Trains between Birmingham and London will be extremely busy this weekend as thousands of Birmingham City fans descend on Wembley Stadium for the Vertu English Football League Trophy Cup Final against Peterborough.

Over 40,000 Blues fans are expected to head to Wembley on Sunday, 13th April for Birmingham City’s first cup final since 2011.

The game kicks off at 3 pm, and trains between Birmingham and London are expected to be packed with fans before and after the game.

On Sunday, engineering work will affect services on the Chiltern main line, with services from Birmingham truncated to start and terminate at Warwick Parkway, and no trains calling at Solihull, Dorridge, Hatton, Lapworth, or Warwick.

There will be extra services from Warwick Parkway to Wembley Stadium, with Chiltern Railways running 12 extra services from Warwick Parkway to Wembley Stadium for Birmingham City supporters. There will also be free car parking at Warwick Parkway, Leamington Spa and Banbury.

There is no step-free access to trains at Warwick Parkway, and Leamington Spa is the nearest accessible station to Warwick Parkway on the route to Wembley.

For passengers travelling between Birmingham New Street and London Euston stations, extra staff will be available to guide passengers. A queueing system will be in place at Birmingham New Street to minimise delays to trains and help keep passengers safe.

Chiltern Railways is used to handling large crowds on its services to Wembley for special events, such as last year’s FA Cup semi-final between Coventry City and Manchester United and the Taylor Swift concerts at Wembley Stadium.

“We have worked collaboratively with rail operators in the region to advise Birmingham City supporters of rail options when heading to Wembley. Rail services will be in operation to London from Birmingham New Street and Warwick Parkway and there will be a similar number of services for return journeys. Please plan your trip in advance and choose the route which is best for you. Consider travelling on later services which will lower the demand on earlier services, when a lot of supporters tend to travel.”

Lucy Wootton, head of the Grand Railway Collaboration, which represents the rail industry in the West Midlands