- Free Christmas Day bus services will be running on selected hospital routes
- Mersey Tunnel Tolls free on Christmas Day
- Passengers should plan before travelling with seasonal services operating over the festive period
People can enjoy free bus travel to and from Southport Hospital on Christmas Day this year.
The Arriva 44 bus service, running between Southport, Crossens and Formby, will be among services being provided to enable families to see loved ones.
Passengers using the Liverpool city region’s public transport during the festive period are being urged to plan ahead – with seasonal timetables operating across all services.
A round up of transport information is now available, with confirmation the annual network of free supported Christmas Day bus services covering most hospital routes will operate between around 12 noon and 6pm.
The Mersey Tunnels Tolls will also be free, as usual, between 10pm on Christmas Eve and 6am on Boxing Day.
Travellers are being urged to check timetables before their journey, to avoid being caught out – with some services finishing earlier than usual, particularly on Christmas Eve.
Cllr Steve Foulkes, Chair of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Transport Committee, said:
“We know that Christmas is a very busy time for everyone and we are hugely grateful to our frontline public transport colleagues for the work they do over this period.
“Whether travelling for work, leisure, shopping or simply to visit relatives, we would urge passengers to plan their journeys in advance, as there will be changes to services across the city region at this time.”
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.
Christmas Day – Monday 25 December
- A special network of free bus services, funded by Merseytravel, will run between approximately 12 noon and 6pm, covering most hospital routes
- No other bus services will operate.
- No trains will operate.
- Mersey Ferries will not operate.
- The Kingsway (Wallasey) Mersey Tunnel and the Queensway (Birkenhead) Mersey Tunnel will be open throughout the holiday period. Both tunnels will be toll free from 10pm on Thursday 24 December until 6am on Saturday 26 December.
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.
Football Fixtures
On 27 December (Everton) and 1 January (Liverpool), the following buses will be running to their normal timetables:
Soccerbus (Stagecoach)
917 Liverpool FC (Stagecoach)
919 Everton FC (Stagecoach)
Taxi One (A & J Taxis)
Rail
During the festive period there will be changes to the timetables, 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. 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.
If you’re heading out of the region by rail during this time, check your journey plans by visiting www.nationalrail.co.uk.
Mersey Tunnels
Kingsway and Queensway Tunnels will remain open throughout the festive period. Both tunnels will be toll free between 10pm on Christmas Eve and 6am on Boxing Day.
Mersey Ferries
Mersey Ferries will run to their normal River Explorer Cruise on Saturday 23 December with an early finish.
Mersey Ferries will not operate on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Wednesday 27 Dec and New Year’s Day.
River Explorer Cruises will operate between Thursday 28 December and Sunday 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 Tuesday 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 above may be subject to change – make sure you check directly with operators before your journeys.
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