The day has arrived when paying passengers have finally set foot upon the new Merseyrail trains.
The first new Class 777 Merseyrail train set off from Central Station to Kirkby this morning, with crowds of people desperate to be on the maiden public voyage. Unfortunately, not everyone could be among the first cluster of passengers. But, Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram and our political editor, Liam Thorpe, hitched a ride.
Reader: Merseytravel share major change for passengers on all new trains
It was a day which has been awaited since 2016, when the Liverpool City Region bought the Stadler trains at a price of £500m. Concerns about staffing and safety from workers' unions, only recently fully resolved, and the pandemic contributed to the delays in bringing the trains into service.
As exciting as this Merseyrail development is, it will not be an overnight turnaround. The wait will continue for the rest of the trains to be rolled out.
Kirkby is expected to be the first to be completely rolled out within the next couple of months, followed by the Ormskirk line, Wirral line and last but not least the Hunts Cross line. So, there is still a long way to go, possibly between 12 and 15 months, before the new train will be across the Merseyrail network as a whole.
Are you looking forward to using the news trains? Let know what you think in the comments
