A RAIL replacement bus service between Shotton and Birkenhead North will operate until next week as essential work is carried out.

Starting today, April 7, passengers will need to use replacement buses as platform upgrade work is underway at Bidston station, in Birkenhead, preparing for Merseyrail’s new state-of-the-art trains – due to come into service next year.

As a result of these works, trains will not run at the Deeside station between Shotton, Hawarden Bridge, Heswall, Neston and Bidston until Monday, April 15 when normal services will resume, according to Transport for Wales.

The replacement bus will take 50 minutes to complete a full journey, which is 20 minutes longer than the normal service via train lines. This means those reliant on the service will need to plan their journey accordingly and leave earlier than normal this week.

For live updates on train departures and arrivals at the Shotton station, go to the Transport for Wales website here – www.tfwrail.wales/stations/shotton#departures