About Us

Merseyrail

We operate the trains on the Wirral and Northern Lines in Merseyside. Merseyrail is an urban network of vital importance to the transport infrastructure of Liverpool and the region. We run almost 800 trains per day and carry over 100,000 passengers on an average weekday. Merseyrail is one of the most punctual and reliable railway networks in the UK and also tops the passenger satisfaction levels league table. Merseyrail has approximately 1,200 staff and operates 66 stations including 4 city centre underground stations giving easy access to work, shopping and leisure.

Did you know that Merseyrail has:

• 75 route miles with outer termini at Southport, Ormskirk, Kirkby, Hunts Cross on the Northern Line, and New Brighton, West Kirby, Chester and Ellesmere Port on the Wirral Line
• An 6.5 miles underground section which includes the original Mersey railway tunnel opened in 1886
• One of the most intensively used networks in the UK with clockface, regular interval timetable (15 minute frequencies, increasing to 5 minute on city centre sections)
• A fleet of 59 fully refurbished electric trains

Merseyrail is a unique concession in the UK as the role of the Department for Transport in awarding rail franchises has been delegated by Parliament to the Merseyside Integrated Transport Executive Merseytravel and the concession agreement is between the operator and Merseytravel. This gives much better local control by local people of local services. Another unique feature is the length of the concession which is 25 years from 20 July 2003 with review dates along the way.

The concession is operated by Merseyrail Electrics (2002) Ltd, a 50/50 Joint Venture company between Serco and NedRailways.