FA Cup Quarter Final Sunday 9th March - East Midlands Trains

[CheekyBandit]

As a supporter of Charlton Athletic I am not particularly happy with the lack of trains from London on Sundays that would get them (of which there seem to be a fair few) to Sheffield for their game at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane, which is a noon kick-off. Not a problem for me as I live in Sheffield. The following possible rail options seem to be:

First possible train:
0820 ex-Euston, arrive Sheffield 1207. Changing at Stockport.

First possible route Chesterfield option.
0900 ex-St Pancras, arrive Sheffield 1232. Changing at Nottingham.

First possible direct service.
0939 ex-St Pancras, arrive Sheffield 1241.

Surely it would not be that hard for EMT to put on an extra earlier train given that there is likely to be the demand for it.

 

[TheVicLine]

Surely the FA knew this I would say the blame lies with them rather than the TOC. It would have made sense to have later kick off time rather than expecting the whole country to accommodate their short notice fixture lists.

 

[cuccir]

It would be easier for the FA to:

*Download a PDF of relevant train times
*Schedule matches accordingly

After all, cup matches are arranged at relatively short notice - two weeks isn't very long when you have staff rotas, engineering works, train maintenance rotas etc... the point being that the timetable was set long before the match was arranged.

Hopefully Charlton's supporters club can arrange charter trains/coaches. But I see this very much as the FA's fault, rather than the rail companies'.
--
Looking at practical solutions:
I'd suggest that people with no other option get the 08:56 from Kings Cross, getting into Doncaster at 10:55. Taxi Doncaster quotes me £36.38 for a taxi from Doncaster to Brammall Lane, which among a group of 3 or 4 isn't bad, and an hour should be comfortable for this journey on a Sunday morning.

 

[SeanG]

I would hazard a guess that it is at noon for tv reasons

 

[CallySleeper]

I'm fairly sure the FA is more concerned about organising its games into TV schedules (money maker) rather than around train times.

 

[cuccir]

I would hazard a guess that it is at noon for tv reasons

I'm sure that's why - it's on BT Sport. Unfortunately we're long past the point where it's even surprising that fans' ability to get to matches comes well below television in deciding when to schedule a match.

 

[Thomas6187]

Seeing as the game was only confirmed as Kicking off late yesterday afternoon(even the BBC still have the game on Saturday 15:00) EMT having had much that much time to plan anything

 

[455driver]

Its not just the FA that do this, a few years ago they decided to hold some rugby international at Twickenham when the lines were closed for engineering work (Twickers had been informed of the works over 12 months previously as it was such a big job) and we (I was a guard then) had to announce on all trains on the weeks before the match that there would be no trains and the stadium were aware of this when fixing the match dates. It didnt stop people moaning about the f+++++g railways though!

In my opinion, all the organisers are interested in is making money and that money comes from the television rights and f++k the fans, they are something that has to be tolerated!
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Seeing as the game was only confirmed as Kicking off late yesterday afternoon(even the BBC still have the game on Saturday 15:00) EMT having had much that much time to plan anything

Which probably means the kickoff has been changed to suit BT Sport!

 

[SeanG]

Its on BT Sport

 

[455driver]

Edited thanks, I wont be watching it anyway.

 

[Bald Rick]

My experience of Charlton away support is such that a rail replacement bus would be more than adequate

 

[dk1]

FA need to wake up. This happens too often.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Should have played worse and let SWFC through to the next round. Not that i am bitter or anything.....

In all seriousness the FA are ridiculous when it comes to this and it is slowly going to kill away travel.

 

[telstarbox]

Charlton's support is spread across Kent as well as SE London, so it isn't guaranteed that an early charter train would be well-used as some fans would have to set off even earlier to make the connection.

 

[PHILIPE]

FA need to wake up. This happens too often.

No. As has been explained already it is due to TV Companies for the purpose of making money.

 

[Mugby]

That first direct train has been the bane of my life for a very long time.

Over three hours to get to Sheffield and stopping at every lamp post!

 

[CockneySparrow]

Its not really cost effective for TOCs to encourage football fans to travel by train in the long run, that's why none of them do anything to help the cause, same with NR

I mean ok there will be revenue from tickets should everyone pay and not dodge, second is you have a load of drunks making journeys which mean the TOCs probably have to pay for police resources, trains get vandalised and staff are at risk when they approach drunks for tickets

Also the railway can be a dangerous place should a drunk get off the train at an unstaffed station the walk down the track or over a barrow crossing its a danger that NR dont want

In the grand scheme of things its not worth the hassle

I know GA did a trip from Norwich to Peterborough a couple of years ago for a cup game one Saturday afternoon, dont think they will again after some got on other trains back to Norwich which meant changing at Ely where they met Ipswich fans on the platform who had come back from an away game from Birmingham, anyway there were several arrests at Ely

 

[LowLevel]

EMT run plenty of football trains - just this particular fixture appears not to be feasible to do so, being scheduled at the time it is on a Sunday!

 

[dk1]

No. As has been explained already it is due to TV Companies for the purpose of making money.

Not the railways problem though.

 

[NathanPrior]

My experience of Charlton away support is such that a rail replacement bus would be more than adequate

You cheeky bugger!

 

[Gemz91]

Long been the case. Sadly the football fans attending the match come a long way down the priorities of the FA/Football League.

 

[bb21]

The FA claiming that they are putting the supporters first is a bit like the train companies saying that they are putting the passengers first. (And I include the DfT in the latter group too.)

 

[afyutr]

This is a pretty common occurrence though isn't it - the FA has form here. Was it not the Arsenal v Liverpool match in the last round that left the 6-7,000 LFC fans with a choice of about 3 trains to get home on (given away fans at a game like that will probably be held in the ground for a short while after the game).

Wenger wasn't best pleased either as they had an important midweek game. He wanted a sat lunch kick off. TV comes first, fans and clubs can shove it! What seems odd is that the clubs often have to whinge through the media - is there no dialogue between the FA and clubs at all?

 

[455driver]

is there no dialogue between the FA and clubs at all?

Yes of course there is, the FA say "this is what we are doing" and that is the end of the discussion!

The FA hold the purse strings so there isnt much the clubs can do except roll over and have their bellies tickled.

 

[adrock1976]

The FA should abandon the crazy notion of holding semi-finals at Wembley.

I remember the days whenever northern teams were drawn against each other, the semi-finals were hosted at a neutral venue in the geographical area e.g. Liverpool v Newcastle = Elland Road, Nottingham Forest v Cardiff = Villa Park (these are arbitary examples).

This would make transport arrangements easier, and would also encourage the so called "Big Four/Six" top flight teams to take the tournament more seriously.

In peace

Adam

PS I'm an Aston Villa and Partick Thistle fan (yes, I know it's a form of masochism!

 

[transmanche]

The FA should abandon the crazy notion of holing semi-finals at Wembley.

They need the extra games at Wembley to help pay back the massive reconstruction costs.

 

[wensley]

Its not really cost effective for TOCs to encourage football fans to travel by train in the long run, that's why none of them do anything to help the cause, same with NR

Not strictly speaking true, there has been massive effort from TOCs and NR to provide for Sunderland fans travelling to Wembley for this weekend's cup final. It might not be the most profitable of activities, but when it works the fans are happy and it can be managed safely.

For large games, however, a single football train is often not enough, and you can soon find yourself with too much demand and nowhere to put the fans!!

 

[transmanche]

Not strictly speaking true, there has been massive effort from TOCs and NR to provide for Sunderland fans travelling to Wembley for this weekend's cup final.

Well let's see.

EC are putting on two extra southbound trains on the Saturday and Sunday, with four extra northbound trains on the Sunday. GC are putting on one extra train each way on the Sunday.

Which sounds fantastic... until you realise that due to planned engineering works, EC are only running 1tph between Newcastle and London, instead of their normal 2tph. So although it's been presented as five 'extra' trains running, it's still quite a reduction on the normal Sunday service.

What is good is that Network Rail has rescheduled some of the work in order to allow some of these 'extra' trains to run. So, yes a big hurrah to the rail industry for managing to do something - but it's not quite the massive increase in capacity that it's been presented as.

 

[Capybara]

The last time Charlton got to a quarter final they managed to organise a special train to Middlesbrough for the replay, returning straight after the match. I wouldn't have thought doing something similar would be such a big deal this time would it?

 

[Tetchytyke]

I think you're being unfair transmanche.

East Coast did the same thing last year when Bradford City reached the League Cup Final, and that WAS a significant increase in capacity.

And Network Rail changing the plans to allow the trains to use the main line on Sunday afternoon (the plan was to divert via Knottingley) is a sign that the industry are paying attention.