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Mersey Ferries

141K views 806 replies 133 participants last post by  Howie_P 
#1 ·
Sorry if this has already been raised, or if the issue should have been posted elsewhere, but I was wondering what people's views are on transport spanning the Mersey.

Apart from tight, congested tunnel crossings and an equally unsatisfactory bridge way down river, the obvious solution of increasing public transport through new, affordable ferries has not been invested in (AFAIK).

The current Mersey ferries are expensive, old and only really hold novelty value - but you only have to look at other cities around Europe to see how effective ferry transportation could be.

Venice has its Vaporetto service, which is hugely popular and can haul thousands of commuters and tourists around the city quickly and easily. Even visiting in late November I found myself propped up by shear mass of people squashed together while hitching rides on the service.

Istanbul has a similar system crossing the Bosphorus and is preparing to introduce a new water taxi service to add efficiency and comfort on journeys.

With a growing trade in tourism and many other sectors anticipated, surely a much more modern, afforable and efficient system connecting Liverpool to the Wirral suburbs is necessary? Park and ride schemes from Woodside/Seacombe and perhaps even a small car ferry (as in Plymouth Sound?) could benefit transportation to and from the city.

I'd say enough people drive to/from Liverpool a day from Wirral to suggest there would be demand for such a service.
 
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#27 ·
Awayo said:
What cruise terminal? There are no plans for a cruise terminal right now, unfortuntately.

Do you mean that there is a mobile crane on the dockside, near where the planned extension to the landing stage at its north end will be, perhaps? The promised cruise liner "facility".
The Cruise Liner `facility` is reported to be in place no later than May 2007.

Peel Holding have however been reported as referring to the `Cruise Liner Terminal` ..... so we`ll just have to wait and see. C - Sea! :scouserd:
 
#28 ·
could you imagine a group of people who still address each other at meetings as 'comrade' or 'brother' accepting such a commercial approach?

It is also why you see no other 'leisure/tourist' ferry services being ofered on the river!

Just think of London, Amsterdam, NYC etc and what they have on their rivers?
 
#29 ·
Tony Sebo said:
could you imagine a group of people who still address each other at meetings as 'comrade' or 'brother' accepting such a commercial approach?

It is also why you see no other 'leisure/tourist' ferry services being ofered on the river!

Just think of London, Amsterdam, NYC etc and what they have on their rivers?
Portsmouth is heaving with local ferry services to IOW and Gosport.
 
#30 ·
westisbest said:
Can't find the right thread. there is a mobile on the new cruise terminal site. Only just nooticed it so the main structure must be iminent
Also nearby, they have started digging in that cordoned off area in front of the R.L.B. possibly for the canal link...!
 
#33 ·
Liverpool Bay Area Hydrofoil(s) Service(s).....

Would it not be possible for `Hydrofoils` to operate along the coastal region of the Liverpool Bay Area, not to mention around the Mersey Basin.

There used to be a B+I Hydrofoil (Jetfoil) service from the old Pier Head Bus terminal (with a special passenger lounge put aside.....no cars) to Dublin in the early 1980`s - it was a £3.5m Boeing hyrofoil and it wasn`t the biggest vessel but it covered the distance between Liverpool and Dublin Bay in 4hrs as against the regular B+Is ferries 8hrs.

The only problem was that the Irish Sea can be notoriously choppy and there were occasions when the service couldn`t run and then a recession killed the service off.

Nevertheless, technologies have changed and hydrofoils operate in hundreds of locations around the globe and surely the Liverpool Bay Area could support such a service between a variety of locations, even if only seasonal to begin with.

http://www.boeing.com/history/boeing/hydro.html

See `Jetfoil`.....
"Boeing launched its first passenger-carrying waterjet-propelled hydrofoil, the JETFOIL, in April 1974. It could carry from 167 to 400 passengers. The company built nearly two dozen Boeing JETFOILs for service in Hong Kong, Japan, the English Channel, the Canary Islands, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia."

The B+I Boeing `Jetfoil` was leased and renamed `Hound of the Sea`..... for the duration of the service.
 
#34 ·
Wrecked landing stage on moveSep 6 2006




Liverpool Echo





WORK has finally begun to remove the wreckage of the landing stage from the Mersey.

The ECHO revealed how pressure was growing on the Docks and Harbour Company to clear the remnants of the structure.

Civic leaders were angry the eyesore had been allowed to remain despite thousands of visitors flocking to the waterfront at the Mathew Street Festival

Now work has finally started to remove the wreckage, five months after the power of the Mersey destroyed the landing stage.




Huge lifting equipment was manoeuvred into place in the river yesterday to begin the tricky salvage.


Marine experts are predicting record-breaking high tides in the river towards the end of September, increasing the urgency of carrying out the work
 
#36 ·
Planning application now registered for new ferry terminal...

Appl no: 06C/3121
To demolish existing ferry terminal building to allow the construction of new 3 storey ferry terminal building
 
#78 ·
Construction News this week are reporting that Merseytravel have sent out tender documents for the construction of this new terminal, estimated value of £5M , which seems a bit expensive ? So they must be pretty confident that Lady D and chums will give approval and the Shanghi Palace will get the "chop":lol:
 
#42 ·
It's better then the current one that's for sure. I like the restaurant terrace. Overall, it seems a bit small. Is this for cruise liner passengers,too?. If so, it suggests that we will be nowt but a port of call. Maybe Liverpool based cruises will start from elsewhere, in which case, fine.
 
#44 ·
Yep we're a port of call for the Birkoes. :)

This is the Mersey Ferry terminal, not the cruise liner termninal. Still have to wait for that. :cheers:

The canal is partially buried at the Pier Head, running under the horsey statue.
 
#56 · (Edited)
Now this is must better, lets get it built.............



According to Merseytravel NO, its to be demolished.
I do like this new design, thank god they have dumped the "peddle bin" that was proposed. I do have a few concerns about this ferry terminal; 1)Merseytravel say they have consulted all the main players involved, city planners, EH and World Heritage site officers, but they appear not to have consulted the owner of the Shanghai Palace:eek:hno: 2) Jim Gill of Liverpool Vision says he expects positive conclusion to negotiations:eek:hno: 3) Merseytravel hope to have the go-ahead from city planners by the end of the year and have the scheme completed in the spring of 2008:eek:hno:

When the DP headline reads " ready for Culture year" you just know it won`t be:eek:hno:

Apart from these trivial :lol: problems yet to be overcome, this terminal is the last piece of the Pier Head jigsaw. This scheme will go along way to providing the facilities so sadly lacking for so long. The building is said to complement the surrounding buildings we can expect a marble or light granite finish. The new pasenger walkway down to the new landing stage looks interesting, detail not to clear but it does look like a glass tube.
 
#53 ·
Good question? Should it stay? I don't see why not if it's accomodated in appropriate style. And as long as there are enough good quality cafes and coffee shops around for people to stop and have a cuppa - which I think there should be, between this and the new museum, not to mention the new residential buildings which have their own integrated cafes and exhibition space on the ground floor.

Personally though I think I'd rather see a number of smaller, funky outlets, which provide something a bit different and stay open late at night so that people don't feel like they're wandering around a ghost town after 7pm. Places like the Hagen Das cafe serve that purpose well in other cities, my wife enjoyed a lovely ice cream and coffee at about 11pm when we recently visited Dublin, and it was a great alternative to going into 'another' pub or settling for the drunk-filled plastic tables of McDonalds. I'd really like to see that sort of culture develop in Liverpool, where you can go out to have a coffee at any time of the day or night.

I'd be very surprised if Costa didn't get a foot in, they open a new coffee shop every time you blink in Liverpool!
 
#54 ·
Caffé Nero for me. Much better. If late at night you want to be away from pissheads in that part of town and you're gagging for a coffee, and like the company of thirtysomethings - try the pan american club on the albert dock.
 
#55 ·
Yes but isn't the Pan American a bit 'upmarket'? To be honest I don't know if I'd feel comfortable going in there unless I was dressed for the occasion. I want somewhere you can just slip out to in jeans and a jumper and not have to worry about being given the once over and knocked back by bouncers who think they're working for the Savvoy!
 
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