Merseyrail Northern Line
Services on the Northern Line operate from Hunts Cross in the south of Liverpool, via the Link tunnel through Liverpool Central and Moorfields, to Southport. Services also run from Liverpool Central to Ormskirk and Kirkby. Each route has a train every 15 minutes Monday-Saturday giving a five-minute interval between trains on the central section. Connections are available at Southport to Wigan Wallgate, at Hunts Cross to Warrington Central and Manchester Piccadilly, at Ormskirk to Preston and at Kirkby to Wigan Wallgate and Manchester Victoria.
Merseyrail Wirral Line
Services on the Wirral Line operate from the Loop described above through the Mersey Railway Tunnel to Hamilton Square station in Birkenhead. From there, they run either south to Hooton, where they continue to either Chester or Ellesmere Port, or west to Birkenhead North, where the line bifurcates to New Brighton and West Kirby. Connections are available at Bidston on the West Kirby branch, for the Borderlands Line to Wrexham operated by Arriva Trains Wales, at Chester to Holyhead and Manchester and at Ellesmere Port to Warrington.
Monday-Saturday services are every 15 minutes from Liverpool to New Brighton and to West Kirby, and every 30 minutes to Chester and Ellesmere Port (Monday - Sunday). These combine to give a service every five minutes around the Loop.
Merseyrail City Line
This line is not part of the Merseyrail franchise and neither is it operated by the electric stock. Nevertheless, the lines that form this line are sponsored by Merseytravel and - with the exception of long distance services - are branded as if they were Merseyrail services, despite being operated by Northern Rail. Broadly speaking, it includes the Liverpool to Wigan Line and the two alternative branches making up the Liverpool to Manchester Line.
Merseyrail City Line services
Liverpool Lime Street to St Helens Central, Wigan & Blackpool (operated by Northern Rail)
Liverpool Lime Street to Newton-le-Willows & Manchester Airport (operated by Northern Rail)
Liverpool Lime Street to Hunts Cross & Manchester Oxford Road via Warrington Central (operated by Northern Rail and also a limited service by East Midlands Trains)
Liverpool Lime Street to Earlestown & Warrington Bank Quay (operated by Northern Rail)
Other services that run on the Merseyrail City Line
Other trains operated by First Transpennine Express, Virgin Trains and London Midland trains to Crewe, Runcorn and Birmingham also run on the ‘City Line’. However, these are not referred to as ‘City Line’ services as they are long distance services and only serve two or three stations in Merseyside, such as Liverpool Lime Street, South Parkway, Hunts Cross or Newton-le-Willows. First Transpennine will begin calling at Liverpool South Parkway by the next timetable change.
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Merseyrail Fleet of Trains
Services on the Merseyrail network are operated by the 1978-built Class 507 and 1979-built Class 508 EMUs. These replaced pre-war Class 502 (originally constructed by the LMS) and almost identical Class 503 EMUs. There are a total of 59 trains in service on the network. Twelve 508s were transferred to Connex South Eastern in 1996, a further three were transferred to Silverlink to supplement their fleet of Class 313 EMUs in North London. One Unit 507022 was scrapped after a collision with 507004 in 1991 and 508118 has been cut up after having been gutted by an arson attack.
The fleet is maintained and stabled at either Kirkdale TMD or Birkenhead North TMD, the two depots on the network. Minor repair works and stock cleaning takes place at Kirkdale, while overhauls are completed at Birkenhead. Other depots at Hall Road and Birkenhead Central have since been closed. The fleet has recently been internally and externally refurbished, involving units being dragged to and from Eastleigh works behind Class 67 locomotives. An assessment is currently taking place as to whether it would be viable to reopen the Birkenhead Central depot, which would increase the efficiency of Merseyrail services. The Merseyrail fleet is due for renewal in 2013.
To celebrate Liverpool's successful 2008 European Capital of Culture bid, Merseyrail named one of their train sets (508136) 'Capital of Culture'. Interestingly, a previous ceremony took place where Cherie Blair, the wife of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, named 508143 Capital of Culture. Currently, 508136 bears simple vinyl stickers.
In February 2008 the first of four sets in a special Capital of Culture promotional livery was released. Set no. 508134 has been emblazoned in a purple livery showcasing the "creative" element of the city. Three more have since followed in blue "maritime", green "heritage" and red "sport" colours.
Four trains are being named after true Merseyside icons following a poll in local newspaper, the Liverpool Echo. The first, named 'Red Rum', was unveiled at Southport on 14 July, 2008 by Ginger McCain. Three more will follow, named 'Bob Paisley', 'Dixie Dean' and, somewhat predictably, 'The Beatles'.
A number of Northern Rail Class 142 DMUs are in Merseyrail yellow livery, ostensibly for City Line services, but these can and do turn up all over the Northern network - they have often been seen as far away as Carlisle. Several Class 150 sets also wore the Merseytravel yellow livery for several years, but have since been repainted into other liveries.
Merseyrail formerly had four Class 73 electro-diesel locomotives for shunting, sandite trains, engineering works and other departmental duties; two of these had been repainted in the yellow livery of the previous franchise holder. These locomotives were sold to a preservation company in 2002.
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