Train commuters on packed London lines warned to take holiday during Rugby World Cup 2015

Commuters have been advised to take holidays instead of the train during the Rugby World Cup
Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Dick Murray14 September 2015

Rail commuters on some of London’s most crowded lines were today “strongly advised” to take annual leave to avoid the scrum of travellers expected for the start of the Rugby World Cup.

If they are unable to do this then passengers - many spending thousands of pounds a year on their tickets - were told they should avoid travelling during the peak time or even cycle or walk instead.

South West Trains, which operates local and long distance routes into Waterloo Station, issued the travel advice in advance of the Rugby World Cup when tens of thousands more passengers will cram onto already packed trains.

Host nation England face Fiji in the opening game at Twickenham at 8pm on Friday and 10 of the 48 matches will take place at the stadium, with the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and the Sandy Park Stadium in Exeter, all served by SWT, also among the venues for the six week tournament.

SWT warned regular commuters today of overcrowding problems this Friday when trains would be “exceptionally busy and journeys may take longer than usual.

“You may have to wait for some time at stations like Waterloo, Vauxhall, Clapham Junction, Putney and Richmond to get onto trains once our Friday evening peak begins at 4 pm.

“In light of this, we strongly advise that you make alternative arrangements such as working flexibly, staggering working hours to travel earlier, taking annual leave, and swap to walking or cycling where possible on Friday.”

During the six weeks of qualifying matches it warned of many more passengers across the SWT network: “Queuing and one way systems may also be in place at key locations across out network to get everyone onto and off trains as safely as possible.”

David Sidebottom, passenger director of Transport Focus, the national watchdog, said: "Major events, such as the Rugby World Cup, don't happen everyday, so most passengers will accept they might have to make adjustments to how they travel.

"It is vital that the rail industry continues to put extra effort into giving passengers accurate, timely and useful information to help them make informed decisions. Having extra staff on hand at stations will be an important part of helping passengers during this period."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in