‘Absolute chaos’ Lime Street station scenes lead to Network Rail apology

Network Rail has apologised for the delays as fans faced long queues and overcrowding around the station

17:30, 27 May 2025

Queues outside Lime Street station built up on Monday evening(Image: Raven Handley)

Liverpool fans trying to get home after the club's victory parade were frustrated as tens of thousands of people trying to leave the city from Lime Street Station[1] were met with three-hour queues and overcrowding.

In a statement to the ECHO earlier today, Network Rail apologised to people trying to get home in the pouring rain last night[2] after the station reduced the number of entrances to the station down to one but declined to give further details about what happened.

It came after the Liverpool FC title parade and subsequent incident on Water Street[3] when a car was driven at a crowd of people, injuring dozens.

Merseyside Police[4] arrested a 53-year-old man from West Derby[5] at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving offences, and driving while unfit through drugs.

Police confirmed today 50 people were treated in hospital[6], with 11 of those receiving ongoing treatment. All are stable and believed to be recovering well, the force said.

The ECHO[7] visited the station twice last night, once at 6pm when hundreds were queuing down the steps of the station, and again at around 9pm when hundreds remained standing in the rain.

Article continues below

Today, we spoke to multiple people who went to Lime Street last night after the parade. They gave further details abut what they saw.

The British Transport Police (BTP) said, although there were plans in place for the parade, the incident on Water Street meant more people left the parade earlier than anticipated, which led to overcrowding.

Everyone we spoke to claimed commuters had no idea what was going on, with no signage telling them where to queue.

The requirement to queue from the side entrance to the station on Skelhorne Street rather than the main one on Lime Street was unknown to many people there.

At some points, there were bottlenecks and reports of some people being carried over barriers.

Some gave up on getting in to the station and found alternative ways home.

Others who eventually got in the station were then met with the prospect of boarding empty trains which passengers said they felt could have got many more people home. The ECHO has approached Network Rail for a further response to these claims.

Steve Miller, 49, travelled down from Scotland to pick up his daughter, Catriona Miller, a massive Liverpool fan, from Lancaster where she is attending university. Seeing the parade was meant to be a treat for her 19th birthday.

But it turned into an ordeal once they got to Lime Street.

Steve thought he could beat the traffic by leaving his car in Wigan and getting a train into Liverpool.

People were funnelled into the Skelhorne Street entrance of the station(Image: Raven Handley)

When they initially saw the large numbers outside Lime Street Station, they waited around the city for a while to calm down. But the situation had not improved when they got back there at 5.45pm. He told the ECHO: "It was an absolute disgrace, my daughter and I queued for three hours and there was zero communication.

"The poor woman in Hi-Vis who'd been left practically alone outside didn't know if any trains would run, admitted the queueing system had utterly collapsed and told us we should get a taxi.

"There were barriers at the side of the station.

It was an accident waiting to happen. There was no communication, no signage at the front.

"I spoke to another guy in Hi-Vis - he was just working as a contractor for a security firm. He said, 'you should be queuing up at the back of the station, not the front'.

"I said, 'there are tens of thousands of people here and no-one knows this'.

It was absolute chaos. The queue went all the way around the four sides of the station."

Catriona had university exams in Lancaster the following morning which she needed to get back to. Thankfully, they got speaking to a man who was trying to get back to Cambridge.

His friend drove all the way from Manchester to pick them up, dropping Steve and Catriona off in Wigan.

Barriers were put up outside the station(Image: Matthew Pellett)

Matthew Pellett, 39, from Wiltshire, goes to several Liverpool games each season and normally parks in Moorfields. But after seeing the warnings that there would be heavy traffic in the city centre, he left his car in Haydock[8] and got the train into town from there.

He too was baffled by the queuing situation. He said: "No-one knew what was going on.

I heard from some people that the queue outside the main entrance was only for people going to London, so I went around the corner to Skelhorne Street.

"I went there - there was a big throng of people and just a single member of staff telling people to join the queue that went all the way to Copperas Hill."

Matthew also said the amount of people confined in small areas was concerning and praised police officers who allowed some children who were close to the barriers to get in to the station.

Once Matthew got into the station after two hours queuing, there were queues directing people to different destinations but these were not maintained once people got close to the barriers.

Matthew ended up on a Wigan train that passed through St Helens[9] but was nearly empty. He said: "There were so many people looking for a train to Manchester that could have got on and changed at Wigan. It was disgraceful."

He added: "In my case, I could have walked up to Edge Hill and got the train from there.

It's annoying I didn't think of that but why wasn't that advice being given out?"

Raven Handley, 30, was also concerned about the overcrowding he saw as he and his sister tried to get back to Doncaster. They arrived at the station at 6pm and didn't board a train until 9.15pm.

He said: "We went round the side to see the even busier crowd funnelling into the entrances, but it was so tight. There were random barriers cemented into the ground that people were crushed against and having to try and climb over.

"The closest entrance that is reserved for vehicles, people started bottlenecking into, only to be told it wouldn't be used as an entrance and people would have to back off and try another route.

"I saw many older people in states of distress and people being carried over barriers and children having to be carried over."

Lime Street was largely empty inside but there were massive queues outside the station(Image: Raven Handley)

Like Matthew, Raven was infuriated when he got on his train too.

He said: "The actual train station was empty, the taxi rank area was so spacious and the pressure on that crowd could have been alleviated so much easier and the distress on that crowd could have been avoided. My sister was in tears on the train (that was empty because no one could get on it) because she feared for her life."

In a statement to the ECHO[10] earlier today, a spokesperson for Network Rail apologised to people trying to get home, citing "unprecedented number of visitors to the city".

A Network Rail[11] spokesperson said: "Yesterday, the tragic incident at Water Street marred what should have been a joyful occasion for the people of Liverpool.

"We work closely with our train operating partners and other organisations across the city to plan for events such as this; however, on the day, an unprecedented number of visitors came to the city.

"Our priority is always to ensure the safety of the passengers at our stations, and our staff worked hard to achieve this under difficult circumstances.

"We are sorry that people were delayed in getting to where they needed to be during a distressing time. Our sympathies are with the people affected by the event."

When pressed on the reason behind the issues at the station, mainly the entrances being closed and shutters pulled down, Network Rail declined to go into detail about what happened.

A BTP spokesperson said: "BTP worked closely alongside our partners to support Network Rail's crowd management plan at Lime Street for the victory parade yesterday (26 May).

Article continues below

"This involved multi-agency meetings in the run up to the event and an enhanced presence of officers at the station to provide visible support.

Unfortunately following the major incident on Water Street, a large volume of people left the parade earlier than was anticipated, which led to issues with overcrowding outside of the station while staff ensured trains could be safely loaded and leave to destinations across the country."

Mental health support

Helplines and support groups

The following are helplines and support networks for people to talk to, mostly listed on the NHS Choices website[12]

• Samaritans[13] (116 123) operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year. If you prefer to write down how you're feeling, or if you're worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at [email protected][14].
• CALM[15] Campaign Against Living Miserably (0800 58 58 58) is a leading movement against suicide. It runs a UK helpline and webchat[16] from 5pm to midnight 365 days a year for anyone who has hit a wall for any reason, who need to talk or find information and support.
• PANDAS[17] (0808 1961 776) runs a free helpline and offers a support service for people who may be suffering with perinatal mental illness, including prenatal (antenatal) and postnatal depression plus support for their family or network.
• Childline[18] (0800 1111) runs a helpline for children and young people in the UK.

  Calls are free and the number won't show up on your phone bill.

• PAPYRUS[19] (0800 068 41 41) is an organisation supporting teenagers and young adults who are feeling suicidal.
• Mind[20] (0300 123 3393) is a charity providing advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding.
• Students Against Depression[21] is a website for students who are depressed, have a low mood or are having suicidal thoughts.
• Bullying UK[22] is a website for both children and adults affected by bullying.
• Amparo provides emotional and practical support for anyone who has been affected by a suicide. This includes dealing with police and coroners; helping with media enquiries; preparing for and attending an inquest and helping to access other, appropriate, local support services.

  Call 0330 088 9255 or visit www.amparo.org.uk[23] for more details.

• Hub of Hope[24] is the UK's most comprehensive national mental health support database. Download the free app, visit hubofhope.co.uk[25] or text SHOUT to 85258 to find relevant services near you.
• Young Persons Advisory Service - Providing mental health and emotional wellbeing services for Liverpool's children, young people and families. tel: 0151 707 1025 email: [email protected][26][27]
• Paul's Place - providing free counselling and group sessions to anyone living in Merseyside who has lost a family member or friend to suicide. Tel: 0151 226 0696 or email: [email protected][28][29]
• The Martin Gallier Project - offering face to face support for individuals considering suicide and their families.

  Opening hours 9.30-16.30, 7 days a week.

  Tel: 0151 644 0294 email: [email protected][30][31]

• James' Place - supports men over 18 who are experiencing a suicidal crisis by providing quick access to therapy and support.

  Call 0151 303 5757 from Monday to Friday between 9.30am and 5.30pm or visit https://www.jamesplace.org.uk/[32][33]

References

1. ^ Lime Street Station (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
2. ^ apologised to people trying to get home in the pouring rain last night (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
3. ^ subsequent incident on Water Street (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
4. ^ Merseyside Police (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
5. ^ West Derby (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
6. ^ Police confirmed today 50 people were treated in hospital (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
7. ^ ECHO (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
8. ^ Haydock (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
9. ^ St Helens (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
10. ^ ECHO (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
11. ^ Network Rail (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
12. ^ NHS Choices website (www.nhs.uk)
13. ^ Samaritans (www.samaritans.org)
14. ^ [email protected] (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
15. ^ CALM (www.thecalmzone.net)
16. ^ webchat (www.thecalmzone.net)
17. ^ PANDAS (pandasfoundation.org.uk)
18. ^ Childline (www.childline.org.uk)
19. ^ PAPYRUS (www.papyrus-uk.org)
20. ^ Mind (www.mind.org.uk)
21. ^ Students Against Depression (studentsagainstdepression.org)
22. ^ Bullying UK (www.bullying.co.uk)
23. ^ www.amparo.org.uk (www.amparo.org.uk)
24. ^ Hub of Hope (www.hubofhope.co.uk)
25. ^ hubofhope.co.uk (www.hubofhope.co.uk)
26. ^ Young Persons Advisory Service (www.ypas.org.uk)
27. ^ [email protected] (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
28. ^ Paul's Place (beaconcounsellingtrust.co.uk)
29. ^ [email protected] (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
30. ^ The Martin Gallier Project (www.gallierhouse.co.uk)
31. ^ [email protected] (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
32. ^ James' Place (www.jamesplace.org.uk)
33. ^ https://www.jamesplace.org.uk/ (www.jamesplace.org.uk)