AS thousands of people are expected to descend on Liverpool for the Giant Spectacular, people visiting, working or living in the city are being advised to plan ahead and leave plenty of time for their journey.

The highly anticipated Memories of August 1914 event – which takes place from Wednesday until Sunday – will require large scale road closures and diversions, meaning major changes and disruption to public transport.

There will be major changes to all buses in Liverpool city centre, Newsham Park and the north Liverpool area, with services terminating on the edge of the city.

Merseyrail will be providing more carriages to boost services throughout the event and most trains will start around an hour earlier on Sunday.

Due to the expected high volumes of people, James Street station will be closed on Saturday between 4pm and 8pm and on Sunday between 11am and 3pm.

Local operator Northern Rail will be looking to strengthen its services into Liverpool with additional capacity on what are expected to be the busiest trains.

Road closures and the use of the area around the entrance to Birkenhead tunnel for the event itself will mean that the tunnel will have to be closed at certain times.

Cllr Liam Robinson, chair of Merseytravel, said: “This will undoubtedly be an awe inspiring event which as a City Region we want thousands to come and enjoy.

“However, you can’t put on an event on such a scale without road closures and this will significantly impact on public transport.

“The sheer volume of people will also put extra demands on rail services.

He added: “Our website details all the planned changes and we encourage people to consult that before they travel.

“We also appreciate that as a dynamic event it is possible services may have to change at short notice. We are asking people to plan ahead where possible, be prepared and be patient.”

The Queensway (Birkenhead) tunnel will be closed from 10pm on Thursday until 12pm on Friday, from 9.30pm on Friday to 1am on Saturday and 10.30am on Saturday until 1am on Sunday.

The Kingsway (Wallasey) tunnel will remain open but is expected to be busy, particularly throughout the Friday morning rush hour.

For more details, visit www.merseytravel.gov.uk or call 0151 236 7676.

For the latest train running information, visit merseyrail.org for Northern and Wirral Line services or northernrail.org for City Line services or call National Rail Enquires on 08457 48 49 50.

For information on Mersey Ferry sailings during the event visit www.merseyferries.co.uk

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