TRAIN cancellations left hundreds of Spice Girls fans stranded after the Ricoh Arena concert last night.
Fans took to social media to berate operator West Midlands Railway for leaving them unable to get home.
Hundreds leaving the stadium were left in queues after the legendary girl band’s second Ricoh gig this week.
It followed widespread reports of queueing, traffic and parking problems and security chaos on the first night – with some alleging security staff stopped checking bags.
Replacement buses were sent to Coventry Arena Station after the 9.24pm service to Nuneaton and the 10.34pm train to Leamington via Coventry were cancelled.
Four extra buses had to be sent to the station, on top of one already scheduled, after the cancellations were confirmed at 6.20pm due to a staff shortage.
West Midlands Railway says people were notified through its journey planning system available on the internet.
Fans were outraged by having to pay for the buses while some were not able to get on or find designated bus bays.
Many chose to pay inflated taxi costs instead of waiting.
Among those to complain about last night’s event on Twitter was Luisa Christie who said: “The organisation for Spice Girls at the Ricoh Arena was a shambles.
“No one knew what was going on for the 70,000 people attending!
“Cancelled trains into Coventry, replaced with buses you had to pay extra for. It took me HOURS to get home.”
Katy Terry tweeted: “@RicohArena @WestMidRailway home from the Spice Girls three hours after the gig finished.
“Disgusting treatment of the 1000s of fans expecting to use public transport and there was nothing!
“Trains cancelled and no designated area for rail replacement. Absolute shambles.”
Lucy tweeted: “Absolute shambles leaving the @RicohArena @spicegirls concert tonight.
“The staff were rude and unhelpful and there was no help for people literally stranded in Coventry, due to train cancellation. Really disappointed and a turn off for the venue. Ruined the night out.”
Nicola Sargeant said: “Horrendous ending to a fantastic @spicegirls gig.
“@WestMidRailway cancelled BOTH trains from @RicohArena to @TrainCoventry leaving thousands of people trying to get on two tiny buses, queuing for taxis for over an hour and just having no clue how we are getting home. Just awful.”
Jo Price also tweeted: “@WestMidRailway absolutely terrible service following the spice girls concert.
“Cancelled trains and only two replacement buses. No transport and hours and hours wait for a taxi with additional costs!! #disgusted”
West Midlands Railway, which operates train services in the region, said: “Those two services were cancelled due to a shortage of train crew.
“Five rail replacement coaches were in operation and used as necessary to transport people to and from the station around the time of these cancelled services.
“We also had additional staff at the station to assist passengers.
“Extra carriages were put on the 23;34 to Coventry, to help with the number of people looking to travel on the later train.
“Anyone affected by the disruption and delayed by 15 minutes or more can claim compensation through Delay Repay.”
