Merseyrail best Stations to get the 777s

[Razor1967]

Planning a trip to Liverpool in Spring, staying overnight at Travelodge Exchange Street to see 777s, as I need them all for sight.

I plan to get a Saveaway all zones (£6.30 ?) on day one, to see as many as possible.

I know Sandhills is good for the Northern Lines, but this won't get the Wirral Lines. Will Sandhills get the battery 777/1s ?

Liverpool Central seems to have all trains passing through, but as it has 3 platforms I guess there may be different levels and not all viewable together.

Is Hamilton Square a good place to spend time for the Wirral line, but I would prefer an overground platform for safety etc.

I plan on taking a trip up to Kirkdale for the depot, and Chester to try and capture some of the 197s (I need all these too) and Southport too.

Are there any other places (apart from Birkenhead depot) where units may out stable for the day? Sorry for all the questions, but it's a long tome since I was in Liverpool.

 

[Chilternblue]

Last June, arrived at Lime Street at 1015, bought Daysaver ticket, took Wirral line train to Central, spent approx. 90 minutes there until diagrams started repeating, went upstairs to Northern line, took train to Sandhills where I spent another 90 minutes or so, after this took Ormskirk train to Kirkdale, passing the depot, the depot is mostly visible from the station (binoculars advised). Unable to help with Southport and Birkenhead.

 

[M28361M]

All Northern Line trains serve Liverpool Central, Moorfields and Sandhills. If the weather is good, the latter is probably the best place to see all the trains out on the Northern Line. You would have to wait there for about 2 hours or so to see all the units out that day. Liverpool Central gets crowded and at Moorfields the platforms are separated off from each other linked by cross-passages so you would be running back and forth between platforms a lot. The Headbolt Lane line is 100% operated by battery units although one will occasionally appear on Ormskirk or Southport lines in 3rd rail mode. If you travel to Headbolt Lane, listen out for the "clunk" as the train approaches Fazakerly -- that is the shoes lifting as the train switches to battery mode.

For Wirral Line, if you simply want to see all the the trains, you could position yourself at one of the four stations on the Liverpool loop. Hamilton Square has the problem that the line splits before the station, with Chester/Ellesmere Port services using platform 2 and New Brighton/West Kirby services using platform 3, which are out of sight from each other. There's no above-ground station that serves all branches of the Wirral Line. I would suggest Hooton for the Chester/EPort branch and Birkenhead Park or North for the New Brighton/West Kirby.

The platform staff at the underground stations might not like you hanging around there for an extended time, so be ready to explain yourself. They seem a bit more used to enthusiasts these days thanks to the interest in the 507s during their final year, so hopefully you won't have too many issues.

Stabling points: Birkenhead North and Kirkdale depots. Kirkdale it can be difficult to see all the units from passing trains as some of the stabling roads are right at the back behind the depot buildings. Birkenhead North there may be a unit or two inside the depot building and if the shed doors are shut you're out of luck. On the other hand you may also have the bonus of seeing one or two 230s there, as they are maintained there by Stadler for TFW.

Other stabling points are Southport carriage sidings (there's a long footbridge that goes right over the railway and sidings and can give good views of the stabled units). New Brighton and West Kirby stations. Rock Ferry platforms 3 and 4 (usually overnight but a failed unit will often be put there out of the way). The bay platform at Hooton is used sometimes too.

If you buy a Saveaway from a Merseyrail station, it will be loaded onto a Metro card and you will be charged £1 for the card. You can avoid this by purchasing from a non-Merseyrail station which will issue the ticket as a Day Ranger on standard ticket stock. Alternatively, if you know you will be only travelling on Merseyrail Electrics services and don't need the additional validity of the Saveaway (all TOCs plus buses and ferries), you can buy a Day Saver for £6.20 from a Merseyrail station or TVM, or on the Merseyrail website.

 

[Bob figgis]

As has already been suggested, Sandhills for the Northern line, wait for the first unit you see heading to Southport to come back and you’ll have seen all the units in service on the Northern lines. Sandhills is very windy, although there are two covered waiting rooms and a toilet.

I find Birkenhead Hamilton Square platform 1 the best place for the Wirral lines. The tunnel section around Liverpool is single track so all trains enter this section via P1 at Hamilton Square. When I’ve been in the past I note the first Chester train and the first Ellesmere Port (they depart from platform 2 and are easily viewable from P1) unit I see going in the opposite direction and wait for them to come back. Off the top of my head I can’t remember which of these two services takes the longest to return but once they do come back you’ll have seen all the units in Service on the Wirral lines. I have done this a few times spotting the 777 units and tend to sit at the far end of the platform, handy little seats at Hamilton Square and only once did a guard ask if I was ok. As soon as I said spotting the units he wished me a good luck for the day.

The Saveaway ticket is excellent value for money.

 

[Razor1967]

Thank you so much for the superbly detailed replies. I think my plan will be to head to Hamilton Square platform 1 (the east end/Liverpool side ?) until they repeat. Then head to West Kirby, new track for me, pass Birkenhead depot. Sight of a 230 would be most welcome ! Back to Hamilton Square for a Chester train and spend an hour there for any 197s and the depot.
Then head up to Sandhills for a couple of hours including a quick spin to Kirkdale and back for the depot. The evening will be a trip up to Southport and the carriage sidings and then a fish and chips supper and a few pints. Then back to Moorfields for my bed. I think I may as well buy the Daysaver as less hassle to get as I only plan to use the 777s for haulage. It will save me £1.10 which will satisfy the Yorkshire in me !! Thank you all once again.

 

[Bevan Price]

Thank you so much for the superbly detailed replies. I think my plan will be to head to Hamilton Square platform 1 (the east end/Liverpool side ?) until they repeat. Then head to West Kirby, new track for me, pass Birkenhead depot. Sight of a 230 would be most welcome ! Back to Hamilton Square for a Chester train and spend an hour there for any 197s and the depot.
Then head up to Sandhills for a couple of hours including a quick spin to Kirkdale and back for the depot. The evening will be a trip up to Southport and the carriage sidings and then a fish and chips supper and a few pints. Then back to Moorfields for my bed. I think I may as well buy the Daysaver as less hassle to get as I only plan to use the 777s for haulage. It will save me £1.10 which will satisfy the Yorkshire in me !! Thank you all once again.

Rather than spend up to 90 minutes at Hamilton Square, and as you will have a ticket, an alternative would be to spend around 15-20 minutes each at Hamilton Square, James Street, Moorfields (Wirral Line), Lime Street & Liverpool Central. You will still see the same trains, but at different locations. The lighting is bright enough to take photos if you want. (No flash guns permitted )

 

[gray1404]

Is Merseyrail now exclusively 777s or is there still some old stock in service?

 

[Kite159]

Is Merseyrail now exclusively 777s or is there still some old stock in service?

99% certain it's all 777s now, the last of the PEPs have departed.

Agreed with @Bevan Price it might be worth moving around the loop on the Wirral line, as hanging around Hamilton Square for a long period probably would get noticed by the contractor security person they had hanging around the last time I was there

 

[Razor1967]

Further to my earlier post, I am a bit confused now. If I sit at platform 1 at Hamilton Square I will see the Ellesmere Port and Chester trains (repeat after a while). However I won't see the trains on the New Brighton or West Kirby lines. Does that mean I then have to go to platform 3 and repeat the same routine ?

 

[WirralLine]

Further to my earlier post, I am a bit confused now. If I sit at platform 1 at Hamilton Square I will see the Ellesmere Port and Chester trains (repeat after a while). However I won't see the trains on the New Brighton or West Kirby lines. Does that mean I then have to go to platform 3 and repeat the same routine ?

All the Liverpool bound trains use platform 1 - ie from Chester, Ellesmere Port, New Brighton and West Kirby. So if you were to stay there you'd see all of them heading to Liverpool. Around 15 minutes later you'll see the same Chester and Ellesmere Port units return on platform 2 (after a trip around the Liverpool loop). The West Kirby and New Brighton bound trains will also return after 15 minutes, but they duck down into the lower platform 3 - you'll see them coming under the river in the tunnel, before branching off just before platform 2.

 

[Razor1967]

Ah I see, thank you very much. So basically sit at one end of platform 1 and once the east bound trains to Liverpool start repeating it's time to move on.

 

[WirralLine]

Ah I see, thank you very much. So basically sit at one end of platform 1 and once the east bound trains to Liverpool start repeating it's time to move on.

Once you start to see repeating Chester and Ellesmere Port units yes. The longest round trip is Chester-Liverpool-Chester, at 90 minutes. A New Brighton circuit is much shorter, so if the first train you see has come from New Brighton, you may see it again before you've seen everything on the other lines.

The destination screens and platform displays will all display Liverpool, giving no indication of its origin. You can determine where the train has originated from using the timetables, realtimetrains, or maps like Traksy etc. The underground stations have free WiFi. For reference the headcodes are as follows:

2CXX Chester
2YXX Ellesmere Port
2NXX New Brighton
2WXX West Kirby.

These should be consistent during the day unless it goes up the wall.

When looking to the Wirral end of platform 1, if you can see a Liverpool bound train approaching down the long straight double tracked section, its from Chester/Ellesmere Port. If it emerges from a branch on the right (from your point of view) it's come from West Kirby/New Brighton.

From my experience the underground stations are safe, well lit so easy for photos if that's your thing, and the staff generally don't bother you aslong as you keep out the way, if you are asked and you explain what you're doing they just leave you to it normally.

Hope this is some help to you!

 

[Djgr]

Thank you so much for the superbly detailed replies. I think my plan will be to head to Hamilton Square platform 1 (the east end/Liverpool side ?) until they repeat. Then head to West Kirby, new track for me, pass Birkenhead depot. Sight of a 230 would be most welcome ! Back to Hamilton Square for a Chester train and spend an hour there for any 197s and the depot.
Then head up to Sandhills for a couple of hours including a quick spin to Kirkdale and back for the depot. The evening will be a trip up to Southport and the carriage sidings and then a fish and chips supper and a few pints. Then back to Moorfields for my bed. I think I may as well buy the Daysaver as less hassle to get as I only plan to use the 777s for haulage. It will save me £1.10 which will satisfy the Yorkshire in me !! Thank you all once again.

Just to add: A break at Bidston will allow you to see TfW trains going down and up from the Borderlands line. Also, there is an independent cafe (Toast) within West Kirby station that might suit for refreshment (and a Spoons almost opposite-Dee Hotel)

 

[LYradial]

Do merseyrail still split sets during the day and leave half stuck on the ends of platforms 1 & 2 at Southport between 10 o’clock and 4 o’clock

 

[Kite159]

Do merseyrail still split sets during the day and leave half stuck on the ends of platforms 1 & 2 at Southport between 10 o’clock and 4 o’clock

Considering the number of pairs they run can be counted on one hand that isn't a problem at the moment.

 

[childwallblues]

Merseyrail encourages businesses to open cafes in premises on its stations which are unused so you can now get snacks at Formby, Hunts Cross, Maghull, West Kirby and Ormskirk. There is a Costa Coffee at Liverpool South Parkway and a Greggs at Liverpool Central. There are plenty of eateries including a Wetherspoons at Lime Street High Level. Last of all you can get a full meal at New Brighton.