Inner-city
Player Valuation: £2.5m
Rapid-transit rail EFC, LFC, Arena - click
Joined up thinking can give Everton FC, Liverpool FC, Kings Dock
Arena and the community a new Merseyrail Metro line.
The city will never see such an opportunity again. Questions beg. How often:
greater good of the football clubs and the community to create
economic growth. A newly opened rapid-transit rail line on the
Merseyrail metro opened to passengers may serve:
The viability to open lines to passengers is that the two large
football clubs can attract approximately four million passenger trips
per year for football traffic alone. Usage by the Community and
further events at the stadia will further increase passenger trips.
Nuisance Value Reduced - Eco Enhanced
The nusisance value of stadia is vastly reduced moving most fans by
rapid transit.
Pollution is vastly reduced with millions of vehicles journey's taken off
the roads over year. Collectively over a year the CO2 reduction is highly
significant, if rapid-transit served Everton FC, Liverpool FC, the Kings
Dock Arena and Greater Liverpool.
Walk-Up Fans are Financially Significant
The walk-up fans, non-season ticket holder fans, who walk up on the
day are a significant percentage of football match attendances. These
maybe fans who do not attend all matches in a season and decide on
the day to attend. This maybe a father and his young boy.
Catering for this financially significant number of fans makes financial
sense to a football club. Giving easy access for walk-ups to access the
stadium using rapid-transit rail increases the liklihood of a walk-up fan
to attend a football match. These fans would increase revenue on the
rapid-transit metro adding to its viability.
Available Rapid-Transit Lines
The are two available lines that can be easily used and merged into
Merseyrail:
The mothballed Outer Loop Line can form a total loop of the city
when connected to the Merseyrail Northern line at Hunts Cross in the
south of the city and branched into the Kirkby branch of the
Northern line in the north end of the city. The Loop Line can serve
Everton FC, Liverpool FC and the Kings Dock Arena by
recommissioning St. James station at Parliament Street.
Below: The 1975 Merseyrail plan which was never finished - Outer Loop line is from Hunts Cross to Aintree.
Having both stadia on the line gives superb connectivity to mainline
stations and two routes into the city centre with interchange
connections to other lines. An advantage is that if there is a hold up
on the line, trains can still be used around the loop.
Below: The Outer Loop line is in red. The Northern Line is green
dotted. The light blue line is the soon to be electrified City Line into
Lime Street mainline station. Liverpool South Parkway is the light
blue star and the red and blue star Walton Hall Park.
Available Stadia Sites on the Outer Loop Line
1. Long Lane
This site was suggested by the city council to both football clubs.
The site is in the north end of the city near to where the Outer Loop
branches into the Kirkby branch of the Northern Line.
2. Walton Hall Park
This site is on the eastern side of Walton Hall Park, not far from the
existing homes of Everton FC and Liverpool FC. Unlike Stanley Park,
the park is not listed. Sainsbury's produced a proposal for a stadium on
this site in order to partner with Everton FC.
Districts Served by the Outer Loop Line
The Outer Loop Line serves:
districts onto the Merseyrail metro will create economic growth and
encourage investment.
Canada Dock Branch Line - Bootle branch Line
This line is a freight only line running from Edge Hill to Bootle. The
line is earmarked for electrification. The line runs not far from the
proposed Liverpool FC stadium at Anfield. Liverpool City Council have
requested Everton FC to assess the Green Lane/Prescot Road site
marked at the bottom right of the map.
The Line can serve both clubs and a number of districts. As track is
already on the line, conversion to passenger usage promises to be
cost effective. Interchanges with Merseyrail are at Bootle Oriel Road
and Lime Street. The line runs under the Merseyrail Northern Line
station at Kirkdale station with no platforms in place. Installing
platforms at this key interchange station is not a great undertaking.
The line has potential to run from:
at the bottom right is a proposed stadium site at Green
Lane/Prescot Road. The three red and white circles are the three
proposed station sites for Liverpool FC's new stadium.
Arsenal FC Success Using Rapid-Transit Rail
Arsenal FC's Emirates stadium has six surrounding rapid-transit
railway stations. The whole 60,000 can be shifted quite quickly by
using rapid-transit rail. The key point to the success of the stadium,
which since 2006 has been at over 97% full, is the ease of access
served by the rapid-transit rail stations. The six stations immediately
surrounding the Emirates stadium provide a total of 27 platforms,
with 29 on weekdays.
The success of Arsenal FC, a club the size of Everton FC when at
their old Highbury ground with a ground very similar to Everton's
Goodison Park and similar sized fanbase focuses the mind to the key
of a successful stadium.
The Emirates stadium's site was selected because of the adjacent rail
lines. £7.6 million had been set aside by the planning permission for
upgrading adjacent Drayton Park and Holloway Road rapid-transit rail
stations. However, Transport for London decided not to upgrade
either station, in favour of improvement works at the interchanges at
the nearby Highbury & Islington and Finsbury Park stations, both of
which are served by London Underground lines and First Capital
Connect services.
The stadium generates high revenues due to the superior facilities
of: refreshments, cafes, bars, etc, supported by the rapid-transit rail
access. With fans arriving mainly by rapid-transit rail, there is minimal
nuisance to the surrounding residents. Many thousands of car
journey's are kept off the roads of London per year.
Arsenal FC Eliminated a Business Partner
The availability of rapid-transit rail around the stadium site enabled
Arsenal FC to build the stadium alone without a major business
partner. The projected high attendances enabled the club to repay
the loans without a partner.
This would mean Everton FC could dispense with Tesco as a business partner.
Once a business plan is put forward, with projections, financiers
would be in a position to lend. Premier League football has not
shown a decline since the Credit Crunch. Far from it. If anything it is
a surefire winner financing a large Premiership club in infrastructure.
To a financier, the club does not need to win silver trophies, just
compete at the top and earn enough to pay back the loans. The
longevity of top Premier football clubs ensures the business is
unlikely to fold with repayment assured in the long term.
Below: Arsenal FC's Emirates Stadium is surrounded by six rapid-transit rail stations:
Wembley Park Moves 37,500 With Four Platforms
With 27 platforms in the stations surrounding the Emirates stadium
success of the stadium is guaranteed. Wembley Park station with
only four platforms can move over 37,5000 people per hour.
Having Everton FC and Liverpool FC on the same rapid-transit rail
line with only 4 platform stations adjacent to their stadia will ensure
over half of the stadia capacity is moved by rapid-transit rail. Six
platforms raises the throughput to 50,000 per hour. Building
modern multi-platform stations is cost effective using pre-cast
concrete forms as the construction method.
Melbourne's Rapid-Transit Copes With Multi Events
In Melbourne, Australia, the city's sports stadia, MCG, AAMI Stadium,
Rod Laver Arena, HiSense Arena, Olympic Park and Etihad Stadium
are all well serviced by the City Loop rail line. This line circles the city
centre stopping at all key points intersecting radial lines for ease of
interchanging.
The rapid-transit network can cope with two major sports events
being staged simultaneously in the city. A rugby league game at
AAMI Park with 30,000 supporters attending and Australian Rules
events at the MCG also with a 30,000-plus crowd is common. Arrival
and dispersal to and from the stadia is efficient. Trains leave every
couple of minutes to all points on the City Loop with trams and taxis
servicing the local districts from the stations.
Proposed Liverpool FC Stadium too Small
Liverpool FC controversially obtained planning permission to build a
60,000 seater stadium on the listed Stanley Park next to their
current stadium at Anfield Road. The district is predominately
residential being largely unsuitable for a stadium. The club has the
proposal on hold considering a stadium with a larger 73,000
capacity. Liverpool FC cannot extend over 60,000 capacity unless a
rapid-transit rail station is built on the adjacent freight only Canada
Dock Branch Line. The available station sites are not spacious and
may require compulsory purchase orders to build a suitable four to
six platform high throughput station.
This is an ideal opportunity for Liverpool FC to combine with the city
council, Merseytravel, Everton FC and other bodies to assess
reopening the Outer Loop line. A number of suitable stadium sites
are available on the line for both clubs.
A Cost Effective Plan
When all points are assessed the plan to open a rapid-transit rail line
gives high value:
Reusing the Wapping Tunnel
In time the Canada Dock Branch Line may extend into the city centre
at Central station. The reuse of the 1829 Wapping Tunnel with some
short branch tunnelling, would take the line from Edge Hill into
Central station, fully merging with the Merseyrail metro.
The Wapping Tunnel's portal is at King Dock opposite the Arena,
serving a well attended 10,000 seater venue.
The line could extend to Wirral using the tunnel. This would ensure
football fans in the Wirral would have direct access to the football
stadia and fans access the city centre without a change. The greater
Liverpool community would also greatly benefit if these lines were in
place.
Below: The 1975 plan to have metro trains from Edge Hill to access
Liverpool Central station.
Joined up thinking can give Everton FC, Liverpool FC, Kings Dock
Arena and the community a new Merseyrail Metro line.
Rapid-transit can move over 40,000 people per hour, maximising
stadia and line investment.
The City of Liverpool has Rapid-Transit Rail Lines Awaiting Football
Clubs, Arena and the Community.
Not to use the available Merseyrail
Metro Rapid-Transit for Three Stadia is Irresponsible.
Rapid-transit rail has ensured that Arsenal FC have filled their new
stadium to over 97% of capacity since 2006.
Ideal Opportunity To Combine All Parties.stadia and line investment.
The City of Liverpool has Rapid-Transit Rail Lines Awaiting Football
Clubs, Arena and the Community.
Not to use the available Merseyrail
Metro Rapid-Transit for Three Stadia is Irresponsible.
Rapid-transit rail has ensured that Arsenal FC have filled their new
stadium to over 97% of capacity since 2006.
The city will never see such an opportunity again. Questions beg. How often:
- Do two large football clubs build stadia at the same time?
- Does the city propose a city-wide electric transit system - trams
but Merseyrail is superior? - Does the city regenerate so quickly?
- Does the government electrify rail lines - the City Line from
Liverpool to Wigan, and the Canada Dock Branch Line?
greater good of the football clubs and the community to create
economic growth. A newly opened rapid-transit rail line on the
Merseyrail metro opened to passengers may serve:
- Many districts in the city
- Wider Merseyside
- Everton FC
- Liverpool FC
- Kings Dock Arena
- The city has to get it right as these stadia will be around for 100
years or more. Do it wrong and two white elephants may emerge. All
the ingredients are there to guarantee success all around.
The viability to open lines to passengers is that the two large
football clubs can attract approximately four million passenger trips
per year for football traffic alone. Usage by the Community and
further events at the stadia will further increase passenger trips.
Nuisance Value Reduced - Eco Enhanced
The nusisance value of stadia is vastly reduced moving most fans by
rapid transit.
Pollution is vastly reduced with millions of vehicles journey's taken off
the roads over year. Collectively over a year the CO2 reduction is highly
significant, if rapid-transit served Everton FC, Liverpool FC, the Kings
Dock Arena and Greater Liverpool.
Walk-Up Fans are Financially Significant
The walk-up fans, non-season ticket holder fans, who walk up on the
day are a significant percentage of football match attendances. These
maybe fans who do not attend all matches in a season and decide on
the day to attend. This maybe a father and his young boy.
Catering for this financially significant number of fans makes financial
sense to a football club. Giving easy access for walk-ups to access the
stadium using rapid-transit rail increases the liklihood of a walk-up fan
to attend a football match. These fans would increase revenue on the
rapid-transit metro adding to its viability.
Available Rapid-Transit Lines
The are two available lines that can be easily used and merged into
Merseyrail:
- The Outer Loop Line - this line is mothballed.
- The Bootle Branch Line (Canad Dock Branch Line) -
this currently is a used freight only line.
The mothballed Outer Loop Line can form a total loop of the city
when connected to the Merseyrail Northern line at Hunts Cross in the
south of the city and branched into the Kirkby branch of the
Northern line in the north end of the city. The Loop Line can serve
Everton FC, Liverpool FC and the Kings Dock Arena by
recommissioning St. James station at Parliament Street.
Below: The 1975 Merseyrail plan which was never finished - Outer Loop line is from Hunts Cross to Aintree.
Having both stadia on the line gives superb connectivity to mainline
stations and two routes into the city centre with interchange
connections to other lines. An advantage is that if there is a hold up
on the line, trains can still be used around the loop.
Below: The Outer Loop line is in red. The Northern Line is green
dotted. The light blue line is the soon to be electrified City Line into
Lime Street mainline station. Liverpool South Parkway is the light
blue star and the red and blue star Walton Hall Park.
Available Stadia Sites on the Outer Loop Line
1. Long Lane
This site was suggested by the city council to both football clubs.
The site is in the north end of the city near to where the Outer Loop
branches into the Kirkby branch of the Northern Line.
2. Walton Hall Park
This site is on the eastern side of Walton Hall Park, not far from the
existing homes of Everton FC and Liverpool FC. Unlike Stanley Park,
the park is not listed. Sainsbury's produced a proposal for a stadium on
this site in order to partner with Everton FC.
Districts Served by the Outer Loop Line
The Outer Loop Line serves:
- Halewood
- Woolton
- Gateacre
- Childwall
- Broad Green
- Knotty Ash
- West Derby
- Norris Green
- Walton
districts onto the Merseyrail metro will create economic growth and
encourage investment.
Canada Dock Branch Line - Bootle branch Line
This line is a freight only line running from Edge Hill to Bootle. The
line is earmarked for electrification. The line runs not far from the
proposed Liverpool FC stadium at Anfield. Liverpool City Council have
requested Everton FC to assess the Green Lane/Prescot Road site
marked at the bottom right of the map.
The Line can serve both clubs and a number of districts. As track is
already on the line, conversion to passenger usage promises to be
cost effective. Interchanges with Merseyrail are at Bootle Oriel Road
and Lime Street. The line runs under the Merseyrail Northern Line
station at Kirkdale station with no platforms in place. Installing
platforms at this key interchange station is not a great undertaking.
The line has potential to run from:
- Southport to St. Helens
- Southport to Lime Street
- Southport to Liverpool South Parkway
- City centre
- Edge Hill
- Old Swan
- Tubrook
- Clubmoor
- Anfield
- Walton
- Bootle
at the bottom right is a proposed stadium site at Green
Lane/Prescot Road. The three red and white circles are the three
proposed station sites for Liverpool FC's new stadium.
Arsenal FC Success Using Rapid-Transit Rail
Arsenal FC's Emirates stadium has six surrounding rapid-transit
railway stations. The whole 60,000 can be shifted quite quickly by
using rapid-transit rail. The key point to the success of the stadium,
which since 2006 has been at over 97% full, is the ease of access
served by the rapid-transit rail stations. The six stations immediately
surrounding the Emirates stadium provide a total of 27 platforms,
with 29 on weekdays.
The success of Arsenal FC, a club the size of Everton FC when at
their old Highbury ground with a ground very similar to Everton's
Goodison Park and similar sized fanbase focuses the mind to the key
of a successful stadium.
The Emirates stadium's site was selected because of the adjacent rail
lines. £7.6 million had been set aside by the planning permission for
upgrading adjacent Drayton Park and Holloway Road rapid-transit rail
stations. However, Transport for London decided not to upgrade
either station, in favour of improvement works at the interchanges at
the nearby Highbury & Islington and Finsbury Park stations, both of
which are served by London Underground lines and First Capital
Connect services.
The stadium generates high revenues due to the superior facilities
of: refreshments, cafes, bars, etc, supported by the rapid-transit rail
access. With fans arriving mainly by rapid-transit rail, there is minimal
nuisance to the surrounding residents. Many thousands of car
journey's are kept off the roads of London per year.
Arsenal FC Eliminated a Business Partner
The availability of rapid-transit rail around the stadium site enabled
Arsenal FC to build the stadium alone without a major business
partner. The projected high attendances enabled the club to repay
the loans without a partner.
This would mean Everton FC could dispense with Tesco as a business partner.
Once a business plan is put forward, with projections, financiers
would be in a position to lend. Premier League football has not
shown a decline since the Credit Crunch. Far from it. If anything it is
a surefire winner financing a large Premiership club in infrastructure.
To a financier, the club does not need to win silver trophies, just
compete at the top and earn enough to pay back the loans. The
longevity of top Premier football clubs ensures the business is
unlikely to fold with repayment assured in the long term.
Below: Arsenal FC's Emirates Stadium is surrounded by six rapid-transit rail stations:
Wembley Park Moves 37,500 With Four Platforms
With 27 platforms in the stations surrounding the Emirates stadium
success of the stadium is guaranteed. Wembley Park station with
only four platforms can move over 37,5000 people per hour.
Having Everton FC and Liverpool FC on the same rapid-transit rail
line with only 4 platform stations adjacent to their stadia will ensure
over half of the stadia capacity is moved by rapid-transit rail. Six
platforms raises the throughput to 50,000 per hour. Building
modern multi-platform stations is cost effective using pre-cast
concrete forms as the construction method.
Melbourne's Rapid-Transit Copes With Multi Events
In Melbourne, Australia, the city's sports stadia, MCG, AAMI Stadium,
Rod Laver Arena, HiSense Arena, Olympic Park and Etihad Stadium
are all well serviced by the City Loop rail line. This line circles the city
centre stopping at all key points intersecting radial lines for ease of
interchanging.
The rapid-transit network can cope with two major sports events
being staged simultaneously in the city. A rugby league game at
AAMI Park with 30,000 supporters attending and Australian Rules
events at the MCG also with a 30,000-plus crowd is common. Arrival
and dispersal to and from the stadia is efficient. Trains leave every
couple of minutes to all points on the City Loop with trams and taxis
servicing the local districts from the stations.
Proposed Liverpool FC Stadium too Small
Liverpool FC controversially obtained planning permission to build a
60,000 seater stadium on the listed Stanley Park next to their
current stadium at Anfield Road. The district is predominately
residential being largely unsuitable for a stadium. The club has the
proposal on hold considering a stadium with a larger 73,000
capacity. Liverpool FC cannot extend over 60,000 capacity unless a
rapid-transit rail station is built on the adjacent freight only Canada
Dock Branch Line. The available station sites are not spacious and
may require compulsory purchase orders to build a suitable four to
six platform high throughput station.
This is an ideal opportunity for Liverpool FC to combine with the city
council, Merseytravel, Everton FC and other bodies to assess
reopening the Outer Loop line. A number of suitable stadium sites
are available on the line for both clubs.
A Cost Effective Plan
When all points are assessed the plan to open a rapid-transit rail line
gives high value:
- The plan does not require a bottomless pit of money. The two
clubs are building stadia - both at the same time. - This is the perfect time to co-ordinate services.
- The clubs have to find money no matter where they build stadia.
- The city has two suitable lines for passengers.
- The city needs regenerating - rapid-transit rail heavily assists.
- Rapid-transit creates economic growth.
- The two clubs provide kudos for the city
- The rapid-transit metro gives kudos and promotes the city -
attracting investors. - Public money from many bodies can be obtained to assist in
funding to aid regeneration of the city.
Reusing the Wapping Tunnel
In time the Canada Dock Branch Line may extend into the city centre
at Central station. The reuse of the 1829 Wapping Tunnel with some
short branch tunnelling, would take the line from Edge Hill into
Central station, fully merging with the Merseyrail metro.
The Wapping Tunnel's portal is at King Dock opposite the Arena,
serving a well attended 10,000 seater venue.
The line could extend to Wirral using the tunnel. This would ensure
football fans in the Wirral would have direct access to the football
stadia and fans access the city centre without a change. The greater
Liverpool community would also greatly benefit if these lines were in
place.
Below: The 1975 plan to have metro trains from Edge Hill to access
Liverpool Central station.
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