Best links for beating the strike | FA offers England football fans a refund
Fans heading to Wembley for tonight’s World Cup qualifying match between England and Andorra have found their public transport options narrowed to almost nothing after three rail companies cancelled their services to the stadium tonight.
London Midland and Southern, which usually stop at Wembley Central, and Chiltern Rail, whose trains usually stop at Wembley Stadium, said that they were cancelling services to and from the match on the advice of the British Transport Police, because of safety fears caused by the RMT union’s strike action on the London Underground.
“Industrial action by the RMT Union means that the level of services to and from Wembley has been significantly decreased presenting the risk of overcrowding on rail services,” a statement from London Midland said. “For this reason London Midland and other rail operators have taken the decision to withdraw services and advise those supporters attending the game to seek alternative methods of transport.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this decision, but we must ensure the safety and comfort of our passengers at all times.”
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Chiltern said it had cancelled all services to Wembley Stadium station from noon today. “The increased volumes of traffic using London Marylebone to get to and from work in lieu of the London Underground will mean that our services will be substantially busier,” the rail operator said in a statement. “The large volumes of anticipated Wembley traffic in addition to this would be unsustainable from a safety perspective.
“We have also been advised by the British Transport Police that the crowd volumes at Wembley Stadium station could potentially be unsafe. The safety of both our regular passengers, and the additional travellers using our services because of the strike, is paramount, and we therefore have taken the difficult decision to withdraw services to Wembley on 10 June. Unfortunately this will also affect the evening journey of those who commute to/from Wembley Stadium station.”
The two-day Tube strike has cut the usual number of services running in London by more than half, with 130 trains operating during this morning’s rush hour instead of the usual 500.
The Jubilee Line was this afternoon providing a service to and from Wembley. On the Metropolitan line services were operating with severe delays between Harrow on the Hill/Amersham via fast lines and Baker Street. The Bakerloo Tube line was shut north of Queen’s Park.
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“We are doing all we can to keep trains running on the Jubilee and Metropolitan Tube lines through Wembley Park station, but services will be reduced,” a spokeswoman for Transport for London warned. “London Overground trains will be running a limited service which will serve the nearby Wembley Central Station.
“Journeys today will be difficult, so if supporters can travel to Wembley without relying on public transport as their sole means of travel, they should consider that option, including walking for at least part of the journey. Londoners and fans travelling to the game should check before they travel on the TfL website and also the Football Association website .”
The spokeswoman advised fans to allow much more time than normal to complete the journey, and to plan alternative routes in case of disruption. Londoners were advised to consider walking, cycling, driving or taking a taxi to the stadium, although traffic is likely to be heavy, buses full and demand for cabs high while hundreds of thousands of London commuters are also trying to get home.
Thousands of fans who were due to attend the game are now likely to miss out because of the travel mayhem.
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The FA has ordered the turnstiles at Wembley to open early at 5.45pm to ease the disruption. Kick off remains at 8.15pm.
It warned that no additional parking would be available around the stadium, and that traffic would be heavy. It advised drivers to avoid the area from late afternoon.
The FA has offered refunds to ticketholders who decide not to attend this game because of the travel difficulties.