Everton stadium transport headaches increase for authorities as clock ticks
Plans to improve access to the Merseyrail Sandhills station – the closest to Everton’s new £760m Bramley-Moore Dock stadium – are under increased focus following widespread criticism of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and its Mayor, Steve Rotheram.
Both felt the backlash of fans attending last week’s test event, the first of three such events needed to earn a safety certificate for the new 52,888-seat ground which is set to open in time for the 2025-26 football season.
Last Monday saw 10,000 fans welcomed to the South Stand for an Under-18 friendly between Everton and Wigan Athletic.
But many fans took to social media after trying to access Sandhills following the game.
Many said a new fans’ marshalling centre next to the station was inadequate, with queues quickly forming, leading to unsafe conditions on the platform of the ‘island’ station – a one-platform structure serving both railway lines either side.
Fans were also critical of Merseyrail, calling on the rail operator to add more services, and bigger trains, to handle the sudden influx onto the station.
The main criticism seemed to be that, while the combined authority has had four years to improve access at the station since Everton was granted planning permission on March 16, 2021, the current facilities appear woefully inadequate to handle many more thousands on a normal matchday.
Sandhills is a moderately busy station, handling train services from Southport, Ormskirk and Kirkby from the north and Hunts Cross station to the south.
But with the new stadium sitting on the banks of the River Mersey, many fans will be forced to head to Sandhills after games as their easiest option to access transport.
An Experimental Parking Zone has been introduced by Liverpool City Council throughout the area, restricting vehicle access within a 30-minute walking distance to the ground, making it harder for fans to drive to and from to the stadium.
Plans for the crowd management zone were dealt with last summer.
But proposals were also submitted to the council by Merseytravel last October, and validated in December, for further improvements including a new footbridge at the station, aimed at delivering people to and from the south end of the platform and reducing pressure on existing infrastructure and platform access.
Further test events, towards gaining a safety certificate, will take place in late March or early April for a 25,000-capacity game, followed by a full capacity game before the end of the season.
However, the footbridge improvement proposal, while validated last December, will expire by March 14, 2025.
Pressure is now on the combined authority, and Merseyrail, to find a solution for the inevitable bottlenecks at the station.
