It’s Wednesday 11th December 2025 as I’m writing this blog post, and what a day it’s been. Despite not sleeping at all the night before and feeling absolutely exhausted, I still pushed myself to head out on a mega adventure. This trip also marks the start of my brand-new YouTube series, The Adventure Diaries, which is coming very soon!

As always, the journey began at New Brighton station the place where all my adventures seem to start.

The map above shows the network by area. The Merseyside Day Saver (all zones) gives you full access to the entire Merseyrail Wirral and Northern lines, as well as parts of the Northern City Lines operated by Northern Trains. It’s one of my favourite day tickets because it really opens up the whole network and gives you so much flexibility to explore. I believe it also includes some coverage on the Mersey Ferries, although I’m not completely certain on that.

This series is all about using day savers and ranger tickets to explore different towns, cities, and metro systems making the most of what each network has to offer.

From Birkenhead, I headed out on a train toward West Kirby before switching onto a Borderlands Line service from Bidston bound for Wrexham in North Wales. I didn’t stay on for long, though—I jumped off at Heswall, originally known as Higher Heswall. Interestingly, there used to be another station called Lower Heswall on the old line between Hooton and West Kirby, now the Wirral Way. If you’d like me to do a post exploring that former railway line, let me know—I’d love to cover it!

Once onboard, the train felt instantly familiar to many Londoners. These units previously ran on the District line in the capital as the iconic D Stock, before being rebuilt by Vivarail and reintroduced in 2023 as the D-Train (Class 230). They currently operate on the Borderlands Line alongside the Class 197 CAF-built diesel multiple units that now run across much of Wales.

From Heswall, I headed back to Bidston and jumped onto my next train to Liverpool Lime Street. From there, I made my way out to Huyton. I really enjoy exploring the City Line—especially since I’ve visited every station on it starting from Lime Street, which feels like a pretty impressive feat for me. I’m also looking forward to revisiting the Borderlands Line in January for a full blog feature.

From Lime Street, I boarded the 11:39 service to Blackpool North, operated by a Class 331—though I’ve completely forgotten which unit I was actually on. I arrived into Huyton at around 11:50 and headed straight for the nearby McDonald’s for some lunch. It was a well-earned treat, if I do say so myself!

After that, I made my way back to the station to catch the 12:30 train towards Wigan North Western, hopping off at Prescot.

From Prescot, I hopped on the 10A, operated by Stagecoach/Arriva Merseyside, and was pleasantly surprised to find myself on SM66 VBK. This bus has recently been repainted into the new Metro colour scheme introduced by Steve Rotheram for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The branding officially launches in 2026, with the first phases rolling out in St Helens and the Wirral.

From Rainhill I decided to get the 1321 to take me to Lea Green however my phone was running low so I decided to stay on the train to Newton-le-Willows where I would then get the train from there to Liverpool Lime Street being the 1341 by Transppennine Express from Newcastle. However the train only called Newton-le-Willows rather than Lea Green with Hull services only calling at Lea Green rather than Newton-le-Willows.

I didn’t have much time to grab a photo of the station or any of the trains arriving, so unfortunately I won’t be sharing any shots from Newton-le-Willows in today’s post. From there, I headed back to Liverpool Lime Street to catch the 14:19 service to Cleethorpes, planning to hop off at Liverpool South Parkway. But that’s where everything went a bit wrong the doors didn’t open, and I didn’t manage to move down the train in time, so I ended up being carried all the way to Warrington instead!

And finally, that brings us up to where I am right now. I’m currently at Mossley Hill as I write this. From here, I’ll be heading back to Lime Street, then over to Hamilton Square, and finally catching the 410/411 back to New Brighton. I had planned to film this trip today, but I’ve decided to wait until I’ve had some proper sleep and I’m feeling a bit more refreshed. I hope you understand!

However, when I arrived back into Liverpool Lime Street to make my final connection to the Wirral, something immediately caught my eye with the new branding for Great British Railways. Seeing it in person is genuinely exciting, because it marks the shift toward a publicly owned railway in the UK. For most of my life the railways have been privately run, so getting to experience this new era firsthand feels like a pretty big moment.

Finally, I made it back down to the underground platforms at Liverpool Lime Street to catch my last train of the day to Hamilton Square, where I connected with the 410/411 bus back to New Brighton—my hometown. It’s been a long but brilliant adventure, all made possible with a Merseyside Day Saver that cost just £6.40 for the whole day.

If you’ve enjoyed following along, let me know! I’d love to hear your suggestions for other day tickets, rangers, and adventures you’d like to see featured here on the blog.

Thank you so much for reading and supporting my journeys—it truly means a lot!