Football fans brave 'torture' travel amid rail strikes to reach Wembley from Manchester for United v City FA Cup Final
3 June 2023, 13:03 | Updated: 3 June 2023, 15:07
A Manchester United fan who spent £300 to reach the FA Cup final has described the train strikes as a "nightmare", as fans struggled to reach Wembley on Saturday.
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The walkout by train drivers with the Aslef union, the 11th since last June, has affected many Manchester United and Manchester City fans travelling to Wembley, as well as the Epsom Derby and England's Test Match at Lord's on Saturday.
Marty Harris, 46, from Edinburgh, got up at 4am on Saturday to take a flight to Birmingham, drove to Watford, then took a carshare and tube to Wembley with his young son.
Speaking ahead of the game, which kicked off at 3pm, Mr Harris said: "I'm here now so, that's the main thing.
"It's been torture, absolute torture. Especially when they're on 55 grand a year," he told PA.
He added: "It's been a nightmare. I don't know how I'm getting back to Heathrow tonight with the trains off."
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"I think people watching will be tired because they've got up so early to be here."
Others were less bothered by travel issues.
Mr Harris' fellow United fans Sharon Ralph, 44, and Mark Ralph, 61, drove for seven hours to reach the FA Cup final on Friday from Cheshire.
Ms Ralph said: "We would have tried to get the train down but instead we drove down yesterday, and we'll stay tonight as well.
"We don't mind the extra cost, it's OK.
"Everyone's been really helpful, it's not too bad. It's definitely worth it. At least, we hope it will be!"
Meanwhile Manchester City fans travelling to the FA Cup final at Wembley said train strikes would impact the atmosphere in the stadium.
Clare Hedges, 45, a contracts manager, and Nick Saunders, 43, had a short journey to the ground from Wanstead, east London.
Mr Saunders said: "Normally it's great, with all the crowds there, so the train strikes will mean it's not the same atmosphere."
He added: "The good thing is we'll get better seats."
Meanwhile union insiders have warned that the rail strikes "could continue until next summer" after pay talks with ministers broke down.
Aslef boss Mick Whelan has said there is "no waning in enthusiasm" from train drivers to continue striking, and said the union is "determined to get a resolution and remain in this for the long haul"
.According to a senior rail source quoted by the Daily Mail, unions are willing to continue strike action long-term in pursuit of a satisfactory deal, with walkouts not set to end "any time soon".
"It’s easily going on until the end of the year and potentially even until next summer," they said.
"Certainly the train unions aren’t going to agree to the reforms that the operators need to bring in to balance the books, so the operators will just have to carry on regardless and push it through."
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "These strikes have been coordinated by union leaders to disrupt passengers in a week which will see major events such as the first-ever all-Manchester FA Cup final, the Epsom Derby and a number of concerts and festivals across the UK.
"Not content with impacting the hundreds of thousands of people who have looked forward to these events all year round, unions are also targeting their own members’ pockets by forcing them to miss out on pay every time they strike.
"The government has facilitated a fair and reasonable pay offer, now union leaders must do the right thing and put this to their members.”
