Travel concerns remain after second Everton test

Concerns remained about pressure on public transport after a second test event at Everton's new football stadium on Sunday - despite transport bosses hailing it a success.

Fans complained about some Merseyrail services to Sandhills and Moorfields stations in the city centre being "awful", with reports of staff having to tell some passengers to get off before the trains could leave.

There were also large crowds on the relatively small platform at Sandhills station, which some suggested created a "dangerous situation".

However both Merseyrail and Liverpool City Region metro mayor Steve Rotheram said they were pleased - with Mr Rotheram telling BBC Radio Merseyside "99% of people had fairly decent experiences" using public transport.

The second event at the 52,888 capacity stadium in Bramley-Moore Dock, which kicked off at 14:00 GMT, ended on 65 minutes so staff could test evacuation procedures.

Mr Rotheram said: "There are lessons that we are going to learn from what was a second test event, because by their very nature these are things that your trial certain ways in which you can try to get more people safely to and from football stadiums."

While queues to get into Sandhills station were described as moving fairly quickly, some fans complained that on the platform itself there were some uncomfortable moments.

Merseyrail said 12,000 fans passed through Sandhills station with no safety incidents reported, and suggested that while trains were full "they were not unsafe".

The operator said there had been higher demand than anticipated on the Hunts Cross line, which it would take on board for future matchdays.

Tony Scott, host of the All Together Now Everton fan podcast, travelled to the test event and said he believed Merseyrail should have put on more services earlier in the day.

"It's an accident waiting to happen," he said.

"Everyone was shoehorned into some kind of tunnel, and you fear for your safety.

"When you come out of the Sandhills platform it's fine, but when you come off that platform it's extremely dangerous."

Another fan told reporters: "The train here was awful really. It kept stopping at the station saying too many people on the train, some people are going to have to get off.

"It was really compact, really hot on the train. But it's a test event isn't it so I'm sure it will get better."

Mr Rotheram said: "The whole idea is to see what are the likely travel patterns, and this is all about what is called crowd dynamics. We'll be studying that along with all of the specialists who were also part of of everything that we have done.

"I watched in the control room after the emergency procedure had been triggered, and people turned up and very, very quickly, and were dispatched onto trains in one of the five directions that they would travel and into Headbolt Lane, to Southport, to Sandhills, to Hunts Cross or into town.

"By about an hour after the procedure had started the fan management zone was completely cleared of anybody."

Stephen Dodd, chief operating officer at Merseyrail, said he was "pleased" with how the test event went and said thousands of passengers "travelling smoothly and safely".

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