Season › 2024-25 › News Better train connectivity set to be in place for Hill Dickinson Stadium next season Anjishnu Roy 19/06/2025 15comments | Jump to last Train capacity will be increased to meet the extra demand for Everton’s first match at their new waterfront stadium at the Bramley-Moore Dock next season. With the fixture list for the Premier League 2025/26 season released on Wednesday, fans were quick to mark August 23 on their calendars. The Toffees will host Brighton & Hove Albion in the first official fixture at the Hill Dickinson Stadium following their move from the historic Goodison Park. To cope with the increased demand for passengers on that route, Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram has promised to double some Merseyrail services. Fans faced transportation issues during the test events at the 52,888-seater stadium. Large crowds had also gathered at the relatively smaller Sandhills station, which could create a “dangerous situation.” "There were problems with people hours before trying to get into town and we only had four carriage trains on," Mr Rotheram said. "So there will be eight carriages from an earlier start." Everton’s first match at their new stadium will also coincide with International Beatles Week. Thousands of Beatles fans are expected to pour in from across the world to celebrate the legacy of the iconic group and gigs have also been planned at the historic Cavern Club, the birthplace of the Beatles and at The Pier Head, all just a mile away from the stadium. The Mayor also urged the fans to walk from the city centre or from other nearby Merseyrail stations in order to abate the situation at Sandhills. "We need to use Bank Hall more, we need to use James St more and potentially even Moorfields more," he said. "We are hoping that as people find their own pattern of behaviour, because that's what happens with football fans, that they will perhaps come into town, find a pub that they want, and then people will take their own time and get there in plenty of time for the kick-off." A fan management zone could also be set up close to the stadium, which will help with the increased footfall and would "help to ensure that people can arrive safely and leave in a safe manner". Reader Comments (15) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer () Benjamin Dyke 1 Posted 19/06/2025 at 15:02:56 It seems a shame that the transport links have not been approached with the same diligent methodology as the build of the stadium. Everything gives off a feel that no one on the council has really got to grips with it and the strategy sounds a bit like "let's just hope everyone walks there". Paul Kossoff 2 Posted 19/06/2025 at 15:46:56 This fucking idiot actually admitted that the council thought the stadium would never be built! That's why he said nothing was done in putting in transport improvements.If it was the other lot, the council would have bent over backwards to help them. No amount would have been too great for the red shite. The recent conclusion about the location of BMD was that it should never have been built there. I said when the site was chosen that it was not suitable because it's only one way in, and one way out.Building it right next to a major transport link (not suited for pedestrians) was madness. We will see when the test event takes place, just how difficult or easy to get in and out.The pedestrian links from town and along the river should have been built along with the stadium. Putting them in place after is ridiculous. The council should be embarrassed with the sheer lack of professionalism regarding fans getting to and from BMD safely. Now telling fans not to use Sandhills station, unbelievable! Let's hope all goes well with the test event, but it will not be with anything the council has done. Paul Hewitt 3 Posted 19/06/2025 at 15:59:23 Benjamin @1. I believe the council probably thought the stadium wouldn't get built, so did nothing in way of the transport structure. If the RS had built it, a new station would have been done. Paul Hewitt 4 Posted 19/06/2025 at 16:00:29 Sorry Paul never read your post before I sent mine. Paul Kossoff 5 Posted 19/06/2025 at 16:09:19 That's okay, Paul. Plagiarism is a form of flattery, only joking! 😁 Jack Convery 6 Posted 19/06/2025 at 16:47:56 AS someone who has used the Southport line for more years than I care to remember, it will only take a train failure or god forbid, a lost soul, jumping in front of a train, for chaos to ensue. Put a ferry terminal near to the ground and establish a park and sail system on the Wirral. This will ease congestion, with less cars travelling through the tunnels, and increase revenue at the ground, as more people will have a shandy or two in the bars inside. A new station nearer to the ground would help enormously. A couple of multistory car parks wouldn't go amiss either. Maybe the club could acquire the land and build them, bringing more money in. It's not rocket science, is it? Danny O'Neill 7 Posted 19/06/2025 at 17:00:23 Jack,Unfortunately, that is common on the London Underground, arguably the most extensive transit system in the world, with trains every 2 minutes.London has a population of 9 million residents. At certain times, with visitors, there are probably in excess of 15 million.Hit the underground at rush hour on a good day, and you struggle to squeeze onto a carriage and often have to wait for the next one as the doors won't close. Pete Neilson 8 Posted 19/06/2025 at 17:01:22 Jack (6) as I remember it the initial plans included a multi storey but English Heritage objected and would have dragged the project out indefinitely. Not being satisfied with that plan being withdrawn they then campaigned for the whole Bramley Moore project to be denied. I expect many of the businesses in the area will open up their car parks on match days. Well find out pretty soon. Paul Kossoff 9 Posted 19/06/2025 at 17:10:20 Jack, the problems all exist now. All the pedestrian safe walk ways, all the parking areas, tram lines from the pier head, ferries, all should have been on the plans set along with the stadium from day one. As you said, it's not rocket science for someone to say, hang on, we need to plan for 50,000 fans getting in and out and to BMD before anything else is agreed on. Come to think of it, the people on the council are still apparently in the stone age, so rocket science hasn't been invented for them yet. Jack Convery 10 Posted 19/06/2025 at 18:16:11 There's always the Leeds Liverpool Canal. Have a few day tripper boats with alcohol licences, to gently move Evertonians into the adjacent dock ! Les Callan 11 Posted 19/06/2025 at 18:53:14 Wouldnt the question of car parking have been addressed when planning permission was applied for ? Neil Copeland 12 Posted 19/06/2025 at 19:02:48 Les, although on a much smaller scale, the village hall where I live applied for planning permission to increase its car park. It was refused on the basis that people using the hall should be from the local community and encouraged to walk, cycle, use public transport or car share. So, based on the above perhaps LCC is fully aware of our local support….. Peter Mills 13 Posted 19/06/2025 at 19:17:55 People having to walk long distances. Cars dropping off family and friends. Derby Road coned off to one lane each way. Pavements not big enough to deal with the number of pedestrians. The majority of fans (including opposition supporters) trying to get through a small number of gaps in the dock wall. An inadequate rail provision, with a hopelessly small station.The city narrowly avoided a disaster a few weeks ago. There is scope for mayhem. Tony Abrahams 14 Posted 19/06/2025 at 19:23:50 Living in the city, I also think that with Anfield, now holding 62.000 spectators for every game, also needs a train station.With money from the government, coming into the region to help with transport infrastructure, it will be very interesting to see how LCC, spend the money.Ive read people on ToffeeWeb, talking about a monorail, going right the way along the waterfront, and think that there could be a massive amount of money to be made by a private company, if anyone invested in such a scheme?I say this because there are a lot of residents living all the way along the waterfront now from this side of Otterspool, all the way to the soon to be developed tabacco warehouses and this is only going to increase imo.This plus a large percentage of the fifty thousand going to Bramley Moore, every other week, would Im sure bring in a huge profit over time, because of the demand, and even though Im not sure how expensive it would be to develop, it would definitely be worth it in the long term, imo.Above all the mayhem you talk about Peter, its the exit points that are the biggest concern to me right now mate, because I goet a weird feeling when I look at those walls, that would have definitely been moved if they werent listed. John Raftery 15 Posted 19/06/2025 at 19:29:20 Les (11) If car parking provision was addressed during planning it was simply to note there wont be any. The Council wanted to make a virtue of green transport provision. That would be fine if public transport was up to scratch. Plainly, as in the whole of the U.K. outside London, it isnt. Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. How to get rid of these ads and support TW © ToffeeWeb