Fan Transport Concerns Drive Joint Action After Stadium Travel Meeting

Everton’s Fan Advisory Board has met with City Region leaders, transport providers and Club representatives to discuss supporter experiences travelling to and from Hill Dickinson Stadium and identify areas for improvement.

The meeting was convened by Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram following a public letter from the Fan Advisory Board (FAB) raising concerns about matchday transport, particularly the experience of supporters using Sandhills station.

Mayor Rotheram was joined by Liverpool City Council Leader Cllr Liam Robinson, Liverpool Liberal Democrat Leader Cllr Carl Cashman and senior representatives from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Merseyrail and Everton Football Club.

The meeting provided an opportunity for supporters, transport operators, local authorities and the Club to consider the challenges together, establish the facts behind the current transport operation, and identify practical measures that could improve capacity, safety, accessibility and communication.

Mayor Rotheram acknowledged a number of the concerns raised by the FAB and underlined the shared objective among all parties of making the transport operation work as effectively as possible for Evertonians and other visitors to Hill Dickinson Stadium.

There was also agreement on the importance of keeping the discussion focused on practical solutions, particularly in light of the political reaction surrounding the recent Sandhills Station planning application (an application that has been approved since the meeting was held). All organisations represented shared the same ambition: to deliver the best possible transport experience for supporters.

SUPPORTER RESEARCH PRESENTED

Fan Advisory Board Secretary, Rob Galkoff, presented findings from its recent supporter transport survey, which received 656 completed responses. Of those responding, 73 per cent had used rail when attending an event at Hill Dickinson Stadium, while 57 per cent identified train travel as one of the ways they travel to the stadium.

The research highlighted a number of recurring concerns around the post-match experience, including queues and rail capacity, crowd management, accessibility, perceptions of safety, the lack of shelter and toilet facilities, and the availability of clear real-time travel information. These were broadly grouped into three areas for discussion: capacity, safety and communication.

Feedback from supporters travelling from Liverpool, Merseyside and Wirral indicated journeys of approximately 60 minutes to the stadium and 90 minutes following an event, with typical waits at Sandhills of around 18-20 minutes. Around half of those surveyed reported a poor experience at Sandhills, while approximately 30 per cent said they had felt vulnerable or unsafe when travelling on a matchday. The FAB stressed that concerns were principally focused on the station infrastructure and the experience of leaving the stadium, while Merseyrail staff working at Sandhills received considerable praise from supporters. 

The presentation also highlighted the experience of disabled supporters and those with long-term conditions, for whom concerns around accessibility, vulnerability, parking and public transport were more pronounced.

The Mayor and Combined Authority also outlined the wider work taking place to improve accessibility across the rail network, including investment in step-free stations and the introduction of level boarding through the new Class 777 fleet.

The Combined Authority has a stated target of making the City Region rail network step-free by 2030, alongside accessibility features on the new trains.

PUTTING WAITING TIMES IN CONTEXT

The meeting also considered comparative information from other major football venues.

Data shared with attendees showed that the typical 18–25-minute post-match wait currently experienced at Sandhills following Everton fixtures or major events at Hill Dickinson Stadium compares favourably with many comparable stadium transport operations.

The Sandhills queuing area is typically fully cleared within 45-60 minutes, with average waits of around 10 minutes for trains to Liverpool city centre and around 20 minutes for services to other destinations.

The discussion, therefore, recognised that the challenge is not simply the length of time supporters are waiting, but how that wait is experienced and managed - including crowd density, weather protection, accessibility, communication, queue management and perceptions of safety. These factors will all form part of the next phase of planning and development for the Sandhills queuing area.

RAIL CAPACITY AND ALTERNATIVES

Merseyrail provided further detail on the scale of the matchday operation and the limitations of the existing network.

Around 20,000 matchday rail journeys currently pass through Sandhills for Everton home fixtures, with approximately 10,000-11,000 passengers travelling through the station before games and between 6,000 and 8,000 afterwards.

Matchday services already provide increased capacity, with between 24 and 28 trains operating and approximately 23,000 passenger spaces available across the peak 90-minute periods.

Merseyrail explained that Network Rail's current signalling infrastructure limits the ability to increase services beyond the 24-28 trains per hour currently operating. Merseyrail added that it aims to make every available eight-car unit available for Everton home games. The group discussed the significant investment required to increase capacity, with Mayor Rotheram and the Combined Authority working to secure funding and accelerate infrastructure improvements that had not previously been anticipated in the foreseeable future. This follows significant investment in the City Region’s rail network, including the introduction of the £500million publicly owned Class 777 train fleet.

Transport chiefs also outlined the operational challenges of running every service as an eight-car train out of Sandhills, given the need to deploy available rolling stock across the wider network and maintain capacity on other routes for fans when they get into central Liverpool. 

There was agreement, however, that further consideration should be given to providing supporters with credible alternatives to Sandhills, reducing the concentration of passengers attempting to use one station immediately after an event.

Options discussed and presented by the FAB included matchday bus services and express or shuttle routes connecting supporters with other railway stations, park and rides and transport hubs, potentially including Bank Hall, Kirkdale, Liverpool Lime Street and Hamilton Square, as well as services aimed at areas currently less well served by the existing matchday transport offer.

The discussion around additional bus and shuttle options also comes as the City Region begins the rollout of bus franchising, which will give the Combined Authority greater control over routes, fares and timetables, and provide further opportunities to integrate bus and rail services across the network.

The first franchised services are rolling out during 2026, with the wider network scheduled to follow by the end of 2027.

Road closures, coach and bus movements and traffic-management arrangements around the stadium were also discussed. Supporter observations will be fed into the relevant safety and transport planning processes to consider whether further improvements can be made.

IMPROVING INFORMATION AND THE MATCHDAY EXPERIENCE

A significant focus of the meeting was on measures that could improve the supporter experience without requiring major infrastructure changes.

Sandhills has benefited from more than £6million of investment from the Combined Authority to date, including a financial contribution from Everton, with further resources committed to extending the queuing area, introducing toilet facilities and exploring food and drink provision to help ensure supporters are not required to queue on surrounding roads. While Merseyrail operates services through the station and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has a key role in the wider transport network, the station itself is owned by Network Rail.

The group discussed how the queuing area at Sandhills is designed first and foremost to protect the station’s island platform from overcrowding. Following matches, supporters are held within a well-signposted, managed queuing area away from the platform and released forward in controlled groups as trains become available. This limits the number of people on the island platform at any one time and is an important part of the safety operation, although it can mean supporters spend part of their overall waiting time within the external queuing area rather than on the platform itself.

Measures discussed to improve that experience included better real-time information when disruption occurs, clearer signage to alternative transport options, improved direction from staff around the stadium footprint, greater use of digital screens and push notifications, and more effective communication of contingency arrangements.

The disruption caused by a train failure following Everton’s Carabao Cup fixture with Wolverhampton Wanderers was also discussed. On that occasion, supporters who had boarded a train were required to disembark after the service developed a fault, by which point the next group of passengers had already been released onto the platform in anticipation of the following service. This placed additional pressure on an area the managed queuing system is specifically designed to protect.

The meeting acknowledged that lessons should be taken from the incident, including around the timing and control of supporter movements onto the platform, the management of boarding during disruption and the speed and clarity of information provided to those waiting.

The Club, FAB, transport providers and local authorities also agreed on the importance of helping supporters better understand the full range of transport options available, particularly when disruption occurs, to improve resilience and reduce disproportionate reliance on Sandhills.

NEXT STEPS

The meeting concluded with a commitment from Mayor Rotheram to continue the work collectively, with all parties focused on making the transport system more reliable, getting as much capacity as possible out of the rail network, maintaining safety and accessibility, exploring practical bus alternatives to Sandhills where possible, and taking visible action to rebuild supporter confidence in the wider transport plan.

Further work will now take place around potential matchday bus services and alternative transport hubs, operational and passenger-flow data will be shared to inform planning, and supporter observations on road and traffic-management arrangements will be considered through the appropriate channels.

The group also supported quarterly meetings involving the Fan Advisory Board, Everton, transport providers and local authorities, allowing progress to be reviewed and emerging issues to be addressed collectively.

The FAB intends to repeat its supporter transport research within the next six to 12 months, providing an opportunity to measure whether changes introduced have resulted in improvements to capacity, safety, accessibility and supporter confidence.

Everton and the Fan Advisory Board will continue to work with Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Liverpool City Council, Merseyrail and other transport partners to ensure the experience of travelling to and from Hill Dickinson Stadium continues to develop as the stadium moves deeper into its second season of operation.