England game behind closed doors?

[Easy 10]

In the past if it has got serious network rail can ask the operating companies to stop everything to clear crowds and arrange extra trains.

Whan has this happened in the past ? And what was the result ?

I really cannot see the operating companies "stopping everything" (presumably you mean cancelling other services) in a call to arms to serve Wembley Stadium at 10.30pm, on a Wednesday.

 

[1swedegull]

Obviously I am only a 'layman' but would it not be possible to run extra overland trains from Wembley to either just Euston or even to the main terminals like Euston, for Kings Cross and St Pancras, Paddington, Victoria and Waterloo most other stations are within reasonable walking distance. Perhaps the network facility will not allow it but this could have been arranged a couple of weeks ago.

see above !!

 

[clapham_gull]

Yes I have been to Wembley and I am fully aware of the long queues for public transport after the match. You are probably right in saying that the overland rail network would not cope if the tube stations were shut, which is why I think extra provision is needed in other areas.

If I had a ticket for tomorrow I would probably look into what buses go to or near to Wembley from Victoria, in the absense of any other alternative. I doubt I would drive. I'd also make sure I know the time of the last train back from Victoria.

Are you saying they should call the game off?

Have you tried getting on bus in a tube strike ?

 

[Uter]

OK fine.

I hope you enjoy your new role of Lord High Emperor Cuckoo, Overlord of Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Ultimately, I am sure that ACAS will get involved and the proposed strike will be miraculously called off.

And it will STILL will be shit getting to and from Wembley

Ok, what is your solution then clever cloggs?

 

[1swedegull]

Whan has this happened in the past ? And what was the result ?

I really cannot see the operating companies "stopping everything" (presumably you mean cancelling other services) in a call to arms to serve Wembley Stadium at 10.30pm, on a Wednesday.

In the past all london midland services ( ex silverlink ) had additonal stops put on after a game, Virgin wouldnt be able to call due to platform issues , I cant say for certain about Chiltern but would not take much to do it just place special stop orders on trains coming into london .

 

[Uter]

Have you tried getting on bus in a tube strike ?

No. But good point. In that case I'd probably consider not going unless the FA took some sort of action to increase capacity on alternative transport options.

 

[Uter]

Tube strikes aren't exactly unknown are they so you would think that the FA have a contingency plan in place for such events.

 

[1swedegull]

the other thing is and this is just me being devils advocate but would 70000 really go to watch us against andorra and obviously the FA ceasing ticket trade last week would make the crowd smaller anyway ..... 35-40000 at tops ?

 

[Easy 10]

Yes I have been to Wembley and I am fully aware of the long queues for public transport after the match. You are probably right in saying that the overland rail network would not cope if the tube stations were shut, which is why I think extra provision is needed in other areas.

If I had a ticket for tomorrow I would probably look into what buses go to or near to Wembley from Victoria, in the absense of any other alternative. I doubt I would drive. I'd also make sure I know the time of the last train back from Victoria.

Are you saying they should call the game off?

Getting to Wembley by road (be it car, bus or coach) is fairly horrendous at the best of times, and if you then throw all that additional traffic into the mix as a result of there being no tubes, then unless you intend getting there about 4 hours before kickoff, a bus from Victoria would be unworkable. And then you've still got to get back again when everyone else is doing the same.

Should they call it off ? Its a tough call, and there is no idea solution. If they called it off and then the strike then doesn't go ahead, then everyone will go nuts. Leave the game on and whatever way you slice it, with no tubes its going to be chaos. People will just have to decide what they want to do.

Me ? I'd knock it on the head, stay home, and apply for a refund.

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

Tube strikes aren't exactly unknown are they so you would think that the FA have a contingency plan in place for such events.

That's a ridiculous thing to say.. THERE IS NO EASY WAY TO GET 40,000 + PEOPLE ACROSS LONDON EASILY WITHOUT THE TUBE!

 

[Springal]

Getting to Wembley by road (be it car, bus or coach) is fairly horrendous at the best of times, and if you then throw all that additional traffic into the mix as a result of there being no tubes, then unless you intend getting there about 4 hours before kickoff, a bus from Victoria would be unworkable. And then you've still got to get back again when everyone else is doing the same.

Should they call it off ? Its a tough call, and there is no idea solution. If they called it off and then the strike then doesn't go ahead, then everyone will go nuts. Leave the game on and whatever way you slice it, with no tubes its going to be chaos. People will just have to decide what they want to do.

Me ? I'd knock it on the head, stay home, and apply for a refund.

Quite frankly, I can't be arsed to go now. We once had to get to Kingston-Upon-Thames really quick, we got a taxi and queued outside wembley about 40 minutes just to get moving, its a nightmare when everything is working!

They can't call the game off as they'd struggle to reschedule it and Andorra would not agree to it, I am hoping its behind closed doors and we al lget full refunds, which their insurance will cover anyway.

 

[Boris Yeltsin]

Get a taxi from the station to Wembley?

 

[Uter]

That's a ridiculous thing to say.. THERE IS NO EASY WAY TO GET 40,000 + PEOPLE ACROSS LONDON EASILY WITHOUT THE TUBE!

No one is disputing that.

It is not a ridiculous thing to say. Given that Wembley is so heavily reliant on public transport it seems to me perfectly reasonable to expect Wembley Stadium to have considered what they would do in the event of a strike before this actually happened.

 

[Uter]

Whan has this happened in the past ? And what was the result ?

I really cannot see the operating companies "stopping everything" (presumably you mean cancelling other services) in a call to arms to serve Wembley Stadium at 10.30pm, on a Wednesday.

England played Chile in 1989 in the Rous Cup during a tube strike. Most people stayed away resulting in the lowest ever Wembley attendance for an England match: 15,628. I have no idea what they did to cope with the strike though.

 

[clapham_gull]

Get a taxi from the station to Wembley?

Have you tried getting a taxi in a tube strike

 

[clapham_gull]

England played Chile in 1989 in the Rous Cup during a tube strike. Most people stayed away resulting in the lowest ever Wembley attendance for an England match: 15,628. I have no idea what they did to cope with the strike though.

I'd imagine the amount of people using public transport in 1989 is wildly different from the people using it today.

 

[Uter]

I'd imagine the amount of people using public transport in 1989 is wildly different from the people using it today.

England got much smaller crowds back then so even with no tube strike I doubt more than 30,000 would have turned up so it must have been a much easier decision to go ahead with the game.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Firstly ... there aren't 600 buses or coaches just sitting around in garages, waiting for someone to hire them. Nor are there 600 bus drivers available to drive them.

Even if there were, the roads will be particularly congested because of all the extra traffic that will be using roads, because of the tube strike. So the 600 buses would just have to join the queues.

And 600 buses will make those queues even worse. So the 58,000 people who thought they could get to Wembley overland would find that they couldn't. But they won't leave early, because "there weren't any problems the last time I did the journey".

What's the difference between playing the game behind closed doors and opening the gates, only to discover that the expected 70,000 can't get there until 10pm?

 

[SirDouglasLoft]

Not behind closed doors now.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Not behind closed doors now.

Marvellous.

So they've gone for the option that has the crowd arriving two hours after kick-off. That'll save them a fortune on refunds.