Action to be taken to tackle travel issues around Villa Park on match days
A working group has been set up with the aim of ending Aston Villa fans’ frustrations around travelling to home games.
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The Event Day Travel Working Group – which is made up of members of the club, West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), transport representatives and the council – has been set up to improve match day experiences for supporters.
West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker said fans had shared their frustrations with travelling to and from Villa Park with him and he hoped a collaborative approach would bring an end to problems.
He added that similar schemes are being considered with other major clubs in the area, such as Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion.
Mr Parker said some “quick wins” are being worked on for the short term, but the key was for a long-term vision.
As well as regular club matches, Villa Park has been chosen as one of the host venues for the next European Championships. The stadium will also play host to the final ever show by Birmingham heavy metal legends Black Sabbath.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Parker said: “Aston Villa fans raised with me, before and after my election, their frustrations around travel. I met with the club, we discussed all of this and more.
“Villa have their hands tied to a certain degree, they need the transport operators, the transport authority and the Council to do what they can. So we’ve acknowledged that.
“Villa have some fantastic plans around their ground – but they need us to give them a hand to deliver that too.
“We’re taking a collaborative approach with all the clubs, because they mean so much to local people but also to our regional economy.
![West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker. PIC: WMCA](https://www.expressandstar.com/resizer/v2/https%3A%2F%2Fcontentstore.nationalworld.com%2Fimages%2Fca6a2ab1-546d-4ab7-8771-a975742ab2f6.jpg?auth=ab953a5c4ff2616283f55f2e5f3e5b2b4de32961be825da1bc906c13c44abf7d&width=300)
“One thing from that initial meeting with Villa was how could we help right now. And helping with travel was right up there.
“It’s the joint responsibility of the Mayor, the Council, Transport for West Midlands, the rail executive and bus operators.
“So we’ve brought all of those organisations together, with some fantastic colleagues from the club, to form an Event Day Travel Working Group.
“They meet regularly to move the dial and make the match day experience better for fans.
“My team visited the club to look at the issues, both the smaller day-to-day frustrations for the club and the long-term strategic planning vision.
“Villa Park is a host venue for the Euros, and we need to make sure we reap the rewards of that opportunity.
“Whilst we are working together to look at the bigger, longer-term plans for transport and travel like Witton Station, the group is also working on some quick-wins and fixing small issues that will help fans each week.
“For example, we’ve provided resources to operate traffic lights more efficiently to move traffic away from the ground quicker.
“The new train stock is longer, so it can fit more fans on. We’ve also worked on shuttle bus movements with Network Rail to get them through traffic and to their trains quicker.
“It’s not everything we can do, we can certainly do more but it’s a collaborative effort and the club are really working with us to make the experience better for the fans.”