Merseyrail warns delays may not be over as inquiry continues

Merseyrail's new fleet will be rolled out before 2023, the mayor says

A Merseyrail boss has said delays may not be over as an inquiry is "yet to get to the bottom" of why so many of its trains needed repairs in June.

Several services were cancelled after 28 trains suffered wheel-bearing faults.

Merseyrail apologised to passengers after introducing reduced timetables and bus replacements.

Rail development manager Dave Jones said it was "ahead of the curve" for repairs to the bearings.

But he said the operator was still investigating what had caused the problems.

Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram told a regional committee meeting that "in a normal month, you might get two faults with a unit but there was a spate of 28 in a very short duration".

He said the disruption showed that the existing stock were "many decades old" and required more maintenance, highlighting the need to get the new £500m fleet of trains on the track "as quickly as possible".

Mr Rotheram said they would be "rolled out across the network by the end of the year" and he was waiting for the results of an investigation into June's disruption.

He also said he was "delighted" that a long-running dispute had been recently resolved between the RMT union and Merseyrail, which means guards will continue to work on services along with a train manager.

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