{"id":714463,"date":"2026-07-28T00:17:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T00:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/714463\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T00:17:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T00:17:16","slug":"direct-service-to-liverpool-john-lennon-airport-created-in-massive-bus-shake-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/714463\/","title":{"rendered":"Direct service to Liverpool John Lennon Airport created in massive bus shake-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buses enter public control from this September\"Officials<\/p>\n

Officials gathered at St Helens Town Hall as the operators of the first publicly operated buses in generations were confirmed<\/p>\n

A direct service to Liverpool John Lennon Airport alongside more weekend and evening services are to be introduced when buses come back into public control in two months\u2019 time. Passengers in St Helens will be the first to experience a much-changed bus operation when the new publicly-owned fleet rolls out on September 6.<\/p>\n

Like the new trains for the Merseyrail network, the buses<\/a> are clad in the Liverpool City Region<\/a>\u2019s distinctive yellow, black, and grey Metro livery. The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has published full details of improvements ahead of the introduction of bus franchising in St Helens on Sunday, September 6.<\/p>\n

Buses running every two hours in St Helens<\/a> will become hourly while other routes will be extended to give better connections to hospitals, colleges and rail stations. Some services will also be renumbered to remove duplicate service numbers, creating one easy-to-understand network for the whole Liverpool City Region.<\/p>\n

Built entirely in the UK, the vehicles have been designed around the needs of passengers and are equipped with a range of hi-spec features, including air conditioning, USB charging points and more comfortable seats. The buses will join 108 new, electric buses already in service.<\/p>\n

Steve Rotheram, mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: \u201cIn the 80s our bus services were deregulated. So now, for the first time in four decades, we are bringing our bus services back where they belong \u2013 under public control.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a historic milestone for St Helens and a major step forward in delivering the biggest transport change in our region\u2019s history. From day one, passengers in St Helens will see a real, tangible difference.<\/p>\n

\"Liverpool<\/p>\n

Liverpool John Lennon Airport(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are doubling frequencies on crucial routes, expanding evening and weekend services, and launching a brand-new direct express link to Liverpool John Lennon Airport. We\u2019re backing this new era with state-of-the-art, low-emission buses fully equipped with modern features like USB charging points.\u201d<\/p>\n

The investment in a new bus fleet also comes alongside the development of St Helens Transport Interchange, which is currently under construction. Being delivered with \u00a332m of funding from the combined authority, the interchange will better connect bus and rail services in St Helens town centre with climate-controlled waiting areas, step-free access and real-time travel information via digital screens.<\/p>\n

Mr Rotheram added: \u201cWe are building a first-class, green network that local people can truly be proud of.\u201d Cllr George Woodward, leader of St Helens Council, said: \u201cAccess to reliable, modern public transportation is vital for our communities, and I am pleased that St Helens borough will be the first in the Liverpool City Region to benefit from buses coming back under public control.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remain optimistic that this bus franchising scheme will result in more frequent services, extended operations, and better route planning to serve the residents of St Helens borough.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my responsibility to ensure that the services offered by the LCRCA are of good quality and deliver proper value for taxpayers in the borough. In my Liverpool City Region role, I shall be evaluating the changes brought about by bus franchising to ensure effective delivery to meet our public transportation needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSt Helens borough will also benefit from brand new diesel buses \u2013 I\u2019m pleased that our fleet will feature proven, reliable, affordable industrial technology. I strongly encourage St Helens borough residents to make good use of their new buses.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new timetable and changes can be found on the Merseytravel website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Buses enter public control from this September Officials gathered at St Helens Town Hall as the operators of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714464,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,236675,63767,2685,236674,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-714463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-gb","tag-liverpool-combined-authority","tag-liverpool-john-lennon-airport","tag-st-helens","tag-st-helens-council","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=714463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}