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Festive changes to Liverpool City Region’s public transport services have been revealed – with passengers urged to plan their journeys before travelling.
The Mersey Tunnels will once again be free between 10pm on Christmas Eve and 6am on Boxing Day and supported bus services will cover most hospital routes between around 12 noon and 6pm on Christmas Day.
Merseyrail’s special Boxing Day services will make a welcome return stopping at selected stations on both the Northern and Wirral lines. Merseyrail is the only operator in the region to offer Boxing Day services.

A round up of transport information is now live and can be viewed at merseytravel.gov.uk/christmas.
With some services finishing earlier than usual, particularly on Christmas Eve, passengers are urged to check timetables before travelling, to avoid being caught out.
Cllr Steve Foulkes, Chair of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Transport Committee said:
“This time of year is always very busy for everyone and 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 during the festive period and enabling the public travel safely to enjoy meeting family and friends.
“Whether travelling for work, leisure, 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 at this time.”
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.
Travel Roundup
Below is a round-up of some of the bus, train and ferry services across the Liverpool City Region over the Christmas and New Year period.
A full round up is available in the Christmas and New Year Public Transport Guide which can be found on our webpage at merseytravel.gov.uk/christmas.
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 – Wednesday 25 December
New Year’s Eve – Tuesday 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
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 26 December (Liverpool v Leicester City), the following buses will be running to their normal timetables:
917 Liverpool FC (Stagecoach)
On 29 December (Everton v Nottingham Forest), the following buses will be running to their normal timetables:
Soccerbus (Stagecoach)
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. This includes some services for the Liverpool v Leicester City match and the races at Aintree. There will also be changes to other services during the Christmas period. You can find full details on their website at www.merseyrail.org.
No other operators will be running services on Boxing Day.
There will be some changes to services run by Northern Trains particularly on Sundays including some cancellations and rail replacement bus services. Details can be found on their website. Check Before you Travel: Information About Disruption | Northern
If you’re heading out of the region by rail during this time, check your journey plans by visiting www.nationalrail.co.uk.
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.
Mersey Ferries
Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 December – River Explorer Cruise service operating as normal.
Monday 23 December – Commuter and River Explorer services operating as normal.
Mersey Ferries will not operate on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Friday 27 Dec and New Year’s Day.
River Explorer Cruises will operate between Saturday 28 and Tuesday 31 December from the Pier Head at 1100, 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 Thursday 2 January with the first Commuter service at 0720 from Seacombe and the first River Explorer Cruise departing from the Pier Head at 1000.
Visit www.merseyferries.co.uk for more information.
Please note all the information may be subject to change – make sure you check directly with operators before your journeys.