OutByEaster? Posted February 11 Author Moderator Share Posted February 11 4 hours ago, John said: Could buses not park right outside of the ground in Witton Lane for example and then be sent out together with a couple of the police that are already outside of the ground being asked to stop traffic at Witton island to allow the buses to get onto the main roads? Back when buses used to line up in the roads (number 11 & 7) and move off when full, that seemed to work well, although cars were not parked on the main roads as they are now and there are more cars on the road now too. Perhaps one main road could be closed to any traffic, other than buses after games for a period of time? The problem is that you'd need to block those roads off for twenty minutes before the busses left in order to clear them. I don't think you can simply escort them through stationery traffic.It's not just Witton island, there will be a queue from Witton island to Perry Barr and a queue from Witton Island to six ways - at best, it you policed the island you could get them into the queue. Also, some of the parking I've seen today was hilarious. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 7 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said: The problem is that you'd need to block those roads off for twenty minutes before the busses left in order to clear them. I don't think you can simply escort them through stationery traffic.It's not just Witton island, there will be a queue from Witton island to Perry Barr and a queue from Witton Island to six ways - at best, it you policed the island you could get them into the queue. Also, some of the parking I've seen today was hilarious. Whole point of park and ride is try to stop less people parking right by the ground I assume? If there's a regular 10-15 minute shuttle service in a couple of directions like the train service (sometimes) that would reduce clogging up the junction right by the Villa Tavern which seems to be an issue although people walking on the radio is another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted February 11 Author Moderator Share Posted February 11 4 minutes ago, VillaChris said: Whole point of park and ride is try to stop less people parking right by the ground I assume? If there's a regular 10-15 minute shuttle service in a couple of directions like the train service (sometimes) that would reduce clogging up the junction right by the Villa Tavern which seems to be an issue although people walking on the radio is another. I'm not quite sure where the Villa Tavern is sorry - which junction is that? I think one of the things we sometimes don't realise as fans is how busy some of these roads are on non-matchdays - the journey from Witton Island to Six ways can be difficult enough for a bus on Wednesday morning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 (edited) 11 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said: I'm not quite sure where the Villa Tavern is sorry - which junction is that? I think one of the things we sometimes don't realise as fans is how busy some of these roads are on non-matchdays - the journey from Witton Island to Six ways can be difficult enough for a bus on Wednesday morning! Where the old Leisure centre used to be. That would be a problem junction if you did have shuttle buses along that route given about 20k fans head back that direction so would take a while for it to be safe for buses to go down the road, pretty dodgy if you don't look and suddenly notice a car is crawling through the masses of people. Edited February 11 by VillaChris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danceoftheshamen Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Just got back (Burton on Trent). One of the most horrendous journeys I can remember. Took ages to get away from the stadium and after checking the traffic alerts etc It looked like the A38 was again closed near Lichfiel/ Alrewas area where they are still doing Hs2 work most nights. So as no other closures came up I decided to play it safe & go via the M42 up past Tamworth & into Burton along the A444. So I went onto the M6 Southbound and was then hit with nose to tail traffic all the way along to the M42 junction only to find they had completely closed the acces road. So again I had to divert towards Coventry to pick up the A446 which was snared up due to the M42 traffic being diverted onto it. Eventually I got to the Belfry island on the A446 and saw the traffic completely snared up ahead so diverted up the A446 towards Lichfield. I finally reached the A38 at Lichfield only to find it was not closed afterall!! Furious. I literally wasted about an hour & a half and about £10 in fuel all because they can't be arsed to update the traffic websites properly. All in all a nightmare day out at Villa Park especially with throwing away the points like we did against that bunch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted February 11 Author Moderator Share Posted February 11 3 minutes ago, VillaChris said: Where the old Leisure centre used to be. That would be a problem junction if you did have shuttle buses along that route given about 20k fans head back that direction so would take a while for it to be safe for buses to go down the road, pretty dodgy if you don't look and suddenly notice a car is crawling through the masses of people. Ah, I think that's the Aston Tavern, I think there used to be a Villa tavern somewhere the other side of Aston station (might still be). I can't say as I'm massively familiar with the junction as I leave from the other side of the ground, but I agree entirely on the problem with what become mixed use roads immediately after games - when you have thousands of people walking in the road and there are cars trying to creep through there's always the potential for accidents and incidents - those areas should be pedestrianised for a period after the final whistle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted February 11 Author Moderator Share Posted February 11 5 minutes ago, danceoftheshamen said: Just got back (Burton on Trent). One of the most horrendous journeys I can remember. Took ages to get away from the stadium and after checking the traffic alerts etc It looked like the A38 was again closed near Lichfiel/ Alrewas area where they are still doing Hs2 work most nights. So as no other closures came up I decided to play it safe & go via the M42 up past Tamworth & into Burton along the A444. So I went onto the M6 Southbound and was then hit with nose to tail traffic all the way along to the M42 junction only to find they had completely closed the acces road. So again I had to divert towards Coventry to pick up the A446 which was snared up due to the M42 traffic being diverted onto it. Eventually I got to the Belfry island on the A446 and saw the traffic completely snared up ahead so diverted up the A446 towards Lichfield. I finally reached the A38 at Lichfield only to find it was not closed afterall!! Furious. I literally wasted about an hour & a half and about £10 in fuel all because they can't be arsed to update the traffic websites properly. All in all a nightmare day out at Villa Park especially with throwing away the points like we did against that bunch. I know you don't want to hear this, but they announced the M42 junction closure a couple of times at the ground and had it displayed on the big screen throughout the last ten minutes of the game. Sorry. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 I drive to most games, unless having a few drinks. My friend wanted a couple of drinks today so contemplated getting the train. Only to find how bad Sunday service is. Last train from Moor St to Shirley was at 6:30, meaning that if I wanted to get that I’d have to leave the game early. So of course I drove. So the point I’m making is even if it gets easier around the ground, WM travel have to change as well, which may be harder to go. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danceoftheshamen Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 (edited) 33 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said: I know you don't want to hear this, but they announced the M42 junction closure a couple of times at the ground and had it displayed on the big screen throughout the last ten minutes of the game. Sorry. Ah, genuinely didn't hear it or see the message on the big screen. I was too engrossed in the game at that point and was a little fed up of hearing the repeated "Don't do this" or "don't say that" warnings, so I had kind of switched off from the announcements by that point . Still doesn't change the fact they should have updated the traffic alert websites. The A38 closure has become a real pain in the backside as the diversions are frankly a joke and very poorly laid out. I know several people who have gone round in circles for miles & miles trying to get through. Edited February 11 by danceoftheshamen 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) Seems there's going to be a new fleet of service on the Cross City line in Spring. Only issue is they're only going to be three carriages long! Not really sure how that will improve things at Aston and Witton so that will be another headache for the club in easing congestion. Edited February 16 by VillaChris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milfner Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 1 hour ago, VillaChris said: Seems there's going to be a new fleet of service on the Cross City line in Spring. Only issue is they're only going to be three carriages long! Not really sure how that will improve things at Aston and Witton so that will be another headache for the club in easing congestion. All the current trains on the cross city are three carriages long, they just stick two together to make it a six. These trains have better standing capacity so should be less of a squeeze / allow more people to get on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) On 11/02/2024 at 21:18, VillaChris said: Where the old Leisure centre used to be. That would be a problem junction if you did have shuttle buses along that route given about 20k fans head back that direction so would take a while for it to be safe for buses to go down the road, pretty dodgy if you don't look and suddenly notice a car is crawling through the masses of people. Isn't that the Aston Tavern? The Villa Tavern is up on Holborn road past Aston station, and a nice little boozer to boot. Edit- sorry that has already been clarified. Edited February 16 by The Fun Factory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talldarkandransome Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 I park down by the Tower School, on the street for free, 10-15 min walk, get out really easy after and back home in about 40 mins.. much better than where I used to park. Never leave early 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 47 minutes ago, Talldarkandransome said: I park down by the Tower School, on the street for free, 10-15 min walk, get out really easy after and back home in about 40 mins.. much better than where I used to park. Never leave early Well that’s the last time you’ll say that because now everybody will go there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talldarkandransome Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 1 hour ago, nick76 said: Well that’s the last time you’ll say that because now everybody will go there I think a load of people do already, the car parks down there aren't too bad but £7 is too much for me, one of them is £10.. the only downside of free parking is we need to get there early to get a spot. So always arriving an hour before kick off.. I might do the bus and train for Forest, just to mix it up a bit. The lad enjoyed that last time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted February 16 VT Supporter Share Posted February 16 10 hours ago, VillaChris said: Seems there's going to be a new fleet of service on the Cross City line in Spring. Only issue is they're only going to be three carriages long! Not really sure how that will improve things at Aston and Witton so that will be another headache for the club in easing congestion. Pretty much all trains are only 2 or 3 carriages long. It allows for formations to be made up of 2,3,4,5 or 6 carriage combinations for operational flexibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 2 hours ago, sidcow said: Pretty much all trains are only 2 or 3 carriages long. It allows for formations to be made up of 2,3,4,5 or 6 carriage combinations for operational flexibility. The ones going to Walsall/Wolves are four carriages. Vast majority of services going Lichfield/Redditch are 6 carriages. Just seems another pee take from Transport West Midlands, no increase in services and less carriages. Will be interested the reaction in this thread when they come into service for probably our last couple of home games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted February 17 VT Supporter Share Posted February 17 8 hours ago, VillaChris said: The ones going to Walsall/Wolves are four carriages. Vast majority of services going Lichfield/Redditch are 6 carriages. Just seems another pee take from Transport West Midlands, no increase in services and less carriages. Will be interested the reaction in this thread when they come into service for probably our last couple of home games. Well I'm sure they'll be happy because the new trains represent a 25% increase in capacity over the old trains. The carriages are significantly more spacious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 9 hours ago, VillaChris said: Vast majority of services going Lichfield/Redditch are 6 carriages. Just seems another pee take from Transport West Midlands, no increase in services and less carriages. Will be interested the reaction in this thread when they come into service for probably our last couple of home games. They are - 2x 3 carriages put together on the bulk of the services now. Post pandemic they moved the service from 6x hour, to 4x four but that meant they could make most of them 6 carriages. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Platform extensions were talked about last year but seems to have gone quiet 11 car Pendolinos football specials straight into New Street/Walsall will facilitate that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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