From today's Argus Amex Travel debate

[The Oldman]

Amex transport is a problem the owners need to sort out
6:00pm Thursday 8th September 2011

I READ with interest Phil Young’s letter regarding crowd transport problems at the American Express Community Stadium (The Argus, August 30).

The inference of the letter was that somehow the rail operator is responsible for sorting out this mess.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I am a lifelong supporter of the Albion but have always regarded the positioning of the stadium at Falmer as folly.

To build such a huge stadium near the top of a rail tunnel running under a high point in the South Downs was, to me, a non-starter.

The stadium is now bordered by the teacher training college, a medieval village, a large arterial road, and the South Downs National Park.

This allows nowhere for expansion. It was placed at this point because of its “good transport and access facilities”, but in reality it is on the outskirts of the city, with few buses or trains, no parking to speak of and a huge road from which you can’t even stop.

Football crowd transportation was known about at the stadium’s inception some ten years ago, but little or nothing has been done.

Solving this problem is therefore strictly down to the owners of the stadium and, until it is solved, adding more seats to the ground will simple exacerbate the problem.

Don McBeth, Ditchling Common, Hassocks

And on the flip side...


I WOULD like to express my thanks to everyone involved in the operation and organisation of the recent cup thriller at the Amex. It was a special occasion.

From the bonhomie of the bus drivers who took us to and from the stadium in special buses laid on by Brighton and Hove Bus Company, to the staff and stewards who made my passage to the stadium comfortable, everyone appeared to be smiling even before kick-off.

But please resolve this puzzle for me: why is the west stand on the east side of the stadium and vice-versa?

Similarly, the north and south stands appear to be the other way round.

Have I missed something or are my navigational skills in question?

R Hillman, Woodland Avenue, Hove

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Well my only gripe is when waiting for a bus outside Falmer train station they seem to "disappear" from the boards just before they are due. If the buses turned up as advertised then I think it would be almost perfect.

On the flip side if it said a bus is due in 10, 15, 20 mins then fine, I have no probs waiting because I know, hell I may even start walking and pick it up at the bottom of Coldean lane or something, but it does PISS me off when it says 5min and then just disappears from the board. Then turns up 10, 15 or 20 mins later.

Obviously this is not a fault of the club.

 

[paddy]

I think some of those complaining about transport need to take a step back and remember where we have come from and where we are now. Transporting 6000 people from Withdean is all very well, but we're now dealing with triple (approaching quadruple when at capacity) the number of supporters. Regardless of where the stadium was constructed, transport was always going to take longer than at Withdean. The same is true of most other 20,000+ capacity stadium - it's reflective of the number of fans, not the transport planning.

 

[The Large One]

Several points there...

From the first letter - expansion is not an issue, so I don't know what he means there. Second it's not on a 'high point on the South Downs'. True, Falmer is not perfect, although it is fairly well served by public transport but unless Mr McBeth is suffering a comprehensive attack of amnesia, he is overlooking the Public Inquiry which sought the suitability of other sites. All were found wanting.

Point is, the City Council is insisting that the club improves transport so in that sense, stadium expansion at present will exacerbate the problem. Therefore, one would hope that the club and the council have this in hand.

As for Mr Hillman, his navigational skills are in question to the point of being a bit of a mess.

 

[shaolinpunk]

I just walk to the bottom of Coldean lane and jump on a 24

 

[Daffy Duck]

Well my only gripe is when waiting for a bus outside Falmer train station they seem to "disappear" from the boards just before they are due. If the buses turned up as advertised then I think it would be almost perfect.

On the flip side if it said a bus is due in 10, 15, 20 mins then fine, I have no probs waiting because I know, hell I may even start walking and pick it up at the bottom of Coldean lane or something, but it does PISS me off when it says 5min and then just disappears from the board. Then turns up 10, 15 or 20 mins later.

Obviously this is not a fault of the club.

This isn't something that only happens at the footie.
When I lived and worked in Brighton this would happen all the time.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

This isn't something that only happens at the footie.
When I lived and worked in Brighton this would happen all the time.

Oh indeed. I know Wilko gets the bus from Preston Park Hotel to come into town (even on non matchdays) 5min, 5 min, 5 min, disappears, 25 min.

Cant be to hard to get it right surely? I believe they are all linked into the bus sat nav anyway?

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Yeah - I couldn't work out how they had worked out the names of the stands. The East Stand is definately more "North" than "East" - hence the suntan I got from my seat in the East Stand at the Blackpool game. So, effectively, the North Stand fans are chanting "We're the North Stand" on behalf of us in the East.

 

[somerset]

For good ness sake,... I have had no issues getting back to Brighton after the games,... short queue to get the train, but the station has been well served with stewards and police to ensure order is kept,.... I guess my only gripe maybe would be that the queing should really be narrower to avoid all the usual queue jumping 'erberts..... but I will caveat my comments by adding that I havnt done a night game yet,..... 3 to come in a couple of weeks, maybe I will have a different view after them.

 

[CheeseRolls]

Lifelong supporter my arse - I would wager a bet that the vast majority of supporters are very happy right now, with the transport options available to bring in and out 20,000 people in a short space of time.

Don McBeth - Waste of Breath

 

[KJP]

I've never had to wait more than 15 mins for a train after a game

 

[Surrey Seagull]

I think the Palace game will give the transport links a good test and then we'll see how good it is.

 

[ROSM]

Don Mcbeth has been a long time anti stadium argus correspondent on the stadium with many many negative comments. He was also anti our use of Withdean too. In the past he has taken to sending the argus very 'interesting' photos of the stadium site showing very specific angles to try and convince the world it was virgin downland.

he'll never change

he was also a Lib Dem who stood in Westdene ward a few years ago

 

[sten_super]

Cant be to hard to get it right surely? I believe they are all linked into the bus sat nav anyway?

I don't know about the B&H buses, but Cambridge has similar electronic signs, except they run off the timetable rather than the actual location of the buses, so are about as much use as a chocolate fireplace. That could explain the mysterious disappearing buses - by contrast the London signs are run, as you say, using the vehicle's GPS locator.

Incidentally (and rather o/t), TfL have recently launched a beta website on which you can enter your street, postcode, route number or bus stop code and it will tell you the ETA of the relevant buses.

Live Bus Departures | Transport for London
Live Bus Departures | Transport for London

 

[APACHE]

This smacks of people who've never been to big events and expect to just jump onto a train or bus and be away in 10 mins. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Yet again someone saying the ground is in the wrong place but doesn't give us an alter site.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

he was also a Lib Dem

That explains a lot.

 

[public school boy]

The location of Our Beloved Amex seems more than ideal. I did have my doubts before and always thought Waterhall was the better option as well as doubting whether the club could raise the funds needed to buid such a project. It eventually transpired that Tony Bloom had to finance the majority of the project and without him the club would have been in deep trouble.
Regarding the transport situation, I think that those who have organised coaches from all over Sussex deserve applause for putting such schemes together. Bennetts Field seems to have sorted its self out as long as those that use it don't all rush for the exit at once!! I have been using my bicycle for getting to and from the stadium but now with the onset of winter I will be climbing aboard The Burwash Flyer whilst they let me. Can't comment on the train situation but from what has been reported , seems to be coping. Has anyone heard of any complaints from the villagers?

 

[Grendel]

The stadium is now bordered by the teacher training college

Which decade is Don McBeth living in? The teacher training college hasn't existed for 35 years.

 

[teaboy]

The major issue transport-wise is that the vast majority of people cannot walk to Falmer as they did at the Goldstone (which had worse transport links) and even Withdean. Add to that a doubling or trebling of numbers and of course it'll take longer to move people.

The club ARE doing something about it - bars at the ground are open long after the game to encourage people to stagger their journeys. P&R is provided, and the ground's next to the station FFS!!

What more can they do? (Genuine question)

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Still early days. We are at the Amex for the forseeable. We will all make it work.