I'm at the opening of the 2025 Grand National Festival at Aintree and my day has already been delayed

I’m at Aintree Racecourse for the next two days, covering the biggest event on Liverpool’s social calendar - the Grand National Festival.

The three-day extravaganza promise glitz, glamour, entertainment and, of course, horse racing, and I’ll be here throughout Opening Day and Ladies Day to share just what the atmosphere is like.

But, my first day is already not going quite as planned due to delays on the Merseyrail network. Planning to get the 8.39am train from Liverpool Central to Aintree, I arrived at the station with ample time to queue up and buy my return.

By 8.30am, it was announced that my train was delayed by 20 minutes, with further delays on the Ormskirk line expected until 9.00am.

My train ended up departing at around 9.00am, and was packed full of local media heading to the racecourse as well as staff working throughout the festival. And while my journey wasn’t too badly impacted, it did leave me wondering whether Merseyrail’s special services - with trains running every seven-and-a-half minutes between 11.00am and 2.00pm.

According to Trainline there are still train delays on the line, with the 10.24 from Liverpool Central running six minutes late. However, Merseyrail are reporting good service on all lines apart from the Ellesmere Port line, so hopefully those heading to the racecourse for the festival’s opening at 11.00am will arrive with ease.