Eurovision Song Contest 2023

[moreton407]

Eurovision Song Contest 2023
From Merseytravel:

Buses are one of the best ways to get around Liverpool and the wider city region and some services will be strengthened during the event. Additional services and capacity are planned for key dates throughout the festival, particularly focussed on 7 and 13 May.

The Arriva 500 service which runs between Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Liverpool South Parkway rail station will be stepped up between 8 and 15 May, running every 15 mins between approx 04:00 and 01:00.

A free shuttle bus will be running between the Eurovision Fan Zones at the Pier head and Camp and Furnace between 6 and 13 May, between approx. 21:00 and 03:30.

National Express and other coach services from locations across the UK arrive into and depart from Liverpool ONE bus station.

There will be diversions to some routes due to road closures and services may be subject to delays – especially in and around Liverpool City Centre.


Sunday 7 May

The event at George’s Hall will result in the closure of Lime Street. This means that some bus services will end at London Road and not Queen Square Bus Station.

A free shuttle service will run between London Road, Queen Square and Liverpool 1 bus stations.

A park and ride will be set up at Stanley Park with buses operating to Queen Square Bus Station between midday and midnight.

[Barney]

RE: Eurovision Song Contest 2023

(17/04/2023 12:18)moreton407 Wrote:  From Merseytravel:

Buses are one of the best ways to get around Liverpool and the wider city region and some services will be strengthened during the event. Additional services and capacity are planned for key dates throughout the festival, particularly focussed on 7 and 13 May.

The Arriva 500 service which runs between Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Liverpool South Parkway rail station will be stepped up between 8 and 15 May, running every 15 mins between approx 04:00 and 01:00.

A free shuttle bus will be running between the Eurovision Fan Zones at the Pier head and Camp and Furnace between 6 and 13 May, between approx. 21:00 and 03:30.

National Express and other coach services from locations across the UK arrive into and depart from Liverpool ONE bus station.

There will be diversions to some routes due to road closures and services may be subject to delays – especially in and around Liverpool City Centre.


Sunday 7 May

The event at George’s Hall will result in the closure of Lime Street. This means that some bus services will end at London Road and not Queen Square Bus Station.

A free shuttle service will run between London Road, Queen Square and Liverpool 1 bus stations.

A park and ride will be set up at Stanley Park with buses operating to Queen Square Bus Station between midday and midnight.

Wow! Is that it?

This is possibly the biggest event that Liverpool city centre has witnessed since the Millennium Eve. There will be thousands of local people wishing to experience this but there will be no provision for them to get home afterwards. I would have thought that this would be a good opportunity to ascertain the demand for night buses operating from Liverpool One.

[Walton 46]

RE: Eurovision Song Contest 2023

(17/04/2023 21:21)Barney Wrote:  Wow! Is that it?

This is possibly the biggest event that Liverpool city centre has witnessed since the Millennium Eve. There will be thousands of local people wishing to experience this but there will be no provision for them to get home afterwards. I would have thought that this would be a good opportunity to ascertain the demand for night buses operating from Liverpool One.

According to Merseytravel's website, more details regarding transport provision on the night will be made available in the coming weeks

[Barney]

RE: Eurovision Song Contest 2023

(17/04/2023 21:44)Walton 46 Wrote:  According to Merseytravel's website, more details regarding transport provision on the night will be made available in the coming weeks

I've just read the link on the Merseytravel page and it doesn't sound too promising. It reads: "As the grand final finishes late in the evening, please note that public transport services will be limited to get you home."

As I posted earlier, this event in Liverpool city centre takes place next month and could be the perfect catalyst for the introduction of weekend night buses in the LCR.

If anyone thinks that I'm flogging a dead horse, I suggest insomniacs amongst us have a look at bustimes.org and the number of towns and cities in the UK that do operate services after midnight, especially at weekends.

[moreton407]

RE: Eurovision Song Contest 2023
MY step-son and his mates got a taxi early hours of Sunday morning from Liverpool to Birkenhead and it cost him over £40.He then hung round Birkenhead until the trains started so he could get home.

I remember when there used to be three or four operators running busses between Liverpool and Birkenhead at the weekend, but now nothing!!

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Eurovision Song Contest 2023

(17/04/2023 21:21)Barney Wrote:  This is possibly the biggest event that Liverpool city centre has witnessed since the Millennium Eve. There will be thousands of local people wishing to experience this but there will be no provision for them to get home afterwards. I would have thought that this would be a good opportunity to ascertain the demand for night buses operating from Liverpool One.

I have to point out that Eurovision is not the biggest event in Liverpool city centre since the Millennium. Nowhere near.

Somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 seems to be the expectation across the Eurovision event. Of course, the overall attendance may exceed this but it will still pale in comparison with others. The Three Queens event in 2015 managed 1.3 million visitors and the three Giant Spectaculars had 1.5 million, 1 million plus and 800,000 people. The Liverpool F.C. trophy parades, large portions of which were in the city centre, saw approximately 1 million in 2005, 750,000 in 2019 and 500,000 in 2022. Outside the city centre, more than 150,000 regularly attend the 3-day Grand National meeting at Aintree in a relatively confined location, far in excess of the Eurovision predictions.

Of course, I would like to see night buses return to Liverpool but a one-off event like Eurovision is no gauge to potential demand. They are at least offering late trains on the Merseyrail network to all destinations except Ellesmere Port until around 0130.

[gka472l]

RE: Eurovision Song Contest 2023
Bootle's 4693 in it's colourful Eurovision livery on the 63 today.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dmc1947/52827226549

HTH

[Barney]

RE: Eurovision Song Contest 2023

(18/04/2023 11:46)H101GEV Wrote:  I have to point out that Eurovision is not the biggest event in Liverpool city centre since the Millennium. Nowhere near.

Somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 seems to be the expectation across the Eurovision event. Of course, the overall attendance may exceed this but it will still pale in comparison with others. The Three Queens event in 2015 managed 1.3 million visitors and the three Giant Spectaculars had 1.5 million, 1 million plus and 800,000 people. The Liverpool F.C. trophy parades, large portions of which were in the city centre, saw approximately 1 million in 2005, 750,000 in 2019 and 500,000 in 2022. Outside the city centre, more than 150,000 regularly attend the 3-day Grand National meeting at Aintree in a relatively confined location, far in excess of the Eurovision predictions.

Of course, I would like to see night buses return to Liverpool but a one-off event like Eurovision is no gauge to potential demand. They are at least offering late trains on the Merseyrail network to all destinations except Ellesmere Port until around 0130.

The examples you have given were all daytime events and this event will still be going on well after the last bus has left.

I agree that a one-off event is not truly indicative of potential demand but since 2010 this region has relied on the availability and willingness of taxis to transport people home after midnight. If towns such as Brighton and Nottingham deem it worthwhile to operate night buses, it begs the question why Liverpool doesn't.

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Eurovision Song Contest 2023

(18/04/2023 15:25)Barney Wrote:  The examples you have given were all daytime events and this event will still be going on well after the last bus has left.

The claim was that Eurovision would be the biggest event since the Millennium for the city centre, which the examples show simply isn't the case.

Unfortunately there was never going to be a radical shake-up in public transport as there was for the Three Queens for example as nothing like that number are expected to attend. Eurovision is far from the draw some people think it is.

[Barney]

RE: Eurovision Song Contest 2023

(18/04/2023 16:19)H101GEV Wrote:  The claim was that Eurovision would be the biggest event since the Millennium for the city centre, which the examples show simply isn't the case.

Unfortunately there was never going to be a radical shake-up in public transport as there was for the Three Queens for example as nothing like that number are expected to attend. Eurovision is far from the draw some people think it is.

By mentioning Millennium Eve, I assumed that you would gather that I was referring to events after dark and beyond midnight.