REPAIRS to get escalators working again at one of Liverpool’s busiest transport hubs won’t be fully complete until next summer.

For more than a year, a pair of escalators at Moorfields station in the city centre have been closed off to passengers after issues arose at the site. Work initially got underway in March to begin repairs with a hope that the refurbishment could be complete by the Autumn of this year.

However, Phil James, route managing director at Network Rail, has revealed it is likely the steps will not actually be fully functional until next May. Mr James addressed the long delayed work during a session of the Liverpool City Region transport committee on Thursday.

In October 2022, KONE Ltd – an escalator and lift company – was awarded terms of £37,202 by Liverpool Council on the basis that a number of components had failed, leaving one escalator out of service. It said: “The escalator units require a major intervention to clean, service, replace and overhaul to satisfy health and safety requirements and make operational.”

It had been expected the work would take around a month to complete, yet the site remained boarded up with no sign of progress. Fencing advised rail users to use alternative options.

The maintenance of the escalators is the responsibility of Liverpool Council, leading to the entrance of the station. The station and its surrounding area is managed in parts by the local authority, Network Rail, Merseytravel and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

Issues emerged regarding the canopy above the escalators which encountered a leak, with that being the first stage of works to get going. In a post on social media, the city council said it had expected to take 12 weeks to complete, however this deadline was missed.

A Liverpool Council spokesperson said earlier this year a detailed examination of the escalators identified two “major elements” needed replacing, rather than a routine repair as first thought. The damage was caused by leaks in the roof.

Addressing the committee, Mr James said: “Neil (Grabahm, Merseyrail managing director) and I both went to Moorfields not long after the flooding incident that effectively blew all the equipment up and I could just see the challenge passengers have, particularly those who weren’t as able to walk up those stairs. We’ve got plans in place, the dates we’ve got are January next year for one of the escalators and then we start to work on the other one which will be May next year.”

Mr James said there had been a “challenge” in getting hold of parts where faults had occurred, previously sourcing them from China but in some cases, they were so old the manufacturers had stopped making them. The director said Network Rail had flown in some parts from a US firm to expedite work.

Mr James said the company had become “inundated” as a result of the planned work and unexpected failures happening at once. He said: “It wasn’t planned for them to all be out at the same time.

“We’ve seen an increase in failures, then coupled with us doing some proactive work has just meant there’s been a crescendo of issues which was never our intention. It’s as frustrating for us as it is for you and more importantly for the passengers.

“We will work with the operators and the city region whenever we’re doing any work to make sure we plan it in the most convenient way.”