Football and railways working together

[Old Yard Dog]

The curse has even filtered down to non league. FC United of Manchester vs Bradford has just been moved from Saturday to Sunday at short notice so as not clash with Manchester City. Sheikh Mansour must have been quaking in his boots!

 

[HowardGWR]

Don't forgot us poor soles in the Football League too!

Smells a bit fishy to me.

 

[BlueFox]

Smells a bit fishy to me.

Yes, something's afoot.

 

[Phil H]

If the tickets are booked with a match ticket then could the train companies just honour them on presentation of them both?
I had the pleasure of a game being moved to a Sunday last season so had to buy a second ticket.
Made use of the first...great day out at the park in Stoke on Trent !!!

 

[londonbridge]

If the fixture is set in stone, far enough in advance, then we are able to enjoy the cheapest tickets.

Even after the televised fixtures have been announced games can still be changed at short notice. Various reasons are mentioned elsewhere in the thread, but it doesn't help when the broadcasters are allowed to pull stunts such as "A vs B will be played either at 1.30pm Sunday 2nd, or 5.30pm Saturday 1st, depending on whether or not B are playing in the Champions League on Tuesday 4th. When B get knocked out the game between C and D, originally scheduled for Saturday at 5.30, also has to move.

Cup games can also cause league matches to move. An example involving my team (Sunderland) is that our league cup tie against Sheffield Wednesday has been selected for TV and is now being played next Thursday 16th August. Consequently our league match against Scunthorpe has moved from Saturday 18th to Sunday 19th, and this in turn has caused our league match against Gillingham to move from Tuesday 21st to Wednesday 22nd. That's two games affected by one TV decision.

However the best example is the Tyne and Wear derby against Newcastle. The broadcasters used to announce all televised games to the end of October prior to the start of the season, and one year it was in October and was announced as a Sunday 4pm kick off before the season began. Then with less than three weeks to go it was suddenly moved to Sunday 1.30pm on police advice. One wonders why, having moved it once, it then took two and a half months to decide to move it again.[/B]

 

[45107]

"A vs B will be played either at 1.30pm Sunday 2nd, or 5.30pm Saturday 1st, depending on whether or not B are playing in the Champions League on Tuesday 4th. When B get knocked out the game between C and D, originally scheduled for Saturday at 5.30, also has to move.[/B]

I am aware that that this is selective posting.
The Dutch fixtures are released with this in them. This is done at some time in June and they rarely change after that.

 

[uww11x]

I think there is a definite demand for more charter specials in this field. I noticed Chelsea had a few last season. Could possibly benefit some FOC's with the hire in of loco's. As mentioned above it makes travelling to and from long away games easier as you can get back in the same day.

Seeing as MKII's and various other coaching stock will be non DDA compliant in the future, could these be used? Pretty sure there is different rules regarding private charters?

 

[Mikey C]

If I had one football related request to make, it would be to kick Thameslink off the Rainham via Greenwich line!

It was all nice and straightforward before, with 6 trains an hour from Cannon Street via Greenwich, now instead we're down to 4 Cannon Streets, 1 unreliable Thameslink and 1 not operating yet Thameslink!

 

[Tirov]

I traveled Euston to Liverpool for the West Ham match last Sunday. The 815am Liverpool was rammed and some WH supporters jumped in the drivers cab for a seat. The train was 25 late thereafter after they individuals were offloaded. Virgin staff told some WH supporters to go to Crewe on my 810am to Manchester change at Crewe. We all offloaded at Crewe and The London & North Western 1038 turned up with 4 carriages! Most of us climbed aboard and then we proceeded to leave anyone waiting at the next 4 station stops both supporters and those wishing to shop in Liverpool.
Knowing what all supporters know, why Virgin couldn't have put another service on and why LNW only used 4 carriages instead of 8 or 12 I just don't know. To me it shows a complete arrogance to good honest fare paying passengers.

 

[greyman42]

I traveled Euston to Liverpool for the West Ham match last Sunday. The 815am Liverpool was rammed and some WH supporters jumped in the drivers cab for a seat. The train was 25 late thereafter after they individuals were offloaded. Virgin staff told some WH supporters to go to Crewe on my 810am to Manchester change at Crewe. We all offloaded at Crewe and The London & North Western 1038 turned up with 4 carriages! Most of us climbed aboard and then we proceeded to leave anyone waiting at the next 4 station stops both supporters and those wishing to shop in Liverpool.
Knowing what all supporters know, why Virgin couldn't have put another service on and why LNW only used 4 carriages instead of 8 or 12 I just don't know. To me it shows a complete arrogance to good honest fare paying passengers.

Do you usually get these problems going to Liverpool? You get the usual limited allocation of tickets for a premier league match at Anfield so why the problems. Do VTWC usually put on an extra service for this particular game?

 

[Tirov]

There are always problems when a London team plays in Liverpool. Only 1 train per hour whereas Manchester have 2 or 3.
Virgin should have an extra train. LNW should add extra trains and carriages.

 

[STKKK46]

Why would LNW put extra carriages on to a Birmingham to Liverpool service for Liverpool v West Ham?

 

[AlterEgo]

Why would LNW put extra carriages on to a Birmingham to Liverpool service for Liverpool v West Ham?

For Liverpool fans. Heh.

 

[158756]

Why would LNW put extra carriages on to a Birmingham to Liverpool service for Liverpool v West Ham?

Do the intermediate stations have long enough platforms anyway?

 

[STKKK46]

Do the intermediate stations have long enough platforms anyway?

Only Hartford and Runcorn. And South Parkway if the temporary platform is still there?

I’m sure LNR can use UDS however it’s taking units from elsewhere, when it’s Virgin who refuse to provide a service.

 

[DunfordBridge]

Fan fares could work if football specials were reintroduced - ie the fans book a cheap ticket on the football special to and from the game (perhaps include connecting local services to their departure point).

Has the added advantage of easier policing (they only have to dedicate officers to one train), better crowd control opportunities (you know where and when they'll be and how many of them there are) and normal travellers get a less disruptive journey. Win for everyone.

Can anyone actually remember when football specials were stopped? I remember seeing these trains as a child. Besides, I think everyone would be happier if football fans, worse for wear after a few drinks, travelled apart from passengers not quite so inebriated.

 

[Mikey C]

For normal Saturday 3pms, most fans wouldn't want/need a special, it's evening matches and "TV" shifted games where this becomes more of interest.

Lets face it, football fans aren't a homogenous group, some want to get to the "away" pub and get pissed for several hours before the match, some want to sight-see, some want to arrive just before kickoff with their flask and sandwiches...

 

[158756]

Only Hartford and Runcorn. And South Parkway if the temporary platform is still there?

I’m sure LNR can use UDS however it’s taking units from elsewhere, when it’s Virgin who refuse to provide a service.

Not sure it's harder for LNWR to find a set it needed - they will have a train somewhere else which could be short formed, and they'll have more sets not needed at the weekend.though

That won't get people all the way to London though - and Virgin aren't of their own accord going to make a loss on extra trains, at the same time reducing maintenance time and reliability.

 

[STKKK46]

Unfortunately whilst I believe more trains and carriages should be put on for Football fans, I’m not really sure it can be left to LNR taking sets off weekend maintenance in case fans can’t fit on Virgin services past Crewe. The London to Liverpool fares are surely set by VT and the revenue received by them, so what do LNR get out of it?

 

[sprunt]

There used to be special cup final services when a Manchester team got to the FA Cup final - they'd run non-stop (perhaps with a Stockport pick-up) from Manchester to Wembley Central. I don't know for sure when they stopped, but I'm certain they were run for the 1990 final - I don't know if they were still running in 1994 because I was at university in Nottingham by then.

 

[Stampy]

I can see the point..

Take my recent experience for example:-

Last Saturday, I went to the Carlisle v Northampton match, and (having booked seats) caught the 1807 train back from Carlisle to Rugby.

All was fine, a few supporters from various teams "mixing" on the train discussing football in general - until we pulled into Wolverhampton....

The train was RAMMED solid from there until we got to Birmingham New Street* - where a large majority of the Wolves supporters got off - to be replaced by other supporters from other teams.

There was even a heated argument between two supporters and the train manager about 2 "reserved" seats near the shop on the train - to which the train manager threatened to throw them off at Coventry.

My colleague and myself struggled to get off the train at Rugby as people had to get OFF the train to let us out.


*Turns out, the train that was due to arrive in front of us was LATE, and another Virgin train had failed - so WE were the 1st train post-match (or post beer-time) to arrive there - even though there was an EMPTY LNW train sitting in the platform next door!!!