London Underground Changes 1 June- due to the UEFA Champions League Final at Wembley

If anyone’s interested the final is between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid. This is the biggest game in European club football.

Oh my, that sounds like it could be crazy crowded. I'm glad I'll have changed hotels by then, away from Victoria Station, back over to Gloucester Rd.

So why the Jubilee Line particularly? Is that the line that goes to the stadium?

Yes the Jubilee and the Met are the lines which serve Wembley Stadium along with the Chiltern Line and LNWR out of Euston.

There is also the UEFA Champions Festival which will take place in Trafalgar Square, Somerset House and Potters Field Park from Thursday 30 May until Sunday 2 June. It will also take place on Regent Street on Thursday 30 and Friday 31 May, and the South Bank (so near Waterloo) on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 June.

Potters Field Park is on the South Bank of the Thames just past Tower Bridge.

Oh my my. This could require some adjustments. I can see I'll have to figure it out one day at a time as it sounds like it will sort of be everywhere.

Will Heathrow be a zoo on Monday, June 3 with fans (and possibly teams) flying back to Germany and Spain?

Stuart, do you know why they list those particular central London stations and Canary Wharf? Just where the visiting fans are staying?

This is more details of the 'fan zone' (my words) in Central London- https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/028d-1ae2e0b54134-ed96565e926a-1000--uefa-champions-festival-coming-to-london-from-30-may-to-2/

Most of those stations serve the fan zone areas or at the Stadium, Baker Street presumably because it is such a major interchange point between tube lines (or those going to Wembley) and is also a station for Marylebone for the Chiltern Line. The transport nerd in me says that Baker Street has the highest number of platforms of any tube station.

I can't work out where Canary Wharf comes into it- TfL clearly know something which I don't (that's not hard) and which isn't on the blurb.

As for Heathrow on 3 June my gut reaction is that the fans will be using low cost carriers or charter flights mainly from Luton, Stansted and possibly Gatwick, maybe even Southend airport will take some of the strain.
So, if I had to take a guess, I would have thought Heathrow wouldn't be affected much. I don't know if Gerry agrees with that analysis. But be prepared for the opposite.
An uneducated guess as to why Canary Wharf is affected is that Charter flights may also be using London City airport- then the DLR interchanging onto the Jubilee and the Elizabeth Line there.

Thanks for all those details. I had to look up the Borussia team, so that tells you what level of "fan" I am.

I'm taking notes so that I can avoid the real "fan zone!"

If anyone is planning to avoid the fan zones because of a concern for possible violence then that is highly unlikely. If you have time I would make an effort to visit. It’s likely to be a joyous experience and one that will be unique.
I would presume there’s a fan zone at Canary Wharf Stuart? The whole area is converting itself into much more of a leisure and entertainment complex than the office hub it once was now that demand for office space has reduced.

For me, it's not a concern about violence, but rather just not a fan of crowds. As an example, and as I tell friends, I like visiting New Orleans, just not during Mardi Gras.

Having said that, I won't mind if I can have a peek from the periphery one day!

What I am wondering (it's not confirmed yet on the UEFA website) is whether a lot of Real Madrid fans are coming up from Spain by luxury bus/coach. And Canary Wharf is being used as a giant coach park, and as John says as a fan zone. It's a straight shot then on the Jubilee to Wembley. That would make a lot of sense. There is a whole section on the website about coach travel so UEFA think it will happen.

So the two sets of fans are kept well apart, and families and both lots of fans can easily get to the Central London events.

Long distance luxury coach is a European thing- it's still how a good few Brits go to the Spanish Costas- 18 hours or so straight through from the North of England. From me you start at breakfast time Day 1 with 2 bus drivers working in shifts, they take an early evening ferry from Dover, then direct down through France arriving Spain early or mid afternoon on Day 2.

If anyone’s interested the final is between Borussia Dortmund and Real
Madrid. This is the biggest game in European club football.

In the US it will air on CBS/Paramount+ 3pm ET.

As for Heathrow on 3 June my gut reaction is that the fans will be using low cost carriers or charter flights mainly from Luton, Stansted and possibly Gatwick, maybe even Southend airport will take some of the strain.
So, if I had to take a guess, I would have thought Heathrow wouldn't be affected much.

I think that's a fair assumption. Heathrow is big enough that it has the capacity for really busy days, so that helps too.

In general, London is less affected by big events than other cities. It's not hard to avoid the football crowd if you want to. In a city like Glasgow for instance, the centre can be absolutely swamped when there's a big game on.

The transport nerd in me says that Baker Street has the highest number of platforms of any tube station.

That's interesting. I wouldn't have thought about Baker Street immediately. I'd have guessed Bank if it came up in a quiz, but that probably holds the record for miles of tunnels underground between platforms.

I very much doubt Heathrow will be affected much. Real Madrid have exclusive use of an Emirates A380 and it's likely that they'll use one of the quieter 'London' airports such as Stansted or Luton. Borussia Dortmund have to make do with a chartered Eurowings flight. Fans are likely to use the cheaper carriers who will also use the other London hubs.

At least we'll be unlikely to witness the shameful events that took place at Wembley during the Euro 2020 final https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59518850

Last time I went to an event at Wembley Baker Street was incredibly busy on the way home. People coming from the stadium need to change lines there and it was rammed. I decided to just exit the station and walk the rest of the way back to my hotel rather than try to get on another tube.

This makes me glad that my flight to LHR was rebooked and now I arrive on June 3 rather than May 31....

Well, MJ, depending on where you'll be and how long you're staying, you may run into arriving Taylor Swift fans as they descend on concerts in Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and eventually London @ sold out Wembley.

https://help.wembleystadium.com/support/solutions/articles/7000082789-taylor-swift-the-eras-tour-21-22-23-june-and-15-16-17-19-20-august

My first sighting of Madrid fans was last night on the tube, around Westminster. Just a few, and nicely behaved. Mind you, I wasn't out looking for them, but a long since planned dinner took me through Westminster station.

My London friend lives just a few stops in from Wembley. I think we'll avoid having her head home in the hours leading up to tonight's match!

My guess is that fans will be heading ups to Wembley a bit earlier than they would on most match days. That's because the bulk of fans will be in from Germany and Spain and not locals. The latter will mostly have been to Wembley many times and will know when they need to set off to get there in time. Tonight's fans will in general have less experience and might anyway want to get to the stadium earlier.

I would have thought that Eurostar might have some pressure for fans returning to Germany, as well as a range of airports. But I think that the majority will be off on Sunday rather than Monday. Many might well be on specially chartered planes which are likely to go back straight after the game as well.