£37k repair to Moorfields station closed escalator finally gets underway - when it will be finished

Work is finally underway to repair the long out-of-service escalators at the entrance to one of the busiest stations on the Merseyrail network. Moorfields station had footfall of 5.1 million last year but the steps have been out of order for over six months.

It had been hoped back in September that after breaking down, work would be able to start to fix the escalators at the Merseyrail station in the city centre. Months have passed with no sign of progress on site, leaving passengers continuing to be frustrated.

Now, Liverpool Council has confirmed the project has at last got off the ground with an expectation they should be back up and running by June.

In October 2022, KONE Ltd – an escalator and lift company – was awarded terms of £37,202 on the basis that a number of components had failed, leaving one escalator out of service. It said: “The escalator units require a major intervention to clean, service, replace and overhaul to satisfy health and safety requirements and make operational.”

It had been expected the work would take around a month to complete, yet the site remained boarded up with no sign of progress. Fencing advised rail users to use alternative options.

The maintenance of the escalators is the responsibility of Liverpool Council, leading to the entrance of the station. The station and its surrounding area is managed in parts by the local authority, Network Rail, Merseytravel and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

Issues emerged regarding the canopy above the escalators which has encountered a leak, with this being the first stage of works to get going. In a post on social media, Liverpool Council said: “Work begins today to repair the canopy above the escalators at Moorfields station. After this is completed, work will begin to repair the escalators. It is expected the project will take 12 weeks to complete.”

Work is currently underway to upgrade the toilets at the station which is expected to take nine weeks as part of wider refurbishment of amenities at city stops. Moorfields, Bank Hall and Hightown stations are set to all receive fully accessible new facilities as part of the £300,000 package of upgrades, while facilities at Liverpool Central will be completely renovated.

Some cleaning work has been undertaken by KONE to prepare the area, with surveyors visiting the station before Christmas. Issues with the escalators have dated back to 2022, with Merseyrail taking to social media themselves on a number of occasions to report faults to commuters.

Access to the Old Hall Street entrance to the station, which closes daily at 7pm, is not impacted.

It was confirmed last week how a vision for an improved transport hub at Liverpool’s Moorfields Station forms part of a major new plan for the city. The plan has come out of the final report of the Liverpool Strategic Futures Panel, which was set up to provide a long-term vision for the city after recent troubles that saw government commissioners sent to help with the running of the city council.