Euro 2028: Manchester - Liverpool Corridor

Tetchytyke · 4 Jun 2026

Llandudno said:
The rapid transit vehicles are bendy buses…!

What's wrong with that?

Single decker buses are much better suited to airport routes because most people are travelling with luggage. Nobody wants to leave their suitcase downstairs and sit upstairs where they can't see it.

Bendybuses give you more capacity than a rigid single decker, so they're the most sensible option.

The 500 used to be an express bus using Citaro bendies. It should never have changed.

Ellis101 said:
The 500 bus is every 30 minutes express from Liverpool Airport - Liverpool ONE Bus station, but the 86A which is every 7/8 minutes stops at Liverpool South Parkway (which the 500 doesnt) and stops everywhere.

The 500 isn't an express. I think it skips a couple of stops through Cressington but otherwise it stops everywhere. Most of the time saving is because it doesn't go into South Parkway. It's no faster than the 82A which also doesn't serve South Parkway.

The 86A takes forever because it does a tour of Allerton on the way into the centre.

Ellis101 said:
Most international fans landing at Manchester Airport will inevitably end up at Piccadilly and then look for the quickest route to Liverpool.

They'd just get the direct train from Manchester Airport to Lime Street, no? Usually they're six carriages; you can get a lot of people on a double 323.

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Fokx · 5 Jun 2026

Tetchytyke said:
The 500 used to be an express bus using Citaro bendies. It should never have changed.

It should because it's now a much busier service than it ever used to be whilst it was as an express (or as the brief period or was a stopping service via South Parkway and ran to Runcorn)

Tetchytyke said:
The 500 isn't an express. I think it skips a couple of stops through Cressington but otherwise it stops everywhere. Most of the time saving is because it doesn't go into South Parkway. It's no faster than the 82A which also doesn't serve South Parkway.

It's limited stop as far as Jericho Lane/Aigburth Vale then all stops until it once again reaches Jericho Lane/Aigburth Vale

Roughly half the journey is express, half the journey is a stopping service

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Ellis101 said:
There used to be 10+ years ago a express bus called the 501 that was basically just the 500 but stopped at Liverpool South Parkway if I remember correctly, I don't know why they got rid of it but they did.

Passenger numbers were low except for specific flights times, and Arriva were effectively competing with themselves on route 80A and 86A which already served the airport and South Parkway directly.

(Both the 80A and 86A have seen timetable reductions since, the 80A is now every 40 minutes, and the 86A no longer runs a 24/7 service)

Paul AC · 5 Jun 2026

Bald Rick said:
There’s a valid argument that had Old Trafford been selected as a venue, it would have seen more local people travelling to the matches there than in normal circumstances!

I suggest your argument is NOT valid, though it is widely held. Yes there are many people who live in the London area (say) that support Manchester United and will try to attend most of their home games, but the same applies to Liverpool and Manchester City, and others. The reverse also applies with north-based fans attending London teams' home games in large numbers.

With an average home attendance of around 74000, it is inevitable that large numbers of Manchester United fans will be travelling from London and elsewhere; it does not mean that there are relatively few local fans!

Even now the number of match attendees is limited by the size of the stadium, hence the desire to build a new 100k-seat stadium.

The Planner · 5 Jun 2026

Paul AC said:
I suggest your argument is NOT valid, though it is widely held. Yes there are many people who live in the London area (say) that support Manchester United and will try to attend most of their home games, but the same applies to Liverpool and Manchester City, and others. The reverse also applies with north-based fans attending London teams' home games in large numbers.

With an average home attendance of around 74000, it is inevitable that large numbers of Manchester United fans will be travelling from London and elsewhere; it does not mean that there are relatively few local fans!

Even now the number of match attendees is limited by the size of the stadium, hence the desire to build a new 100k-seat stadium.

Thats one hell of a bite.

Tetchytyke · 5 Jun 2026

RHolmes said:
It's limited stop as far as Jericho Lane/Aigburth Vale then all stops until it once again reaches Jericho Lane/Aigburth Vale

Roughly half the journey is express, half the journey is a stopping service

They've changed it again, it stops everywhere along Riverside Drive and it stops everywhere through the business park after the Crowne Plaza/retail park stop. It's just the bit along Aigburth Road where it skips a few stops, but still picks up a fair few even there.

It's not good enough for what pretends to be a major airport. But, in fairness to Arriva, when I've caught it towards the airport most people on it from the city centre haven't been heading to the airport at all, quite a lot have been getting off at DPD in the business park. Away from the airport it has been busier but that makes sense with 100 people off a flight all heading for the same bus.

The fact that it's no faster than the 82A- which could also do with being a bendy-bus because of the low bridges on the Runcorn busway- is pretty ridiculous.

Djgr · 5 Jun 2026

Paul AC said:
I suggest your argument is NOT valid, though it is widely held. Yes there are many people who live in the London area (say) that support Manchester United and will try to attend most of their home games, but the same applies to Liverpool and Manchester City, and others. The reverse also applies with north-based fans attending London teams' home games in large numbers.

With an average home attendance of around 74000, it is inevitable that large numbers of Manchester United fans will be travelling from London and elsewhere; it does not mean that there are relatively few local fans!

Even now the number of match attendees is limited by the size of the stadium, hence the desire to build a new 100k-seat stadium.

And of course Manchester United is not even in Manchester!

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Tetchytyke said:
They've changed it again, it stops everywhere along Riverside Drive and it stops everywhere through the business park after the Crowne Plaza/retail park stop. It's just the bit along Aigburth Road where it skips a few stops, but still picks up a fair few even there.

It's not good enough for what pretends to be a major airport. But, in fairness to Arriva, when I've caught it towards the airport most people on it from the city centre haven't been heading to the airport at all, quite a lot have been getting off at DPD in the business park. Away from the airport it has been busier but that makes sense with 100 people off a flight all heading for the same bus.

The fact that it's no faster than the 82A- which could also do with being a bendy-bus because of the low bridges on the Runcorn busway- is pretty ridiculous.

And I believe all of this will be changed in time for the Euros, as a result of bus franchising coming in.

And one reason that franchising is coming in is to stop this constant changing of routes that deters many casual passengers and all to throw some more coffers into the fat cat pot.

AlexSJW · 6 Jun 2026

Euro 2028?
Game in Manchester, many will come in via Ringway. No problem.
Game in Liverpool at Bramley Moore Dock, then I assume both airports will be used. From John Lennon, shuttle to Sth Parkway, then Northern Line to Sandhills. From Lime St, a shuttle to Bramley Moore Dock. Or change onto Merseyrail then onto Sandhills.

Fawkes Cat · 6 Jun 2026

AlexSJW said:
Euro 2028?
Game in Manchester, many will come in via Ringway. No problem.
Game in Liverpool at Bramley Moore Dock, then I assume both airports will be used. From John Lennon, shuttle to Sth Parkway, then Northern Line to Sandhills. From Lime St, a shuttle to Bramley Moore Dock. Or change onto Merseyrail then onto Sandhills.

No. From John Lennon*, extra buses to town/the north docks.

It's cheaper to lay on extra buses than extra trains, and why insist on all the visitors having to change from airport bus to train instead of getting a bus right through?

*Incidentally, why 'Ringway' and 'John Lennon'? Surely Ringway and Speke, or Manchester International and John Lennon?

The exile · 6 Jun 2026

Tetchytyke said:
What's wrong with that?

Single decker buses are much better suited to airport routes because most people are travelling with luggage. Nobody wants to leave their suitcase downstairs and sit upstairs where they can't see it.

All very true - it’s the “over puffing” of a bus connection and the consequent devaluation of the term “rapid transit”. A fully segregated guided busway using large bendy buses at frequent intervals might just about qualify as rapid transit; normal buses or even on-street trams do not.

AlexSJW · 6 Jun 2026

Fawkes Cat said:
No. From John Lennon*, extra buses to town/the north docks.

It's cheaper to lay on extra buses than extra trains, and why insist on all the visitors having to change from airport bus to train instead of getting a bus right through?

*Incidentally, why 'Ringway' and 'John Lennon'? Surely Ringway and Speke, or Manchester International and John Lennon?

A Merseyrail train can hold around eight hundred. Buses cannot compete.
I do not think it will be a problem as many of the fans will want to be in the city centres before the games. Many will stay overnight.

This highlights the missing Merseyrail train station at John Lennon airport. Visitor to the country will not be impressed having to take a shuttle bus to a staion a mile away.

The Planner · 6 Jun 2026

Fawkes Cat said:
No. From John Lennon*, extra buses to town/the north docks.

It's cheaper to lay on extra buses than extra trains, and why insist on all the visitors having to change from airport bus to train instead of getting a bus right through?

*Incidentally, why 'Ringway' and 'John Lennon'? Surely Ringway and Speke, or Manchester International and John Lennon?

This is RailUKForums, people have to call things by what they were originally named 70 years ago.

Fawkes Cat · 6 Jun 2026

The Planner said:
This is RailUKForums, people have to call things by what they were originally named 70 years ago.

Mr Lennon was still at Quarry Bank High 70 years ago, and the airport wasn't named after a schoolboy (or at the current location).

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AlexSJW said:
This highlights the missing Merseyrail train station at John Lennon airport. Visitor to the country will not be impressed having to take a shuttle bus to a staion a mile away.

So why not stay on the bus all the way to town?

mmh · 6 Jun 2026

AlexSJW said:
This highlights the missing Merseyrail train station at John Lennon airport. Visitor to the country will not be impressed having to take a shuttle bus to a staion a mile away.

They'll have quite likely had to do similar at their departure airport and won't bat an eyelid. Most airports don't have a railway station on site.

AlexSJW · 6 Jun 2026

mmh said:
They'll have quite likely had to do similar at their departure airport and won't bat an eyelid. Most airports don't have a railway station on site.

Even the T and W Metro has a station as the airport. I can't think of a city with a comprehensive metro and airport that does not have a station at the airport.

Tetchytyke · 6 Jun 2026

AlexSJW said:
Thisw highlights the missing Merseyrail train station at John Lennon airport. Visitor to the country will not be impressed having to take a shuttle bus to a staion a mile away.

They’ll just take a bus to the city centre. Works in a lot of European cities, most airports don’t have trains.

frodshamfella · 7 Jun 2026

AlexSJW said:
Even the T and W Metro has a station as the airport. I can't think of a city with a comprehensive metro and airport that does not have a station at the airport.

There has been lots of discussion about bringing Merseyrail to Liverpool Airport, and whilst it would be most welcome, its all down to cost. The easiest access is a spur from the main Liverpool to Crewe railway line, East of that airport, as it mainly farmland. If it was going come directly from a Merseyrail line at Hunts Cross or South Parkway, there would be a lot of tunnelling required. Unfortunately this is not London, so much less cash is spent up here on much needed infrastructure.

Djgr · 7 Jun 2026

The Planner said:
This is RailUKForums, people have to call things by what they were originally named 70 years ago.

Only renamed in 2001! Yes it's annoying when people don't acknowledge the change.

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AlexSJW said:
Even the T and W Metro has a station as the airport. I can't think of a city with a comprehensive metro and airport that does not have a station at the airport.

Liverpool is the 10th busiest UK airport. Above it neither Bristol nor Glasgow have stations (and access to Bristol is particularly bad)

Euro 2028: Manchester - Liverpool Corridor

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