Merseyrail are my local rail service, only a short walk from my house to the station, and I use the trains very frequently for both leisure and commuting, and have done since the early 90s.
Personally I think Merseyrail offer a fantastic commuter service. I have visited plenty of places that have trains every hour, or maybe longer than that. But if you are travelling on the Merseyrail Network, you get trains every 15 minutes during weekdays and saturdays. If you are travelling from stations around the Liverpool loop line, you get trains every 5 minutes.
Now I've noticed a lot of bad reviews on here, mainly for out of date rolling stock, old style interiors etc, but Merseyrail have now refurbished every one of the 59 units since the last review, and each train has been given a completely new look, both inside and outside and they look as good as new. Some of the reviews mentioned 'yobs' being a problem. Well there is obviously little Merseyrail can do about this, but what they have done is to install CCTV on all trains and stations. Also, if you are travelling in the evening you may well see members of British Transport Police onboard the train, keeping a general eye on things.
The bad things about the service are maybe the fact that some units do tend to be generally messy, with newspapers / coke bottles / bags etc spread around some seats, but this can be generally expected with it being a commuter service. Overcrowding can be a problem on peak trains or off-peak trains going into Liverpool, but I do know Merseyrail do their best to use longer trains in peak time, especially those trains arriving into Liverpool just after 5'o clock.
Overall it's a great service and personally I think the trains themselves are great.
If you are thinking of Visiting Merseyside, make sure you get an All Area Saveaway. You can travel on any bus train or ferry in Merseyside for a whole day off peak for just £3.70. Considering a return to Southport from Liverpool costs £3.60, it is excellent value. So this proves that Merseyrail offer the cheapest fares around.
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It has been a while since I have used merseyrail, its good that they are improving as it dosen't give a good impression to visitors from outside of the merseyside region, when you see the state the trains can be in. But this is a national problem, I have used trains down south which have been in a worse state. Good review.
fantasybeliever 08.09.2005 21:49
Welcome to Ciao. I've never travelled with this company either but it's good to see a positive review of a transport service! Cheers. Christina ;-) x
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Advantages: Cheap, but certainly not cheerful. Sucidal more like. Disadvantages: Dirty, smelly, understaffed (and even then they are unhelpful and rude), unrelaible........
7sefton 13.10.2001 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Merseyrail Electrics
Advantages: Cheap, but certainly not cheerful. Sucidal more like. Disadvantages: Dirty, smelly, understaffed (and even then they are unhelpful and rude), unrelaible........
7sefton 13.10.2001 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Merseyrail Electrics
Sep 8th, 2005
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