A “fuming” Cllr Richard Clein said he feels progress is “going backwards” at Cressington
A sign ahead of the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale Golf Club has been erected at the site(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Delays to services at a Liverpool station during next week’s Open golf championship has left a campaigner fuming. The 154th Open takes place at Royal Birkdale this year, and thousands of people will arrive for one of the most prestigious golf events of the year.
However, commuters in south Liverpool face an unwanted setback as a result of the impending rush of golf fans. Passengers in Cressington will have their timetable knocked back from the usual 15-minute service to a 40 minute timetable.
Cllr Richard Clein, who represents the ward where the station is situated, said progress at the site was “going backwards” and told the ECHO of his annoyance at a seeming lack of responsibility being taken by the authorities. Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram admitted existing problems with beacons that monitor train door positions meant a shuffling of the pack when it came to scheduling.
Fans from across the world will be planning their journey to the town located a mile from Southport ahead of the event’s start date on Thursday July 16. Many are expected to use the Merseyrail network to get around the Liverpool City Region during the week-long festivities.
Speaking on BBC Radio Merseyside about the championships, he said: “There’s one minor inconvenience and that’s Cressington and we’ve had issues with Cressington in the past.” The Metro Mayor said the knock-on effect on public transport had been “minimised” but couldn’t be avoided at the south Liverpool station.
He added: “The only issue that we’ve got, because we have to put on as many eight car services as it is possible to squeeze on the system, like we do with the football, Cressington is an issue for us because there are some beacons that are in Cressington and they’re not working as they should and that means the eight car services, (in) the final two carriages the doors would open if we allowed that to happen and of course we’re not going to do that because safety is the number one concern.”
Cllr Richard Clein
Reacting to Mr Rotheram’s radio appearance, Cllr Clein, who previously campaigned to keep the station open at weekends, said: “Over a month ago, a resident got in touch with me to say they’d got on an eight-car train and they were told only four of them could be used.
“Just when I thought we were going forward, we seem to be going backwards again. Listening to the Mayor yesterday, I was fuming.
“What you heard, he’s adopted the narrative that I said was the case to begin with.”
Mr Rotheram said it had been known for “18 months, two years” that the beacons needed to be mended and said he had been asking the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which operates Merseyrail, “what the hell is happening?”
Cllr Clein added: “What really angers me is nobody is taking responsibility. I don’t think he was clear about that. My issue now is, will it be ready for the new football season?
“Last season, when Everton played at home, it caused issues.
“It’s an absolute mess, it needs sorting out. How long do these tests have to be?”