Passengers travelling to and from this year’s Aintree Festival and Grand National will get the chance to travel on one of the Liverpool City Region’s new publicly-owned trains as they begin the next stage of their phased roll out on the Ormskirk line of the Merseyrail network.

Following the fleet’s launch on the Kirkby line, passengers will start to see the new trains in passenger service on the Ormskirk line from next Monday (10 April).

For the Grand National Festival, it is planned that some services heading to and from Aintree to be operated by the new trains before their wider introduction on the line over the coming weeks.

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said:

“The day that passengers travelling on the Ormskirk line – including myself – have been waiting for is finally here and our new trains are ready to welcome them on board!

“We’ve been working tirelessly to make sure the roll out of our new trains goes as smoothly as possible – and I’m delighted that we’re on track to launch them on the Ormskirk line at the same time that we’re gearing up to host the Grand National.

“Visitors from around the world flock to our region for Aintree races every year and this is our chance to show them the very best that our area has to offer – including some of the best trains in the land.

“Designed in consultation with local people, they’re some of the most accessible and sophisticated in the entire country, with great new features like level access with sliding step technology, more room for bikes and wheelchairs, phone charging and Wi-Fi onboard.”

The hi-tech trains are part of a £500m public investment designed around the needs of local passengers, which has made them the most accessible in the country, with more space for bikes, prams and wheelchairs, USB sockets for phone charging and real-time journey information.

The new trains webpage is full of information and will be kept up to date during the roll out of the fleet – you can find out more at www.merseytravel.gov.uk/newtrains