Top tips if you’re travelling to Aintree by train for the Grand National festival

Tens of thousands of Aintree fans are looking forward to a fabulous day at the Randox Grand National festival 2025 – and if you’ve got your tickets booked and your outfit sorted, there’s just one last thing to plan: how to get there.

The best way to travel to Aintree is by train, not just because you avoid all the traffic so it’s much easier and less stressful than going by car, but it can also be a laugh.

Crowds of Scousers all loving one of the biggest days out of the year? You can pretty much bet there’ll be a party atmosphere the whole way home.

Aintree train station is literally a few minutes’ walk from the entrance to the course, you just cross over the main Ormskirk Road and you’re there.

More than 100,000 Merseyrail journeys are made by racegoers travelling to and from Aintree on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so if you’re thinking of taking the train for this year’s races, here are some top tips …

Don’t worry if you’ve just missed a train, there’ll be another one along soon

Merseyrail runs a special timetable for all three days of the Grand National festival which means there’s a train running every seven-and-a-half minutes between Liverpool Central/Moorfields and Aintree station before and after the races. They start from around 10am to 1pm to get everyone there and then from Aintree between approx. 4.30pm and 8.30pm to get you home (or on into town for a few celebration drinks!) There are also amended timetables on the Ormskirk, Southport and Hunts Cross lines on Thursday, Friday and Saturday so if you’re using those, it’s best to check before you travel.

Avoid ticket queues and get one in advance if you can

Obviously with so many racegoers all travelling, there are likely to be long queues if you wait until the day to buy your ticket so it’s better to get one beforehand. You can either buy one from any Merseyrail station or even easier – especially if you’re likely to be making a few journeys on the Northern and Wirral lines – get a Day Saver online and they’ll email it straight to you. 

Don’t miss entertainment at the stations

While you’re waiting for your train, at Central and at Aintree, you can still get into the mood and enjoy some free entertainment. DJ Booth & The Wheels of Steel will be at Central getting everyone’s day off to a disco-tastic start and from 5pm it’ll be the Rag Tag Misfits band keeping the tunes going. Look out for performers each day at Aintree too including the fantastic Katumba drummers who’ll be on between 10.30am and 2.30pm on Grand National Saturday. 

If your feet are aching, there’s always the famous flip-flops!

No matter how used to standing for ages in heels you are, by the end of race day there’s a fair chance your feet will be killing you, but that’s where Merseyrail comes to the rescue because you can swap them for some free flip-flops. 5,000 pairs are going to be given out so expect those little lifesavers to be the most famous footwear on Instagram over the next few days.

Be ready for a sing-a-long on the way home

Like we said before, you never know what might happen either while you’re waiting on the platform at Aintree or more likely on the way back into town but there could be anything from a mass sing-a-long to a full-on carriage dance party. Either way, if you like a good time, that’s the train you want to be on …

Find out more about the Grand National here.

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