'Don't Get Caught on The Hoof': Essential Tips for a Winning Journey to the Grand National

Rail passengers travelling to Liverpool Lime Street for the Grand National are being given top tips to help them get off to a winning start when the world-famous horse racing festival returns this Thursday.

With bumper crowds expected to travel to Aintree between 13-15 April, railway racegoers are encouraged to:

Plan your journey and check before you travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk
Allow extra time to catch your train home – later services will be extremely busy with queuing systems in place
Remember Network Rail's motto of ‘Be safe, be patient, be kind’ when travelling
It's hoped this trio of tips will help racegoers stay ahead of the pack and avoid a fall at the first fence.

 
The day of the 2022 Grand National Final - Saturday 9 April - was Liverpool Lime Street's busiest that year with more than 81,000 passengers travelling through the station.

Kyla Thomas, Liverpool Lime Street station manager, said: “We’re really looking forward to welcoming Grand National-goers back to Liverpool Lime Street in what's shaping up to be a very busy Spring for us at the station.

“I’ve got three top tips for passengers travelling to Aintree: firstly, plan ahead and know what train you want to catch before the day of the races. Secondly, allow more time than you might do usually to get on the train – there may be queues. And thirdly, please respect each other and our staff while travelling – we want everyone to enjoy their rail journey to and from the races free from any bad behaviour.”
Additional staff will be on hand at Liverpool Lime Street station to help passengers over the weekend from Thursday 13 April until Saturday 15 April.

The station team has been planning for weeks to get ready for the thousands of extra passengers expected.

A queuing system (not including fences, hedges or water jumps) may be in use for people to safely board trains, to avoid any jockeying for position.

But fans shouldn’t need to wait 'furlong' with regular Merseyrail services to and from the racecourse.

The train operator has released its information on those services, to make sure people don't get caught on the hoof.

Read more: Grand National Timetable released for 2023
Passengers can check their journeys at www.nationalrail.co.uk for the latest travel information