CREWE Alex players were letting the train take the strain this afternoon as they abandoned their traditional coach travel to their League One fixture at AFC Wimbledon.

In a new initiative the club put years of travelling by road to away fixtures to one side and booked manager Dave Artell, his backroom team and the playing squad onto an Avanti West Coast service from Crewe to London Euston earlier this afternoon.

It meant the club were able to cut a typical road trip to the capital from around three-and-a-half hours to one hour 40 minutes, arriving at Euston with more time to spend on a local training pitch ahead of the game at the The Cherry Red Records Stadium in south-west London.

It is the first time during the managerial reign of Dave Artell that Crewe's players have used the train to get to a game.

Crewe Alex commercial manager James Beckett said: "As the Railwaymen this is certainly a fitting partnership for us. We are hoping that this can be the start of a long relationship with Avanti.

"The train allows the team a more relaxed approach to the match and allows them more time on the training pitch ahead of the game."

Alex fans will be hoping it won't prove to be a train in vain. Legend has it that when Crewe's players travelled to London by train for their FA Cup fourth round replay at Tottenham's White Hart Lane in 1960 they made their return journey from Euston's platform 13, arriving on platform 2 at Crewe Station.

After holding Bill Nicholson's future league and cup double winners to a 2-2 draw at Gresty Road, Crewe were thumped 13-2 in the replay - it remains the club's record defeat.