A small number of staff were kept to maintain the buildings and structures, and it was hoped that a way of reopening the railway could be found. More than 100 members of the LOR staff joined British Railways for work after its closure. The railway was replaced by a bus service operated by Liverpool Corporation who purchased 60 new buses for the route. The price of a workman's return fare subsequently increased from 8d to 1s as workers were forced to use bus services.