Former Beatle Takes A Ticket To Ride With Stagecoach Merseyside

Former Beatles drummer, Pete Best, has launched a new bus-ticketing machine in Merseyside that will help regular passengers and tourists in Liverpool travel easily and cheaply around the city.

Stagecoach Merseyside are to introduce one of the most advanced ticketing machines in the world that will allow passengers to buy weekly passes on board Stagecoach buses, for the first time.

The 'state of the art' machines will now make it even easier for passengers to enjoy the cheapest travel on Merseyside.

And on hand to launch the machines was Pete Best, the original drummer from the Beatles, who illustrated how simple the system is to use. The drummer, who put the 'beat' into 'Merseybeat', purchased his ticket on board a Stagecoach vehicle before being whisked away on a 'magical mystery tour' of important Beatles locations within the city.

The 66-year-old drummer is delighted that the new machines will enable visitors to the city to access some of the most important popular culture sites in the world.

Best said: "2008 is a very important year for Liverpool and the focus will be on the city and its cultural heritage. The Beatles changed the face of popular music forever and their influence can be seen all around us today. I'm incredibly proud to have been a Beatle and part of the Beatles story and I'm delighted that public transport in the city will help people discover some truly unique sites."

Tom Wileman, Regional Director of Stagecoach, said: "Liverpool is a treasure-trove of history and we intend to help visitors enjoy this heritage as easily as possible. The new ticketing machines will ensure easy, affordable access to important buildings and museums, in one of the most wonderfully diverse cities in the world."

The Beatles rehearsed and performed their first ever concert in the cellar of Best's house in Liverpool. The venue became known as the Casbah Club and club membership grew to over 1,000 as The Beatles became ever more popular.

The venue still exists today and Pete Best began his whistle stop tour of iconic Beatles locations from the Casbah Club, 8 Haymans Green, West Derby, Liverpool, L12 at 1.30pm on Thursday 17th January, before travelling to Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields and the childhood homes of John Lennon and George Harrison.

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