AMENDMENTS will be made to Wirral rail timetables in an attempt to improve train performance on Merseyrail.

Changes will be made after a series of issues the rail company have suffered over the last few weeks.

Merseyrail say delays and cancellations have been caused by slippery rail tracks, busier trains as consequence of to the Lime Street upgrade and infrastructure failures.

Trains from Chester will depart earlier than currently timetabled and arrive in Liverpool later than timetabled.

Rail services from Liverpool will depart at the same time as is currently timetabled, but arrive in Chester later then timetabled.

The alterations will take effect from Monday, October 16.

Wirral line passengers have previously faced months of disruption due to the Loop Line track renewal and walk-outs from members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union over guard positions on a new fleet of Merseyrail trains. 

Merseyrail’s managing director Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde said: "We recognise that recently, Wirral line train performance has not been as good as it should be.

"We have worked with Network Rail and Merseytravel over the last few days to make changes which will add some resilience to the timetable in the short term.

"This is designed to reduce the number of times trains have to miss stops to get them back in their timetable slots, providing a more predictable service for Wirral line passengers." 

Merseyrail are advising commuters to check before they travel via https://www.merseyrail.org/