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For the first time in its 20 year history, Virgin West Coast has reported that more people are now travelling from London to Liverpool than the other way round.
Of the 1,765,874 passengers who travelled on the route during in 2016/17 , 889,000 were heading from London to Liverpool — 13,000 more than Liverpool to London.
So what's going on? Are Londoners trickling out of the Big Smoke in favour of a life of the Cavern Club, a really small Tate gallery, and far, far politer locals?
The Fab Four may have something to do with it: Liverpool is the fifth visited city in the UK, and we can imagine that after rinsing their wallets in London, many tourists decide to jump on the train to pay homage to John, Paul, George and the other one... and possibly to buy a beer for less than £7.
One other thing: in June 2017, one of the Virgin trains that runs on the Liverpool-London route was named The Flying Scouseman, after a competition in the Liverpool Echo.
Well, it's better than Scousey McScouseface, anyway.
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