Merseyrail runs the local train services in Liverpool, and the surrounding county of Merseyside. These are the trains you'll take when leaving Liverpool to get to the Wirral, or travelling from the centre of the city to the suburbs.
Trains run from around 6:00 in the morning til about midnight. Generally they are well staffed, fairly tidy (though not sparkling), and coaches are under surveillance by CCTV cameras for your protection. As these are local trains, you won't find shops or toilets on board, and you won't be offered cups of tea. Various stations along your route will offer public toilets, shops, and vending machines.
Overall, my experience with Merseyrail trains has been good, in the two years that I've lived in England. Most of the time staff are very friendly and helpful. There is the occasional gruff ticket booth man that I think could use a brush up on manners, but that's occasional, and not a norm.
Sometimes there have been problems with card machines at ticket booths, and I didn't have cash on me, and staff were kind enough to say that I could purchase my ticket at the other end of my journey.
Another point to consider is that as these are local trains, you will be travelling with anyone and everyone. Don't expect a quiet, or necessarily always pleasant journey as you can be sitting next to anyone from a shrieking child to a loquacious drunk ... fun times. read more