huge number of delays and cancellations that transport bosses blamed on a new battery technology that was being used to transport the new vehicles to the new station. Speaking at the city region’s transport committee earlier this year, Neil Grabham, managing director at Merseyrail, said performance of the £500m fleet that was rolled out last January had been “tremendously damaging” for passengers who wanted seamless journeys.