Originally Posted by
Ged
Agreed but Tesco are the men with the money and they don't care if the fastest trains in the west pass Wally hall park or if there's stations there with marble staircases, it ain't gonna happen cos they want Kirkby where there's no competition.
The city, or the country, should have a strict policy that stadia have integrated rapid transit rail links where they exist. If it is there use it as all benefit. Common sense. Keep nuisance value of masses of people at bay by taking them directly into the stadium. If a stadium is built in Walton Hall Park and a station is under it, it can have 6 platforms. To shift 30,000 per hour, that takes trains which hold say 900 people each. That is 34 trains in a hour, which is one leaving every 1.76 minutes. Totally possible using modern signalling systems, as the Jubilee line in London has trains 30 seconds apart. Trains can leave in less than 1.76 minutes using 6 platforms. Also trains would be running both ways at Walton Hall Park, so you probably could shift far more than 30,000 an hour.
Then if the stadium has comprehensive facilities inside, fans will stay behind after games and take later trains, then in a 60,000 crowd, 40,000 could be shifted by rapid transit rail. That is, these people are not on the streets around or on roads in cars or taking up parking. Traffic jams are minimal.
If the Kirkdale to Rice Lane tunnel and Outer Loop is re-commissioned, then a full loop is formed via the centre, South Parkway and Kirkdale. The trains would just run around the loop both ways until the fans are dispersed. Then no stabling of trains at a terminus or shuffling a large amount of trains or having to reverse and change tracks or whatever to get back to the stadium.
If a policy of integrating stadia and rail is implemented, then Tesco would have to look at even Kirkby differently. Currently the inadequate Merseyrail station at Kirkby, not at the stadium, is not even considered seriously by Tesco/EFC. They don't care if they clog up the place leaving frustrated people all over, even EFCs own fans. They view the essential rapid transit as someone else's problem. The inquiry should reject the EFC stadium on lack of rapid transit rail integration and no plans to give adequate throughput to shift the majority of fans away from the town - most fan will not live in Kirkby. This highlights the lack of thought that has gone into Merseyrail/EFC stadium at Kirkby:
Report on Kirkby re: rail access
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The proposed relocation of Everton Football Club to a new ground in Kirkby is certain to place an intolerable pressure on both rail services and infrastructure.
Having an integrated stadium/store/station is a win, win. as the punters go to the store and stadium directly. Why would Tesco complain as they would get customers from far and wide right into their store by fast metro rail? But that is not the point. EFC and LFC should be made to integrated rapid transit and the stadium. They should not be given a choice. No joined up thinking as usual.
Lords know that to expand the cricket ground (20-20 looks like taking off big time and it only holds 32,000) they know they will not get planning permission to expand unless rapid transit rail is near. OK there is a Tube station not far away but its throughput is poor because of the concourse is poor and cannot cope with high people volumes, only two platforms and locals sometimes cannot use it as the escalators are switched to run only one way to shift the cricket fans, which p1sses the locals off. However having a station under the stadium gets the locals on their side, the planners on their side and Westminster council on their side. Most of the fans are not around the streets and all inside the stadium, then all win.
I would rather have Walton Hall with rapid transit rail, than the Loop in Scotland Road any day. Grants would be available to get the rail system up and running as it would greatly benefit the community at large. The Outer Loop via West Derby was supposed to be on Merseyrail as it was on the original plans but dropped in the 1970/80s. Thatcher clearly finally killed any hope of money available for it to be re-commissioned.
Getting the tunnel that is under the Rice lane flyover roundabout into Walton Hall Park is not a big undertaking, with maybe a new very short section of tunnel cut that can be cut by hand not using a boring machine. Liverpool sandstone rock is soft.
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