Fans without a ticket to Taylor Swift’s sold-out Sydney shows are being urged to stay away from Sydney Olympic Park this weekend, as authorities gear up for hundreds of thousands of concertgoers to descend on the city’s public transport.
Hundreds of die-hard Swifties flocked to the Melbourne Cricket Ground last weekend to sing along outside the stadium after missing out on tickets to see the star.
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The trend, dubbed “Taylor-gating” by fans, is common practice at shows worldwide.
However, NSW authorities are urging Sydney Swifties not to take part to avoid adding to the chaos.
“Can I ask, please, people who don’t have tickets, don’t come,” NSW Police operation commander Andrew Holland said on Wednesday.
Transport for NSW coordinator-general Howard Collins echoed his call.
“If you don’t need to be here, please don’t,” he said.
“If we get 20,000 people who haven’t got tickets, and mix that with the 75,000 people who have, and mix that with Blink (182), it could be very congested.
“Our advice is, particularly on Friday and Saturday, it’s going to be really busy here, if you haven’t got a ticket, think of something else you could do and enjoy the atmosphere elsewhere.
“But if people turn up, we’ll work with the police, we’ll make sure people are safe. We know what happened in Melbourne.”
All aboard the Tay-Tay Express
With upwards of 300,000 people heading to Olympic Park from Friday to Monday, transport authorities are reminding people to be prepared heading to their show.
“Travel early,” is Collins’ best advice.
“The best way to travel is by public transport.
“If you’re a Swiftie ticket holder, you will get free travel across the transport network that will get you here and back again.”
More than 550 extra trains and 700 additional buses will transport fans over the four nights, Collins said.
Trains named the “Tay Tay Express” will run direct from the main concourse platforms of Central Station to Sydney Olympic Park every eight minutes until 10.30pm, and then every five minutes on the way back until 1am.
The special trains will even play Taylor songs for fans to sing along, Collins added.
Another tip is to have a meeting place to find friends or be dropped off and picked up.
“When you leave the venue after all that excitement, there will be queues,” Collins said.
“Mobile networks will be pretty busy, so sometimes you may find that’s not working when 100,000 fans are trying to call home to say what fun and delight they’ve had.”
Fans heading north to Newcastle will have to catch the bus, with planned track work between 1.20pm Friday to 2am Tuesday.
Bus services will replace trains between Wyong and Newcastle Interchange.
Replacement buses will also operate on the South Coast Line between Bomaderry, Kiama and Wollongong from 11.50pm Friday.
Parking is fully booked across all four evenings, so don’t try your luck driving.
