Hat-trick of travel tips for Leeds United fans going to Wembley: Wembley Aerial 2022 - Credit Network Rail Air Operations

Thursday 23 May 2024

Hat-trick of travel tips for Leeds United fans going to Wembley

Region & Route:
Eastern
| Eastern: East Coast

Leeds United football fans travelling by train to Wembley for the Championship play-off final are being given a hat-trick of travel tips for a winning journey.

With trains expected to be extremely busy on the East Coast Main Line this Sunday (26 May), Network Rail has the following advice for those headed through Leeds and London Kings Cross stations.

Passengers should:

  • Plan their journey in advance by using www.nationalrail.co.uk
  • Follow directions at London King's Cross both going to and heading back from Wembley
  • Know the time of trains home as later services will be busy

The team at King's Cross will be on hand to help direct people and get fans to the game in plenty of time.

KINGS CROSS FOOTBALL GRAPHIC copy-2 cropped

Stadium-goers are being asked to move through the station as soon as they arrive to avoid congestion for other passengers on the concourse.

They should head directly for the London Underground and take the Metropolitan line from King's Cross St Pancras Underground station to Wembley Park.

On the return leg, London King's Cross is expected to be very busy so the glass doors directly at the front of the station and hotel shutters will be temporarily closed between 6pm and 8pm.

Instead, all passengers will need to access the concourse through the Pancras Road entrance (where Boots and Marks and Spencer are located).

This is to reduce congestion and ensure everyone has enough room to wait for their train in comfort.

Passengers waiting at King's Cross are also reminded to scan the QR codes on station information screens to get live departure boards directly on their phone through Network Rail’s ‘Whoosh’ service.

Kings Cross Whoosh QR code

Accessing the link automatically directs to live travel updates for those on their way back from the stadium.

Helen Cavanagh, head of passenger experience for Network Rail’s East Coast route, said: “Our station teams at both Leeds and King's Cross are ready to help football fans on their way to arguably the biggest game in football – with a return to the Premier League at stake. With nerves about the big match undoubtedly running high, we’ll do everything we can to make sure getting the train to Wembley and back is as smooth for people as possible.

“What we ask of Wembley-goers is to think in threes – plan ahead, follow in-station directions, and know what time your train is home. You can do this by using National Rail Enquiries or scanning the Whoosh QR codes which are on passenger information screens at King's Cross.”

To plan your journey in advance please visit www.nationailrail.co.uk

You can click the following link for more information about Whoosh: www.whooshmedia.co.uk.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Chris Halpin
07858 375508
chris.halpin@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

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