Traders braced for Central Station closure

BARS, restaurants and shops around Liverpool Central Station are bracing themselves for challenging times when what is Britain's busiest underground station outside London closes on Monday (April 23) for up to six months. 

A much needed £20m refurbishment to shabby Central promises bigger, safer platforms, better access for disabled passengers, brighter waiting areas and improved toilet facilities. 

But if you enjoy a night out in town and live in north Liverpool or Sefton, especially, you will have to keep your eye on the clock to get down to Moorfields, a good 15-minute walk away, when last orders is called.

The Wirral Line platform will reopen in August but the Northern Line platform, which connects the city centre with John Lennon Airport to the south, and Southport to the north, will not open until October. Train services will operate as normal - but they will pass through the station without stopping. 

An estimated 7m passengers will be affected. 

In an attempt to ease the problem, a fleet of red London double-decker buses have been drafted in, which will loop around all the city centre stations on a five minute frequency throughout the day, and every 10 minutes in the evening. There will also be a shuttle bus from Brunswick station on the dock road south of the city centre to Berry Street. These shuttles are free. 

Queue streamlining systems will operate at Moorfields during busy times of the day. 

The improvements will come at a cost to footfall and pedestrian flows around Bold Street, Renshaw Street, Berry Street, Hanover Street and neighbouring routes. To address this, the Liverpool City Centre Business Improvement District has organised a £200,000 events programme which it hopes will keep the passengers and the cash flowing in. 

Ged Gibbons, BID chief executive, said: "The closure of Central Station is a huge challenge and one which we have risen to tackle head on by engaging as many partners as possible over the past year to deliver our best ever summer events programme to help stimulate trade for our businesses." 

Frankly depressing: Liverpool
Central StationBID's Summer of Love schedule, supported by a £200,000 advertising and marketing campaign, includes a bandstand in Williamson Square, a grandstand in Calyton Square for people to watch the Olympics on the big screen. There will be a 'light night' art tour on Bold Street, a ping-pong-table festival in July and August, art events in Queen Square. Retailers have been encouraged to offer discounts and special offers. 

Alan Stilwell, Merseytravel director of integrated transport, said: "We have worked and campaigned long and hard to bring this investment to the region, and we thank passengers for their patience and understanding as we work with our partners to deliver the scheme with as little disruption as possible." 

Merseytravel Director of Integrated Transport, Alan Stilwell, says; “The investment will provide a central showcase for the city centre as passengers, continue to increase. 

“We have worked and campaigned long and hard to bring this investment to the region, and we thank passengers for their patience and understanding as we work with our partners to deliver the scheme with as little disruption as possible.” 

The upgrade of the station includes the full refurbishment of the concourse area with natural light flowing through a glazed roof and “glass walls”.