MERSEYTRAVEL is urging visitors to this weekend’s Tall Ship Race event to use public transport and avoid peak time travelling wherever possible.

The transport network is facing a busy few days with the Tall Ships and Open Golf events happening simultaneously.

Enhanced rail services will be in operation throughout the Tall Ships event, with trains every 10 minutes at peak times.

Rail passengers should get off the train at James Street, Central or Moorfields on the city centre loop line for access to the Albert Dock.

For Wellington Dock, passengers should get off at Sandhills station on Merseyrail’s Northern Line.

Mersey Ferries will also be providing extra services on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the event. Services will be extended into the evenings, and two vessels will be operating on all three days.

Cllr Mark Dowd, Merseytravel, said: “This is going to be a huge few days for the transport network and we’d advise people to leave plenty of time to get to where they want to go.

“We’ve worked hard to make sure the transport network is as good as it can be to take the strain.”

Neil Scales, chief executive and director general of Merseytravel, added: “A lot of planning has gone into making the best of our assets over the next few days. With the Open Golf, Tall Ships and many other events taking place it’s going to be a major challenge. But we’ve never shirked a challenge before, we’re used to big events and we’ll make sure we do what we can to make things work.

“The sheer volume of people could mean queuing for some time after the event, whether that be at a bus stop, railway station, ferry terminal or in the car so we would strongly advise people to try to stagger their journeys home whenever they can and, if possible, travel outside peak times.”