Travel to the 2026 Open Golf Championship
Golf fans travelling to the 2026 Open Golf tournament at Royal Birkdale are advised to plan ahead, use public transport where possible and leave plenty of time to make sure they can get to this year’s event.
Merseytravel are working closely with local partners including rail and bus operators, Merseyside Police, Sefton Council and the R&A to help ensure that everybody’s journeys to and from the course are as easy and safe as possible.
With over 300,000 golf fans from across the world set to descend on the city region, extra rail and park and ride bus services will be in place to help ensure smooth, reliable journeys to and from the course. Staff will be positioned at key locations throughout the event to support passengers and help keep crowds moving.
Those travelling by Merseyrail can take advantage of the new Tap & Go smart ticketing system across the network, offering a simple tap‑in, tap‑out option with a contactless card or device. You can find out more about Tap & Go on the Merseyrail website.
As always, the Liverpool City Region looks forward to welcoming visitors from near and far and helping everyone enjoy the atmosphere at one of the most highly anticipated events in the sporting calendar.
Top travel tips
- Use public transport wherever possible – roads will be busy with no parking available close to the course
- Make sure you check routes and plan ahead
- Check operator websites and social media channels for up-to-date timetables
- Be prepared for last minute changes to services
- Allow extra time for your journeys – services will be much busier than usual
- Buy tickets in advance if possible
- Don’t plan for the last service home - you’ll be stuck if you miss it!
- Be kind to transport staff - they will be working hard to get you there and back
What you need to know
Merseyrail
The Merseyrail network links Liverpool city centre with many areas of the wider region, including Sefton, Knowsley, Wirral and South Liverpool. It operates trains to the closest station to Royal Birkdale Golf Club – Hillside, just a five-minute walk from the main spectator entrance.
Merseyrail will be operating an enhanced service on the Southport branch of the Northern Line across the week. A 20-minute service will run between Hillside and Liverpool Central/Moorfields stations and between Southport and Hillside, which will increase to a 10-minute service at the busiest times.
To accommodate this increased frequency, there will be some changes to other services across the network throughout the week.
You can find full details of the service levels and changes on the Merseyrail website.
Northern
Services on the Manchester Victoria to Southport line (via Wigan) are expected to be extremely busy across the week, please allow extra time for travelling.
More information on service changes can be found on the Northern website.
Before travelling check rail operator websites and Twitter accounts for more information
@merseyrail – www.merseyrail.org
@northernassist - www.northernrailway.co.uk
@TPEassist - www.tpexpress.co.uk
@avantiwestcoast - www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk
@LNRailway - www.londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk
@eastmidrailway - www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk
@NetworkRailLIV - www.networkrail.co.uk/communities/passengers/our-stations/liverpool-lime-street
Commercial Bus Services
Arriva and Stagecoach operate bus services in Sefton, offering another way to get to the course if you are staying locally.
The two main services that drop off and pick-up close to the course are the X2 (Stagecoach) and 47 (Arriva). You can find the timetables for these services linked below:
Stagecoach - X2 timetables
Arriva - 47 timetables
Park and Ride
There will be no public car parking at Royal Birkdale or in the immediate surrounding area.
Throughout the championship, a park and ride service is available at two sites with dedicated buses to transport spectators to and from the course.
Full details of this can be found on the Open Championship website.
Check bus operator websites and social media accounts for up-to-date schedule information.
@arrivanorthwest - www.arrivabus.co.uk
If you live nearby or are staying local, walking and cycling will be some of the healthiest, quickest and easiest ways to get around.
Please help us by walking or cycling if you can, to ease some pressure on transport services and keep our air clean.
If you are staying in Liverpool City Centre during the event, E-scooters and E-bikes operated by Bolt are available for hire throughout Liverpool and can be located and unlocked by downloading the Bolt app. E-scooters are available to hire in the city centre and surrounding areas as well as key transport hubs and hospitals.
Liverpool is connected to the world via John Lennon International Airport, which is less than 20 mins drive from the city centre.
Several regular bus services to Liverpool city centre operate from outside the terminal building, including the Arriva 500 service.
Manchester Airport is less than 1-hour drive from Liverpool City Centre and is served by its own train station, with services operating from the airport to Manchester Piccadilly and some Liverpool stations.
Up-to-date information about flights and how to travel to the city from either airport can be found on their websites.
The Wallasey (Kingsway) and Birkenhead (Queensway) are cross-river road options to get from Wirral to Liverpool, with the Wallasey Tunnel providing the best link to the Royal Birkdale golf course.
Check Merseytravel social media channels for most up-to-date information on both tunnels.