New football stadium for west ham will help fans

By Simon Hayes on February 27, 2008 1:36 PM |

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Greater consultation between football clubs such as West Ham and transport providers has been called for after the news that Tube engineering works forced a game to be moved to a different date.

The change for the Upton Park match against Portsmouth, originally intended for April 5 but now undecided, was announced last week and a London Assembly member is urging better treatment of fans.

It surely strengthens any attempts the Hammers make to move to a new ground. They are interested in land next to West Ham Tube station which has been used as a Parcelforce depot.

Although only a short way from Upton Park, this new base would offer considerable transport advantages through two Tube lines (the Jubilee and District), a DLR station set for 2010 as part of the link between Stratford International and Canning Town, and perhaps a bus station on the site.

Murad Qureshi AM, who led a review of sports travel arrangements in London on behalf of the Assembly’s Transport Committee last October, said: “Our report highlighted the need for consultation with transport providers before fixture lists are set in order to avoid clashes with engineering works and late fixture changes.

“Clearly there is still more work to be done by Transport for London and stadium owners so fans can be confident when they buy their match tickets that they won’t suddenly have to rearrange their plans because of a fixture change.”

The report itself said: “Reliable data on the number of people entering Upton Park station after a match is not available but anecdotal evidence suggests that queues of 300 to 400 yards at the station are not uncommon and those at the end of the queue can wait for well over an hour to enter.

“These problems have significantly increased since the capacity at the ground was increased to 36,000.”
It also said the club told the committee that it believes improvement to this station is the “single most important factor in improving travel arrangements” for fans visiting its stadium.

The Hammers were granted planning permission to increase capacity for the East Stand so if they do stay put and carry out that work the problem could become worse without improving the Tube station.

simon.hayes@wharf.co.uk