An hourly train service between Liverpool and Chester, serving Liverpool Airport, is to be reinstated after being cut during the pandemic. Tony McDonough reports

Hourly trains between Liverpool Lime Street and Chester, serving Liverpool South Parkway, Runcorn Helsby and Frodsham, are reinstated this week.

Transport for Wales (TfW) introduced the hourly service in 2019 but it was reduced during COVID-19. Until this week trains were running every two hours in the mornings and every three hours in the afternoons.

As part of an £800m investment TfW services, the hourly trains resume from Monday, February 12. This represents a doubling of trains from 15 to 30 a day (15 in each direction). Recently-introduced Class 197 diesel trains will service the route.

Jan Chaudhry van der Velde, TfW chief operating officer said: “More deliveries of our brand-new trains mean we are now in a position to reinstate the hourly service between Chester and Liverpool via Frodsham and Runcorn.

“Services on this route were first launched in 2019, and provide good connectivity with Liverpool John Lennon Airport via the station call at Liverpool South Parkway.

“The investment in new trains, built at manufacturer CAF’s factory in Newport South Wales, reflects part of an ongoing £800m transformation of the network.”

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Merseyrail already runs a regular service between Liverpool and Chester on its Wirral Line up to every 15 minutes. New 777 Class trains were introduced on the line in 2023.

Welsh Deputy Minister for Climate Change with responsibility for Transport, Lee Waters, said: “This is great news. These new trains will provide a much-improved passenger experience with more regular services on modern comfortable trains.”