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Wednesday 7 Oct 2015

Sports fans given travel tips for Manchester's super Saturday

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

Leeds and Wigan fans were today advised to allow more time for their train journeys to and from Manchester for the sold-out Super League Grand Final this Saturday (10 October).

With the Grand Final between Leeds Rhinos and Wigan, England’s Rugby World Cup pool game against Uruguay and World Championship boxing all taking place in Manchester this Saturday evening, Network Rail and train companies are offering passengers three top travel tips:

- allow extra time because it will be busy

- expect queues, and

- know the times of your last three trains home - but don't aim for the very last one.

The Grand Final kicks off at Old Trafford (capacity 73,000) at 6pm before England v Uruguay at Manchester City's Etihad stadium (60,000) at 8pm. Doors open at the Manchester Arena (21,000) at 4.30pm for a night of World Championship Boxing, including Manchester’s Terry Flanagan defending his WBO World Lightweight title against challenger Diego Magdaleno.

Terry Strickland, North West area director for Network Rail, said: "Two evening rugby kick-offs of this magnitude, as well as boxing, will see huge numbers of sports fans travelling into Manchester this Saturday. To ensure you get safely to and from the event you're planning to see, we recommend following our three top travel tips: allow extra time, expect queues and know the times of your last three trains homes - and don't aim for the very last one."

Network Rail will have volunteers at Manchester Piccadilly station helping passengers with way-finding and information.

Richard Allan, commercial director for Northern Rail, said: “We’ve been preparing for months with industry partners for an amazing weekend of sport. We’re providing as many additional seats as possible for fans travelling to and from Manchester on Saturday, and we have dozens of extra staff at key stations to help customers with information.”

Gary Iddon, Virgin Trains' general manager, said: "We're really pleased to be playing a part in the Rugby World Cup. We have been working closely with the event organisers to ensure additional services, exclusive to Rugby World Cup ticket holders, are in place for the England game at the Ethiad. Tickets for the additional services are available to buy through the official Rugby World Cup website. We can't wait to welcome rugby fans from around the world to Manchester but advise them to book their journeys in advance."

Jonny Wiseman, general manager north for East Midlands Trains, said: "Trains to and from Manchester will be extremely busy throughout Saturday. We are providing additional and strengthened services.  In addition to this we will have extra staff available to assist customers but we strongly advise customers to plan their journey before leaving and leave plenty of time to reach their destination. Whether customers are travelling to watch the World Cup, Super League Grand Final or travelling for any other reason we're looking forward to helping everyone have a safe and convenient journey."

For the latest passenger information check www.nationalrail.co.uk or for Rugby World Cup travel advice visit http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/travel.