It is fair to say that Merseyrail's new trains have been a long time coming.
It was in 2016 that a deal was first signed by the Liverpool City Region's transport body to purchase the 52-strong fleet of Class 777 trains from Swiss manufacturer Stadler. The fact they have yet to start taking passengers around this region has been very frustrating for everyone.
Of course a global pandemic and the chaos it unleashed could not have been predicted - and there were other unforeseen factors that have caused delays like flooding on the testing tracks in Europe. One of the main stumbling blocks has been a dispute with the RMT union over guard roles, which was recently, finally settled.
