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Friday 27 Sep 2024

Passengers on Southport line reminded of 10-day railway closure in October

Region & Route:

North West & Central

| North West & Central: North West

Network Rail is carrying out track improvement work in Southport.

Passengers are being reminded of a ten-day railway closure for Merseyrail services between Formby and Southport from Saturday 5 October until Monday 14 October.

The closure will allow Network Rail to carry out essential track upgrades at Southport station, which will make sure the railway is ready for the introduction of Merseytravel’s new eight-car trains, and services can run reliably for years to come. 

Engineers will remove the old track and ballast (railway stones) and install brand new track and equipment to improve the safety and reliability of the railway for years to come.

All Merseyrail services on the Southport line will be affected, and rail replacement buses will be in operation between Formby and Southport.

Passengers are advised to check before they travel, as journey times will be extended. Regular train services will continue between Formby and Liverpool Central, with a normal timetable resuming on Tuesday 15 October.

Northern services will be running as normal.

Laura Greenwood, Network Rail’s scheme project manager, said: "I’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we carry out this important work. I’m sorry for the disruption this essential project will cause. The work is crucial to ensure the long-term safety and reliability of the Southport line.”

Neil Grabham, Managing Director of Merseyrail, said: “I’d like to apologise to customers for this disruption to services. However, it is important that Network Rail are able to complete these works and ensure the infrastructure is fit for the future.

“Merseyrail work hard with Network Rail to ensure that planned engineering has a minimal impact on our train services. However, on some occasions disruption to customers is unavoidable.

“I would urge customers to check the journey planner on the Merseyrail website or the Merseyrail app to get the latest timetable information.”