Plans to expand the matchday queuing area at Sandhills station have been approved as transport bosses look to ease congestion around Everton home games at the Hill Dickinson.
The Merseyrail scheme will create space for an additional 2,000 supporters, significantly increasing the area available to manage crowds before and after matches.
Sandhills has become a major part of the matchday journey since Everton moved from Goodison Park. Heavy queues have formed after games in particular, with thousands of supporters heading towards the station at the same time.
The latest plans won’t increase the number of trains serving the stadium, but they should give Merseyrail considerably more room to manage those crowds.
Sandhills plans create space for another 2,000 supporters
The extended fan management zone will increase queuing capacity by 150%, according to documents submitted as part of the planning process.
Paperwork submitted to the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority described the existing fan management zone as “not sufficient” for the numbers now using Sandhills on Everton matchdays.
The pressure on the station was anticipated long before the Hill Dickinson opened.
Simon Crawshaw told the planning committee that the impact on Sandhills was “well understood” when Everton’s stadium plans were approved in 2021.
He said the move to Bramley-Moore Dock “would have a significant impact on Sandhills station” and that increased demand there had “always been envisaged”.
The length of time between the stadium receiving planning approval and the Sandhills scheme progressing was also addressed.
According to the Liverpool Echo, the process included work to ensure the project represented best value for taxpayers before the improvement scheme could proceed.
More queuing space won’t mean more trains
Expanding the fan management zone addresses one of the problems at Sandhills, but it doesn’t increase the number of services that can pass through the station.
Around 20,000 rail journeys are made on Everton matchdays, according to figures reported by the Liverpool Echo.
Merseyrail officials have explained that Network Rail’s signalling infrastructure currently restricts the number of services that can operate through Sandhills to around 24 to 28 trains per hour.
Making the queuing area bigger doesn’t alter that limit.
Instead, the approved work will provide more space for supporters waiting to use the existing services and for staff managing the crowds around them.
It is an important improvement after the congestion experienced during the early months at the Hill Dickinson, but rail capacity remains a separate issue.
Steve Rotheram explains limits at Sandhills
Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has previously spoken about the difficulties surrounding the station.
Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside, Rotheram pointed to the division of responsibility between the regional authorities and Network Rail.
“It’s not our station.”
He also cautioned against expecting a simple answer to the transport problems surrounding Everton’s new home, saying there was no “magic wand solution”.
“We are currently doing everything we can do.”
Rotheram said work would continue with the different organisations involved to improve the situation where possible.
“I feel we’re moving to a better understanding… we will continue to squeeze as much capacity out of what we’ve currently got and if there’s things that we can do that will improve it even further then we will.”
The approved expansion at Sandhills is one part of that work.
Another 2,000 places in the queuing area should make it easier to manage the large numbers using the station before and after Everton matches. It doesn’t remove the limits imposed by the existing rail infrastructure, and increasing the number of services is a separate challenge.
Full details of the plans and the evidence presented during the planning process can be found in the Liverpool Echo’s report on the Sandhills station expansion.
For supporters, the immediate change is simple enough: there should be considerably more room at Sandhills to manage the matchday queues, even if the number of trains isn’t about to increase as a result.
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