Gateway Merseyside On Liverpool Fans Face FA Cup Final Travel Problems

April 23, 2012 - PRLog -- Gateway Merseyside a local sales and marketing company had this to say “Being based around the area we know that there will be a lot of fans wanting to travel to match to watch the final but with travel problems we could see less fans heading to it , which would be a let down” Liverpool fans heading to the FA Cup final at Wembley on 5 May will be unable to return by train for two days due to engineering work.

Virgin Trains said the 17:15 BST kick off meant "no options for fans to return north" until Monday 7 May. A director at Gateway Merseyside stated “Having this late kick off has made fans now have to stay in the wembley area if they are relying on trains to get them to and from the arena. Hopefully the fans can get something sorted out for the will not want to miss this final”


Supporters will also not be able to travel direct to London from Liverpool after 08:00 BST on cup final day. A director at Gateway Merseyside said “I hope the fans are eager to go because an 8:00 is an early start to the day when the match doesn’t even start till 17:15 meaning you will have to wait a good couple of hours before you can even enter wembley”. Passengers will be able to travel to the match against Chelsea via Manchester, Chester or Crewe.

Virgin said engineering works would see "the route out of London closed on Sunday 6 May."
A Virgin Trains spokesman said: "We always try and help football fans get to and from matches on our network, and did this very successfully for Everton and Liverpool supporters travelling to the semi-final.

"However, on this occasion, as we explained to the FA, the choice of both a 17:15 kick-off and the staging of the FA Cup Final on a bank holiday weekend when Network Rail had already planned essential route improvement works mean we cannot offer fans the level of train service they have come to expect."

A number of private charter trains are being planned to operate over the weekend. A source at Gateway Merseyside stated “We hope that these trains can be organized for all of these supporters for their team needs them cheering them just like we will”