Merseyrail's NEW trains! They look stunning but are they any good?
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- Up this week, we take a look at Merseyrail's brand new trains, built by Stadler, that they have recently introduced to replace their old, BR built stock.
Date of Travel: May 2023
Class of Travel: Standard Class (2nd Class)
Rolling Stock: Class 777 Stadler METRO
Type of Service: Ordinary Passenger
Operator: Merseyrail
Train Number: 2K40
Origin: Liverpool Central, Merseyside, United Kingdom (England)
Destination: Kirkby, Merseyside, United Kingdom (England)
Cost of ticket: £3.15 ($3.95, €3.65)
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A word of advice for anyone traveling between liverpool lime street and liverpool central
If you can, just walk between them theyre about 250m apart and will be quicker concourse to concourse
Clearly not a native of Merseyside, NOBODY local would go to Lime Street Wirral Line to travel to Central! In fact the Merseyrail Advisory is to walk between them.
@@uingaeoc3905 literally what i said 🤷🏼♂️
Or if you’re referring to dylan, well yeh he’s from Yorkshire 🤣
DfT will not fund an underground travelator between the two stations, denying money for it for over 40 years. Yet the newly opened pedestrian tunnel linking Moorgate to Liverpool Street in London is actually longer than the distance between Central and Lime St. One rule for one and rules for others.
@@johnburns4017 In fact the two stops Northern Line Extension from Kennington to Battersea cost more than ALL the proposed extensions of the Merseyrail.
@@uingaeoc3905
The US embassy did pay towards the Nine Elms station. But still!
There is an underground junction south of Central to connect onto the Wapping tunnel to take trains to the eastern part of the city. It was scrapped when Merseyrail was under construction after Thatcher came to power. Over 40 years ago. To get it connected would not cost a lot as the junction is there. Out of sight, out of mind.
The eastern section of Merseyrail is disconnected from the main undergound 3rd rail section.
Amazingly well built and such a step up in quality from the old sets.
Stadler has been a pioneer in level boarding, suspect other manufacturers will follow suit especially with DB's next gen ICE trains - the benefits are hard to ignore
It's hard to achieve with continental Europe's low platforms...
All manufakturers offer level boarding.
The UK is just to stupid to order
With a step down in quality from the old seats.
Congrats on your marriage with your wife! Good video as always!
I am old enough to remember travelling on both the class 502 and 503. Even they had sliding doors and were great units for their period. My wife said that I don't need to go to Switzerland anymore to travel on Swiss trains. I can just go to town!
Interesting video, but these 777 units are Metro trains, and fulfill that role perfectly. The Class 507/8 units have never had toilets, and they have run to Chester and Southport for many years, without passengers complaining about a lack of toilets ! Wait till you see the new Tyne and Wear Class 555 Stadler units, for they have all horizontal searing, which in my opinion is appalling for the journeys they will operate !
Those seats are haaaarrrrrrdddddd!!! EFCs new ground has design elements incorporated in it to reflect Goodison Park features and to reflect the heritage of the area. It definitely is not a cut and paste job. Goodison could not be redeveloped or extended so they had to find a new ground. EFC have got a prime position on the waterfront but its going to be hard to know its the last season at Goodison. Thanks for the video, good to hear your perspective on the new trains.
Goodison must be the only first class ground with a Church occupying a corner!
Everton's new stadium is a waterscape. It think only one other, in Melborne?, is in such a location. The stadium has one, two and three tier stands. It is not an identikit.
@John Burns I'm not sure re: Melbourne. Other EFC stadium designs, in the past, were going to be designed by companies who built supermarkets. Enough said. This stadium has been designed by Dan Meis and there has been alot of consultation with the fans about certain design elements. It looks fantastic and it's still not finished.
Having been on the 777s I must say they are solid units, very uncomfortable but for a metro service I see nothing wrong! Great review as always Dylan, you've basically influenced me when i make my reviews because yours are so well narrated etc!
Merseytravel has gotten a lot of criticism for the seats in particular, They're planning to potentially address it soon - But it doesn't help that they've been pretty unreliable so far.
@@kieranstravels It’s unfortunate that the 777’s are unreliable with problems. In my opinion, the seats are slightly uncomfortable but not the hardest I’ve ever seen! Noticed that a lot of the problems are with the doors, hopefully Merseyrail address this soon.
@@Class777 Yeah, it's door censor issues from what I can tell. I do agree, they aren't as awful as people say they are, they're perfectly fine for the journeys Merseyrail do
@@kieranstravels What has happened ? Have the door been given an X certificate 😂😂😂😂😂😂 /s
@@kieranstravels to be fair when I travelled they were running fine but I didn't go on them an awful lot
Please, the second K in Kirkby is silent.
Yep it’s pronounced "Kirby". Easy mistake for an outsider enjoyed the vid 👍
I travel on these most days now, and except for the faults and cancellations they can cause, I have to say, they are a step up!
I like them and like this video!
Being Southport borne and bread and living there near the first 30 years of my life, I can just about remember the PEP’s being introduced. I look forward to these new trains being rolled out onto the Southport branch with my regular visits to see family and friends. And Kirkby is spoken Kirby, as not the Scottish church but Liverpool accent 😂
I was about to say
Always see these trains in front of the stadler factory in St. Margrethen, Switzerland on my daily commute, good to finally know where they are going
If only Switzerland could export their integrated and better transport system to us
Not bad. Surprised they went for the battery route instead of overhead 3rd rail electrification (on areas outside of the 750V DC 3rd rail).
It was the Dept of Transport which has banned investment in new Third Rail. Nor will it provided support to install OH Electrification either.
The train can be used batteries and 3rd rail. Batteries are ideal and much cheaper. The batteries are changed while running on the 3rd rail.
But more flexible and much more quickly available - no multi-year installation project. Actually seems sensible to have a core route with full electrification and battery recharge and a couple of short spurs run on batteries alone. Obviously must ensure that the battery charge is enough to guarantee it doesn't run flat on the non-electrified section!
@@iankemp1131 Actually, not so much 'short spurs', the trials indicate distances of 20 miles which could create much needed extensions on existing tracks. However, although the intention is that the batteries are recharged from the Third Rail Track, in fact any Station without this can easily be fitted with a recharging point-section as mains accumulators can be set up at these. This is not a major infrastructural investment. It is a shame the technology was not around when the system was set up as it is, as you point out, far more flexible for operations and extensions. They can even experiment with routes by not having to 'make the case' each time for electrification - the saga of that process was demonstrated at Garston to Hunts Cross, the DoT refusing support because 'insufficient ridership demand' at 'just 10% increase' , Merseyrail making the investment itself and getting 200% increase!
Honestly IDK if you're spoiled or if Im used to trash but 1 hour is alright for a journey without toilets. For comparison I'm from Copenhagen and we have a similar system called the S train, with some services across the city from the north to the south taking 90 minutes and having no toilets. But if you want something even more extreme, Aarhus, our second largest city, features an almost 70km long tramtrain route which takes 1 hour and 15 minutes to traverse from the end of the line to downtown Aarhus, and which also feature no toilets.
It's fine to have no toilets if you are young but as you get older the need for them is definitely required
Great trip report Dylan! The 777’s are amazing units and are stunning. While the seats are hard, they’re alright for Metro services! Merseyrail stations really give me an Underground feeling, especially that tunnel sound… the motors on the 777’s are nice and audible too!
One thing Merseyrail do have are their day savers for travel outwith 0630-0930, which for this journey (wholly in area C) would have been £4.55, which staff usually sell when asking for returns without railcards. Or for 5p more a saveaway that allows for bus and non-Merseyrail journeys too. (Saveaway usually the best ticket for journeys in Merseyside after 0930, just non-locals aren't aware and end up paying more than they need too! Also, these have an additional £1 charge for a smartcard at Mrail stations, but not elsewhere so you could get it from a northern ticket machine or Lime St Hl without this fee!) I think since April these have also been about half of services on the Ormskirk line. Great to see a video from Merseyside (and in such glorious weather!)
Dylan why not come. Up to this part of the world and give us your opinion on the Glasgow area suburban electric services. Good videos.
Sorry Dylan don’t know how to use telegram ?
There's a direct passage between Wirral and Northern lines at the far end of the platform so you don't have to go up and back down.
Or just use the lift
Nice one Dylan! Just one issue, it's pronounced Kirby (second K is silent), not Kirk-bee lol
No Merseyrail trains going back to the 502's, 503's and the 507/508's when new were ever fitted with toilets, so i don't see any reason these should of been fitted with them, the max journey time is about 55 minutes, Southport to Hunts Cross. I prefar the old PEP units, i shall miss them when all gone, use to work on them, much more character than these new trains but the 777's do have some nice new features.
I travelled on one of these during the Eurovision week (I had tickets for one of the shows). The train was fun with all the coloured lights around the doors and digital display above the doors (you didn't mention either of these) but on the one I used I couldn't see any maps showing the wider network with the other services & interchanges. Perhaps I was looking in the wrong places, my other journeys were on the older trains and these did have the bigger network maps. Good to see the Eurovision logo is still showing on the trains, it was an epic couple of days, something to remember indeed. I stayed away from the city centre and on one day parked at Kirkby then commuted into the city, a very easy commute. If every you go back do look at St James station too, one of the platforms has a solid heritage feel!
Yay! Another Eurovision and Train fan! Did you have a good time?
I was at the Jury final and seeing those Eurovision stickers on the train just made me want to be back there again. Had the absolute best night of my life.
interchanges are shown on the digitial displays
@@bus3s no use when planning journey
@@ismileyman8110 you don’t plan journeys while on the train
@Northern Transport Adventures I wanted to show the route network and discuss options for alighting at different stations as travelling into the city from Kirkby but there was no route map to consult.
Good review Dylan and hope you enjoyed your trip to Liverpool! A couple of comments - before hoards of scousers weigh in, you don't pronounce the second 'k' in Kirkby. You could also have saved yourself a lot of time and hassle by just walking the 5 minutes from Lime Street to Liverpool Central rather than faffing round with changing trains. There have been huge reliability issues too lately with the 777s - I heard it's down to a software issue or something? I agree they're a big step up though on the old trains.
You ask why only Stadler offer level boarding - I can only say because the current government only pays lip-service to accessibility legislation! If you look at Austria, OeBB is able to offer level boarding on it's trains based on Bombardier Talents, Siemens Desiros, Althom Coradias, and shortly both the new Railjet and Nightjet trains from Siemens. Yet another reason why Farage and the Brexiteers wanted out of the EU - we don't want 'damned laws interfering with how we cope with the mobility impaired' I hear them cry.
they also operate on the liverpool central to ormskirk route
I share your views on new football grounds. Non-league football clubs have built has some god awful flat-packed grounds in the last 20 years, but there are some absolute gems, though.
Very nice terminal
They don't have toilets because the full journey is 18 mins and there are toilets at intermediate stations so u get off if u need to
Trains are for getting about not for hanging out
Curiously, for the Kirkby in Liverpool, the second 'k' is silent. There is also West Kirby in Wirral, not too far away, and that version is pronounced the same, but spelt without a second 'k'.
Wife? 💐🎉❤CONGRATULATIONS !!! ❤🎉💐 She's a good one, following you around and indulging your train obsession! And she looks ravishing in blue today.
You can get a day saver for £5.95
I shall definitely the miss the 507/508. Inonic motor sounds. Very reliable trains. Seats weren't ever amazing.
The new 777s still struggling with technical issues that definitely will get sorted out soon. Not a fan of the seats.
Will be interesting to see when and if there battery power will get utilised on places further afield.
I'm a regular commuter on the kirkby line and honestly, they're terrible for reliability. At least twice a week one has broken down on the line or in the depot. Had it at Moorfields where the unit I went on broke down before it even departed and only 2 days ago where one got cancelled last minute and the following one broke down at Fazakeley, not great for peak time commuters. (7am-5pm)
If you’re ever changing to the Wirral line to the northern line, change at moorfields, as it is a lot easier to navigate and is more accessible.
But only if coming in from the Wirral. Seeing as he was at Lime Street, the only change to the northern line was Central.
Look amazing 🤩
Eli that is a gorgeous dress. So light and summery looking, as I type this in a wintery Australia, and a delightful bright shade of blue. Dylan I find it amusing that you feel toilets should be normal on such short routes. When I lived in Sydney I regularly travelled on routes of longer than an hour, one from the outskirts of the city was 1 hour 6 min, or 55 min if express, and used the standard rail sets of the fleet, which never had toilets. Our intercity services do have toilets though, at least, but they can be 2 or 3 hours in travel time, such as Sydney Central to Newcastle or Sydney Central to Lithgow, for example. Edit: I should note that I do agree even a commuter service of 1 hour should have toilets, they are unusual in my experience.
When you was talking about football I know goodison park is an old ground but i can't wait for the new ground goodison is a dive and I would not recommend as an away fan
Why would you get a train from limestreet to central? Just walk it’s much faster it’s literally round the corner lol
Nice to see you on my local network Dylan! I thought I'd mention, The reason Merseyrail chose not to put toilets on these, is almost all of the Network's ststions have toilets, so it's easy enough to get off to use one when needed.
As for the seats, Merseytravel are aware that they aren't the best, and so are potentially looking into changing them in some way to increase comfort. The units have also had a lot of pretty public problems in recent weeks, so hopefully that can be rectified soon.
Great video as always!
That's good to know, I think those seats are hard too.
Dylan, good video. Suggestion: You and your wife would enjoy a 4 night, 5 day, train tour from Toronto to Vancouver in the winter. Good stops along the way.
Thank you for always delivering wonderful videos.
I'm really looking forward to seeing it.
I have one favour to ask.
It will be a reference when using the toilet, so please take a picture of the scene where the toilet water flows (the flushed water is sucked into the underfloor tank) when visiting the toilet.
Please.
New trains have unexpected ramps on walkways/aisles! They’re going to cause a lot of accidents. The overhead screen to let you know what station is next is small writing at the side where you can’t see it well without glasses. And don’t get me started on how the seats have been organised
When I was in holy angels school in the1960s my teacher told us to pronounce the second k in Kirkby she said kirkby not Kirby Kirkby by the kirk which was Saint chads in Kirkby
3:20 now that's a seamless transition! you can't even see the cut in the video..
It’s a 2 min walk from Lime Street to Central. Probably takes you longer getting the train from Lime street to there….Also I agree with you on football stadium’s but our new one is built with steep stands close to the pitch with a low roof so it maintains atmosphere
We need them on the wirral line
Excellent blog!!
Merseyrail is a metro service with 2lines the northern line and the Wirral line
These new 'faster' trains take 2 mins longer to get from Bebington to Lime St.
I have noticed the same thing.
It would have been quicker to walk around the corner from Lime St to Central.😂😂
Yet to travel in one - great overview. From an accessibility perspective, Stadler level boarding is excellent and agree all new units should have level boarding (and a real missed opportunity with the Hitachi inter city fleet). Good to see clear signage on floor to highlight bike space to reduce conflict with wheelchair spaces. Lack of a single toilet is a very poor decision - even suburban rail travel isn’t cheap and no toilet can create anxieties for many disabled passengers as well as everyone else. Overall looks a good train with some great accessibility features!
Coming from Manchester Victoria, Northern don’t stop at Liverpool Parkway and go all the way into Lime St, making you get Merseyrail out from Central, which is a real hassle - I’d sooner get the ferry to Dublin from Lime St or Central, not Birkenhead - but these trains would be very good with a large suitcase
northern serve liverpool south parkway
All trains that run Liverpool to Manchester via south parkway stop there.
It’s an short distance, commuter rail that acts like a metro in the downtown, officially called regional rail, which is why you referenced the S-Bahn and RER
Come to Melbourne Australia where none of our metro trains have toilets. Even though our longest metro route the Frankston to Werribee service is over 90mins end to end. Only the country trains have toilets.
Boa tarde Dylan lindo trem amarelo gostei Boa viagem
It's more useful to see Merseyrail as a metro network. Journeys made on Merseyrail are not dissimilar to those made on the Central line in London.
Does anyone know when the wirral line will fully use the class 777 trains?
8:51 Interested how in the summary table each row has different scale...
Level boarding is only OK if all the platforms are the same
Many in the North are not and its more important to close ticket offices to create profits than spend money on infrastructure.
Why do they tell you to mind the closing doors AFTER the doors have closed?
Great electrified metro. If only West Yorkshire has the same.
I’m sorry to ask but did you ask the lady in the blue dress that she wasn’t bothered to be filmed. She is really visible in the reflection of the glass
I liked the 1938 stock, myself.
Saveaway tickets are better value.
Great trip.
There's no windows, no ventilation, on a warm day they stink!
I'm still wondering if the last class 507 coach will run on Merseyside or in a Class 455 on South Wetseen Railways!!
Looking forward to your return to the continent.
State of the ART
The transport system i would say is most like Tyme and Wear metro Ⓜ
Really the low level station could be regarded as a separate station from the main Lime Street as it's managed by a different TOC,Merseyrail, whereas the topside one is run by Network Rail and the ticket office management is Northern.But of course Merseyrail is a mainline TOC like London Overground and TFL Rail and not like Tyne and Wear Metro and London Underground which are not TOCs despite some mainline running.Not sure what T and W Metro,LU and North Yorkshire Moors are classified as when they run on the mainline as I don't think that they are Open Access either?
Great trip report Dylan
Is it just me, or is the audio quieter on this video then usual?
no its fine
@@chungusgoat1460 I had to turn up my sound quite a bit.
It was fine. If you thought you should be able to hear more train, these trains are v v quiet!
The seats are narrow and hard, I imagine this will only get harder over time. Nice trains tho
Nice, I lived on merseyside northern line 53 years, now based in Southport, cannot wait to have a go (not on our section yet) might have a ride out to Kirkby soon😊
On the Ormskirk line too.
5:08. I think all trains will have level boarding so that people in wheelchairs can board the train easily
Level boarding is considerate for everyone. Not so considerate is no toilet. They may think the journeys aren't long enough or it may be cost cutting to avoid extra cleaning and maintanance.
Level boarding is as much a platform construction / Network Rail problem than train manufacturers. The Elizabeth line for example does not have level boarding at every station.
Lack of toilets is disgusting IMHO especially, on the Elizabeth Line. How the ROSCOs / TOCs and DfT escaped the need for toilets under the disability regulations is criminal.
@@barrieshepherd7694 Elizabeth Line with toilets will never end well trust me. They need as much avalible space.
@@Mgameing123 LOL I was thinking of the Friday evenings when the Yahoo's finish their after work drinks in 'The City' and make their respective ways home to the East and West.
What some of you including dylan don't realise, is the merseyrail network has toliets at quite a number of stations that toilets are not required on the units. The route he used the southport line has various toliets at stations along the route which negates the need for the toilet facilities onboard. I used to used merseyrail network frequently
@@harrynicholson7211 that is also the case on the elizabeth line. In my opinion you don't really need toilets on trains when they're high frequency with regular stops, as you could always get out and catch the next train
I love these trains, everything a short distance commuter train should be and without resorting to god awful longitude seating. Can't help but think something like this is what the Tyne and Wear Metro should have gone with.
Oh no you said kirKby 🙈🙉,
Watching the comments to say its kirby 😂🤣😂
They have very few doors for a metro service.
You poor thing - having to use a manned ticket window! Young people seem to detest any form of human interaction for some reason. I always walk between Central and Lime Street, so much quicker. I never realised that Lime Street was pre-Victorian!
Oh man the lack of toilets 🤦♂️, that’s going work out well, especially with the nightlife😬. Also what will happen if a train for whatever reason comes to a halt , & cannot proceed for a few hours ?
The current Merseyrail trains don't have toilets either. We are very used to it!! Most journeys are about 30 mins or less.
What camera do you use for filming ?
great review i never been on merseyrail so i cant give you my thoughts
Then why post?
6 bike storage. Two for front wheels and one for rear wheel in the middle of the two front wheel spaces
Can you review the class 323s please in the west midlands??
Your saying Kirkby wrong, second k is silent
Toilest yep need more
yeah Stadler makes the best rail products
Nice trains better than London TRAINS
Ironing boards, not seats
ironing boards on the 700s etc are called ironing boards because they look like ironing boards, the seats on the 777s dont
Great video as always Dylan! As a local we don't pronounce the second k in Kirkby.
Dylan " try the coastliner bus from Whitby to York
Merseyrail is a metro service
It has 6 dedicated spaces for bikes, not 4.
Good video
😃
Your not old school about football stadiums
You are correct
Thank you for this very interesting video. But (and I am judging solely from your video) I was very disappointed by the on-train information screens. There were only a few of them, and they only showed the trains destination and intermediate stops. I was expecting screens like those Stadler fit to the trains it builds for its home country Switzerland. Those screens give all sorts of information such as expected arrival times, and details of connecting train AND BUS services. (Note the good screens Siemens fitted to Thameslink trains.)
Yay mersyrail!
The new Merseyrail Class 777 are so quiet compare to the Class 507 and Class 508 that is to be replaced by the Class 777. And Headbolt Lane due to be completed before the end of this year. The Class 777 are becoming more popular on Merseyrail.
How did Leeds do
The train you caught at the beginning looked like an old class 455.
They're 507/508.