ARRIVA Trains Merseyside runs one of the most frequent commuter services outside London employing 950 people. ARRIVA has 53 Trains running 800 Services a day in and out off 67 Stations around Merseyside area. These Services run on twin-lines comprising off 120 route-km serving the Liverpool suburban area. Trains run in and out of Liverpool every 75 seconds to all these stations. Part of these services is the Northern Line which links Liverpool with Ormskirk, Kirby, Southport and Hunts Cross. Also interestingly, ARRIVA manages the North West bus services, employs 3,500 staff and runs 1200 buses on over 200 local bus services from its 14 depots.

Railtrack North West has confirmed that its proposed �5m renewal of the Liverpool to Southport railway line is to go ahead next month. The work is due to start on Sunday, 10th February and train services will return to normal on Monday, 4th March. During this time, five miles of track will be replaced using 10 miles of continuously welded flat-bottom rail, which will be held in place by 12,320 concrete sleepers rather than the wooden ones. The new track and sleepers will be set in 21,000 tons of new ballast.

Following discussions with ARRIVA Trains Merseyside, the Highways Agency and Merseytravel, Railtrack is confident that substitute bus services during the work will provide an adequate alternative to rail. Full details of the revised timetable will be available at stations, Merseytravel travel centers and via the brochure hotline on 0151 330 1066 before the work starts.

A Railtrack spokesman said: �The track renewal overlaps road works on Formby by-pass by one week, but the Highways Agency has assured us that they will only be working in the off -peak periods. Schools will be on half-term holiday for some of the time so there will be fewer cars on the road. ARRIVA Trains Merseyside will provide a non-stop express bus service between Southport and Ormskirk, Monday to Saturday until approximately 7.30 pm linking in to train services to Liverpool which will keep some of the buses off the by-pass.�

There will also be semi-fast buses between Southport and Hall Road plus a bus service calling at all stations. Between Southport and Hall Road. The bus services will carry on as normal, running every half hour.

ARRIVA Trains Merseyside staff will be on site at all stations affected by the work to assist customers with revised travel arrangements.

Railtrack North West says this will ensure the life of the track for many