Rail strikes leave Manchester United fans paying ?2500 for …
A family of Manchester United fans has been “left with no choice” but to pay £2,500 to travel to Wembley for Saturday’s FA Cup final[1] because of the train strikes[2].
The Hampson family are around an extra £1,500 out of pocket due to the lengths they have had to go to to ensure they do not miss the historic match.
Lifelong United fan Paul Hampson, from Failsworth, Manchester, said the figure is more than double what they would have paid if services had been running as normal and the family of four did not have to extend their hotel stay.
Manchester United fan Paul Hampson with his wife and two daughters (Photo: Supplied)
Mr Hampson, 39, told i: “Thursday cost me £500 for the extra night stay and dinner. I’d estimate the total expense for a Thursday to Sunday trip will be around £2,500 for a family of four – that’s without the unpaid leave from work.
“The hotel was £700, train £115, match tickets £460, plus food and spending money. It could have quite easily been a day trip for less then £1,000 without the cancellations.”
He added: “I think the inconvenience of it all and extra stress of trying to sort alternative trains and an extra night’s stay on such a busy weekend in London has been extremely annoying.”
Mr Hampson and his wife had previously been unsure whether they would be able to attend the FA Cup clash because of the strikes[3] and extra costs.
But they decided to go ahead and make the journey as their two daughters, aged 14 and eight, were really looking forward to it.
“We had no choice but to spend the extra money as it’s a huge, historic match on Saturday and one we wouldn’t want to miss,” Mr Hampson said. “As long as United win, it will be worthwhile.”
The Hampsons are not the only fans who will be affected by this weekend’s travel chaos.
Hundreds of thousands of people attending key sporting and cultural events are expected to be impacted by the walkouts by rail workers who are members of the RMT[4] and Aslef[5] unions.
Saturday’s walkout by members of the train drivers’ union Aslef, who are locked in a long-running dispute with rail bosses over pay and conditions, follows strikes by train drivers on Wednesday and by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) on Friday.
Another United fan, Findlay, who only wanted to give his first name, had to adjust his plans when the strikes were announced.
Manchester United fan Findlay is travelling to the final in Wembley from Bolton (Photo: Supplied)
He said: “My [boyfriend] and I are keen planners, [we] like to know what we’re doing and when, and not leave anything to chance. So when the strikes were announced we immediately made alternative coach arrangements thinking they’d probably be needed but if not were a backup.”
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The 47-year-old from Bolton described the situation as “a real faff”.
Findlay has also incurred additional costs but they are considerably lower, given he is travelling alone to London by coach and staying with his boyfriend.
He said: “My coach trip to Guildford today was £38.80. The airbus from Guildford to Heathrow tomorrow was something like £24. So I have personally spent £62 more than I would have done already.”
It is anticipated that thousands of football fans will drive to London or use other forms of road-based transport.
Tony Rich, a spokesperson for the AA, said: “The roads over the weekend are likely to be much busier than usual[6] with people returning from half-term breaks, rail strikes and the FA Cup Final.”
He added: “With strike action also planned for Saturday 3 June, FA Cup Final Day, the best mode of travel for football fans will be the official coaches and the extra coaches put on by the FA.”
References
- ^ Saturday’s FA Cup final (inews.co.uk)
- ^ train strikes (inews.co.uk)
- ^ strikes (inews.co.uk)
- ^ RMT (inews.co.uk)
- ^ Aslef (inews.co.uk)
- ^ busier than usual (inews.co.uk)