Villa Park Redevelopment

[London Villan]

Unlikey to have longer or more frequent train due to the last minute re-scheduling of matches.

[AV82EC]

Unlikey to have longer or more frequent train due to the last minute re-scheduling of matches.

Not for a major tournament though where you know the fixtures about 6 months in advance. You have a point on the rescheduling issue for days to day league stuff but surely if you’re improving Infra that maybe gives better headway for more services or are we saying the Walsall and Lichfield lines are at capacity?

[IFWaters]

Why can't we just run some fucking buses instead of all this witton station bollocks. Being reliant on this could scupper all the plans, I think it's nuts.

Buses can shift a small proportion in people per hour terms than a metro or rail system so you’re not solving the problem. Get Witton and Aston stations infrastructure right I.e 6 or 8 car trains able to be accommodated and programmed for pre and post match services and you’ll have a lot of happy people, throw in free WM travel on match day and you’ll get some modal shift out of cars. This ain’t fucking rocket science and the fact it takes us to host a major event to even think about sorting it out is quite frankly shameful and pathetic, but hey we’re not that there London.

Depends how many coaches you put on. Aziz coaches in Sparkbrook have 6 coaches available immediately at very reasonable prices. It's all very well talking about fancy metro systems and the like but in case you hadn't noticed the city's bankrupt. I really doubt the wisdom of tying Villa Park expansion to major public transport improvements and 'modal shift' because that takes massive public expenditure and years. It will not happen before the euros and I worry Birmingham will lose out in hosting Euro 2028 without it let alone 10k extra Villa fans being able to get to games.

[AV82EC]

The fact the city is bankrupt is nothing to do with investment in rail infrastructure which is the WMCA and Streets responsibility. And Street really needs to step up to the plate here or is he going to do the usual Tory thing of not using the power and influence he has to actually get it sorted, let’s not forget he’s in charge of the WM Trains franchise so he does have the power to sort this out.

It’s interesting peoples reactions to spending some money on a very minor bit of rail infrastructure seem to be nah sod that lets burn more fossil fuels on coaches and buses which don’t solve the problem and will add to it because pre and post match what Aston and Witton really need is more traffic.

[IFWaters]

It's nothing to do with climate change because you can have electric or hydrogen vehicles run on tarmac just as you can have electric or diesel trains.

I'm sceptical of any politician ponying up the necessary cash in anything less than a few years and that will hold back Villa getting the expansion it needs and it's fans deserve let alone Birmingham potentially losing out on Euro 2028.

But that's fine for you in your ivory tower because you clearly don't want to accept the view that Witton station improvements will take fucking forever.

[pauliewalnuts]

Buses are never going to be the solution, as AV82EC said, they just add to the problem.

We could use loads of buses as a stop gap solution for the duration of the championships, much as was done for the CWG, but more road transport is not going to be a long term solution, not ever.

[Lsvilla]

I know it's been said before but the trains that do run usually leave half empty because the do-gooders in charge won't let people onto the platforms. This is what stopped me using them.- why should I have to leave early and then run to the station just to stand in a queue and watch trains depart carrying half the people they could.

[pauliewalnuts]

I'm sceptical of any politician ponying up the necessary cash in anything less than a few years and that will hold back Villa getting the expansion it needs and it's fans deserve let alone Birmingham potentially losing out on Euro 2028.

I thought the club had said the expansion is not contingent on the transport being updated first, anyway?

[IFWaters]

Buses are never going to be the solution, as AV82EC said, they just add to the problem.

We could use loads of buses as a stop gap solution for the duration of the championships, much as was done for the CWG, but more road transport is not going to be a long term solution, not ever.

Is a sensible answer. Apart from the last sentence. I think clean buses can be a major part of the answer. But that's a different discussion. I do hope stadium expansion isn't tied to Witton Station, I hope you're right.

[pauliewalnuts]

Buses are never going to be the solution, as AV82EC said, they just add to the problem.

We could use loads of buses as a stop gap solution for the duration of the championships, much as was done for the CWG, but more road transport is not going to be a long term solution, not ever.

Is a sensible answer. Apart from the last sentence. I think clean buses can be a major part of the answer. But that's a different discussion. I do hope stadium expansion isn't tied to Witton Station, I hope you're right.

You can put as many buses on the road as you like, but they're going to get stuck in the same non-moving hellscape after the game as everyone else driving is.

The problem with increasing road capacity is that you either use what you have more sensibly, or you build more roads or widen those you have (clearly not going to happen).

The answer is to provide much improved public transport access, which has the effect of reducing load on the roads, and strategically controlling the flow of road traffic after the match.

I used to park on the old Asda car park, and turning left out of there and getting to the motorway used to be a pain in the arse. But for the last few years I've tried parking anywhere that involves heading in that direction, it has been literally five times as bad - because rather than have temporary one way systems, someone thinks it's a good idea not to bother, and it's a total free for all.

Sorting things like that make the difference.

[IFWaters]

Buses are never going to be the solution, as AV82EC said, they just add to the problem.

We could use loads of buses as a stop gap solution for the duration of the championships, much as was done for the CWG, but more road transport is not going to be a long term solution, not ever.

Is a sensible answer. Apart from the last sentence. I think clean buses can be a major part of the answer. But that's a different discussion. I do hope stadium expansion isn't tied to Witton Station, I hope you're right.

You can put as many buses on the road as you like, but they're going to get stuck in the same non-moving hellscape after the game as everyone else driving is.

The problem with increasing road capacity is that you either use what you have more sensibly, or you build more roads or widen those you have (clearly not going to happen).

The answer is to provide much improved public transport access, which has the effect of reducing load on the roads, and strategically controlling the flow of road traffic after the match.

I used to park on the old Asda car park, and turning left out of there and getting to the motorway used to be a pain in the arse. But for the last few years I've tried parking anywhere that involves heading in that direction, it has been literally five times as bad - because rather than have temporary one way systems, someone thinks it's a good idea not to bother, and it's a total free for all.

Sorting things like that make the difference.

I would argue for a park and ride set up. Shuttle buses or coaches in and out of Villa park vicinity to 5-6 satellite large car parks or existing public transport hubs. Encourage walking as well.

[AV82EC]

Buses are never going to be the solution, as AV82EC said, they just add to the problem.

We could use loads of buses as a stop gap solution for the duration of the championships, much as was done for the CWG, but more road transport is not going to be a long term solution, not ever.

Is a sensible answer. Apart from the last sentence. I think clean buses can be a major part of the answer. But that's a different discussion. I do hope stadium expansion isn't tied to Witton Station, I hope you're right.

You can put as many buses on the road as you like, but they're going to get stuck in the same non-moving hellscape after the game as everyone else driving is.

The problem with increasing road capacity is that you either use what you have more sensibly, or you build more roads or widen those you have (clearly not going to happen).

The answer is to provide much improved public transport access, which has the effect of reducing load on the roads, and strategically controlling the flow of road traffic after the match.

I used to park on the old Asda car park, and turning left out of there and getting to the motorway used to be a pain in the arse. But for the last few years I've tried parking anywhere that involves heading in that direction, it has been literally five times as bad - because rather than have temporary one way systems, someone thinks it's a good idea not to bother, and it's a total free for all.

Sorting things like that make the difference.

I would argue for a park and ride set up. Shuttle buses or coaches in and out of Villa park vicinity to 5-6 satellite large car parks or existing public transport hubs. Encourage walking as well.

I’d agree with you if that was train as the ride part <winky thing> though tbf you could probably do both and massively improve the situation. Where the City Council could help is by massively restricting on street parking close to the ground and try to force modal shift but freedom of choice comes into play here as well so it’s a fine balancing act.

[tomd2103]

Buses are never going to be the solution, as AV82EC said, they just add to the problem.

We could use loads of buses as a stop gap solution for the duration of the championships, much as was done for the CWG, but more road transport is not going to be a long term solution, not ever.

Is a sensible answer. Apart from the last sentence. I think clean buses can be a major part of the answer. But that's a different discussion. I do hope stadium expansion isn't tied to Witton Station, I hope you're right.

You can put as many buses on the road as you like, but they're going to get stuck in the same non-moving hellscape after the game as everyone else driving is.

The problem with increasing road capacity is that you either use what you have more sensibly, or you build more roads or widen those you have (clearly not going to happen).

The answer is to provide much improved public transport access, which has the effect of reducing load on the roads, and strategically controlling the flow of road traffic after the match.

I used to park on the old Asda car park, and turning left out of there and getting to the motorway used to be a pain in the arse. But for the last few years I've tried parking anywhere that involves heading in that direction, it has been literally five times as bad - because rather than have temporary one way systems, someone thinks it's a good idea not to bother, and it's a total free for all.

Sorting things like that make the difference.

I would argue for a park and ride set up. Shuttle buses or coaches in and out of Villa park vicinity to 5-6 satellite large car parks or existing public transport hubs. Encourage walking as well.

Alexander Stadium, Aston University playing fields and Moor Lane playing fields would be obvious locations if parking facilities could be sorted there.

[N'ZMAV]

Council are skint, they're not spunking any money on these ideas any time soon

[PeterWithesShin]

I think we all know the answer is a monorail.