Christmas and New Year timetables unveiled for travel across Merseyside

From free hospital buses and Mersey tunnels on Christmas Day to changes on Merseyrail and Mersey Ferries, find out how you Christmas travel timetable is going to change here.

As the city region gears up for a busy couple of weeks, people are being asked to check before they travel as services can be much busier and there can be changes to some timetables at this time of year.

The traditional Christmas Day supported bus services will once again be covering most hospital routes between around 12 noon and 6pm, offering free travel for those wanting to visit friends and family

Merseyrail is the only operator in the region to offer Boxing Day services with some services running on both the Northern and Wirral lines.

And the Mersey Tunnels will also be free between 10pm on Christmas Eve and 6am on Boxing Day.

With rail and bus services finishing earlier than usual on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, passengers are advised to check timetables to avoid being caught out.

Cllr Steve Foulkes, Chair of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Transport Committee said:

“Whether travelling for work, leisure, Christmas parties, last-minute present shopping or simply to visit relatives, we would urge passengers to make sure that they plan their journeys in advance as there will be changes to services across the city region across the festive period.

“This is always a very busy time of year for everyone and as always, the work that our frontline public transport colleagues do over this period is always hugely appreciated.

“We would like to thank our staff working on the trains, tunnels, Mersey Tunnel Police, buses, ferries, travel centres, ticket offices and our customer contact centre, for helping keep the city region moving and enabling the public travel safely to enjoy meeting family and friends at this special time of year.”

Whether you are heading out for a Christmas party, commuting to work or travelling to visit friends and family, key information and advice is now available to help you plan your journeys.

Plan ahead:  Expect some services to be busier than usual across the festive period.

Check timetables:  Make sure to do this ahead of and on your day of travel in case there are any changes – in particular check last bus and train times. Merseytravel and operators will use social media to publish changes made at short notice.

Consider your options: There will be significant changes to services on some days, so services may be busier than expected. Think about staggering your travel home times and have a plan B in case you can’t get the service you planned for. In particular, don’t wait for the last scheduled train or bus home as these can often be very busy.

If possible buy travel tickets in advance and online: This will speed up your journey and help you avoid queues on the day.

Consider multi-modal tickets: Tickets that can be used over different modes of transport, such as Saveaways, will give you more options.

You can also find information in the guide about opening hours for Merseytravel Travel Centres. You can map out your journey on the Merseytravel website using our online Journey Planner.

Christmas Day – Thursday 25 December

• A special network of free bus services, funded by the Combined Authority, will run between approximately 12 noon and 6pm, covering most hospital routes.
• No other bus services will operate.
• No trains will operate.
• Mersey Ferries will not operate.
• The Kingsway (Wallasey) Mersey Tunnel and the Queensway (Birkenhead) Mersey Tunnel will be open throughout the holiday period. Both tunnels will be toll free from 10pm on Christmas Eve until 6am on Boxing Day.

New Year’s Eve – Wednesday 31 December

Services across rail and bus finish much earlier than usual on New Year’s Eve – if you are heading out to enjoy the festivities, please make sure you plan ahead and look at alternative arrangements to get home.

Bus services may vary over the festive period. Very limited bus services will be operating on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Visit our Travel Updates page for latest planned changes to services and make sure you check with the operators including Arriva and Stagecoach.

On 27 December (Liverpool v Wolves, 3pm) and Thursday 1 January (Liverpool v Leeds United, 5:30pm), the following buses will be running to their normal timetables:

917 Liverpool FC (Stagecoach)
Taxi One (A & J Taxis)
Soccerbus (Stagecoach)

There are no Everton home fixtures during this period.

During the festive period there will be changes to the timetables of all rail operators, with some services finishing earlier than usual (particularly on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve) and some services not running.

Merseyrail will be running some services on Boxing Day. There will also be changes to other services during the Christmas period.

No other operators will be running services on Boxing Day.

There will be some changes to services run by Northern Trains which may include some cancellations and rail replacement bus services. Details can be found on their website. 

If you’re heading out of the region by rail during this time, check your journey plans by visiting the National Rail website.

Kingsway and Queensway Tunnels will remain open throughout the festive period. Both tunnels will be free between 10pm on Christmas Eve and 6am on Boxing Day.

Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 December – River Explorer Cruise service operating as normal.

Monday 22 December – Commuter and River Explorer services operating as normal.

Mersey Ferries will not operate on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 Dec and New Year’s Day.

River Explorer Cruises will operate between Monday 29 – Wednesday 31 December and Friday 2 and Sunday 4 January from the Pier Head at 1000, then hourly until the last service which will depart from the Pier Head at 1500, arriving at Seacombe 1520. There will be no commuter service during this period.

Normal service will resume on Monday 5 January with the first Commuter service at 0720 from Seacombe and the first River Explorer Cruise departing from the Pier Head at 1000.

Find out more on the Merseytravel website.

Find out what’s on across Liverpool this Christmas here.

Find out what’s good up North on our new platform, The Northern Guide. 

From the best hotels, beauty spots, days out, food and more up North – visit thenorthernguide.com and follow The Northern Guide on Instagram HERE.