Labour have called for next month's FA Cup semi-final clash at Wembley between Liverpool and Manchester City to be moved.
Jurgen Klopp's side booked a spot in the last four with a win narrow 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday, but fans from both clubs face travel chaos with no trains running for the entire semi-final and Easter weekend.
Scheduled railway works will be taking place from April 15 to 18, which means services from Liverpool Lime Street will start and terminate at Rugby, while trains from Manchester Piccadilly will start and finish at Milton Keynes Central and run via Stoke-on-Trent.
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The ECHO understands Liverpool have been in talks with Man City and the Football Association and have asked for the venue to be changed, as they look to ensure fans are able to attend the game.
Liverpool metro mayor Steve Rotheram and his Manchester counterpart Andy Burnham have both called for the match to be moved away from Wembley to a venue more suitable for supporters travelling from the north west. Now, Labour’s Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell has also written to the FA chair Debbie Hewitt.
She wrote: "When directed to use National Rail journey planner, a 5.30 kick off would see Manchester City fans travelling three and a half hours, and Liverpool fans travelling four and a half hours with two changes. The return journey is even worse, and it would be almost impossible for fans to get home to either Manchester or Liverpool on the night of the match.
“In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, fans shouldn’t have to struggle to pay extra costs for expensive travel or overnight stays to attend the Wembley match. It should be a priority for the FA to ensure that fans are not excluded from attending this game due to the difficulty of travel."
After reports that the FA were made aware of travel disruption six months ago, Labour have asked the FA to clarify how long they have known about potential disruption, as well as whether they would consider moving the match, ideally to a stadium in the north west, as fan groups for both teams have requested.
With further reports suggesting the FA are exploring alternative transport with National Rail and National Express, Powell has also called for assurance that fans will have plenty of notice to book their travel, that they won't be forced to pay more than the usual fare for those tickets, and that they will be able to travel home at the end of the match.
