Station beside the Ricoh arena, home to Coventry City and Wasps, will be kept closed for an hour after matches while train can take just 75 of up to 32,600 fans

A new railway station serving Coventry City football club’s stadium is to finally open – with just one tiny flaw: trains will not be able to carry fans to and from matches.

The delayed Coventry Arena station, built beside the Ricoh arena, which is shared by City and rugby union premiership club Wasps, will remain closed for an hour after the final whistle. The train operator has advised the travelling public to stick to the roads on match days.

Despite a £13.6m investment to upgrade the Coventry-Nuneaton line with the new station, only one hourly, single-carriage, diesel train will trundle along the track. While the Ricoh arena has 32,600 seats, the train has just 75.

Francis Thomas, a spokesman for train operator London Midland, said: “We only have the one diesel train. It only has 75 seats. Until further infrastructure changes are made, we are limited. There just aren’t the trains available. We’re working with the arena owners to see if there are other solutions.”

He said the train company was following safety advice from the stadium owners to keep the station locked for an hour after games.

The train operator said that they had always made clear that capacity would be limited but defended the construction of the station as “part of a phased approach”. The city council and regional transport authority drew up the scheme in 2011, backed by national and European funding, projecting trains to run every 15 minutes.

A Coventry council spokesperson said: “The council, with partners, has successfully provided the infrastructure which allows trains to stop at the Ricoh as well as providing a vital link throughout the day between Nuneaton and Bedworth and Coventry. The council is not responsible for providing or managing train services.”

The station will also serve a local retail park and new housing, and there are hopes that with future electrification – possibly in jeopardy due to wider problems at Network Rail – more trains will run on match days after 2017.



Thomas added: “It’s unfortunate that fans will naturally see a station being built next to the stadium and think that’s the way to go. It will be – but not just yet.”