Fans attending the Euro 2022 women’s football tournament could be offered park and ride schemes if further industrial action hits their travel plans.
The show-piece event will be spread across 10 venues in England, and organisers hope to have sold at least half a million tickets before the tournament kicks off on 6 July.
The potential for further strike action on the transport network this summer though means organisers are working to ensure disruption is kept to an absolute minimum.
Strikes could go on through the summer, experts say – follow live updates
Chris Bryant, head of UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 tournament delivery, said: “Any kind of strike action would be really detrimental to the tournament.
“That’s something we really hope doesn’t happen for the event, for the sport and everything we are trying to achieve.
“Have we looked at contingency plans in the event that does happen? Yes, we have.
Rail strikes: Passengers face more cancellations on Wednesday after biggest rail walkout for a generation
Rail strikes: Trips to city centres at COVID lockdown levels as walkouts bring ‘major disruption to retail’
Rail strikes: Give public sector workers a pay rise or cut everyone’s taxes by 2%? Chancellor left with tough set of choices
“All major events are having to do that because of the uncertainty of what the next few weeks and months look like.”
England, who are among the favourites, will kick off their campaign at Old Trafford against Austria in two weeks time.
Brighton, Wembley, Brentford, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Rotherham, Sheffield, Southampton, and Leigh in Greater Manchester are all hosting matches.
Park and ride schemes are among the most realistic contingency options which could be organised at relatively short notice.
“It’s not like what we saw at the (men’s) FA Cup semi-finals where you can just put buses on because all the fans are coming from one city and another city,” Mr Bryant added.
“The reality here is that you have got a lot of fans coming from all over the country to the stadium.
“There’s lots of options in the contingency plans, but the reality is that you have to understand what’s best for the city and the stadia that’s being affected.”
Read more:
Passengers face more cancellations on Wednesday after biggest rail walkout for a generation
England Women’s squad for Euro 2022 unveiled – as former captain left out
Organisers have also faced criticism from some players over the use of some venues with capacities below 10,000.
Mr Bryant insisted they have the right blend of venues to enable a successful tournament that delivers good atmospheres across all the matches.
“We have no plans to change any of the stadia,” he said.
“These things take a lot of time and planning…we are happy with the stadiums.”
Over 450,000 tickets have been sold so far, with several of the big matches already sold out.
Sp,e 96,000 of those tickets have been sold to fans outside England who will visit for the tournament.
