Imagine you wished to create the nation’s biggest traffic jam. You would pick a Friday evening in London during term-time and shut one of the main arterial routes out of the capital. Then you would schedule a globally significant sporting fixture to be played in that same postcode, sit back and await the inevitable transport carnage.
No wonder the operations staff responsible for hosting the Rugby World Cup have been sweating for months. When it was announced that England would kick off the 48-game tournament against Fiji at 8pm on a Friday night at Twickenham it was not only the local residents who took a deep breath. If there is gridlock from south-west London to the M25 and beyond, the feelgood factor surrounding rugby union’s showpiece event will soon evaporate.
Motorists – and everyone else – will get a taste of what to expect this weekend. England 2015 staff are using England’s two home warm-up Tests against France and Ireland as a dummy run, starting this Saturday evening when the main A316 dual carriageway linking central London with the M3 and M25 will be shut from 5pm to midnight. It could be a long night for anyone idly driving up to town for a quiet meal.
If everything goes smoothly, one man will be particularly grateful. Neil Snowball, the tournament’s operations director, helped plan the highly successful 2012 Olympics but admits the logistics surrounding the opening night of RWC 2015 have caused some sleepless nights. “Transport remains one of our biggest challenges,” says Snowball, a Cumbrian whose uncle and aunt lived in Stuart Lancaster’s home village. “I think we’ve a good plan but there are always things out of our control. That’s what keeps me awake.”
Which is why in addition to extra train capacity, park and ride options at Kempton Park and Hounslow and shuttle buses direct from the ground to both Richmond and Waterloo, one of the key messages to the wider public will be to stay away. Four years ago there was chaos on the streets around the opening fixture of the 2011 tournament in New Zealand, due in part to people simply fancying being in the vicinity of Eden Park on opening night.
“That’s really what caught them out in Auckland,” confirms Snowball. “We’ve talked to the team over there but I’m not sure there’s quite the same culture of people just wanting to be in Twickenham on that Friday night. If England get to the final, though, I’m sure all the local pubs will be swamped because people will want to be close by.”
If businesses can be persuaded to allow their employees to work from home on Friday 18 September, and the current dispute between tube workers and Transport for London is resolved to allow for all-night tube travel from 12 September, so much the better. Anyone who travelled on the stifling Paris Métro to the 2007 curtain-raiser between France and Argentina will testify that a mix of rush hour commuters and thousands of sports fans is not a recipe for tranquillity.
“When we did the analysis we found that probably 80% of people stuck on the A316 on a normal matchday have nothing to do with rugby,” reveals Snowball. “By diverting them away it should be better for them and for us.” He also hopes trial runs such as this weekend’s France game will raise awareness significantly. “I don’t think the message is out there yet and that’s our big challenge. The key advice to everyone is to plan ahead and take a look at our journey planner.”
Transport, of course, is far from the only major issue for the organisers. The national threat level for potential acts of terrorism continues to be rated “severe” by the Home Office and contingency plans have been ramped up accordingly. Local authorities nationwide have prepared for all eventualities, from assassination plots against visiting dignitaries to mass pile-ups on the motorway network. As many as half a million overseas visitors are expected to visit the country specifically for the tournament.
There is also the small matter of increased alcohol consumption inside and outside stadiums and in city centre fan-zones; some large distilleries do a slower trade than Twickenham or Cardiff on a big match day. “The fan-zones will be like any licensed premises; if people are intoxicated they either won’t be allowed in or they’ll be escorted out,” says Snowball. “Particularly with 8pm kickoffs. Local authorities are very mindful of people being on it all day.”
Weave the various strands together and the task facing the organisers is comparable with Lancaster’s as head coach. “It’ll be all hands to the pump on that first weekend,” says Snowball. “England doing well would certainly help.” This Saturday will examine the host nation’s state of World Cup readiness on and off the field.
