"A total mess": Football fans caught up in 'traffic chaos' across Gelsenkirchen ahead of England v Serbia match
Traffic has caused a lot of difficulties for football enthusiasts in Gelsenkirchen before the game between England and Serbia this evening.
News has come in that trains and trams are not running presently, and there are too many people in the buses as well. More than fifty thousand supporters are moving toward the Arena AufSchalke to watch the thrilling match between England and Serbia in the UEFA EURO 2024 championship.
Many photos appeared on social media showing huge groups of people gathered at bus and tram stations all over the city. According to some accounts, vehicles remained stationary at several stations for more than twenty minutes. Other people had no choice but to get out of packed buses.
Discover More: Prior to the Euro 2024 match, a big showdown broke out between fans of England and Serbia, leading to a massive deployment of police officers to the scene.
The tram service going to the Gelsenkirchen stadium was said to be experiencing major difficulties. As a result, a lot of England fans opted to travel on foot for several miles instead of using the tram to get to the match.
The arena witnessed the arrival of England and Serbia enthusiasts all through the evening, with reports indicating the presence of riot officers who accompanied sizable clusters of supporters.
@macielj92 shared on X: "There's pandemonium in Gelsenkirchen. Trams are backed up, causing evacuation of passengers, and it's raining heavily."
Football journalist OliverKay suggests that if England or Serbia fans are still in the midst of Gelsenkirchen or worse, haven't even arrived yet, it would be best to go on foot. Although it may take three miles of walking, the public transportation situation is currently chaotic.
The blog section included a comment from user @MPaasu who expressed their dissatisfaction with the traffic situation in Gelsenkirchen. According to them, the subway had been closed temporarily and the train was delayed by an hour. In addition, the bus was extremely overcrowded. @MPaasu claimed that they had never experienced such chaotic traffic anywhere else before.
The main railway station, known as Hauptbahnhof, had riot police positioned before the UEFA EURO 2024 football championship match between Group C's England and Serbia. This was captured in an image credited to Getty Images.
StevieBeasy expressed their frustration with the trams in Gelsenkirchen, saying that they were in disarray and that there might be some trouble brewing. Meanwhile, ex-sports journalist Adam J. Shergold reported that England fans were experiencing utter chaos in the city. The trams weren't moving, and people weren't being provided with much information. With only a couple of hours left until kickoff, it could be a challenge for many fans to make it to the match on time.
Later on Sunday afternoon, there was a fight between fans from England and Serbia in Gelsenkirchen. The conflict caused tables and chairs to be thrown, and many police officers with weapons came to Weberstrasse to intervene.
As reported by the Mirror, an English police source stated that the altercation started with England supporters assaulting individuals from Serbia. In response, the Serbs fought back.
