Network Rail is urging fans of Aston Villa, Shrewsbury Town and Coventry City that are heading to Wembley this weekend to plan ahead for their journey into London.
90,000 football fans are expected to flock to Wembley for the play off finals this Bank Holiday, but planned upgrade work on the railway between Birmingham New Street and Coventry means there will be no trains between these two stations for the whole weekend.
A major resignalling project between Birmingham New Street and Coventry via Birmingham International means that there will be Rail Replacement Bus (RRB) services in operation, which mean may your journey to London Euston may take longer than normal.
The investment will improve the railway between Birmingham and Coventry and will increase its capacity.
Chiltern Railways will be strengthing their services between Birmingham, Wembley and London Marylebone with 10,000 extra seats – however, trains are still expected to busier than normal.
What did the officials say?
Martin Frobisher, Network Rail route managing director for the London North Western route, said:
“These upgrades are a vital step towards us being able to provide better, more reliable journeys for the millions of passengers who travel on the railway from London to Carlisle via the West Midlands and the north west of England.
“The work we do is essential to keeping people and goods moving. Improvement work on the railway is planned years in advance, ahead of any short-term scheduling of sporting events and knowing which teams will compete in finals.
“There is never a good time to carry out big pieces of work but we plan it over bank holidays which are traditionally quieter times to affect the fewest number of people.”
Eleni Jordan, Commercial Director for Chiltern Railways, said:
“The rail industry is working to make major improvements to the network around Birmingham for the long-term benefit of passengers, but this will mean short term disruption over the Bank Holiday weekend while several major sporting events are taking place at Wembley Stadium as well as Birmingham Pride.
“We want to make sure everyone who wants to travel by rail can, but we need passengers to know that Chiltern Railways trains will be very busy, and they should allow extra time for their journey.
“Customers travelling to Wembley over the weekend should be aware that queuing systems will be in place at Birmingham Moor Street, London Marylebone and Wembley Stadium stations, and there may be queues of 90 minutes or longer in both directions.
“We’ll have extra people at our stations to help and advise. We appreciate your patience during this busy time.”
Andrew Conroy, customer experience director at London Northwestern Railway, said:
“Engineering works are never convenient for anyone, but we’re working with other train companies to help people complete their journeys whilst the work takes place.
“Customers are advised to check before they travel as journeys may take longer than usual.”
Peter Broadley, executive director, customer, operations and safety at Virgin Trains, said:
“We know that improvement works can impact people’s travel plans. We’ve worked closely with Network Rail to minimise disruption and are able to run some trains to and from London, but a much reduced service with extended journey times. We encourage anyone travelling down to Wembley to cheer on their team this bank holiday weekend to speak to our station staff or check our website when planning their journey.”
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Coventry City to get promoted back to League 1. Shrewsbury Town to get promoted to the Championship and Aston Villa to get promoted back to the Premier League. All 3 West Midlands football clubs in the EFL to get promoted.