Merseyside public transport changes over Christmas

Bus, rail and ferry services will be reduced across Merseyside over the festive period, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority said.

Free buses will be running on Christmas Day from midday until 18:00 GMT to cover most hospital routes - but no other bus services will operate.

Mersey Ferries and train services will be suspended on 25 December.

There will be fewer bus services than usual on Boxing Day and New Year's Eve, with services finishing earlier than usual on the last day of the year, the authority said.

Councillor Steve Foulkes, transport committee chair, told passengers to "plan journeys in advance".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), he said: "Whether travelling for work, leisure, Christmas parties, last-minute present 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 across the festive period.

"This is always a very busy time of year for everyone and as always, the work that our frontline public transport colleagues do over this period is always hugely appreciated."

According to the authority, the Kingsway (Wallasey) tunnel and the Queensway (Birkenhead) tunnel will be open throughout the holiday period.

Both tunnels will be toll-free from 22:00 GMT on Christmas Eve until 06:00 GMT on Boxing Day.

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.

Some services will not be running.

Merseyrail will be running some services on Boxing Day, the authority said, but there will be changes to other services during the Christmas period.

On Christmas Day there will be a special network of free bus services running between midday and 18:00 GMT, covering most hospital routes.

No other bus services will operate.

Bus services will also vary over the whole Christmas period with very few operating on Boxing Day as well as New Year's Eve.

On 27 December and 1 January, three bus services will run on their usual timetable as there are two Liverpool Football Club games on these dates.

These include the 917 Liverpool FC (Stagecoach), Taxi One ( A&J Taxis), and Soccerbus (Stagecoach).

On New Year's Eve, services will finish much earlier.

The river explorer cruise service will be operating as normal on 20 and 21 December.

On 22 December, the commuter service will be running alongside the explorer cruise service.

However, ferries will not be running on 24-28 December and on 1 January.

Cruises will operate between December 29 and 31 as well as between 2 and 4 January.

These will start from the Pier Head at 10:00 GMT, running every hour until the last service which will depart from Liverpool at 15:00 GMT.

There will be no commuter service during this period, the authority said.

Normal services will resume on 5 January.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.