Liverpool City Region transport leaders would like to thank all our customers following the success of the Giant Spectacular.
Liverpool’s Dream saw around 1.3 million take to the streets of Liverpool and Wirral for the Giants’ final visit and Merseytravel and transport operators across the region put robust plans in place to help keep people moving throughout the event.
As expected, transport services were very busy during the four days with tens of thousands of event goers choosing to travel by bus, rail, Mersey Ferry or via the Mersey Tunnels. This demonstrated that people had followed the travel advice provided, planned their journeys and as a result helped to make the event such a resounding success.
Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “This final visit of the Giants was a magnificent advert for our city region and saw well over a million people experience the best of what we have to offer. A vital part of the event’s success was ensuring that people could travel in and out safely and I would like to thank everyone involved in making sure that happened.”
Cllr Liam Robinson, Transport Portfolio holder for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, said: “A considerable amount of work took place behind the scenes both in the run up to and during the event. I would like to thank all our partners, those organisations affiliated with the event and to all the staff who worked tirelessly over the four days to help keep transport services running.”
Wayne Menzies, chair of the Major Events Transport Board and Merseytravel’s Head of Rail, said: “This was a huge event for the city region and you’ve only got to look at some of the photos to see how amazing and popular it was. I must praise the travelling public for following our advice, being patient and helping to keep the city region moving during the spectacular.
“Robust plans were put in place and together with colleagues from transport operators, we were able to get thousands of people to the event and back home again as smoothly and safely as possible.”
Howard Farrall, Managing Director for Arriva Merseyside, said: “The region was well and truly buzzing across the entire Liverpool Dream Giants weekend – it goes without saying that we saw a significant increase in passenger numbers as a result of this, including our Wirral & Cross River routes.
“We’d like to thank our passengers for their patience this weekend, we fully understand how road closures and diversions in place may have affected their journeys and we thank people for their continued support of Arriva by travelling with us.”
Andy Heath, Managing Director at Merseyrail said: “During what was a fantastic event for the Liverpool City Region, Merseyrail carried twice as many passengers than normal and were able to accommodate them as a result of the timetable changes that were made to increase the capacity and frequency of services. Queuing systems were in place at stations to aid crowd management and we would like to thank passengers both for their patience and for travelling with us to the event. I would also like to thank our staff, many of whom volunteered, for supporting our passengers and helping to make their journeys easier and more enjoyable.”
Paul Spiers, Network Rail station manager at Liverpool Lime Street, said: “We welcomed almost double the average number of passengers while the Giants were in town last weekend – a whopping 360,000 against our usual 180,000.
“I’d like to say a big thank you to passengers for bearing with us as we implemented queueing systems to ensure they got home safely.”
Rob Jones, managing director of Stagecoach Merseyside, Cheshire and South Lancashire, said: “Spectacular in name and nature, it was truly special to see Liverpool City Region come together in stunning fashion to celebrate with the Giants one final time. Across the weekend, Stagecoach services helped thousands of passengers to reach Liverpool city centre and experience the magic of Royal De Luxe.
“We’d like to extend our thanks to all our passengers for their patience and understanding during the weekend – it was fantastic to see so many people getting into the spirit of the occasion. I would also like to pass on my thanks to all our staff for going above and beyond during the event and helping to showcase our region at its finest.”
