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[Albion] Newcastle Away?









thedonkeycentrehalf

Moved back to wear the gloves (again)
Jul 7, 2003
9,119
Saw some idiot on twitter moaning about £70 seagulls travel for this game and i realised how out of touch people are with the cost of things these days.
I would assume that with driving hours restrictions this is a two driver job with maybe even using a third driver for the local pickups / drop offs or a local driver at the Newcastle end.
 


Withdean South Stand

Well-known member
Mar 2, 2014
442
Considering the various roadworks sections on the M25 and then the M1, even the 5:30am departure might be pushing it. There are 4 or 5 major sections on the M1 where you're down to 50mph and in a lot of them it's also down a lane. Hopefully at that time of the morning the roads won't be too bad.
 


Sid and the Sharknados

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Sep 4, 2022
5,419
Darlington
Considering the various roadworks sections on the M25 and then the M1, even the 5:30am departure might be pushing it. There are 4 or 5 major sections on the M1 where you're down to 50mph and in a lot of them it's also down a lane. Hopefully at that time of the morning the roads won't be too bad.
Wouldn't it be easier to do M11 and A1 anyway? Or is that going to be gnarled up as well?
 




Withdean South Stand

Well-known member
Mar 2, 2014
442
Wouldn't it be easier to do M11 and A1 anyway? Or is that going to be gnarled up as well?
It isn't great if I'm being honest. I recently had to drive to York for work, and pick someone up from North Lancing. Even getting to the A23 junction to leave the A27 was a hassle! There had been a crash on the M25 by the M3 junction (surprise surprise) so I took the M11 and A1 but the real issue there is how many junctions there are. You're constantly changing speed and the road is smaller so there's generally more to do. It took 6 hours, with one stop, from Lancing to York. It was really, really frustrating and probably would have been just as quick on the M1. There were a couple of roadworks section on the A1 as well, nothing as extreme and the traffic flowed but again at a lower speed.

It's really frustrating that anyone would still prefer to do that journey by car because of the cost and availability of the trains. Train travel in our country should be the obvious answer and the absolute first choice for travel but it just can't be because of the insane expense on top of the availability and punctuality of the services across the whole network.
 


Hotchilidog

Well-known member
Jan 24, 2009
9,016
It isn't great if I'm being honest. I recently had to drive to York for work, and pick someone up from North Lancing. Even getting to the A23 junction to leave the A27 was a hassle! There had been a crash on the M25 by the M3 junction (surprise surprise) so I took the M11 and A1 but the real issue there is how many junctions there are. You're constantly changing speed and the road is smaller so there's generally more to do. It took 6 hours, with one stop, from Lancing to York. It was really, really frustrating and probably would have been just as quick on the M1. There were a couple of roadworks section on the A1 as well, nothing as extreme and the traffic flowed but again at a lower speed.

It's really frustrating that anyone would still prefer to do that journey by car because of the cost and availability of the trains. Train travel in our country should be the obvious answer and the absolute first choice for travel but it just can't be because of the insane expense on top of the availability and punctuality of the services across the whole network.
This game just really shows up how crap our infrastructure is in this country.
 


Withdean South Stand

Well-known member
Mar 2, 2014
442
This game just really shows up how crap our infrastructure is in this country.
Completely and I really annoyed my colleague talking about it non-stop on the drive! I really believe that we could be doing so much better in this country if the investment was right and the private companies were given the boot. The road network would be massively helped by the shift of passengers onto trains and the whole thing, if managed correctly, could be a real cashcow and a pepetually positive cycle. Hopefully Labour are able to make some progress but it will take fundamental change.

In the meantime, all of the works going on are positive - it's about time the A3 and M3 junctions on the M25 were developed and had a proper junction installed as opposed to the filter lane set up it has had for decades. The works on the M1 are to improve safety, replacing barriers and whatnot, so that's a positive too. But in the meantime, anyone travelling the full length of the M1 will get hit in Luton, Northampton, Leicester, Sheffield, Leeds and York with sections which are 50mph for miles and miles at a time. I haven't gone further North than that, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were more issues lying in wait.
 




It was either this one or Liverpool away for me - so I plumped for this one for the added difficultly
 


Sid and the Sharknados

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Sep 4, 2022
5,419
Darlington
It isn't great if I'm being honest. I recently had to drive to York for work, and pick someone up from North Lancing. Even getting to the A23 junction to leave the A27 was a hassle! There had been a crash on the M25 by the M3 junction (surprise surprise) so I took the M11 and A1 but the real issue there is how many junctions there are. You're constantly changing speed and the road is smaller so there's generally more to do. It took 6 hours, with one stop, from Lancing to York. It was really, really frustrating and probably would have been just as quick on the M1. There were a couple of roadworks section on the A1 as well, nothing as extreme and the traffic flowed but again at a lower speed.

It's really frustrating that anyone would still prefer to do that journey by car because of the cost and availability of the trains. Train travel in our country should be the obvious answer and the absolute first choice for travel but it just can't be because of the insane expense on top of the availability and punctuality of the services across the whole network.
I do the drive from Darlington to Brighton semi regularly, and always take the M11 and A1 unless there's a particular reason not to. Used to be a nightmare until a few years ago with the roadworks near Cambridge but it's fine since that was sorted out.

I think on paper it saves about 10minutes over the M1, which is obviously nothing in the context of a +6hour journey. My main reasoning is that I have slightly better record going via the Dartford Crossing than I do going past Heathrow. I also tend to travel at times that mean I don't have to pay the toll (which I'm accounting for in my previous moan about driving via Heathrow - I did that a lot when I lived in Sheffield and Leicester and Bristol).

Obviously the A1 isn't actually a motorway for large parts of the journey, which can liven things up. Lincolnshire's full of nutcase drivers - fact. :lolol:
 


Peacehaven Wild Kids

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2022
3,012
The Avenue then Maloncho
I do the drive from Darlington to Brighton semi regularly, and always take the M11 and A1 unless there's a particular reason not to. Used to be a nightmare until a few years ago with the roadworks near Cambridge but it's fine since that was sorted out.
Ah, so in your “professional opinion” how long will it take from Brighton to Newcastle on a Friday bearing in mind I’ll be on the M25 at Friday rush hour? (He’s got to go to school)
I generally stick to the speed limits esp after dark.
 




Sid and the Sharknados

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Sep 4, 2022
5,419
Darlington
Ah, so in your “professional opinion” how long will it take from Brighton to Newcastle on a Friday bearing in mind I’ll be on the M25 at Friday rush hour? (He’s got to go to school)
I generally stick to the speed limits esp after dark.
Years, personally I wouldn't even consider doing it.

I'd either leave a bit later and accept arriving at stupid o'clock in the morning or leave at about 4am to get there for 11am. To Newcastle I'd allow 7hours minimum even without mad Friday rush hour traffic. Realistically if you leave at rush hour you're just substituting time spent sat in a traffic jam for time you could be in bed at either end.

It's a horrible drive whatever you do, when I drive down I normally try and leave at about 2am to arrive at my Mum's house at 8am, otherwise I just write the day off entirely. I should probably mention that I do a fair number of nightshifts so have a fair tolerance for driving at weird times.
 


Jimmy Grimble

Well-known member
Nov 10, 2007
10,002
Starting a revolution from my bed
The way train prices are, I can’t see a way of justifying doing Newcastle away ever again, unless it was a huge game.
 






Bodian

Well-known member
May 3, 2012
13,441
Cumbria
Trains are indeed crazy.

I can walk to my local station 10 minutes away. Return ticket is £74.50!

I can drive for 20 minutes to the mainline - £23.59. Chuck in the £10 parking, and I'm still quids in.

So much for getting us off the roads.
 


stewart12

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2019
1,786
My mum lives in Newcastle and I do that journey at least once a year. Basically forget anything other than driving overnight, so leaving Sussex at like 8 or 9pm or leaving Sussex in the very early hours- 2 or 3am. And yes, the M1 has a lot of road works going on at the moment

There's just so, so many points on the journey that can f*** up your journey if it's vaguely busy

Trains are a no go unless you're a middle eastern oil tycoon due to the cost, which is a shame as it's such an easy journey but to make it affordable you have to book months in advance
 


dazzer6666

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Mar 27, 2013
54,682
Burgess Hill
Ah, so in your “professional opinion” how long will it take from Brighton to Newcastle on a Friday bearing in mind I’ll be on the M25 at Friday rush hour? (He’s got to go to school)
I generally stick to the speed limits esp after dark.
It took a pal 7 hours+ to get from Hassocks to Liverpool (Everton game) a couple of weeks ago on the Friday …….
 










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