Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to descend on the banks of the Mersey next month to catch a glimpse of Cunard’s Three Queens.
The Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria will be visible from both sides of the river, and from New Brighton and Crosby beaches to the city’s historic docks.
Today Merseytravel unveiled travel advice and plans for public transport during what is expected to be a full waterfront and coastal spectacle.
Liz Chandler, director of corporate development at Merseytravel, said: “The Liverpool City Region has a proud reputation for hosting and delivering quality, large-scale events.
Full details of the entire Three Queen’s Weekend here.
“This is one of international significance, and one that will put significant demands on the transport network.
“We’re ensuring people know all the options open to them so they can make informed choices about how to get to and from the event.
“We’re encouraging them to think differently about how they might travel to help spread demand across the network to help them get to where they want to go as efficiently as possible.
“We’re working with the local authorities, bus and rail operators to develop the best transport offer we can. However, people must expect that it will be busy and there will be queues.
“They need to be prepared, be patient and leave plenty of time to get where they need to go.”
Car
There are no major programmes of work scheduled for motorways within the Liverpool City Region, though be aware that ongoing construction work for the Mersey Gateway crossing – a new toll bridge between Runcorn and Widnes, is affecting journeys in the area.
Diversions are clearly signposted but are likely to add time to your journey. For more information visit here.
Road users are encouraged to plan their journeys by visiting here or by calling 0300 123 5000.
Live traffic information for the northwest is available by following @HighwaysNWEST on Twitter. If you choose to take the car there are permanent and temporary car parking facilities available.
NB: No additional parking will be provided in Sefton.
Park and Ride: Monday, May 25
Wirral:
There will be a free park and ride facility at the ‘Dips’ with space for more than 6,000 vehicles and buses to New Brighton resort centre and Seacombe.
People driving to the event are encouraged to use this facility as there is limited parking in the New Brighton area and on-street parking restrictions will be in place.
All event traffic will be directed to the ‘Dips’ via Junction 1 of the M53, along the A554 Wallasey Approach Road.
NB: Fort Perch Rock car park will be closed to vehicles on Monday, May 25 to allow it to be used as a viewing area for the event.
Parking is available at a number of Merseyrail stations, but is limited. Find out more information here.
You can find details of permanent car parking facilities (council-run and commercial) here.
NB: Some of those close to the event may be closed.
Parking.
Liverpool:
Although The Strand will be closed to through traffic there will be access to the QPark via the entrance on The Strand, though it is expected to fill up early.
Gower Street car park at The Albert Dock will be restricted to Blue Badge holders only.
Wirral:
Fort Perch Rock car park, New Brighton will be closed to vehicles on Monday, May 25 to allow it to be used as a viewing area for the event
Car parking for the general public will not be available at the Woodside terminal and will be severely restricted at the Seacombe terminal as a result of crowd management arrangements in place.
Car parks at Wallasey Town Hall will not be available for use.
Sefton:
Burbo Bank car park will be restricted to Blue Badge holders only.
Note that there will be some limited road closures close to the event.
Liverpool: The Strand will be closed between 9am and 4pm on Monday, May 25 between Old Hall Street and Liver Street. There will also be some localised road closures around The Pierhead.
Wirral: No planned road closures.
Sefton: No planned road closures
Mersey Tunnels
The exit slip onto The Strand in Liverpool from the Birkenhead tunnel (Queensway) will be closed between 9am and 4pm on Monday, May 25 due to the closure of The Strand for the event.
Bus
Bus services will be strengthened along key routes.
You can find additional information here or here.
Merseyrail
To accommodate the large number of passengers during the Three Queens event there will be strengthened services and changes to the planned train timetable.
Sunday, May 24
All Merseyrail services will start approximately one hour earlier.
Monday, May 25
From 1pm all Northern line trains will NOT stop at Liverpool Central station. All Northern line passengers must use Moorfields station.
From 1pm James Street station will close. Wirral line passengers can use Liverpool Central or Lime Street low level station.
A rail replacement bus will run between Ellesmere Port amp; Hooton from start to end of service.
All trains on the Northern line will run at a 20-minute frequency from start to end of service.
NB: The Wirral line platform at Moorfields station will remain closed for refurbishment during the entire Three Queens event.
Visit here for more information and a full list of timetable changes for the Three Queens event.
Mainline/City Line Services
While operators such as Northern and Transpennine Express will be strengthening services, be aware services between Manchester, Wigan and Crewe and Liverpool Lime Street will still be extremely busy.
Allow extra time for your journey or you may wish to consider other options.
NB: A one way system will be in place at Liverpool Lime Street on Monday, May 25 to safely manage the high number of people using the station.
Please allow extra time to make your journey and be prepared to queue to enter the station to catch your train home.
Follow @NetworkRailLIV and @NetworkRail for information. Check train times here.
Taxis Liverpool
The locations of hackney taxi ranks in Liverpool City Centre are listed here. There will also be some temporary additional ranks that will be signposted.
Taxis Wirral
Taxi ranks in proximity to the event are at Hamilton Street, Birkenhead (outside Hamilton Square Train Station) and Marine Promenade, New Brighton (outside the Queens Royal pub)
Taxis Sefton
Taxi ranks can be found at Waterloo rail station, Crosby Village and a small one at Blundellsands and Crosby rail station.
Ferries
The Mersey Ferries will NOT be operating a normal service on Sunday, May 24 and Monday, May 25, with special cruises scheduled.
The majority of services will offer a round trip back to the point of departure and will not offer a cross-river service.
Viewing Cruises are running throughout the day and are pre-bookable in advance. For more details of cruises and sailings visit here.
As a cross-river alternative, consider taking the train to and from Hamilton Square on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network.
Note that certain stations will be closed at certain times to ensure crowds are managed safely. Visit Merseyrail.org for more details.
Car parking will not be available at the Woodside terminal and will be severely restricted at the Seacombe terminal as a result of crowd management arrangements in place.
Cycling
Walking or cycling may be the fastest and easiest ways to get to and from the event.
Cycle routes and maps covering Sefton, Wirral and Liverpool are available here.
NB: Wirral: Due to the sheer numbers of people expected on Monday, May 25, cyclists are advised they will be unable to cycle along the promenade between Seacombe and New Brighton.
Be aware that close to viewing areas there may be some road closures.
For safety reasons due to incoming tides, people who choose to view along the Sefton coast should avoid muddy areas and listen to any warning messages from RNLI lifeguards. Viewing is not recommended north of Crosby Coastguard Station.
If you don’t have your own bike, you may want to consider cycle hire. There are various schemes for residents and visitors, such as Liverpool’s citybike scheme. Visit here.
If you live in Sefton and are 16 or over you may want to take advantage of the Free Wheeling scheme here.
Merseyrail operates a Bike amp; Go cycle hire scheme at 18 of its stations across the network. Visit here.
For detail on cycle storage facilities at Mainline/ City Line stations visit here.
Visiting from outside Merseyside
If you’re heading to the event on Saturday, May 23 or Sunday, May 24, be aware that engineering works on the West Coast mainline may mean delays or changes to your journey.
Journeys on Monday, May 25 aren’t scheduled to be affected by these works.
For more information visit here.
While operators such as Northern and Transpennine Express will be strengthening services, be aware services between Manchester, Wigan and Crewe and Liverpool Lime Street will still be extremely busy.
Allow extra time for your journey or you may wish to consider other options.
Some of the events during the Three Queens weekend will finish late which means significant demand for rail services from 10pm. Don’t leave it too late. Allow time to get to the stop or station and for queues when you get there.
As a minimum, be aware of your last three trains and plan to catch the earliest one possible. Consider what your alternative options may be in getting home if you don’t make it.
A one way system will be in place at Liverpool Lime Street on Monday, May 25.