Talk:Merseyrail

Past incident to possibly be added to "accidents and incidents"

I remembered this incident earlier today (I was one of the passengers stranded in the tunnel) and while I don't have access to edit the page myself, I'd like to offer the news article as a source in case anyone with access thinks it's worth adding to the "accidents and incidents" section. The incident was a fire in 2006 that led to a power cut, leaving the train stranded in the tunnel between Hamilton Square and James Street. We were eventually evacuated and led down the tunnel back to Hamilton Square station. RaniTheCyborg (talk) 20:10, 3 December 2025 (UTC)

This incident was no doubt distressing for those involved, but is it really notable in Wikipedia terms? In fact, the same would apply to some of the other incidents listed in this section of the article. After all, there must have been thousands of cases of stranded trains, fires on trains, minor collisions, derailments, trains overrunning buffers, etc. on British railways over the years. Is it right that Wikipedia should document all of them? Mike Marchmont (talk) 13:28, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

I agree with you Mike. 10mmsocket (talk) 13:46, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

That's fair. I wasn't sure about the notability of this (mostly it seemed important due to its proximity to Network Rail refusing to let Merseytravel take over Merseyrail's maintenance according to the article) but I guess it is a lot more common than I realised. The line for what should be documented does like a very difficult one to figure out. RaniTheCyborg (talk) 14:49, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

Splitting off the operator Merseyrail Electrics

Please see Wikipedia talk:WikiProject UK Railways#Merseyrail / Serco-Abellio for the background.

But pending consensus, an editor has boldly split off the operator at Merseyrail Electrics (train operating company) which may impact what is in this article and its two-line scope. DankJae 07:54, 17 June 2026 (UTC)

Network?

Why is this page describing Merseyrail as a 'network'? Isn't is a ToC (operating under some weird concession framework). Isn't it part of the National Rail network? Dave F63 (talk) 10:57, 22 July 2026 (UTC)

The term "Merseyrail" predates the TOC. So this article is on the overall network and history rather than the (relatively newer) TOC only. The TOC merely adopted the network's long recognised name.

Smaller networks can be still part of wider networks, they're not exclusive, although Merseyrail (2 lines) is self-contained not sharing tracks with other TOCs. DankJae 11:46, 22 July 2026 (UTC)

Interesting question. Merseyrail does as you say operate on (exclusive use) National Rail track under a similar concession framework (until 2028). The nearest comparable system/network/service would be London Overground, which is similarly describe as a "network" and uses (mostly) dedicate lines to operate its services. I think it's the right word. 10mmsocket (talk) 11:51, 22 July 2026 (UTC)