More than 25,000 Liverpool City Region residents will gain direct public transport access to Liverpool John Lennon Airport within an hour’s journey, as a new express bus service launches alongside the return of St Helens bus services to public control.
The new X3 service will connect St Helens town centre directly with Liverpool John Lennon Airport, offering holidaymakers and airport workers a faster and more convenient alternative to existing routes. It launches on Sunday 6 September, the same day St Helens becomes the first area in the Liverpool City Region — and only the second area in the country outside London — to bring its bus network back under public control through franchising, ending more than 40 years of deregulation.
According to the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, the X3 will put over 25,000 additional residents within a 60-minute journey of the airport, with that figure rising to more than 100,000 within an 80-minute journey once wider network effects are factored in. The service forms part of a broader push by Mayor Steve Rotheram to improve airport connectivity, sitting alongside plans for a new rapid transit system intended to cut journey times between Liverpool city centre, the airport and the region’s football stadiums.
The X3 will run on brand-new, publicly owned, UK-built low-emission buses finished in the Combined Authority’s yellow and grey Metro livery, featuring USB charging points, more comfortable seating, level boarding, audio-visual announcements and improved accessibility features.
It’s not the only change coming to St Helens on launch day. Routes currently running every two hours will move to an hourly frequency, several services will be extended to improve links to hospitals, colleges and rail stations, and duplicate route numbers across the wider network will be removed to simplify the system. Mayor Rotheram said the changes would deliver a “real, tangible difference” for passengers from day one, framing the investment as part of a wider effort to build “the London-style transport system people here deserve.”
Following the St Helens rollout, bus franchising will extend to Wirral in October 2026, with Liverpool, Knowsley and Sefton following by the end of 2027.
For taxi and private hire drivers working the St Helens and wider Merseyside area, a direct express link to Liverpool John Lennon Airport could shift some existing demand onto public transport — though it may also bring more passengers within reach of the airport corridor overall, particularly for those making onward or return journeys outside the bus timetable.
Manpool Transfers offers airport pickups and drop-offs across Liverpool, a straightforward option for anyone whose journey doesn’t line up with the new X3 timetable.
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