how was your travel tonight?

[Davey Boy Smith]

Got Mithras House P&R no problems before the game all worked to plan...

After the game the queues were awful amazed that no queue snake things have been put in place the system was an absolute nightmare. There's not enough space between the different P&Rs making the queues indistinguishable one another. The buses might well board at the same place but the entry to the queues should be very different from another. I haven't tried the train yet although not sure that's such a good idea....

Sure it will get there in the end. As others have said midweek games are different as people don't want to hang around unlike Saturdays where people can be a bit more staggered in their departure.

Still I am very proud to call the Amex home. I took a couple of friends last night who weren't Brighton fans and they had a great evening. Both are considering getting on the ST waiting list with one saying that his unborn son's first football match will be at the Amex. That made be VERY proud.

 

[adrian29uk]

This is all about people waiting. But I know after the match people just want to go, which is fair enough.

But is there any sort of system the club could sort out with the buses where people remain inside and around the councourses after the final whistle and they call each route number out over the loudspeaker system and screens and move people out in sections much like an aircraft departure lounge.

So they call everyone for Mill Road parking first. People get loaded up on the buses and go. All the buses return empty.

Then they call Mithras House and Race Course buses, people load up and go.
All buses return empty

Then they call route R and others, private hire. People load up and go.

And they repeat this for a second time. If there are any buses empty, well there job is done.

I know the buses run for a certain period of time, but I also think people don't trust that there bus is going to come back for them.

Really this system up at the car park needs sorting out.

When I got the Bus last Saturday it felt like complete chaos. I went on got the train back. I was on the train in less than 15 mins, but I would prefer to do the bus.

Thing is if they don't get this nailed for 20k, would would it be like for 25-30k?



The trains are not much better really as regards demand. Common sense tells me, they need more frequent trains and longer trains on both sides. Why can't they run 8 carriages over a period of 2 hours for Lewes. 5 carriages is stupid. Just stop the train in Lewes and make sure people in the last 3 carriages can get off.

We need to help the club get this sorted, so basically it runs smoothly.

 

[bpbill]

Saturday was home in Hastings by 7pm and had a busy but good rail experience.

This time didn't manage to get home until 1am. Partly my fault I guess as due to connection times at Lewes I knew I would be all right catching the third train out of Falmer after the match so didn't rush down to the station, thought would give the queue a chance to die down, but tried a Pie instead (and very good it was to). However I managed to watch the train we needed pull away whilst still queuing and there was still room on it to take probably everyone left queuing up to myself and beyond.

 

[HovaGirl]

Why me? But, since you ask, can I ask a question back? Which bus company was running the Mill Road buses?

If I got my pre-match bus spotting right, it wasn't B&H buses. Presumably this was because they have a city bus network to run and were short of vehicles or drivers.

My advice is NEVER to use the Mill Road service. Drive to Mithras House / Cockcroft car park - where there seems to be plenty of parking space and enough (Metrobus) double deckers to satisfy everyone. And it's a much shorter journey to and from the stadium. Better still, pre-match, park at Mithras House / Cockcroft and catch the 25 to the stadium, rather than the P&R bus. It will drop you at the Sussex University entrance and avoid the need to sit on the bus while it crawls over the Falmer flyover to get into the stadium coach park. You just nip through the subway and you can be in your seat 15 minutes earlier. Or have time for a nice pie and a pint.

Leave Mill Road for people who don't know that there is a better alternative.

The Mill Road ones were London buses from the GoAhead group. Rather like airport buses with few seats. After our last park-and-ride bus had gone, we also just missed a Number 25 which was sitting in the Amex car park. Having lived away from Brighton for some time, we had no idea where it went, so didn't get on it. We thought of ringing a taxi on the mobile, but in the end, rang our son, who came to pick us up and take us back to our lonely car at the Waterhall. We parked there because we'd come from visiting my Mum further north and wanted to avoid going through town because it was getting late. In future, we'd go by our original Plan A, to go by train from Hove-Brighton-Falmer. If we were parking, due to being out-and-about, we'd probably park at Mithras/Cockcroft.

 

[Billy the Fish]

With the trains it seems doing a few little things will go a very long way. When we were on the half empty 22:45 I said they'd be better off holding it for 5-10 minutes until it was full to help with the initial rush. Also it sounds like they need to fill the trains properly. Rammed trains happen every morning on the commuter routes without a problem, people need to get home so you can't just allow trains to leave with empty seats when there's a massive queue. I'm surprised nobody kicked off about it.

 

[APACHE]

Said before the game trains heading east would be a problem, they were. Went by car to Mithras, trip to stadium good, return and I'm beening kind AWFUL. The quering and lack of signs and the stewards not being able to direct people to the correct areas lead to long delays.. Only the good nature of the crowd stopped it turning ugly.

 

[ROSM]

I have used the racecourse park and ride for the ssc and spurs games and on both occasions it was efficient. I used the R bus service to rottingdean on sat and home tonight and it has also been efficient although I heard that it was a bit of a mare to the stadium tonight but that may be due to roadworks in rotting dean.

I am beginning to think that the may need to be ticketing or directing to the p&r sites so that there is a more reasonable flow to sites that seem to be able to cope better and take the pressure off mill road. The queues tonight for that particular site we chaotic to say the least and blocked people coming up the stairs. It seemed as well that there was pushing in further up the queue as it was unclear.

To be fair to the club I expect that tonight was seen as a ramp up evening game and a much lower attendance was likely. The interest over the last few days probably caused some late planning and stretched the club and travel to the limits.

 

[APACHE]

Mithras, good going, return awful.

 

[spoonie]

seams like a lot of people expecting to go to an event and get away with no queuing.Train was fine left east stand at the end, clapped team off and left with everyone else.. que looked long at station but was actually ok and got on the 10.15 to brighton and in brighton city centre 40mins after game had finished not too bad at all, prefer saturdays as would rather drink beer than que for 30 mins but all in all another fantastic day at the amex

 

[ROSM]

An hour for me too.

The car park is an utter shambles. A complete free for all, with not ONE steward anywhere to be seen, until you got to the exit barrier, where EIGHT of them were stood chatting and joking. Piss take.

If they don't find a way of improving it, it will cause real issues with the genuine corporate clientele. How can somebody invite a business guest to an event, then sit there embarrassed in their car for over an hour afterwards, whilst utter anarchy reigns all around them. If they do nothing to control the egress of traffic then there will be violence in that car park, guaranteed.

I think bennets field is a problem in it's own right both in terms of getting people in and out of it through the one gate but also the knock n impact it has on getting buses and coaches out of the stadium too. The first bit should be solvable with simple planning and Stewards at the end of each line running a kind of filter in turn process. The latter impact whilst still fixable is probably harder. Difficult for the club given that the use of that site was a late addition. I wonder how the academy site with the walk would fare?

 

[chucky1973]

I manged to get a voucher for the Uni off a kind NSC member as I was going with my 81 year old dad, I must say this was a doddle getting in and getting out, I was back in Crawley by 10 past 10. BUT i reckon that was because a lot of season ticket holders who have the vouchers didnt go last night so reducing the numbers that used that facility. Its a single road out with traffic lights which I imagine if busy would be a mare. The comment about signs SO DRASTICALLY NEEDS SORTING, it going to cause a lot of bad press for the club which they dont need early doors, trying to cross the bridge over the railway to the uni was terrible, there were arguments going on with some Gills fans and a cop as they had qued the wrong side (basically heading to eastbourne not brighton) and were quiet rightly saying "where's the signs telling you which side to go", also there didnt appear to be any trains heading to Brighton, I was queing over that Bridge for a good 10 mins and not one train appeared and the queue to Brighton was getting very long. Surley they must have plans to lay on Specials that come in 1 after the other? It is early days and I am absoluty sure the club will get it right soon as they have everything else, but my god if they dont by the time Leeds and Palace turn up in September then it could be a war over that bridge and on that Station.

 

[fleet]

An hour for me too.

The car park is an utter shambles. A complete free for all, with not ONE steward anywhere to be seen, until you got to the exit barrier, where EIGHT of them were stood chatting and joking. Piss take.

If they don't find a way of improving it, it will cause real issues with the genuine corporate clientele. How can somebody invite a business guest to an event, then sit there embarrassed in their car for over an hour afterwards, whilst utter anarchy reigns all around them. If they do nothing to control the egress of traffic then there will be violence in that car park, guaranteed.

Bennetts needs to be sorted out - you sit there for ages before the gate is opened. An hour wait on Sat and a bit less last night.

 

[trueblue]

Seems to me that for people who live in, or close to Brighton, the train's still a decent option. For those that have to make connections to the limited services to other areas at that time of night, not much cop. That's not all down to The Amex though - more to do with how slow/spaced out the rest of the train services are on the network beyond 10pm.

On the subject of trains not being packed enough, it needs the fans to help too. The one I caught to the ground had loads of room but due to people hogging the door area so they can chat and not moving down inside, nobody could get on at London Road.

A taxi rank sounds an excellent idea for those willing to pay for a quick getaway. Wouldn't cost much if people jumped in together.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Surley they must have plans to lay on Specials that come in 1 after the other? It is early days and I am absoluty sure the club will get it right soon

Running trains in a queue like that is simply not possible. The signalling system doesn't allow it. And where are the platforms at Brighton (or Lewes) to take the trains when they arrive?

 

[Scoffers]

My advice after 2 matches is to use the P&R at the Race Course . I can pretty much guarantee it will be a LOT quicker than using the train. For those that don't drive, consider car-pooling. Maybe a Car-pooling Page on NSC might be a good idea.

I took ages to get out of the North Stand last night, but when I did, I casually walked up to the Bus Park, got straight on the Bus and got to my car in just a few minutes, then drove home to Burgess Hill, back home quickly.

I wouldn't use the P&R at Mill Road, but the one at the Racecourse worked a treat.

 

[supaseagull]

I got one of the stagedoor coaches this evening. Very impressed- and will be doing this for all midweek games from now on. Picked up from Grenadier and got home by 10:25. More expensive than the P&R but without the hassle.

 

[chucky1973]

Running trains in a queue like that is simply not possible. The signalling system doesn't allow it. And where are the platforms at Brighton (or Lewes) to take the trains when they arrive?

its a good point and I dont know the answers, do the trains have to go into Brighton? can they not go direct to Worthing / Three bridges? I am not sure as I dont use that service at all?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Before I make my comment I just want to say that I love the Falmer experience and don't want what I see as constructive criticism to be seen as moaning and groaning.

I'm coming in from Newhaven with one or two kids. I have now done this three times. Getting to the games is a doddle, getting home is a nightmare. Tonight, with about ten minutes of the match to go, I actually started dreading the journey home. It involves about half an hour queue to get to the platform and then get packed into a train like something you see on those Indian railway documentaries. Change at Lewes and wait for the Seaford train. Back on the train and stand again, packed in like sardines. As it goes tonight it was slightly better as fortunately the train we were forced on at Falmer was the Seaford train. Finally got back to Newhaven about 10.45 and home by about 11. Ok as it's the school holidays but no good on a school night.

I can't stand that train journey home. I need to find another way where I'm in control of my own movements. There must be a way of walking to somewhere where you can park or reach a bus that is not totally rammed.
I've paid for travel vouchers for the season but I'm prepared to cut my losses on them if I can find a less stressful form of travel home. Incidently after three return journeys I've still not been asked to show any proof that I've paid for my travel.

I cant help but think you're a little precious. Sorry. There has to be some acceptance of crowding if you're part of a 20k crowd trying to leave a football ground at the same time. You cannot expect to just bowl out at the end and breeze home in the blink of an eye.

 

[trueblue]

Park & Ride services of one kind or another have been running from Mill Road since before 1994. It's ALWAYS been known that double deckers won't fit under the bridge.

Never used it but can't they bring double deckers from the top of the hill then via the bypass?

Seems bizarre how the Mill Road P&R is all over the shop when it ran for all those years. Tallies with the experience a London mate of mine had when he used it for the Elton John concert.

 

[Scoffers]

I think bennets field is a problem in it's own right both in terms of getting people in and out of it through the one gate but also the knock n impact it has on getting buses and coaches out of the stadium too. The first bit should be solvable with simple planning and Stewards at the end of each line running a kind of filter in turn process. The latter impact whilst still fixable is probably harder. Difficult for the club given that the use of that site was a late addition. I wonder how the academy site with the walk would fare?

I was surprised to see that too, like you say, it's all very well having the Car Park there, but you they seem to let all the buses go first. They need to add a second exit lane to make that work, but I'm guessing they wont make major changes until we are allowed to use that space full time