Commuters learn to cope as Merseyrail services cut

Aug 24 2007 by Alan Weston, Liverpool Daily Post

A Merseyrail train (200)

EXTRA buses were laid on at peak times for Merseyside commuters on the first full day of Merseyrail operating a drastically reduced service yesterday.

Managers said the day had been “hectic but controlled”, with train services cut to every half an hour on both the Northern and Wirral lines, with all Wirral services terminating at James Street.

Merseyrail announced it was indefinitely halving its train service on Wednesday evening.

The emergency was ordered because a quarter of the operator’s fleet has been forced into sidings through a mystery problem affecting train wheels.

Until further notice, all trains on the Northern and Wirral lines will operate at half-hourly intervals, with the city centre loop line also not in operation. Merseyrail spokesman Rudi Boersma said: “It’s been hectic, but controlled.

“We ran exactly the service we said we would, with extra services during the peak morning and afternoon times.

“Even though we have halved the capacity of the network, it’s worked extremely well. I accept we’ve not made people very happy with what we’re doing, as we didn’t have an awful lot of time to get the message out.

“We have laid on lots of extra staff, and tried to find capacity elsewhere to ease any overcrowding, such as getting as many buses as we can get to take the overflow from the rail system.

“I am not aware of any disorder or serious incidents and we did not need to stop people from accessing the platform because of overcrowding.”

It is likely to be a number of weeks before services return to normal as experts try to unravel the reasons for the wheel problems which have already knocked out 19 of Merseyrail’s total fleet of 59 three-carriage train sets.

Merseyrail decided on an emergency service to conserve trains as more are likely to fall victim to the problem.

Both Merseyrail, who are responsible for the trains, and Network Rail, who are responsible for the track, said the reason for the unusually high number of wheel faults was unknown. Merseyrail only became aware of the problem in the past few weeks when trains arrived at its maintenance sheds in Birkenhead and Kirkdale for routine servicing.

A large number of trains were found with unusual levels of wear on the wheels.

Merseyrail’s own engineers are carrying out urgent tests while Network Rail experts were examining the 70 miles of track used by Merseyrail trains.

Also coming under scrutiny is the recently replaced track beneath the streets of Liverpool city centre. Work finished in the early summer on the latest stretch of the loop line to be replaced, with the final segment due to be installed in 2009.

alanweston