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Friday 25 Sep 2015

Train passengers urged to plan ahead as Birmingham welcomes the world

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

Thousands of Uruguay, Australia, South Africa and Samoa fans are set to travel by train to Birmingham this weekend to shout on their sides in Rugby World Cup matches at Villa Park.

As well as South Africa v Samoa (4.45pm 26 Sat Sept) and Australia v Uruguay (midday 27 Sun Sept), the Birmingham Weekender arts festival (Fri 25 to Sun 27 Sept), Michael McIntyre comedy gigs at the Barclaycard Arena (Fri 25 and Sat 26 Sept) and the Cycle Show 2015 at the NEC (Thu 24 to Sun 27 Sept) are taking place.

Large crowds of shoppers are also expected to flock to Grand Central, the new shopping centre above the station.

All this means Birmingham New Street station will be very busy.

To ensure everyone arrives on time and, more importantly, can get safely home, the advice from Network Rail and train companies is:
• 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.

Mark Killick, 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, Mark 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.