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Monday 13 Apr 2015

Passengers reminded to check before they travel as Moorfields station upgrade gets underway

Region & Route:

Work has begun today (13 April) at Moorfields station as part of an £8m investment which will transform it into a modern station serving Liverpool's business district.

The station, which is operated by Merseyrail, is the latest on Merseyside to be redeveloped as part of a £40m investment by Network Rail to provide a better railway for the increasing number of people travelling by train. It will be completely refurbished but station will remain open throughout.

Improvements will be made to platforms, walkways, and the upper and lower concourse areas. There will be new flooring, fresh enamel cladding on the walls and brighter lighting, which will give a cleaner, more airy and less cluttered environment.

To minimise disruption to passengers as much as possible the station will remain open throughout, but platforms will close temporarily at different times for three to four months to allow work to be carried out. The entire project will be completed in spring 2016. 

Chris Littler, area manager for Network Rail, said: “This is the latest phase of our investment in the railway on Merseyside to provide passengers with modern stations and a railway they can rely on and be proud of.

“The work has been carefully planned with Merseyrail to limit disruption to passengers as much as possible and, by closing one platform at a time, we are able to keep the station open and keep the majority of trains running – particularly during some of the high profile events that are happening in Liverpool and the surrounding area over the coming months.”

The dates for the phased closure of the three platforms have been chosen to accommodate major events in Liverpool, such as the Grand National and the Three Queens, as well as the extra passengers who come into town for Christmas.

The dates are:

Wirral line, platform 3: closed 13 April till 2 August 2015

Northern line, platform 2(towards Sandhills): closed 3 August till 15 November 2015

Northern line, platform 1(towards Liverpool Central and Hunts Cross): closed 3 January till April 2016

Andy Heath, deputy managing director of Merseyrail, commented: “Moorfields has been crying out for a makeover for some years now, and it’s great that the work is finally about to start. We are sure that customers will be delighted with the end result, and we ask people to bear with us while it’s taking place. It’s important to us that information about alternative travel arrangements is communicated effectively, and we have worked hard to provide it through a variety of channels.”

David Brown, chief executive of Merseytravel, concluded: “Moorfields plays an important role in our rail network, serving the business, retail and leisure areas of the city. The improvements represent the on-going commitment from Merseytravel, Merseyrail and Network Rail in the major station refurbishment across Liverpool’s loop line, helping us to develop the rail network which will in turn support the growth of the Liverpool city region economy.”

Moorfields is the last of the five underground stations to be refurbished as part of Network Rail’s £40 million investment to upgrade the loop line. The other stations were Liverpool Central, James Street, Lime Street and Hamilton Square, which is due to open on 27 March.

Merseyrail and Network Rail will run a comprehensive communication campaign, advising passengers how to travel throughout the phased closure of Moorfields station. An information booklet has been produced, which outlines the different travel options available to passengers during each phase of the refurbishment. The booklet will be available at all Merseyrail ticket offices and through businesses in the Moorfields area.

Information posters are being displayed at all stations and adversts are being placed in the local press. Regular updates will be communicated through the Merseyrail website www.merseyrail.org/lovemoorfields,  the app and through Twitter. This awareness campaign will run for the rest of this year and into 2016, to ensure that each phase of the refurbishment is communicated to passengers. Passengers can also check before they travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Travel information:

While platform 3 is closed from 13 April till 2 August, the timetable will not change, but no Wirral line trains will stop at Moorfields. Passengers are advised to use other city centre stations or take a rail replacement bus from outside Moorfields to St George’s Hall on Lime Street. Or, people can catch a Northern line train from Moorfields to Liverpool Central, and change there for the Wirral line.

If you usually finish your journey at Moorfields, stay on the train till Liverpool Central, then take any Northern line service to Kirkby, Ormskirk or Southport and get off at platform 2 at Moorfields.

Should you normally change between Wirral and Northern line services at Moorfields, you can do this at Liverpool Central instead. For those who finish their journey at Moorfields, get off at James Street.

The rail replacement buses operate in a loop between Moorfields and St George’s Hall on Lime Street for passengers to Liverpool Central as well as Lime Street. They will run every five minutes between 7am and 7pm, Monday to Saturday. At all other times, they are every ten minutes.