7 Comments

Group to improve routes to London Stadium

Go1London Stadium owners London Development Legacy Corporation (LLDC) has established a new group called the ‘Last Mile Strategic Group.’

It is made up of Newham council, Operators London Stadium 185, Westfield shopping centre, Transport for London and West Ham United in addition to the LLDC.

The new strategic group made up of senior management for each organisation will look at crowd movements on the Park and between the Stadium and the stations, and at long-term improvements to arrangements.

It is proposed that this forum will also provide oversight to the plans for improvements to Stratford Station which LLDC is working with TfL to progress.

The  group – made up of senior management for each organisation – will look at crowd movements on the Queen Elizabeth Park and between the London Stadium and surrounding stations, and also long-term improvements and future arrangements. It is proposed that this forum will also provide oversight to the plans for improvements to Stratford Station which LLDC is working with TfL to progress.

GO2Season ticket holders can take over thirty minutes walking defined crowd routes to and from Stratford underground station to certain Stadium turnstiles.

Many claim they have become frustrated at being herded like cattle with stop and go signs while prevented from using Westfield as a route to the Stadium. The route to the stadium has been nicknamed the ‘Walk of Shame’ by some supporters.

Last year planning permission was approved for the provision of a new southwestern entrance from Gibbons Road to Stratford Regional Station which is claimed will create the most direct route to the London Stadium and avoids Westfield when completed.

In the recent London Stadium survey completed by over 6,300 supporters over 59% said that travel to the London Stadium was either poor or average, split at 29% on each category. 30% described their travel route to the Stadium good while just 13% classed it as excellent.

 

About Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball, I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh. Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons! Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

7 comments on “Group to improve routes to London Stadium

  1. I have never found Westfield to not be an option either to or from the Stadium even if on the way back you have to take a slightly different route and cut through a cafe, likewise on the way to the Stadium unless you arrive really late you can go through Westfield to the back near John Lewis etc and use the doors there, in fact they have Stewards announcing the way to the Stadium via those doors. Alternatively you can from Stratford head to Hackney Wick / Pudding Lane and go via alternative routes, I guess like most things it is a matter of perspective some people view it as being herded other people realise without it, it would be chaos, there is only so much space on the platforms, I used to hate queuing for the district line after being at upton park, even walking much longer distances to alternative stations, I have to say I much prefer taking alternative routes around the Olympic Park than I did previously, if you are with mates you can head to loads of different and much better pubs / bars than in Westfield, probably all of it will get old in time but why not get out and about experiment with the routes rather than refer to a wall of shame etc much like our team this season if we continue to do the same thing each game and see the same results why not look at some alternatives to freshen things up ?

    • You are correct 32. We all walked to Plaistow after games and no-one batted an eyelid. Now everyone is moaning as we walk to Bow.

  2. You talk sense WHF32. Moaning is pointless, I must say tho I much more enjoyed the walk back to the station after we beat Chelski 2-1 than the Arsenal 1-5 thumping and there’s the thing imo. Give us something to cheer and it will be fine.

    I do wonder whether we have to obey the security guys with the stop/go signs? Surely they have no jurisdiction by law?

  3. As i need to get back to upminster prefer to walk along the greenway and take the steps down to west ham station.

  4. They should have built a station by the stadium when the Olympics were on that would have solved all the problems the walk is depressing made more so by there being no cafes pubs etc en route, but perhaps Westfield did not want any competition, West Ham fans are thus treated as a unwanted problem. I have had enough this year crap football crap train service crap beer & food in the stadium So one of Brady’s 50,000 waiting list can have my season ticket next year

  5. personally i think the complaints about exiting the stadium are a bit exaggerated.

    I’m in Block 205 upper tier on the ‘far side’ of the stadium from Stratford. I leave on the final whistle, and then walk round the north end of the stadium, then round under the big screen. If I then cut across past the Orbit café and walk on round to Westfield, up over the railway using the bridge, down into the station and onto a Jubilee Line platform I can be on a train in less than 25 minutes. That’s walking with a 9 year old.

    similarly if I go across the main ‘busy’ route past the Aquatics Centre, take the left path to Stratford International we can be in there in less than 20 minutes.

    on Saturday with a 10-minute delay leaving Stratford we were back at Paddington at 6.13pm. with a clear run we can get from the stadium to Paddington in less than 1 hour, which I never managed from Upton Park.

    I can’t recall leaving Upton Park on the final whistle and getting onto a tube in less time week in, week out.

  6. plus, if you go round the back to Stratford International you can get into Westfield there, and walk through the shopping centre to access the tube. just means mingling with shoppers rather than being ‘herded like cattle’…

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