Great Western Railway and World Cup organisers have sought to allay fears that a lack of trains from London to Wales will leave thousands of Welsh supporters stranded after Saturday’s game against England.
Between 10,000 and 20,000 Wales fans are expected at Twickenham for the 8pm kick-off in Pool A – far more than for a regular Six Nations match – but the last train to depart Paddington for south Wales leaves at 10pm.
Despite concerns that Welsh fans will be stuck in south-west London – with some voicing their disapproval on social media – World Cup organisers stressed that National Express coaches will be on hand after the game and GWR claimed that over 98% of matchday tickets have not been bought in Wales anyway.
The rail company said: “We have worked very closely with the RWC to understand the needs of fans travelling to and from matches. Hundreds of additional trains and hundreds of thousands of additional seats will run over the course of the tournament.
“Data from the sale of match tickets indicates less than 2% of tickets for the England v Wales match have been sold in Wales. Given the particularly late kick-off, and with a journey time from Twickenham to a GWR station of at least an hour – meaning the earliest train to some destinations in South Wales would not arrive until at least 0200 – most fans from Wales are likely to choose to travel by alternative means, or stay overnight.”
A World Cup spokeswoman added: “We have urged fans to plan their journeys in advance for some time. We have an official RWC journey planner which we have shared with fans, with all the available transport information, and we have emailed spectators and run an advertising campaign encouraging fans to plan ahead and beat the rugby crowds.”
There have already been travel problems during the early stages of the tournament, notably in Cardiff. After Wednesday’s match between Australia and Fiji supporters had to wait up to three hours for a train out of the Welsh capital. There were also overcrowding issues before and after Saturday’s Ireland v Canada fixture at the Millennium Stadium, with the Welsh secretary, Stephen Crabb, discussing the problems with the bosses of GWR – formerly First Great Western – and Arriva Trains, urging the respective companies to “fix it”.
Crabb said: “We’re trying to put Cardiff in the market for major international events. There’s a reputational issue. On social media there have been a lot of complaints from fans angry that there aren’t rail services back from London after England v Wales.
“But I discussed this Saturday’s game with GWR and I’m not sure there is a duty on the rail companies. I think the vast majority of Welsh fans who booked tickets for a Saturday night kick-off knew that they would be planning for an overnight stay. They are not going to be leaving Twickenham till at least 10pm.”
