The ferry terminal at Seacombe reopened at sunrise after being closed for nearly two years while it was being refurbished.
Millions of pounds has gone into the terminal which now has a new lobby, ticket office and the entire boarding platform and passenger bridges replaced. New powered gangways have also been installed to help people get on and off the ferries.
Most of the money went into replacing the platform and bridges, which were more than 130 years old with some of it coming from Levelling Up funding.
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Councillor Liam Robinson, chair of the Liverpool City Region's transport committee said: "This is absolutely massive because after almost two years of very significant redevelopment work, reopening it now is vital for many people who use the ferry to cross the river.
"People can then get off here in Seacombe and walk up to places like New Brighton and discover this part of the Wirral but also with Eureka opening in the next few weeks, we'll have that really high quality excellent children's museum that will be a real boost for the local area and the local economy."
Eureka will open on Friday, November 11 with new attractions such as a 12-foot-tall cat and climbing tree with the aim to get children interested in science.
Cllr Robinson said that a few hundred catch the ferry every day with thousands of tourists using the river tour cruises during the day over the course of the year.
The terminal reopened on October 17, 2022 almost two years after it closed in December 2020 with all ferry services running from the Woodside terminal in Birkenhead. Now Woodside will be closed for its own refurbishment.
Many commuters were there for the first ferry at 7.20am with the service popular over the course of the morning.
Cllr Robinson said: "This is a multi-million pound upgrade that gives many people in Seacombe one of their key transport connections to Liverpool and beyond and also as well the amount of money that's been invested in a really-first class facility.
"With Eureka too, we'll get a lot more people coming to the Wirral that will give the area a real boost. It will put Seacombe back on the map again."
Cllr Robinson said they were considered trialling commuter services from both ferry terminals. Before Seacombe's closure, commuter services did not run from Woodside.
New ticket bundles for three and five days will now also be offered "in a move to make it easier for passengers only travelling part of the week."
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