A high volume of spectators flocked to the exit gates after Andy Murray’s victory over Vasek Pospisil in an attempt to make it home before the tube strike hit London.
The London underground system closed down at 6pm on Wednesday and is set to remain closed until Friday. Transport across the capital has been severely affected, with SW19 one of the more congested areas.
Wimbledon organisers advised fans to leave early and make alternative travel plans in advance. During Murray’s quarter-final against Pospisil, a warning about the strike was also put out on Centre Court advising people to leave if they wanted to guarantee reaching the tube on time.
As soon as Britain’s No1 saw off the Canadian at around 4.30pm, a number of spectators made their way from the hill inside the All England Club and out of the grounds. There were plenty of spectators remaining for the Novak Djokovic versus Marin Cilic and Richard Gasquet versus Stan Wawrinka quarter-finals, but the number of green seats unoccupied on the show courts was evident.
While leaving the grounds Peter and Margaret Harvey, from Bristol, said: “We’ve got a train to catch at 9pm. We’re probably leaving too much time but we just don’t know how long it will take to get to Paddington [station]. We’ve got no idea how we’re going to get there. It’s annoying and very disruptive. But people have got the right to withdraw their labour. It’s spoiled it in a way. We would have stayed here till about 8pm or so.”
Tara Smith and her daughter Chloe, said: “It’s really frustrating, really annoying. It’s our first time – we’ve never been before. We live in west London but it would be so annoying to get home if we couldn’t get the Tube. We live in Ravenscourt Park so would have to change at Earl’s Court and then go out west. It’s not a long journey but, if we don’t get the tube, it could be two hours until we get home.
“We got our tickets in the ballot. It’s a real shame. We would have stayed until 8pm-9pm. It’s a bit of a shame because I wanted to see more tennis and get more of an experience.”
The All England Club has made more parking spaces available at the venue’s park-and-ride, providing 1,500 spaces at Morden Park during the two strike days in an attempt to ease the travel problem. There was also an increased bus service between Wimbledon station and the club.
A statement said: “The tube strike will clearly inconvenience our visitors and staff and we strongly advise everyone to allow extra time for their travel. There are good public transport alternatives such as trains to Wimbledon station where we have laid on extra shuttle buses, and the usual comprehensive London bus service. For anyone coming by car we also recommend using our park-and-ride service.”
