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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National
Sage Swinton

Concert chaos: more buses planned for tonight's Elton John gig

Concert goers line up before gates open at Elton John on Sunday. Attendees reported long waits for buses both to and from the event. Picture by Marina Neil

Keolis Downer says that transport issues at Sunday's Elton John concert will be fixed for the second gig on Tuesday night.

The transport provider conceded routes were "overwhelmed" and more resources needed after reports of hour-long waits for buses from McDonald Jones Stadium and full shuttles travelling past stops to the event.

McDonald Jones Stadium organised the Keolis Downer shuttle service for ticket holders and was forced to call in greater resources after demand for the service was higher than expected.

One attendee said he had to direct his bus driver from the stadium to Mayfield after he became lost. Scott McIntyre said the hour wait wasn't a huge issue for him, but was shocked his driver didn't know where he was going.

He also said there wasn't a lot of signage directing people to the right buses after the event, which led to people massing rather than forming orderly queues.

"There was just no communication, no organisation," he said.

Keolis Downer said extra drivers were called in on the night. The company said it was likely the Mayfield driver was deployed at the last minute to help and did not understand the route. They said feedback would be taken on board to ensure drivers understood the routes.

The company said waiting bays were allocated with barricading and a marshal on each area, but "more barricading and better queuing systems were needed".

"Some locations and routes were overwhelmed during peak times," they said.

"These issues will be corrected before the Tuesday concert."

Buses, barricading and site staff will all be increased and a better wayfinding system implemented.

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