Villa Park Redevelopment

[pauliewalnuts]

The transport thing around Villa Park is absolutely crazy.  I mean, if you were picking a site to newbuild a football ground, then one right next to a motorway - and buy a large industrial estate so presumably one that'd regularly have reasonably high volumes of traffic - within easy walking distance of two railway stations, covering 2 separate railway lines, 2/3 stops away from what's basically the most important railway station outside London ... I mean, it'd seem an obvious location, wouldn't it?

It's absolutely unbelievable that it's still a problem.

Then you hear crazy stuff like mile-long queues at the train stations as trains come and go without leaving full, or with a frequency of service that takes no account of the increased number of people travelling.

Plus the removal of one way systems on the roads and the total lack of any real coordination to make things better, it is an absolute joke.

Expanding the station is an absolute must, yes, but the coordination of the transport on match days as a whole is an utter fucking mess and needs to be looked at too.

[Nev]

The shuttle bus for Edgbaston was half the price of the one to Villa Park and used NE double deckers. They picked up on the south side of the city, the same side as the destination.
At the Springsteen gig it was single decker coaches on private hire picking up from the opposite side of the City to the ground. It's not difficult to see the issues here.

[algy]

The shuttle bus for Edgbaston was half the price of the one to Villa Park and used NE double deckers. They picked up on the south side of the city, the same side as the destination.
At the Springsteen gig it was single decker coaches on private hire picking up from the opposite side of the City to the ground. It's not difficult to see the issues here.

Yeah, that's the thing.  Went to a few events at the commonwealth games last year, and the shuttle service was brilliant.  The whole thing was so impressive, really showed the city off in the best possible light I felt.

Now, you maybe don't expect everything to be run to quite the same standard as that type of one-off event with loads of (awesome) volunteers making everything go smoothly and whatnot - but the drop off compared with going to Villa Park ... I mean, it's difficult to understand how they manage to turn it in to the clusterfuck that it evidently is.

[Risso]

I agree, Algy, it just couldn't be any worse than it is already. There's absolutely no attempt by anybody to make anything better.

[ChicagoLion]

You just have to hope that the Purslow exit heralds a complete reversal of the previous attentioyto these problems.

[Ads]

You just have to hope that the Purslow exit heralds a complete reversal of the previous attentioyto these problems.

It's not a Villa problem, but it's clear Purslow was exerting pressure on Street as he kept joking about the station, even saying he'd invite Purslow back after it was completed following Purslow's departure.

[chrisw1]

The shuttle bus for Edgbaston was half the price of the one to Villa Park and used NE double deckers. They picked up on the south side of the city, the same side as the destination.
At the Springsteen gig it was single decker coaches on private hire picking up from the opposite side of the City to the ground. It's not difficult to see the issues here.

Yeah, that's the thing.  Went to a few events at the commonwealth games last year, and the shuttle service was brilliant.  The whole thing was so impressive, really showed the city off in the best possible light I felt.

Now, you maybe don't expect everything to be run to quite the same standard as that type of one-off event with loads of (awesome) volunteers making everything go smoothly and whatnot - but the drop off compared with going to Villa Park ... I mean, it's difficult to understand how they manage to turn it in to the clusterfuck that it evidently is.

They brought coaches in from all round the country to cope with that demand though and it was at the taxpayers expense.  Also bear in mind the stadium held 10k less than VP.

But I agree, some sort of reasonably priced shuttle bus shouldn't be that difficult to implement here.

[ChicagoLion]

You just have to hope that the Purslow exit heralds a complete reversal of the previous attentioyto these problems.

It's not a Villa problem, but it's clear Purslow was exerting pressure on Street as he kept joking about the station, even saying he'd invite Purslow back after it was completed following Purslow's departure.

Getting to and from the ground is very much a Villa problem, do you think that the CEO of Villa has no influence over what happens regarding transport?
I was also referring to the catering shit show that has been around for years now.

[olaftab]

It is absolutely not a villa problem. Issue lies with the local authority. It's their job to ensure infrastructure and transport systems serve the community and therefore a major venue like Villa Park needs to properly facilitised. The Club provides a fully funded attraction for the city.

[Lastfootstamper]

It's not a problem. Everybody gets there, everybody gets home, every game. We'd all like it to be better, quicker, more pleasant, easier, cheaper, less hurried, but I'm struggling to think of any other aspect of my life that I couldn't also apply that wishlist to. It's not a Villa issue, it's a regional issue that gets brought into our focus once a fortnight for 9½ months a year.

Fwiw, if you think it's difficult navigating Birmingham by public transport, give it a go in the Black Country. Try travelling the 5 miles from Wednesfield to Bescott without using a car to watch the women's of a weekend in less time than it takes to walk it.

[Ads]

You just have to hope that the Purslow exit heralds a complete reversal of the previous attentioyto these problems.

It's not a Villa problem, but it's clear Purslow was exerting pressure on Street as he kept joking about the station, even saying he'd invite Purslow back after it was completed following Purslow's departure.

Getting to and from the ground is very much a Villa problem, do you think that the CEO of Villa has no influence over what happens regarding transport?
I was also referring to the catering shit show that has been around for years now.

If you have to exert influence, its because you cannot directly impact the decision making, which we can't. The road and rail network around Villa Park causes problems for the club, but it isn't the club's problem.

Purslow had been exerting pressure, hence the Mayor making jokey references to it. But its for local government to solve.

[Risso]

It's not a problem. Everybody gets there, everybody gets home, every game. We'd all like it to be better, quicker, more pleasant, easier, cheaper, less hurried, but I'm struggling to think of any other aspect of my life that I couldn't also apply that wishlist to. It's not a Villa issue, it's a regional issue that gets brought into our focus once a fortnight for 9½ months a year.

It is a problem. We shouldn't have to tolerate it being as shit as it is.

[eamonn]

Is Chris Heck gonna kick some arse with this?

[Percy McCarthy]

It is absolutely not a villa problem. Issue lies with the local authority. It's their job to ensure infrastructure and transport systems serve the community and therefore a major venue like Villa Park needs to properly facilitised. The Club provides a fully funded attraction for the city.

Yeah fuck it. I hope we end up with a 70k capacity and tell the council to just fucking cope with our massiveness.

[Des Little]

We're fcuked if we are relying on Birmingham City council to deliver anything.  They an utter waste of space from top to bottom.