Steve Rotheram presses Transport Secretary for support over bank holiday weekend

Steve Rotheram has asked the Transport Secretary for support to head off potential travel disruption on what could be one of the busiest days in the history of the city region.

This Bank Holiday weekend sees major events on the Liverpool waterfront, with the Tall Ships returning to the city region, the Bordeaux Wine Festival taking place at the Pier Head for the first time, and a major UFC event at the Echo Arena. In addition, if Liverpool win the Champions League on Saturday night, a victory parade has provisionally been planned for Sunday afternoon, potentially bringing hundreds of thousands of fans into the city centre.

Steve Rotheram said:

“A combination of good weather, a variety of events, and thousands of people visiting our city region could make for a very memorable weekend for all and good news from Kiev would mean hundreds of thousands of people coming into the city centre – surely setting the scene for one of the most memorable weekends in our city region’s history. We have been working very hard locally to ensure people can enjoy the day, and transport services, including Merseyrail and the bus operators, are putting on additional services.

“Given the disruption on Northern in recent weeks, I have also spoken personally to Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, to ask for central government’s support to ensure that everyone who comes to visit has the best possible experience.  He has agreed to support us by working with the train operators to ensure that we get the maximum capacity from trains coming into the city region at Lime Street and Southport. This is a tremendous opportunity to showcase the best of the city region and we have pulled out all the stops to ensure it goes smoothly.”

For further information and transport advice, visit the Merseytravel website: www.merseytravel.gov.uk