More upgrades required at Sandhills to cater for Toffees

Why does Steve Rotheram plan to spend £100m on a new baltic station when developments have progressed there irrespective of this and in addition Brunswick Quay station is close by. Its clear the northern docks requires the improved station for the stadium and the redevelopment of the area, c 3,000 properties planned over the next decade.

@ 9.27am, Baltic Station will serve not only the leisure aspect of that area but also those who live and work not just there but also those at the top end of Park Rd and the lower end of Upper Parliament St, all we need is for the Mayor to get on with it.
Meanwhile he needs to be coming out with firm plans asap for a new station, between Sandhills and Moorfields that as stated will cater for the large influx of residential in the next few years, he needs to be proactive.
Baltic is one of 4 stations he has promised but we haven’t heard much progress on the other 3.

There had been serious H&S concerns regarding Sandhills prior to the Hill Dickinson Stadium opening, but were dismissed.
There seems to be a total lack of planning and foresight regarding the transportation and infrastructure of the area and now a catchup period before any safety incidents occur.
Typical nonsense from LCR.

We all know, and have always known, that major upgrades are needed at Sandhills to cope with the stadium being allowed there. Unfortunately, that still isn’t what the council or city region are doing. Barriers and signage aren’t “major”.

Merseyrail had four years’ notice of this peak in demand – four years! – and only began responding after the safety concerns evident in the last test game, when the stadium was at half capacity. Shocking. Were they asleep at their desks? All those highly-paid officers and not one of them stuck their hand up and said ‘hang on a mo…’
It beggars belief and the only reasonable conclusion anyone can make from this debacle is that the Mayor the board of Merseyrail simply aren’t up to the job.
And what is their solution? To coral fans like cattle in the open air. In winter.

Team Rotheram still bravely trying to sell their complete failure to bake this capacity into the original stadium plans – and have it in place for the opening – as delightful upgrades and improvements.
GM would never fail to plan for something like this, and probably not Trumpton or Ballamory either.

Why didn’t they develop a new bigger station while the stadium was being built between Boundary Street and Lightbody Street? this would be a perfect location for quick access to the stadium and for new residents and existing residents from Eldonian Village. The viaduct is wide enough and land swap with the current businesses to create space could have been achieved. This could have been near completion if a bit of foresight had been used 5 years ago.

Corralling people only makes them angry and frustrated, which is not the lasting experience Liverpool wants fans and visitors of the city to go home with.

Oh come on they has latterly years to plan this – Look at Baltic £100m no station and where is the money gone that was put aside to fund this? Vote Labour they say in Liverpool !!!!!!!

Honestly i despair , even the term “Fan Management Zone ” lets be clear i use Sandhills to get to the stadium . Its an open air cattle pen , its contemptuous how the fans are being treated. Leave your car at home they say , then Queue in the open air often in wind and rain for 4 carriage trains its embarrassing. Sandhills should have been upgraded long before the first home game. Its an example of total failure from the local politicians and transport authorities . I am disappointed the club is not being more vociferous about this situation. Rotherham yet again fails .

Rotherham couldn’t run a bath.

To prove everyone wrong about being incapable of planning in advance, perhaps Steve should move his imaginary tidal barrage further downriver so he can put in his next manifesto that people will be able to walk across from Wallasey by 2047?

Plenty of comments blaming Steve Rotheram, the Combined Authority, Merseyrail, the City Council… just about everyone except Everton FC. Why does nobody accept that the club has a responsibility for its own fans?

Steve needs replacing

4 years to sort this! And still barely a thing done shambolic!!

This should have been done last year. Not really up to catering for that many fans, I use it every home game and have to leave early to get back before crowds

This is an LCR issue not Merseyrail. Merseytravel was hollowed out when Steve arrived. The experience to cope with this is now focused on his pet projects not transport.

Talk about too little too late

The assessabilty lift needs looking in to it is not fit for purpose

Sandhills generally works OK on matchdays. I think i had one bad experience all last season due to a train failure. It would make things better if there were a holding queue for post match southbound going beyond Central (a Hunts Cross queue) the trains serving central only – presumably a must for train frequency heading north – leave half full with the platform rammed full of people wanting to travel further south and people wanting to go to the city centre unable to get onto the platform as a result.

When games are on you need a much greater number of carriages, NOT just for the Southport line!!!

Steve and the Council asleep on the job on this one sadly. Doesn’t augur well for the proposed development corporation in North Liverpool does it? The lack of grip and actual delivery is inexcusable.

What I can’t understand is why non of this was thought of by the ‘experts’. It seemed obvious to me. Getting 52,000 fans, including away fans, mostly back to the City Centre.

That footbridge is a killer 😂

Its a shambles this all should have been done years ago while stadium was being built

Merseyrail rolling stock is being stretched and they need to order more, but next time they should be demanding Stadler build 6 car train units to cope with demand. It’s a waste of resources running 8 car trains, on regular days and matchdays, using 2, 4-car units on the Southport line via Sandhills.
Forward thinking is needed here as the population will grow on the Central Docks and 4-car trains won’t cope in the mornings, evenings, weekends, and large events like matchdays, therefore adding an extra 20 trains of 6-car units to the fleet would be a solution. Steve Rotheram wants to extend the influence of Merseyrail eg Bidston to Wrexham, Ormskirk to Preston and to do that he’ll need more, and longer, trains.

2:30 pmBy Mal, you cant be serious EFC are not responsible for Sandhills ? Are London clubs responsible for the tubes ? its a total dereliction of responsibilities from LCC etc . They continue to tinker around the edges rather than acting with foresight and purpose . They should be embarrassed .

Rotheram should be ashamed of his record on developing Merseyrail and transport in general. No sign of ANY progress on any of the planned Stations. He should resign, Burnham would have had spades in the ground by now. The station is dangerous when it’s full, people know how to queue jump and get on the platform and the barrier system is a joke. Especially when it’s raining.

Steve is cool, leave him alone

We were promised a new station in the initial transport plans associated with the proposals for developing the Hill Dickinson as part of the push to get local support but the word now is it was too expensive.
But the City Council still has the location of a proposed train station in its Waterfront SPD https://liverpool.gov.uk/media/ximg54yl/liverpool-waterfront-spd.pdf
This seems to be near the end of Lightbody Street which is a bit busy but surely there is room for a station by Boundary Street or south of the Leeds-Liverpool canal?

C’mon Dan/Julia: look at these comments. Demand an interview with Rotherham, reflect your readership and ask him some really awkward questions. Fact is, his delivery record is utterly woeful.

Proposed improvements. Should have built a dedicated new station along with Sandhills for The HDS.Why didnt they(Everton Merseyrail and Liverpool city council) because they thought Everton would be relegated from the Premier League ,so wasting money.Had 4 years of planning yet gave us Disney style queues and barriers instead.Better put a footbridge in,its too busy and now after a years “experiment ” decide to expand the capacity of the zones we all stand in.Poor planning by all concerned in my opinion. You,ll gladly spend money elswhere,but not were its needed NOW !

Who is being dismissed or demoted as the Accountable for this transport planning catastrophe, or have they already been promoted? Names please.

Frank’s right when the CA was formed Mersey travel staff were made to work on other CA projects or leave. Meanwhile at GM the CA was fully staffed and TfGM expanded. Get Steve to explain that.

Why not have 3 designated stations
Sandhills to Southport
Boundary Street to Ormskirk
Love lane to Headbolt Kirkby
This would cut down the amount of people queuing at each station because Sandhills can be quite frightening when everyone tries to get on the train at the same time, each train grossly overloaded because no control over how many people are trying to board the train

What a very silly place to put a football stadium. Access to the stadium very limited . Should have been local to the training ground . Much better access for supporters. Massive mistake.