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Wednesday 23 Sep 2015

Train passengers advised to plan ahead this weekend

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

South Africa fans hoping their side can re-ignite its Rugby World Cup hopes following a shock defeat to Japan will be among hundreds of thousands of train passengers heading to Birmingham this weekend.

The Springboks’ Pool B clash with Samoa, at 4.45pm on Saturday at Villa Park, is one of the many events making this weekend one of the city’s busiest ever.

While the transformed Birmingham New Street station is able to handle crowds expected to use it this Saturday and Sunday (26 and 27 September), passengers should be prepared for busier trains, queuing systems in stations and a much busier city centre.

To ensure everyone arrives on time and, more importantly, can get safely home, train passengers are being advised by Network Rail and train companies to:

• allow extra time for their journeys,
• be prepared for busy stations,
• know the times of their last three trains - and not to aim for the very last one.

Here’s why Birmingham and, in particular, Birmingham New Street station will be busy this weekend:

• Following South Africa v Samoa on Saturday, Villa Park plays host at midday on Sunday to Australia and Uruguay when the two sides face off in their Pool A Rugby World Cup game.

• Other games will be shown on a big screen at the official fan zone at Millennium Point.

• Grand Central, the new shopping centre above Birmingham New Street station, is opening on Thursday (24 September) and will be drawing crowds from across the region this weekend.

• It is also the Birmingham Weekender arts festival and there are sold-out events at the Barclaycard Arena and the NEC.

Liam Sumpter, area director for Network Rail, said: “It is going to be a fantastic few days for Birmingham with Grand Central opening, Rugby World Cup matches and sold-out events in the city. All of this is on the back of the brilliant new station, which opened last weekend.

“There will be hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city centre and we want everyone to arrive on time and be able to get home safely. Our advice is simple - have a great time but please plan your travel, following our three tips: allow extra time, prepare for it to be busy and know your last three trains.”

On visiting Rugby World Cup fans, Liam added: “Many of the fans travelling to these games will be first-time visitors to Birmingham so won’t be familiar with our transport systems and some won’t speak English as their first language. Our job is to help give them a great first impression of our city and to ensure they get safely to and from the games.”

London Midland’s head of West Coast services, Terry Oliver, said: “Our message is it will be busy, there are other events going on as well, so plan ahead and don’t leave it till the last train or you may be disappointed. This is Birmingham’s bumper weekend with the arts festival, Grand Central and the Rugby World Cup all in full swing. We are also reminding fans travelling to Villa Park to use Aston station. Additional services will run before and after the games.”

Phil Bearpark, executive director for Operations and Projects, said: “We’re looking forward to a busy weekend in Birmingham, with loads of great events planned for the weekend. Getting through the station may take a little longer than normal and we’d urge all customers to allow enough time for their journey and plan in advance.”

Passengers can check train times and plan their journeys at www.nationalrail.co.uk. For Rugby World Cup travel advice visit http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/travel.