The McGowan Government has lifted the cap previously placed on the first Ed Sheeran concert at Perth Stadium next year, allowing an extra 15,000 tickets to go on sale. The original ticket allocation for the concert on March 2 was capped at 40,000 due to uncertainty about the completion date of the Swan River Pedestrian Bridge.
Although a mid-March target completion date for the bridge remains achievable, it is not expected to be ready in time for concerts. An extra 15,000 tickets will be released by Frontier Touring, with a one-off transport strategy required to manage crowd access.
The bridge remains a key component of the integrated transport plan for Perth Stadium. However, on this occasion the state government is undertaking a one-off transport plan to enable more fans to attend.
Transperth has advised that the risks associated with transporting the additional concert-goers on a weeknight can be safely managed for this one-off occasion.
Details of the transport arrangements will be released closer to the event. However, it is inevitable that the level of public transport and traffic access directly to and from the stadium will not meet the usual expectations of concert-goers.
The transport strategy is likely to consider: reallocating train carriages from other parts of the network; supplementing existing bus services to and from the stadium; providing extra entertainment and activation around the stadium precinct. Concert-goers will need to allow plenty of extra time to get to the venue, and should expect delays of at least 90 minutes to access public transport before and after the event.
It is also likely that regular CBD commuters will experience busier than usual services and may need to allow more time to get home.
Construction of Perth Stadium and the surrounding Stadium Park is more than 90% complete and remains on schedule to open in early 2018.
