Merseyrail

Merseyrail is a commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line and Wirral Line, which are dedicated electrified lines that serve underground stations in the centres of Liverpool and Birkenhead. Merseyrail branding is also applied to stations and 'shared' services on the City Line, which are within the Liverpool City Region but operated by other train operating companies. The City Line services operate on the Liverpool to Manchester Lines and the Liverpool to Wigan Line using a mix of AC electric and diesel trains.

The Merseyrail third rail network has 68 stations, 66 of which are managed by the company, and of routes,
of which are underground. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the network carried 31million passengers per year.

The first part of the urban network was opened in 1977 by merging separate rail lines by constructing new tunnels under Liverpool city centre and Birkenhead. The full 1970s plans for the network were not realised, but the network has been extended on its peripheries with additional peripheral extensions proposed. The extensions were created by electrifying existing lines and then transferring the electrified sections into Merseyrail.

Merseyrail is operated for Merseytravel by 50:50 joint venture Serco-Abellio, who superseded Arriva Trains Merseyside in 2003. The 25-year contract expires in 2028. , Serco-Abellio operates a fleet of 59 trains and employs 1,148 people.

Network

The network is operated by the Merseyrail train operating company, formally known as Merseyrail Electrics 2002 Limited, a 50:50 Serco-Abellio joint venture . Two lines known as the Northern Line and the Wirral Line with each line having substantial branches compose the electric third-rail part of the network. The lines are electrified throughout using a system. The City Line (marked red on the map) is operated primarily by Northern with funding from Merseytravel. The line is mainly electrified with one branch, the Liverpool to Manchester line via Warrington, operated by diesel trains.

Trains on the Northern Line and Wirral Line cover the Liverpool City Region. The total route length of the two lines is , accommodating 66 stations. The lines connect Liverpool city centre with cities and towns on the outer reaches of the city region, such as Southport, Chester and Ormskirk. Frequent intermediate stops serve other sections of the urban area. Trains run at an off-peak interval of fifteen minutes on most branches, with lines converging to provide a frequency of up to every five minutes within central Liverpool and under the River Mersey to Birkenhead. The network has high frequency in the central underground sections with operation as a self-contained network making it comparable to European S-train systems.

The three lines interchange as follows:
* Northern and City Line services interchange at Liverpool South Parkway and Hunts Cross in the south of the city.
* Wirral and City Lines interchange at Lime Street in the city centre.
* Northern and Wirral lines interchange at Liverpool Central and Moorfields in the city centre

Northern Line

The Northern Line is shown in blue on the Merseyrail map and denoted by the above wordmark on underground stations. Services operate on three main routes: from Hunts Cross in the south of Liverpool to via the ''Link'' tunnel from Brunswick station through central Liverpool, from Liverpool Central to , and from Liverpool Central to . Each route operates a train every 15minutes from Monday to Saturday, giving a frequent interval between trains on the central section. Some additional trains run at peak hours on the Southport line.

On matchdays at Everton F.C.'s Goodison Park and Liverpool F.C.'s Anfield, Northern Line services connect with the ''SoccerBus'' service at Sandhills station to transport fans to the stadia. Bus departure is at frequent intervals from Sandhills station with ticketing to combine both modes of travel. Kirkdale station is within walking distance of Goodison Park.

Connections to non-Merseyrail services are available at:
* to and ;
* Liverpool South Parkway for services operated by London Northwestern Railway, East Midlands Railway, TransPennine Express and Northern serving , , and various destinations within Yorkshire and the West Midlands;
* Hunts Cross to and ;
* Ormskirk to ;
* to Wigan Wallgate and .

Wirral line

The Wirral line is shown in green on the Merseyrail map and denoted by the above wordmark on underground stations. Services operate from the four terminus stations of: , , and . Each service from one of these the terminus stations runs through underground station in Birkenhead, then through the Mersey Railway Tunnel, continuing around the single track underground loop tunnel under Liverpool's city centre. Trains head back into the Mersey Railway Tunnel to return to one of the four terminus stations.

Monday-Saturday services are every 15minutes to/from Liverpool to Chester, New Brighton and West Kirby, and every 30minutes to/from Ellesmere Port (Monday–Sunday). These combine to give a service at least every five minutes from Birkenhead Hamilton Square and around the loop under Liverpool's city centre.

Connections to non-Merseyrail services are available at:
* on the West Kirby branch for the Borderlands Line to Wrexham, operated by Transport for Wales;
* Chester to Crewe and London Euston, Wrexham and Shrewsbury, the North Wales Coast line to Llandudno and , and to Manchester either via Warrington or via Northwich and Knutsford;
* for an infrequent service to and from Warrington.
* Liverpool Lime Street for intercity and regional trains to London Euston, Manchester, Birmingham, Wigan, Scotland, the Midlands and Wales.

City Line

The City Line is shown in red on the Mersetravel map and denoted by the above wordmark on maps. The City Line stations are given Merseyrail's yellow branding, signage and ticketing, but multiple operators provide the trains. These are: Northern, Transpennine Express, Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, Transport for Wales, and West Midlands Trains.

The line consists of the suburban/regional services which depart from the mainline surface platforms at on the Liverpool–Wigan line, the two routes of the Liverpool–Manchester lines, the Liverpool–Crewe Line, Liverpool–Chester line via Runcorn and the Liverpool–Blackpool line.

Two services are not electrified, the Manchester via Warrington Central and Chester via Runcorn. Services are provided by the Northern and London Northwestern Railway train operating companies.

In 2015, Class 319 electric multiple units were transferred from the Thameslink route. Following a refurbishment, a repaint and the removal of the third rail collector shoes, they are operating on the newly electrified lines from Liverpool to Wigan and Manchester, which incorporates the City Line.

Services

Point-to-point or return tickets are purchased from staffed offices or ticket machines, but the system is tightly integrated with Merseytravel's City Region-wide pass system, which also encompasses the Mersey Ferries and city and regional bus networks. Merseytravel's smart ticketing is via the local MetroCard smartcard system, including Merseyrail travel.

Typical weekday off-peak service on the Merseyrail-run Northern and Wirral lines, , is as follows:

Fleet

Current fleet

Services on the electrified Merseyrail network are operated by British Rail Class 507 and Class 508 electric multiple unit trains (EMUs). These replaced pre-war Class 502 (originally constructed by the LMS) and similar Class 503 EMUs. There are 57 trains in service on the network. This is down from an initial 76: twelve 508s were transferred to Connex South Eastern in 1996, and a further three were transferred to Silverlink to supplement its fleet of Class 313 EMUs in North London. These train sets had been stored on Merseyside as surplus from the 1990s.

Three sets have been written off and scrapped. These are unit 507022 in 1991, after a collision; unit 508118, which had been gutted by fire in an arson attack in Birkenhead in 2001; and unit 507006, which was written off after a crash at Kirkby in March 2021.

The fleet was refurbished between 2002 and 2005 by Alstom at a cost of £32million, involving trainsets being transported to and from Eastleigh works behind Class 67 locomotives. Improvements to the trains included new high-backed seating, interior panel replacement, new lighting, the installation of a Passenger Information System and a new external livery.

Past fleet

The original service on the Merseyrail lines was provided by Class 502s on the Northern Line and Class 503s on the Wirral Line. The former was withdrawn by 1980 and the latter by 1985. Although the withdrawal of the Class 503s began in June 1980, the majority of the Class 503s were progressively withdrawn from June 1984, with the final service train running on 29 March 1985.

Future fleet

On 28 January 2020, Swiss rolling-stock manufacturer Stadler Rail provided the first of a new fleet of 53 new train sets, designated , built at Stadler's factory in Bussnang, Switzerland. The final units were due to enter service in 2021. The trains are based on the METRO platform, Stadler's product family for underground trains also used on the Berlin U-Bahn and the Minsk Metro. The new trains are a custom-built, bespoke design specifically for the Merseyrail network, with driver only and guard capability. This differs from the previous fleet, which was built to a standard British Rail design for commuter services.

The new trains have an articulated four-car design, compared to the previous three-car units, with a significantly increased overall capacity and faster acceleration and deceleration, which gives reduced journey times. A combination of reduced weight of 99tonnes, representing a 5.5tonne weight reduction, and more efficient electrical systems will give a 20% reduction in energy use.

The trains are flexible, being capable of operating on a combination of any of , overhead wires, or full battery operation using a five-tonne battery, provided they have the correct equipment installed, giving operation beyond the current network. , all trains are only equipped for operation, along with a smaller battery for depot shunting.

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers opposed driver-only operation on the new fleet, which they said would put passenger safety and security at risk. Following a period of strike action, an agreement was reached to guarantee a guard on every train.

Merseytravel has an option for a further 60 Class 777 units as part of the contract, which if exercised would see a total of 113 trains built if services are extended to new destinations such as Helsby, Skelmersdale or Wrexham. The deal also involves the transfer of 155 of Merseyrail's maintenance workers and the operation of its maintenance depot at Kirkdale to Stadler Rail Service. The transfer of Kirkdale depot and Merseyrail engineering personnel took place in October 2017, as construction work to modernise the depot, which is the planned maintenance hub for the Class 777s, commenced.

Battery trains

The Class 777 trains are capable of being propelled via onboard battery sets. The battery set per car can be up to 5tonnes in weight. The batteries can be charged via a rail terminal charger and while operating on electrified tracks. When the Headbolt Lane extension was unveiled to the public, it was also announced that the original order of 52 units was increased to 53 to allow for some units to undergo battery trials.

Following on from the trial, it was announced in July 2021 that the units tested had been able to travel up to without the need for recharging. The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority stated that the battery-powered trains will run to the new Headbolt Lane station at Kirkby which is due to open in 2023. The technology opens up the possibility of the trains being able to serve on routes to destinations such as Wrexham, Preston, Wigan and Warrington.

Depots

The electric fleet is maintained and stabled at Stadler's maintenance depot and United Kingdom headquarters at Kirkdale and Birkenhead North TMD. Minor repair work and train cleaning is undertaken at Kirkdale, while overhauls are completed at Birkenhead. The roles will be reversed once the Class 777 trains fully replace the existing fleet. Other depots at Hall Road and Birkenhead Central were closed in 1997, and the former was demolished in April 2009. The Birkenhead Central depot is proposed for reopening.

There are also two depots near Southport station: Southport Wall Sidings and Southport Carriage Holding Sidings.

Franchise and concession history

As a result of the privatisation of British Rail, the Northern Line and Wirral Line were brought together as the Mersey Rail Electrics passenger franchise, being sold on 19 January 1997. Although franchises are awarded and administered on a national level (initially through various independent bodies, and later the Department of Transport directly), under the original privatisation legislation of 1993, passenger transport executives (PTEs) were co-signatories of franchise agreements covering their areas – this role being later modified by the Railways Act 2005.

The first train operating company awarded the Mersey Rail Electrics franchise contract was MTL. MTL was originally the operating arm of Merseytravel but had been privatised in 1985. The brand name Merseyrail Electrics was adopted by MTL.

The Merseyrail name became the official brand for the network in the days of British Rail, surviving several franchise holders, although the name was not used by Arriva

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