The 154th Open golf championship at Royal Birkdale will disrupt commuters more than 30 miles away, with services at Cressington station in south Liverpool reduced from a 15-minute frequency to a 40-minute timetable.
Impact on Cressington Commuters
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram confirmed that existing problems with beacons that monitor train door positions forced a scheduling shuffle. Speaking on BBC Radio Merseyside, he said: "There's one minor inconvenience and that's Cressington and we've had issues with Cressington in the past." The knock-on effect on public transport had been "minimised" but could not be avoided at the south Liverpool station.
Beacon Issues and Safety Concerns
Mr Rotheram explained: "The only issue that we've got, because we have to put on as many eight car services as it is possible to squeeze on the system, like we do with the football, Cressington is an issue for us because there are some beacons that are in Cressington and they're not working as they should and that means the eight car services, (in) the final two carriages the doors would open if we allowed that to happen and of course we're not going to do that because safety is the number one concern."
Event Details and Passenger Advice
The Open runs from Sunday, July 12 to Sunday, July 19, with practice days from Sunday to Wednesday and the championship starting Thursday, July 16. Thousands of fans from around the world are expected to use the Merseyrail network. Mr Rotheram assured passengers: "They (passengers) will still be able to get on it and be able to time those around those other eight cars. It's just that we can't get it ready in time."
Long-Standing Infrastructure Issues
Mr Rotheram noted that the beacon problem had been known for "18 months, two years" and that he had been asking the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which operates Merseyrail, "what the hell is happening?" He added: "It's not the first time that a train has carriages that don't open at a station, you hear it advertised on the train saying move to the front, so why is it happening? It's a consistent thing on the rail industry and I pull my hair out with the rail industry, I just think it needs fundamental change, that's why I want to take it back in, that's why Great British Rail would be the ideal antidote to all this, we need to pull all the different bits together."
