Hello all,
Partner and I are considering relocating from South London to Manchester or Liverpool. Partners job would be in Liverpool, mine in Manchester. Just wondering what people's experiences of the Liverpool - Manchester commute were? Is the service reliable and as overcrowded as our current croydon to London journeys are, or can you get any work done on a peak time train? I presume a gold card between the closest suburban station and Liverpool/Manchester is the best fares option?
Many thanks!
Generally, the service between these two cities is reliable and punctual, but trains in the North are always significantly shorter and often less frequent than in the South East, so you will need to be prepared to time your journeys more carefully as the wait for the next service might be longer than you are used to.
The quality of the rolling stock and journey environment can vary dramatically depending on which train company you make your journey with. In terms of comfort and convenience, TransPennine Express is preferable to Northern Rail which generally uses much older stock, but please note that these franchises are expected to be merged in a few years time, and this could possibly lead to a reconfiguration of rolling stock deployment.
There are two major routes between Manchester and Liverpool: the northern route (via Newton-le-Willows), and the southern route (via Warrington Central).
The southern route
currently offers a better service, but the northern route is currently undergoing significant upgrades that will make it a much superior line once these works are completed. When this happens, train operators will generally be switching to the northern route - so
be wary of buying a house near a suburban station on the southern route if you expect the current level of service on this line to last forever!
Finally, I recommend in the
strongest possible terms that you settle in Manchester and not Liverpool.
(just kidding; Liverpool is a nice place too, although I am much less familiar with its suburbs)
South Manchester is generally better than North Manchester although there are a few infamous exceptions.
West Didsbury and Chorlton are the nicest areas, followed by East Didsbury, Sale, and Heaton Chapel, but these are merely my favourites, and there are many other pleasant (and more affordable!) areas; I'm sure you'll do thorough research of your own anyway.
Manchester has an expanding fast-tram network called "Metrolink", directly linking many of its suburbs to Piccadilly and Victoria mainline stations, both of which offer regular National Rail services to Liverpool. Sale and Chorlton are two areas which are already on the network; the much sought-after West and East Didsbury areas are being added to the network in the next couple of years.
For this reason, you may find it worthwhile to consider living near a tram stop instead of a suburban National Rail station, as you will have a more frequent metro-style service direct to the central stations from where you will be guaranteed the best services to Liverpool instead of being reliant on the slow and infrequent (by London standards) local stopping services in the North West.
