1 December 2017

Dear Arriva/Great Western/Cardiff Council/Principality Stadium/Network Rail/South Wales Police/British Transport Police

Transport planning and infrastructure impact on Major Events at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff

The Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee of the National Assembly for Wales has taken an interest in the way that transport planning and infrastructure impact on Major Events at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

Following problems at the Rugby World Cup in 2015, the then Enterprise and Business Committee in the last Assembly held an inquiry and produced a series of recommendations to address the issues.

The Committee had hoped these would avoid a repeat of the negative headlines following sporting events. The handling of the UEFA Champion’s League Final gave the Committee reason to think that this was the case.

Media reports following the recent boxing event at the Principality Stadium on 28 October suggested that some passengers were waiting unacceptably long time for transport home.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxing/its-embarrassment-wales-queue-chaos-11430563

These problems were also anticipated in other media in Wales and outside all predicting “chaos”.

Warning of travel chaos in Cardiff for Anthony Joshua and Kubrat ...

www.itv.com/news/wales/2017-09-07/possible-travel-chaos-for-boxing-in-cardiff/

7 Sep 2017 - Network Rail have warned there will be fewer trains travelling to Cardiff for fans attending the Anthony Joshua and Kubrat Pulev fight in the ...

The travel chaos facing Anthony Joshua fans going to his Cardiff fight ...

www.walesonline.co.uk › News › Wales News › Arriva Trains Wales

25 Oct 2017 - The travel chaos facing Anthony Joshua fans going to his Cardiff fight this ... British Transport Police met the train on its arrival to Cardiff Central.

Chaos expected on the motorways during Anthony Joshua fight and ...

www.bristolpost.co.uk › News › Bristol News › Traffic & Travel

27 Oct 2017 - Chaos expected on the motorways during Anthony Joshua fight and .... On the same day, extra traffic is also expected on the M4 heading to and ...

The Committee is writing to a range of partners to answer the following questions:

· What steps have been taken since Rugby World Cup 2015 to improve transport planning and delivery for major events in Cardiff?

· What arrangements were in place to meet the needs of those travelling to and from Cardiff on 28 October?

· What particular challenges did this boxing event present and how were these considered in the planning process?

· How did development work on Capital Square affect operations?

· What steps were taken to mitigate the impact of works on the Severn Tunnel and Brynglas Tunnels?

· What was your assessment of the effectiveness of travel planning arrangements for the event? How many people were negatively affected by delays?

· What lessons have been learnt from this event, and how will any lessons be applied to future events?

We would welcome a written response by 22 December, in order that the committee might decide what further action to take.

Russell George AM

Chair of the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee