Fans at Perth's new stadium told to leave early to avoid traffic

Spectators arrive by train before the Big Bash League Semi Final match between the Perth Scorchers and the Hobart Hurricanes at Optus Stadium. Photo / Getty

Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan sent a disappointing message to the 55,000 fans on their way to Optus Stadium for Thursday night's Big Bash semi-final: "Leave early."

Perth's public transport system was tipped to suffer under the massive strain of the sellout crowd as it flooded the riverside venue.

"I would just ask everyone to be understanding that the transport system will have difficulty coping, in particular leaving the stadium," Mr McGowan said.

"If you can leave early or delay your departure, that would be a good thing.

"If we can make sure that our train network can cope by people being a bit more understanding and perhaps going a little bit earlier or a little bit later, that would be great."

The match, which sold out in minutes, was originally set to have a cap of 45,000 seats sold to reduce chaos on public transport after the result.

As expected, Perth train stations were jam-packed after the match.

Fair amount of people waiting for a train on the Armadale line heading away from @OptusStadium pic.twitter.com/cRuYyg4sXs

— Tim Carrier (@Tim_Carrier) February 1, 2018

On top of the transport woes, it wasn't a great night for Scorchers fans.

Matthew Wade and Ben McDermott cracked blistering half-centuries to help power the Hobart Hurricanes to a crushing 71-run win over the home side.

UPDATE: Public transport concerns at Perth Stadium have been alleviated as most of the crowd has already left. #BBL07

— Sportsbet.com.au (@sportsbetcomau) February 1, 2018

Well that’s one way to alleviate the public transport concerns in Perth .... #BBL

— Marty Pask (@mpask) February 1, 2018

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