Our bus had a spot of bother getting up the hill because of the big backsides of the giant 4x4s. Not sure a double-decker would find it easy. To get up the hill in the first place, they have to go under the bridge. If they avoided the bridge, then they would have to go up and down the hill, and do a turn. Impossible, because of all the parked cars and the lack of space.
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how was your travel tonight?
- Thread starter The Wookiee
- Start date
Our bus had a spot of bother getting up the hill because of the big backsides of the giant 4x4s. Not sure a double-decker would find it easy. To get up the hill in the first place, they have to go under the bridge. If they avoided the bridge, then they would have to go up and down the hill, and do a turn. Impossible, because of all the parked cars and the lack of space.
Maybe if more and more people comment something will be done? It an easy issue to resolve if you consult the correct people.
Lord Bracknell
On fire
It's neither possible nor safe to turn a bus when there are all those cars parked in the road and hundreds of people milling around.
The delays to the service are caused by the buses being stuck in traffic in the Falmer area. This stops them shuttling back and forth quickly, like a good park & ride service has to.
I personally think better use of the existing exit can be made. My view is that it's not being optimised. Have the club consulted anyone about this? Or have they just tried to figure it out themselves? There's some pretty simple mathematical/statistical simulation out there which could easily be employed to maximise the flow.
Going - train from London Road around 6.45. First train (football special i think) was packed so nobody could get on, but the second train (eastbourne service, which was 8 carriages long, so i assumed this had been extended for the football) had loads of room. so good journey there.
Return - stayed until the bars shut about 10.20 (by the way, i spoke to a steward and asked him why the bars where all shutting and he said the police had told the club to 'shut the place down asap' i think they were perhaps a bit jumpy because of the riots, but it was a bit daft as loads of people were still milling about enjoying the bars) to be greeted by big long queue for the brighton train... however as noted above the queue system has changed since Saturday so this was deceptive, caught train after about 10 mins. so good journey back.
i think they club and the various partners involved in travel will have learned loads from these initial games. from my experience, the key train link brighton-falmer is working very well.
Return - stayed until the bars shut about 10.20 (by the way, i spoke to a steward and asked him why the bars where all shutting and he said the police had told the club to 'shut the place down asap' i think they were perhaps a bit jumpy because of the riots, but it was a bit daft as loads of people were still milling about enjoying the bars) to be greeted by big long queue for the brighton train... however as noted above the queue system has changed since Saturday so this was deceptive, caught train after about 10 mins. so good journey back.
i think they club and the various partners involved in travel will have learned loads from these initial games. from my experience, the key train link brighton-falmer is working very well.
Gazwag
5 millionth post poster
Left Bexhill at 16:50
Arrived Lewes FC car park 17:40 (via Hailsham/Ringer) as didn't want to get stuck in the rush hour Lewes tunnel queue)
Train : 18:01 Amex 18:08
Left Amex on final whistle
Had to wait while the 21:50 was loaded on the down ramp
On station at 21:55 - 22:01 was 7 minutes late which didn't help
Back in car at 22:15
In doors at 23:05
Arrived Lewes FC car park 17:40 (via Hailsham/Ringer) as didn't want to get stuck in the rush hour Lewes tunnel queue)
Train : 18:01 Amex 18:08
Left Amex on final whistle
Had to wait while the 21:50 was loaded on the down ramp
On station at 21:55 - 22:01 was 7 minutes late which didn't help
Back in car at 22:15
In doors at 23:05
Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ
Hove / Παρος
NIGHTMARE! Queues for station were so big, went for a beer in the swan till they'd died down but ended up staying till close!!!! What a mistake that turned out to be! Had to wait about 30 mins for a train to Brighton (which was the last of the night), missed the last London train, had to get a cab to Gatwick. Then had to wait there for an hour for a train to London Bridge, then had to wait at London Bridge for half an hour to get a night bus back to Brockley. Eventually crawled in to bed at about 4.30am! Ouch!
Mendoza
NSC's Most Stalked
went to get train, saw queue was huge so went over the bridge to the bus stop on A27 to get back into Brighton.
4 or 5 scheduled buses (numbers 25, 28 and 29) were just cancelled and never showed up. Eventually after 30 mins, 2 buses turned up, but there wasnt enough room for everyone at the bus stop. Luckily I got on as the next scheduled bus was 30 mins away.
Bus would be fine if Brighton & Hove Bus company actually ran the service they said they were going to provide, but as the buses didnt actually show up it turned into a bit of a farce
4 or 5 scheduled buses (numbers 25, 28 and 29) were just cancelled and never showed up. Eventually after 30 mins, 2 buses turned up, but there wasnt enough room for everyone at the bus stop. Luckily I got on as the next scheduled bus was 30 mins away.
Bus would be fine if Brighton & Hove Bus company actually ran the service they said they were going to provide, but as the buses didnt actually show up it turned into a bit of a farce
Bold Seagull
strong and stable with me, or...
How's things? Didn't go last night, but was thinking of taking the young'un to one of the evening games coming up, but been worried about the trains etc. This sounds like a good option for me too. I take it you can't you use the travel vouchers on this one? My other option other than the train is the P bus service from Portslade Station, but no one has mentioned that one yet.
Still thinking of bringing the boy along to football training, only we've been so busy over the summer, so maybe see you up there soon.
JJ McClure
Go Jags
The only problem I've had so far if missing the connecting trains once getting to Brighton. Saturday I saw it departing as we arrived, last night we missed it by a couple of minutes. It's all very well having extra trains from Falmer but once you get to Brighton you still have a wait. No big deal I guess as it just means time for another drink in town.
Our travel to the ground, from Bexhill and return on Saturday by train was not a problem, fast moving queues on the return made it acceptable. However yesterday evening we had a pleasant journey in, breaking at Lewes for a drink or three at the Lansdown, good train service onward to the ground. Then the horrendous return after the game, queue very slow moving as an inadequate train service, change at Lewes, change at Eastbourne with a 30 minute wait then home at 1.15am. Both my friend and I have to be up at 6am this morning.
Another point that cropped up while at the Lansdown while in conversation with Gillingham supporters who complained that they had received no information on where to park, expecting car parking facilities to be available reasonable adjacent to the ground, a point I think that the club needs to address.
Another point that cropped up while at the Lansdown while in conversation with Gillingham supporters who complained that they had received no information on where to park, expecting car parking facilities to be available reasonable adjacent to the ground, a point I think that the club needs to address.
adrian29uk
New member
- Sep 10, 2003
- 3,389
Cycling seems to be the most reliable route at the moment lol. Shall be driving from Peacehaven and parking in Lewes in future and then cycling along A27 path to the stadium. Probably get back to Lewes in about 20 mins avoiding the hassle of queues.
Just out of interest if you are coming from Peacehaven, are you telling me you cycled on the main road all they way down to the Amex with all the buses. Was it not a bit hairy or have you found another way?
The thing about queuing for trains is that at the moment everyone's good-humoured about it because of the novelty factor and because the weather's warm. But fast forward a few months to when it's pissing down or freezing cold and you have some over-excited Millwall goon next to you in the queue and people are going to get restless.
Seems to me the train companies need to accept they're going to have to get their finger out for EVERY game and put on long trains and much more frequent ones. I left right at the whistle, queued for about 25 mins to get on the platform for Lewes but then had to wait 15 minutes for a train to show up. They need to be coming through every 5 or 10 minutes in the immediate aftermath of the game. I do realise the whole rail timetable can't be rewritten just for the benefit of the football club but this whole planning permission is predicated on efficient public transport so almost no one is tempted to drive. If it doesn't get better, I'm going to drive.
Seems to me the train companies need to accept they're going to have to get their finger out for EVERY game and put on long trains and much more frequent ones. I left right at the whistle, queued for about 25 mins to get on the platform for Lewes but then had to wait 15 minutes for a train to show up. They need to be coming through every 5 or 10 minutes in the immediate aftermath of the game. I do realise the whole rail timetable can't be rewritten just for the benefit of the football club but this whole planning permission is predicated on efficient public transport so almost no one is tempted to drive. If it doesn't get better, I'm going to drive.
Left Footer
Well-known member
Got 6.51 train from Brighton in and Park and Ride to Mithras after.
Mithras was fine and i was back at the Stanley Arms in Portslade 10.25, they do need better stewarding at the top to sort the queuing out as people were all over the place waiting for buses and lighting wasn`t great someone could get hurt.
Trying to persuade my mate who drives to park somewhere that`s about a 20 minute walk from ground.
Mithras was fine and i was back at the Stanley Arms in Portslade 10.25, they do need better stewarding at the top to sort the queuing out as people were all over the place waiting for buses and lighting wasn`t great someone could get hurt.
Trying to persuade my mate who drives to park somewhere that`s about a 20 minute walk from ground.
shaolinpunk
[Insert witty title here]
I got the train from Moulsecoomb. I got the 1913 which was bascally full before the dozen or so people at moulscoombe got on. It was basically a case of throwing myself in to the masses long enough for the door to shut before I slumped into the door and spent the short trip to falmer getting well acquainted with someones armpit.
On the way back I was picked up at the station by my girlfriend, which made it a very painless journey home!
On the way back I was picked up at the station by my girlfriend, which made it a very painless journey home!
Brixton Seagull 2
New member
Getting there - no probs, got on the train at London road at 6:54, plenty of space at the front of the train, not at the back (lesson for me to learn!)
Getting home - no way I could queue for more than an hour with a tired 7 year old, so walked to coldean lane and got a lift from family. No trains for me on evening games again when the nippers are in tow.
Quite how we can convince planners to approve another 8000 seats will be tricky!
Thinking the best way is going to be pedal power, loads of bike rack space
HOWEVER, as lot's of people here have mentioned, going to a big game in London is just the same (ie West Ham or Arse). Takes ages to get anywhere.
Getting home - no way I could queue for more than an hour with a tired 7 year old, so walked to coldean lane and got a lift from family. No trains for me on evening games again when the nippers are in tow.
Quite how we can convince planners to approve another 8000 seats will be tricky!
Thinking the best way is going to be pedal power, loads of bike rack space
HOWEVER, as lot's of people here have mentioned, going to a big game in London is just the same (ie West Ham or Arse). Takes ages to get anywhere.
Can You imagine the nightmare this will be once another 8K seats are installed? Last night would have been only just over half a full house...Can't wait for the pandemonium once all the teams with a large following come to town. Especially when we do lose to one of them.......................................................................Not!!!
I'm sure they are well aware of this likely occurrence arising of course!
Just being realistic, like!
I'm sure they are well aware of this likely occurrence arising of course!
Just being realistic, like!
Arthur
Well-known member
That still doesn't answer the question of why trains were leaving when they were half full regardless of whether the club had told them there was 16 or 16000 people.
I hear what you are saying that pushing and shoving isn't nice when you've got kids but neither is hanging about for hours on end and I'm sure most people would rather put up with a few minutes of being rammed in like sardines than an hour long wait.
As many others have said though it's still early days and things can only get better.