SOUTH Western Railway (SWR) is advising customers heading to the Southampton v Leeds Championship play-off final this Sunday (26 May) that they must allow extra time for their journeys and should set off much earlier.
The match will see thousands of extra customers travel by rail as the Saints attempt to win promotion back into the Premiere League.
To respond to this increase in demand, SWR has organised some additional trains between Southampton and London, but services and stations are still expected to be extremely busy.
Queueing systems may be in place at particularly busy stations, such as those in and near Southampton and in London, so customers will likely have to wait longer to board a train.
As SWR moves trains and colleagues to support the fixture, there will be some other alterations to the timetable on Sunday. Any customers intending to travel on SWR on Sunday will need to check their journeys before travelling.
Customers not attending the match and who can avoid travelling along the South West Main Line between Southampton and London during the morning and evening, when services will be busiest, are encouraged to do so.
Fans travelling from Basingstoke with tickets valid via Reading and onto London Paddington should travel on Great Western Railway, as SWR services from Basingstoke are expected to be especially busy.
Steve Tyler, Performance and Planning Director at South Western Railway, said:
“We are doing everything we can to get as many customers as possible to London to watch the match, as well as ensure anyone else who plans to use the railway on Sunday can get to their destination.
“We are expecting a huge number of fans to head to our stations, meaning customers must allow extra time to complete their journeys and should set off extra early, as they will likely have to wait longer to board a train.
“I would like to thank customers for their cooperation and hope fans enjoy the final.”
Customers intending to travel on Sunday can check their journeys using the Plan My Journey page from Friday, when it will be updated with the additional services and other alterations.
