Eurovision and train services

[infobleep]

I am hoping to go to the Eurovision in May in Liverpool, if I get a ticket, but staying in Liverpool would be costly.

A friend had an air b'n'b booking canceled once Liverpool was selected. No doubt so they could put their rates up.

So is there any chance that later trains might run? My idea is to get a train away from Liverpool to somewhere cheaper to stay. Regular services wouldn't be late enough it seems.

 

[xotGD]

Try Southport.

 

[Kite159]

And have a backup plan just in case the unions decides to call a strike that weekend, as I wouldn't put it past them if it still remains unresolved.

 

[infobleep]

Thanks for the replies.

Try Southport.

That feels too close to Liverpool and high accommodation costs.

And have a backup plan just in case the unions decides to call a strike that weekend, as I wouldn't put it past them if it still remains unresolved.

My friend who is going would be able to drive us up. So that is a reasonable backup.

 

[Bevan Price]

Southport definitely worth investigating. Plenty of hotels or B&Bs:

Hotels in Southport & Accommodation | Hotels & BB's

Hotels in Southport. Cheap rates on Scarisbrick Hotel Southport, Albert & Victoria Hotel Southport, Balmoral Lodge Hotel Southport. We show 54 Hotels and B&B's our cheapest rate in Southport is from £25 per night, up to 70% off hotel room rates on Hotels & BB's

www.hotels.uk.com

Also smaller number of hotels in towns surrounding Liverpool. All have bus services into Liverpool in case of rail strikes.
You could try Hoylake, West Kirby, Chester, Crosby, Formby, with a few available in St. Helens, Warrington & Widnes, for example.

 

[infobleep]

Southport definitely worth investigating. Plenty of hotels or B&Bs:

Hotels in Southport & Accommodation | Hotels & BB's

Hotels in Southport. Cheap rates on Scarisbrick Hotel Southport, Albert & Victoria Hotel Southport, Balmoral Lodge Hotel Southport. We show 54 Hotels and B&B's our cheapest rate in Southport is from £25 per night, up to 70% off hotel room rates on Hotels & BB's

www.hotels.uk.com

Also smaller number of hotels in towns surrounding Liverpool. All have bus services into Liverpool in case of rail strikes.
You could try Hoylake, West Kirby, Chester, Crosby, Formby, with a few available in St. Helens, Warrington & Widnes, for example.

Thanks. I will do some research.

 

[Djgr]

I think you will need to go further afield and think outside the box. Try Crewe, Wigan, Manchester even

 

[WizCastro197]

Chester even?

Travledoge Chester has rates at £220 for one night, which is a little costly, but isn't as crazy as those people charging £1000 for one night!

TRAVELODGE CHESTER CENTRAL BRIDGE STREET - Updated 2023

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www.tripadvisor.co.uk

 

[infobleep]

Chester even?

Travledoge Chester has rates at £220 for one night, which is a little costly, but isn't as crazy as those people charging £1000 for one night!

TRAVELODGE CHESTER CENTRAL BRIDGE STREET - Updated 2023

Book Travelodge Chester Central Bridge Street, Chester on Tripadvisor: See 913 traveller reviews, 96 candid photos, and great deals for Travelodge Chester Central Bridge Street, ranked #3 of 43 Speciality lodging in Chester and rated 4 of 5 at Tripadvisor.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk

To be perfectly honest even £220 is more than I usually pay for a nights hotel. I'd even stay in a hostel.

 

[infobleep]

I think you will need to go further afield and think outside the box. Try Crewe, Wigan, Manchester even

A friend at an air b'n'b booking in I think Wigen and that was cancelled by the owner once the Eurovision host winner was announced.

 

[Djgr]

A little look at trivago suggests that Southport/Chester are out of the question but there are some reasonable options in Wigan.

I think that people planning to use the train to Eurovision have stuck to Merseyrail destinations, as they have more confidence in their service delivery on the day than those operators managed remotely many miles away (e.g. , Northern, East Midlands, TPE), who, knowing their track record, probably aren't even aware that the event is on (and tbh don't care).

It is worth saying that getting cheap accommodation in Liverpool on ANY Saturday evening is a big ask these days.

 

[Bevan Price]

I think you will need to go further afield and think outside the box. Try Crewe, Wigan, Manchester even

But check the times of the last trains from Liverpool. Events like Eurovision finals often finish quite late in the evening.
And book your hotel or B&B well in advance if you want to find a vacancy.

 

[infobleep]

But check the times of the last trains from Liverpool. Events like Eurovision finals often finish quite late in the evening.
And book your hotel or B&B well in advance if you want to find a vacancy.

Which goes back to my wondering if they would run later services.

I mean for the Olympics later services ran from London.

All useful replies from people and I will taken them on board so thanks.

 

[MrJeeves]

I opted for a fully refundable hotel in Crewe around the date, hoping that some form of service will get me home (or I'll just wander around Liverpool through the night and go home the next day instead).

About £29/night when I booked!

 

[Djgr]

Which goes back to my wondering if they would run later services.

I mean for the Olympics later services ran from London.

All useful replies from people and I will taken them on board so thanks.

I would guess Merseyrail will and the other TOCs won't. Prove me wrong somebody!

 

[Kite159]

I opted for a fully refundable hotel in Crewe around the date, hoping that some form of service will get me home (or I'll just wander around Liverpool through the night and go home the next day instead).

About £29/night when I booked!

Which for Crewe on a normal night is quite good going, especially at a weekend.

 

[infobleep]

I opted for a fully refundable hotel in Crewe around the date, hoping that some form of service will get me home (or I'll just wander around Liverpool through the night and go home the next day instead).

About £29/night when I booked!

The last train from Liverpool that will get you to Crewe, via a change at Manchester Picadilly is the 22:19.

That is without engineering work changes to such things occur.

 

[Kite159]

The last train from Liverpool that will get you to Crewe, via a change at Manchester Picadilly is the 22:19.

That is without engineering work changes to such things occur.

The last direct train is the 22;16 which has the slight novelty of running nonstop to Crewe rather than risking a TPE to Manchester for the last Crewe stopper from Manchester which is a bit of a vomit comet.

 

[infobleep]

The last direct train is the 22;16 which has the slight novelty of running nonstop to Crewe rather than risking a TPE to Manchester for the last Crewe stopper from Manchester which is a bit of a vomit comet.

Eurovision usually ends after midnight. Of course this assumes one is attending the final.

I will find out soon what tickets I managed to get hold off, if any.

 

[Djgr]

Eurovision usually ends after midnight. Of course this assumes one is attending the final.

I will find out soon what tickets I managed to get hold off, if any.

From what I recall there are multiple events in the week prior to the final. One of these is targeted at children and young people and so will probably finish at a reasonable time

 

[Grumpy Git]

And have a backup plan just in case the unions decides to call a strike that weekend, as I wouldn't put it past them if it still remains unresolved.

My bolding.

May I politely suggest that TPE are more likely culprits of needing a ‘backup plan’?

 

[WizCastro197]

From what I recall there are multiple events in the week prior to the final. One of these is targeted at children and young people and so will probably finish at a reasonable time

Do you mean Junior Eurovision or something else, as that is normally held in December?

 

[Djgr]

Do you mean Junior Eurovision or something else, as that is normally held in December?

It's called Afternoon Preview Show. If you Google you will find there are nine separate Eurovision shows.

 

[infobleep]

It's called Afternoon Preview Show. If you Google you will find there are nine separate Eurovision shows.

Indeed there are.

I was keen to attend the final but my friend wants to go to the preview shows and watch the main events on TV so may end up doing that.

That is promoted by the organisers as the way to watch Eurovision, since it was designed for TV but they wouldn't want a TV show without an audience!

 

[infobleep]

After all that I didn't get a ticket for Eurovison.

I could have got a £210 hospitality ticket but I didn't wish to spend that much.

In fact for the first preview show of the second semi-final, even standing tickets were £210 each.

My limit would have been £100 may be £120.

Still, my friend and his friend were happy to pay £210 each so I'll see what they do with their travel and accommodation.

Nearer the time another fan might need to resell a cheaper ticket at face value via the official site and when they do I might get one.

 

[Kite159]

I know it's slightly offtopic but in my mind for high profile events like Eurovision the fairest way to have done the tickets would be via a ballot.
Similar to the system used by Wimbledon & the commonwealth games (or even the Led Zeppelin reunion concert) where people have a week to apply for tickets in the knowledge if successful they will get those tickets. After a week the random draw gets made and those lucky enough to get picked getting the tickets they requested with maybe an option to reject.

Any returns or failed transactions can either go on general sale or a second run of the ballot. Fairer than the fastest finger/bot first.

With maybe even the details of who purchased the tickets printed on them with the requirement to show ID to limit the ability to resell on the secondary market. But Ticketmaster won't like that

 

[Class 170101]

Eurovision 2023: Airbnb host tried to increase rent from £465 to over £2,000

Roy Henry says the host he booked with tried to raise the price from £465 to more than £2,000.

www.bbc.co.uk

Eurovision 2023: Airbnb host tried to increase rent from £465 to over £2,000

but the bit that most interested me was

But Simon Bennett, secretary of the Eurovision Fan Club OGAE UK, said "everybody needs to take a deep breath".
Hotel prices were stabilising at around £200 to £300 per night after going "berserk" when Liverpool was first announced as the host city and people made precautionary bookings, he said.
Many fans had simply booked accommodation elsewhere, in nearby Manchester, Warrington or Southport and would drive or take public transport, the 59-year-old added.

So what if any provision if any have those operators around Liverpool made to get people to / from the likes of Manchester, Southport, Warrington etc

 

[infobleep]

Eurovision 2023: Airbnb host tried to increase rent from £465 to over £2,000

Roy Henry says the host he booked with tried to raise the price from £465 to more than £2,000.

www.bbc.co.uk

​

but the bit that most interested me was



So what if any provision if any have those operators around Liverpool made to get people to / from the likes of Manchester, Southport, Warrington etc

As far as I am aware, none. My friends Airb'n'b was canceled.

If only he has got some publicity out of it then Airb'n'b might have helped him. He didn't contact them about it as far as I am aware.

I did forward on the news article once I'd read it.

 

[Howardh]

I'm surprised local schools or community centres with showers etc aren't catering for visitors, who could bring their own mats and sleeping bags! When I did the Waendal Walks we slept in a large sports hall, and really think that would be an affordable way to allow fans to watch the contest.

 

[Bertie the bus]

So what if any provision if any have those operators around Liverpool made to get people to / from the likes of Manchester, Southport, Warrington etc

What provision do you expect them to make? It is the responsibility of people attending to check they can get to and from the venue, not the responsibility of public transport companies to read news articles to discover which far flung places people have decided to book hotels in and run services. If someone decided to stay with their aunt in Halifax you wouldn't expect Northern to put on a late night train to get them back.