FA Cup: Roadworks suspended to keep football crowds flowing
A major transport operation was under way today to prevent traffic problems as thousands of football fans travelled to FA Cup semi-final matches.
Villa Park in Birmingham is the venue for Liverpool’s game against second division Wycombe Wanderers, while north London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal will battle it out at Old Trafford in Manchester.
Roadworks on motorway routes into Birmingham and Manchester have been suspended and train operators have scheduled extra services in an effort to help supporters reach the games.
An AA spokesman said the Highways Agency had temporarily stopped work on the M40, M1, M5, M6, M60, M62 and the M56.
He added: ‘‘They have suspended all the roadworks on these motorways to help things flow better.
‘‘It’s now the time when fans will be on the road to Manchester and getting around to the Birmingham area.
‘‘We haven’t seen any problems yet, but there’s potential for fans leaving the semi-final in Old Trafford coming south and fans coming out of the Villa Park game combining to cause quite alot of traffic.’’
On the rail network Chiltern Railways have laid on extra trains for local Wycombe fans and Central Trains have increased their Sunday service between Liverpool and Birmingham.
A spokesman for Virgin trains, which runs a service from Euston station in London to Birmingham and Manchester, said it was unable to run additional trains because of engineering work by Railtrack to update the west coast mainline route.
The spokesman added that a private company was running a special charter service out of Finsbury Park and St Pancras stations in London for the Arsenal and Tottenham fans.
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