Liverpool South Parkway

A bit of a weird one in my opinion. Located about 2 miles from Liverpool John Lennon Airport, it’s the train station ‘of choice’ if you’re travelling further afield. We took a taxi from the airport and it was a simple journey, costing around £8 (there’s an additional toll charge, which is explained in the taxi both verbally and on a sign).
The building is huge and shiny, standing out compared to its surroundings. It is aesthetically pleasing but it really, really doesn’t look like a train station! Inside it vast and took us a while to figure out where we actually needed to go. There was only one self service ticket machine, somewhat hidden behind signage, with a manned booth around the corner.
Staff were friendly and pointed us in the right direction to the platform, which was actually up the escalators/​lifts. Due to a very heavy bag we used the lifts, which were clean, well located and quick to use.
There is a lot of modern looking art around the space and, on our visit, a random ginger cat which plonked himself down in the middle of the room and started to have a clean. Station staff did try to move him on but, seeing as it wasn’t very busy, decided it was funnier to let him stay.
Functional station but nothing that stands out.

There is now a café open inside the main part, prices are abit steep, but there are also vending machines inside and on platforms.
I know a german student who absolutley loced the design of this ststion and I must agree.
Something good about British transport.
All we need now is a tram system to link up with the airport

How far is it from South Parkway station to down town?
And which transportation shall I take to down town? and how easy the connection which
Unfortunately on Sunday it seems crappy schedule from South Parkway to John Lennon Airport. Have someone any experienced going to Airport on Sunday because I need to be at the Airport 12pm? and I’ll leaving from Leeds.
I have never been to Liverpool at all.
thanks!

this station is fantastic. it has a modern look to it, is clean and gives you access to both central and lime street station in the centre of liverpool. there is even a bus service running out of the station. i only live about 400yrds from is so it has come in handy on several occasions!

This is a really interesting train station. It seems really big and new and almost space-​age, and yet there’s almost nothing around and not much inside either.
It’s your port of call for John Lennon Airport, but you will need to get a bus. This is not as scary/​confusing as other reviewers have said it is. I noticed multiple buses labelled right on the front «Liverpool airport.» How hard is that? (And I’m from another country!)
There is a travel centre inside the train station where you are free to ask any questions about train or bus travel, so even if you can’t figure something out, you have only to ask.
There’s also a small coffee shop in the station. More than many train stations can boast. :)

Bit of a white elephant really. Garston was in much need for sort of big gesture and a useful ammentie such as a national rail link train station should have been a big boost to the area.
Intended as a link between the south of the city and the rest of the UK and the nearby John Lennon Airport, Garson South Parkway doesn’t really deliver as the links are not nearly as direct as they should be. No trains to London stop here which should have been one of the priorities and as far as I can see the link only goes as far as Birmingham.
You are still about ²⁄₃ miles from the airport but regular buses will get you there from the station. It is a much cleaner and brighter improvement to the old station but you wouldn’t want to be stuck waiting for a train as there is little to occupy you.

The fact trains don’t run to the city’s airport must jolt incoming tourists somewhat as the only alternative is to hop on a bus which, any traveller in a foreign city will tell you, is about as helpful as eating a map and smashing your face through a sheet of glass. Bus drivers aren’t good at dealing with inquisitive out-​of-​towners.
South Parkway is the nearest travel hub for the airport and once you’re there, short of of landing planes on the roof, I imagine it’s easy to get from A to B. What was once a scrubby piece of waste ground is now the futuristic-​looking transport nucleus although whenever I’ve made my way around the place on some bungled journey I’ve found it to be eerily quiet.
It’s all clean and well-​maintained but the fact the TV screens dish out information to nobody at all makes you think that any second the hallways will be ringing to the sound of claws. Watch any monster film and there’s always a man like me who gets killed in a vacant train station. What a job description.

Once you’ve been to Liverpool South Parkway, most will surely agree that it is more than just a train station. It’s a bus station, taxi-​pick-​up and drop-​off point, free car park for rail users, refreshment stop and bicycle park; the list is exhaustive I know!
On top of all that, with fast and frequent bus links to Liverpool John Lennon Airport, it’s also a great place to start your holiday, all housed in an award winning, environmentally friendly building. If that’s not enough, on Mondays to Fridays, it is believed that nearly 300 trains call there every day.
This a top transport station in Liverpool. If you haven’t used the station before, I would suggest taking a look inside and see how good Liverpool South Parkway really is.

I thought the station was fab, lovely and modern.
However i would like to see some luggage trolleys to make it easier for those of us using the station as a transfer point between the airport.
I also think having to ask for tokens for the toilet is a little demeaning and that surely can be changed?
A drinks stand would also be useful.
Other than that i thought it was well designed and one of the better stations when having to wait for connections.

Well it looks gorgeous. In fact, if you weren’t changing here, you’d be staring out of the window for a last look as it flashed past.
But the change is horrendous. The station is an afterthought, and to link up all the lines, the walk between platforms is long, and they don’t allow much time for it when you’re booking tickets on the net. Be prepared to run, most of the people there when I was changing trains did.
Its still lovely tho.

It’s not often that you can say something good about British public transport, but this new station, opened in 2006, is one such place.
Built to replace the former Allerton and Garston stations, the new station provides an interchange between Merseyrail’s Northern Line, running from Hunt’s Cross to Southport, with the Liverpool-​Warrington-​Manchester and Liverpool-​Runcorn-​Crewe lines, as well as providing a major bus interchange for Liverpool Airport and other local services, and parking for 240 cars (already fully used) and secure storage for motor-​cycles and bicycles.
The station is built on the sort of scale and quality we’re not used to in Britain: the main building is bright and spacious, with a ticket office (for both bus and train services) and three disabled accessible toilets (token-​operated, available from staff for free). The toilets are amazing, and talk to you while you are using them, telling you all about their features! The electronic timetable displays give details of bus and train departures, as well as flight arrivals and departures from the airport.
The building itself is environmentally sensitive, with a rainwater harvesting system, geothermal heat-​pumps for heating and photovoltaic cells to generate electricity. There are no shop units in the station yet, nor a buffet facility, though these are apparently planned. The station is fully accessible, with lots of lifts. My only gripe with the facilities is that there is no heated waiting room on the platform — it can get pretty chilly on a windy February day!
The Northern line operates a 15-​minute interval service on weekdays, half-​hourly on Sunday. The Liverpool-​Manchester service operates every 30 minutes, and that to Crewe and Birmingham every hour. Buses run to the airport and Liverpool City Centre every ten minutes. Unfortunately, neither the trains to London nor Norwich stop at the station — in the former case, frustratingly, because the platforms are too short.
But overall, this is a real asset for south Liverpool, and is currently used by over 5,000 passengers a day.