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Monday 10 Aug 2026

Merseyrail to benefit from £3.5m of underground upgrades this Autumn

Region & Route:

North West & Central

| North West & Central: North West

Merseyrail passengers are being advised of changes to journeys on the Northern and Wirral lines this autumn while a £3.5m investment takes place to improve the network.

Network Rail will waterproof and strengthen four underground tunnels during a 26-day railway closure from Sunday 11 October to Friday 6 November.

The upgrades will improve journey reliability by preventing water from entering the tunnels and causing problems with the third-rail electricity supply.

The scale and complexity of these projects mean the Northern line will be closed between Hunts Cross and Liverpool Central for just under four weeks.

Passengers are being given advanced notice of the work so they can plan ahead by visiting National Rail Enquiries or the Merseyrail websites.

Rail replacement buses will be in place* to keep people on the move during the essential upgrades.

Paul Owen, Network Rail Liverpool Area Director, said: "This is a significant £3.5m investment into the underground section of the Merseyrail network to maintain four Victorian-built tunnels for 21st century passengers.

“We understand that this work will be disruptive, so we’re working with Merseyrail to minimise the impact of the upgrades as much as possible. We’re also giving people advance notice so they can forward plan their journeys by visiting National Rail Enquiries or Merseyrail’s websites during our work.”

Stephen Dodd, Chief Operating Officer at Merseyrail, said: “We'd like to thank our passengers for their patience while this important work is carried out. These upgrades will help improve the long-term reliability of the Northern Line and reduce the risk of future disruption. We encourage customers to plan ahead and check before they travel during the closure."

To make the most of the closure, power control systems will also be modernised across both the Northern and Wirral lines.

This will make it quicker and easier to switch the electrified rail on and off when engineers need to carry out planned maintenance or respond to unexpected faults.

On Sundays during this period, the closure will extend to Sandhills station on the Northern line and parts of the Wirral line.

Once the work is complete, trains will start running again from the morning of Saturday 7 November.

Passengers are encouraged to visit www.nationalrail.co.uk to plan their journeys in advance.