Correct - looking at the other grounds in England which have larger capacities than ours, only Wembley has a better infrastructure and that's solely down to the size of the railway station serving it.The rest are worse to get away from than VP, so I don't buy the argument that we can't add significantly more capacity for fear of overwhelming the local infrastructure.You've also got to remember that when the game finishes at VP, 40,000 people leave en masse. There's absolutely no attempt made to keep anyone at the ground any longer - quite the opposite. If leaving the ground became that much of an issue, the club could create a bit of a fan park somewhere nearby for people to have a few drinks, get something to eat, etc or even keep the ground open a bit longer to offer much the same, spreading out the flow of people leaving.
Add in the fact that transport in Birmingham in general is a joke, and that there doesn't seem to be much will to do anything about it, it all adds up to VP being a being right ballache to get away from.
Quote from: Risso on June 19, 2022, 11:31:42 PMAdd in the fact that transport in Birmingham in general is a joke, and that there doesn't seem to be much will to do anything about it, it all adds up to VP being a being right ballache to get away from.I agree. My parents live up towards Tower Hill, maybe 2 miles away maximum. I grew up there and it remains our base for home games, and we have never bothered trying to use any kind of public or private transport, we just walk there and back because it is always quicker.I spent three years on the dole, signing on at Perry Barr jobcentre, and it was the same then, at 10-11am, midweek. The 40-minute walk was almost always quicker and easier than public transport, and saved the £5-odd that you'd pay for a shite service.I don't blame the club, I have been using public transport every day for almost 25 years, and Birmingham has the worst network for a sizeable city that I've ever known, apart from possibly Leicester.It's expected with London - given that 50p of every £1 invested in public infrastructure in the UK is spent in London - but Manchester, Glasgow, Sheffield, Nottingham all have better networks than us.When I was at UoB 10-15 years ago, I had a bus pass, but would still walk the 6-odd miles home once a week or more, because it was simply easier than relying on the fucking buses.
When I was at UoB 10-15 years ago, I had a bus pass, but would still walk the 6-odd miles home once a week or more, because it was simply easier than relying on the fucking buses.
Where is Jimbo when you need him?
Quote from: pauliewalnuts on June 20, 2022, 09:51:54 AMWhere is Jimbo when you need him?Waiting for the trolley bus to take him from outside his house to the Museum of Eighteenth Century Birmingham Sanitation.
Quote from: Rory on June 20, 2022, 02:54:28 AMWhen I was at UoB 10-15 years ago, I had a bus pass, but would still walk the 6-odd miles home once a week or more, because it was simply easier than relying on the fucking buses.Funnily enough, when I was there at the start of the 90s, I thought the transport system was great. We had two Cross-city lines train stations within a few minutes walk at Selly Oak and the university itself, which were great for going into the city centre and back on. Only ever travelled off peak so it was cheap and there was no overcrowding. I'd ocassionally go and meet my parents at my uncle's house in Sutton, so used it for that as well. Never used the bus because the train sorted all my needs.
Quote from: algy on June 18, 2022, 01:38:36 PMQuote from: Risso on June 18, 2022, 12:41:02 PMQuote from: exigo on June 18, 2022, 11:20:07 AMSeeing this did get me thinking there's an opportunity to do something a bit more interesting with the space at that end of the ground. Slope the new North Stand roof down towards the pitch and cover it in solar panels, plenty of space in the car park to have claret and blue wind turbines – now the gas holders are disappearing, bit of a statement to replace them with sustainable energy production.New Stade Brestois stadium linky.That's very smart. Seeing things like that just reinforces my belief that we should knock the old thing down, and build something huge and brilliant somewhere else.Can we not just build something huge & brilliant where we are?I reckon we could get Villa Park up to 60k fairly comfortably. It's then "just" a case of making sure that we're not doing it on the cheap - that we're building stands that will command as big a place in the club's heart as the old Trinity Road stand did in 50/75/100 years time.Absolutely no point in going too high - we do not have the transport infrastructure to cope with what we drag in already, imagine another 20,000 bedlam
Quote from: Risso on June 18, 2022, 12:41:02 PMQuote from: exigo on June 18, 2022, 11:20:07 AMSeeing this did get me thinking there's an opportunity to do something a bit more interesting with the space at that end of the ground. Slope the new North Stand roof down towards the pitch and cover it in solar panels, plenty of space in the car park to have claret and blue wind turbines – now the gas holders are disappearing, bit of a statement to replace them with sustainable energy production.New Stade Brestois stadium linky.That's very smart. Seeing things like that just reinforces my belief that we should knock the old thing down, and build something huge and brilliant somewhere else.Can we not just build something huge & brilliant where we are?I reckon we could get Villa Park up to 60k fairly comfortably. It's then "just" a case of making sure that we're not doing it on the cheap - that we're building stands that will command as big a place in the club's heart as the old Trinity Road stand did in 50/75/100 years time.
Quote from: exigo on June 18, 2022, 11:20:07 AMSeeing this did get me thinking there's an opportunity to do something a bit more interesting with the space at that end of the ground. Slope the new North Stand roof down towards the pitch and cover it in solar panels, plenty of space in the car park to have claret and blue wind turbines – now the gas holders are disappearing, bit of a statement to replace them with sustainable energy production.New Stade Brestois stadium linky.That's very smart. Seeing things like that just reinforces my belief that we should knock the old thing down, and build something huge and brilliant somewhere else.
Seeing this did get me thinking there's an opportunity to do something a bit more interesting with the space at that end of the ground. Slope the new North Stand roof down towards the pitch and cover it in solar panels, plenty of space in the car park to have claret and blue wind turbines – now the gas holders are disappearing, bit of a statement to replace them with sustainable energy production.New Stade Brestois stadium linky.
I don't think for a minute we'd sell out 60k regulalrly, but the transport infastructure cannot be the limiting factor in our growth. There has to be solutions and the club needs to work with BCC to find them.