Transport an' tings, am I correct in thinking it's turning out very well?

[teaboy]

How close to capacity is the transport system currently running? Is the any space in the current P&R that isn't being used? How are bus and train passenger numbers? If the bus service in Brighton on Saturdays is already near capacity are B&H buses planning to expand this anyway?

Will we just have to accept that an 50% increase in ground capacity will mean it'll take 50% longer to get in and out of the stadium, and if so how will this be communicated?

 

[Daddies_Sauce]

Out of interest at Brighton station I have noticed that there are now oyster type readers and also on some buses. So maybe from next year there will be some kind of additional smartcard or the use of your ST card?

Southern are piloting an oyster type card between Seaford and Brighton I beleive, read something last week.

 

[Spiros]

That must feel tough, if you do board at Haywards Heath.

I travel to and from Glynde (which is outside the Travel Voucher zone and has no barriers) and I have NEVER had my ticket inspected. MOST stations inside the Travel Voucher zone have no working barriers. Most importantly, Falmer doesn't.

I travel to/from Worthing and make use of the voucher from Shoreham, which does have barriers and the vouchers are checked there. Hove and Portslade (I think) also have barriers. I've also had the voucher checked by the conductor on the train.

Also for the 2 evening games when I've used Mithras P&R the vouchers have been colected each time and it's been pretty clear that no voucher (or OAP pass) = no travel. As the season progresses and things calm down a bit I'm sure more conductors will ask about vouchers, though I don't think they'll ever get checkd at Falmer itself, though no-one checked them at Preston Park aftr the first few seasons anyway.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Southern are piloting an oyster type card between Seaford and Brighton I beleive, read something last week.

Aha! Thank you. Im sure I read somewhere from Lord B many moons ago that such a scheme was in development on buses and trains.

Im reckon the club have been close to this as I can see travel vouchers being loaded onto said cards.

 

[8ace]

Aha! Thank you. Im sure I read somewhere from Lord B many moons ago that such a scheme was in development on buses and trains.

Im reckon the club have been close to this as I can see travel vouchers being loaded onto said cards.

OAPs already use the ones on the buses.

 

[8ace]

I was told by a Green councillor a few months ago that one of the council's transport experts had quit to go and work for the club. He reckoned this was a great move for us re getting permission to increase capacity.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

I was told by a Green councillor a few months ago that one of the council's transport experts had quit to go and work for the club. He reckoned this was a great move for us re getting permission to increase capacity.

Steven Reeves, joined BHA this month and is the club's Transport Manager.

 

[8ace]

Steven Reeves, joined BHA this month and is the club's Transport Manager.

 

[The Large One]

Sure but the main condition attached to the Racecourse P&R (eg the temporary approval) were a bit of a surprise don't you think (and wasn't recommended by the officers)? During the planning meeting the club also came in for some cross-party flack from all sides for its finalisation of the Amex transport management plan (ie not done) and lateness of applications.
Weren't the club also asked to engage in discussions with the council on the question of sustainable transport, albeit in the context of removing the temporary condition on the Racecourse P&R, but isn't it wise to complete this and resolve any issues before an extension application is submitted?
Anyway, the recruitment of Steven Reeves as Transport Manager looks a bit of a coup - shame it didn't happen 12 months ago.

I actually think that a sensible move. To have the permission in perpetuity without appropriate checks in place would be, for me, a bit of a mistake.

The Green councillor I spoke to recently is confident the Racecourse P&R is going to prove a success, provided the club police it properly. Assuming that happens, that, to me, says that they ought not be too many problems when the club comes to renew the application.

 

[DTES]

"Not unreasonable", but, if you want to cover the infrastructure costs of delivering, say, six eight-carriage trains an hour between Brighton and Falmer, it will be considerably more expensive than the stadium.

A 12 car train every 5/10 minutes would cost hundreds of millions. Brighton station would need more platforms, for a start.

It would costs hundreds of millions to run those trains to Brighton. But what if they weren't run to Brighton? What would the cost be of building a little bit more track - as below - allowing direct Falmer - London trains?

(Note - I'm not at all suggesting that this would be a weekend job costing as little as £100k. Just wondering what the feasibility & cost would be of such a project - surely less than the hundreds of millions of extending Brighton Station?)

 

[Lord Bracknell]

It would costs hundreds of millions to run those trains to Brighton. But what if they weren't run to Brighton? What would the cost be of building a little bit more track - as below - allowing direct Falmer - London trains?

(Note - I'm not at all suggesting that this would be a weekend job costing as little as £100k. Just wondering what the feasibility & cost would be of such a project - surely less than the hundreds of millions of extending Brighton Station?)

Never mind the engineering costs. You'd have to start by acquiring the land. There are 17 properties in Parkmore Terrace that would have to be demolished, plus a few more in Dyke Road Drive.

At (say) £400K a time, it would cost the best part of £7 million just to buy out the current occupants of the Terrace. And that's before the legal costs.

The cost of an extension to the Victorian viaduct (with the necessary widening of the structure to allow room for points to be included) would be at least £40 million, possibly much more.

And how many trains do you want to run this way? About 50 a year?

It really isn't worth thinking about.

 

[Uter]

Direct trains to London via Falmer could be achieved if the Brighton Main Line 2 project ever happened. Don't hold your breath though.

http://www.bml2.co.uk/images/PDF's/RAIL 669 BML2.pdf

 

[User removed 4]

With Bennetts Field producing a much better performance this week and the week on week sucess of the SU shuttle, transport now appears to be on-board with the stadium, team, pies, ale and everything else.

My afternoon and evening match routine is now pretty much sorted. In fact, getting to the ground earlier and leaving a little later makes for a far more chilled experience.

Aside from the 1901 man who simply could not wait an "unacceptable" 5 minutes for a spent coffee pot to be refilled, anyone have any remaining issues? Come on, someone must.

You're trying too hard with the " urban " thing, its "an ting " , singular, not plural.

 

[SI 4 BHA]

I use 2 buses to get to Falmer and hand over the right hand side of the voucher to the first driver as it says on the ticket and show the left hand voucher for the rest of the journey and the return. Howerever, on Saturday having changed buses at St Peters, the second driver said the voucher was only valid for one bus journey in each direction and I had to pay for the second bus!! Stood my ground and and asked him what was the point of the voucher if I still had to get an All Day Saver ticket to cover the rest of the journey which would have covered the trip that I had already used the right hand side of the voucher for. Eventually he gave in but he wasn't happy.

Definitely needs the bus drivers to be told exactly how the system should work because most of them don't seem to know.

 

[Brovion]

I use 2 buses to get to Falmer and hand over the right hand side of the voucher to the first driver as it says on the ticket and show the left hand voucher for the rest of the journey and the return. Howerever, on Saturday having changed buses at St Peters, the second driver said the voucher was only valid for one bus journey in each direction and I had to pay for the second bus!! Stood my ground and and asked him what was the point of the voucher if I still had to get an All Day Saver ticket to cover the rest of the journey which would have covered the trip that I had already used the right hand side of the voucher for. Eventually he gave in but he wasn't happy.

Definitely needs the bus drivers to be told exactly how the system should work because most of them don't seem to know.

Technically that driver is correct. It says on the voucher that if you have to change buses you must 'hand over another voucher'. It is shit though I agree: for bus users if the voucher scheme was being applied to the letter it would mean that anybody who doesn't live on a direct bus route to Falmer must use four vouchers (minimum) per match.

 

[Storer 68]

Never mind the engineering costs. You'd have to start by acquiring the land. There are 17 properties in Parkmore Terrace that would have to be demolished, plus a few more in Dyke Road Drive.

At (say) £400K a time, it would cost the best part of £7 million just to buy out the current occupants of the Terrace. And that's before the legal costs.

The cost of an extension to the Victorian viaduct (with the necessary widening of the structure to allow room for points to be included) would be at least £40 million, possibly much more.

And how many trains do you want to run this way? About 50 a year?

It really isn't worth thinking about.

and as Liverpool have found out to their cost when redeveloping Anfield, it only takes ONE householder who doesn't move or sell, to scupper the whole scheme

 

[Storer 68]

and whose daft idea was the thinking behind the change in the train access in Brighton station on Saturday.

rather than just transferring football passengers who had arrived on trains on platforms 1-6, by allowing them to walk staright across to platform 7 & 8 which have AMPLE room to accommodate the numbers without going through the automatic barriers, , fans had to go through the bariers, go around the back of WH Smith , and join a new queue on the other side of the WH Smiths by the toilets. getting in the way of people trying to get to the drop down area and taxi rank

DAFT. Let people go straight across to platform 7 and 8, hold them there, and keep the concourse clear for other passengers and taxi drivers who are incoveneienced unnecessarily by the foootball queue

I notice that they weren't doing it for the return trip after the game

 

[Bozza]

and whose daft idea was the thinking behind the change in the train access in Brighton station on Saturday.

rather than just transferring football passengers who had arrived on trains on platforms 1-6, by allowing them to walk staright across to platform 7 & 8 which have AMPLE room to accommodate the numbers without going through the automatic barriers, , fans had to go through the brriers, around the back of WH Smith , and join a new queue on the otheside of the WH Smiths by the toilets. getting in the way of people trying to get to the drop down area and taxi rank

DAFT. Let people go straight across to platform 7 and 8, hold them there and keep the concourse clear for other passengers and taxt drivers who are incoveneienced unnecessarily by the foootball queue

I noticed at the Station for the Spurs game they seemed to be differentiating between football fans and others...

- Football fans (as you say): go and join the back of the queue of football fans by WH Smith.
- Others: get on the Eastbound train at your leisure.

This makes it very easy for non-colours wearing fans to say something like "I'm going to Lewes" and board the train without the hassle of performing the maneuver you detail.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Technically that driver is correct. It says on the voucher that if you have to change buses you must 'hand over another voucher'.

A consequence of the Voucher Scheme not being thought through, before it was implemented.

 

[Working class pride]

Simple suggestion is to get rid of the "residents only" parking signs in some areas of East Brighton. There is lots of parking, and no need for park and ride. Its an absurd oddity unique to Brighton. You dont get it at Spurs, Arsenal, Brentford, Orient or anywhere.