Last night - pregame trains from Lewes

[Peter Grummit]

One stupid inflexibility from Southern led to unnecessary problems.

1857 is 3 car, not everyone gets on.

Now peak time for fans. 1908 is 2 car diesel Ashford flyer, not scheduled to stop at Falmer. By the time it arrives at 1910 the (not very wide) platform is already full. It arrives 3/4 full of Albion fans who all have to get off on to now dangerously overcrowded platform.

1915 arrives 1/2 full of fans. There is a serious scrum to get on. I am 6"+ and am bundled on, shoved into others. Small kids, old dears fare worse. Not everyone gets on but it is seriously overcrowded on the train. Train sits there with doors shut for 6-7 minutes (presumably while they struggle to shut the doors). 1933 train gets to Falmer.

By letting the 1908 call additionally at Falmer, the worst of these problems would have been avoided.

Anyone else experience this? It's a common problem for evening games but this was the worst I've seen it.

PG

 

[Simster]

So the railways are run by thick greedy incompetents and staffed by inflexible greedy jobsworths, neither groups of whom put their customers before self interest.

Who knew?

 

[Peter Grummit]

So the railways are run by thick greedy incompetents and staffed by inflexible greedy jobsworths, neither groups of whom put their customers before self interest.

Who knew?

True, but cheap shot. It wasn't self interest from Southern just incompetence.

PG

 

[Yoda]

I was on the 18:36 London train from Worthing (which was running 3 minutes late due to the train in front). Pulled into Hove as the connecting shuttle to Brighton was pulling out.

Turns out they have decided to remove platform staff at Hove. Whose bright idea was it to remove staff who could make the decision on holding a train back a minute or two from an interchange station?

Only got to Falmer station at 19:45 as they decided to get make Ashford flyer to stop there due to the ammount left on Brighton station due to the Guard on the shuttle not having the brain power to think about those needing his connection. (Yes I know there is a time table to hold but the shuttle is there for those on the London service).

 

[Bakero]

One stupid inflexibility from Southern led to unnecessary problems.

1857 is 3 car, not everyone gets on.

Now peak time for fans. 1908 is 2 car diesel Ashford flyer, not scheduled to stop at Falmer. By the time it arrives at 1910 the (not very wide) platform is already full. It arrives 3/4 full of Albion fans who all have to get off on to now dangerously overcrowded platform.

1915 arrives 1/2 full of fans. There is a serious scrum to get on. I am 6"+ and am bundled on, shoved into others. Small kids, old dears fare worse. Not everyone gets on but it is seriously overcrowded on the train. Train sits there with doors shut for 6-7 minutes (presumably while they struggle to shut the doors). 1933 train gets to Falmer.

By letting the 1908 call additionally at Falmer, the worst of these problems would have been avoided.

Anyone else experience this? It's a common problem for evening games but this was the worst I've seen it.

PG

Yep, I had exactly the same thing before the Blackburn game. It's ridiculous.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Trains were awful allover the place last night, took me three hours to get to the Amex from Dorking FFS!

 

[Gazwag]

We usually get the Seaford at about 18:15 but because Lewes FC car park was full much earlier than usual we had to park a bit further away and missed that one, the next, the Eastbourne, was formed of 4 carriages not the usual 8 and was a few minutes late as well. This filled up and loads were left on the platform then. This obviously created a problem later as 4 carriages of fans were already on the platform.

Surely some bright spark at Lewes station could have foreseen the problem due to small trains and thought about some crowd control measures.

 

[les dynam]

Trains before midweek games are always dreadful... mainly because the trains are so SMALL! I guess it's due to availability of rolling stock, but on Saturdays the trains all seem to be 6 or 8 carriage jobs, yet midweek those pitiful 3 carriage things are the norm.

And that Ashford train is a massive problem as it clogs up the line and prevents any trains running for a peak time 15 minute period. Couldn't they just ditch this service between 6 and 7.45 on match nights?

Does anybody else find it a bit strange, or perhaps worrying, that the public transport plan is EXACTLY the same now as when the stadium opened. So with around 8,000 extra people going to a game, the club have made no additional travel provisions other than the new Bridge carpark?

 

[Hotchilidog]

The problem yesterday was the rash of signal, points and power failures which seem to spread like wildfire across the Southern network yesterday I also had the station upgrade at Reading screw up my regular post work train. The cancellation of the 22.38 from Falmer was also a right royal pain. Given how cold it was and the underwhelming nature of the performance it all made for an incredibly annoying evening.

Having said that, under 'normal' conditions I think the transport plan has coped with the additional 6,000 fans very well recently.

 

[Clive Walker's slaphead]

What about the cocks 'running the platform' on the way home. A ****ing great train with 8 carriages pulls in for eastbourne and they stop people getting on it so it leaves with the rear 2 carriages having empty seats and loads of standing capacity. ****ing cocks those 2 stewards - the old witch on the gate with her click counter(FFS must be the only station in the country with that happening) and the old bald twot must be on such a power trip to let this happen. Whats the point in a long train coming in and leaving half empty while we're all stood there behind a gate like idiots.

 

[bernster]

agree with the op.i was on that train and witnessed a young girl getting upset because of the crush generated by the amount of fans trying to squeeze into the train.all because of the lack of flexibility by the train company.it was also frustrating after the match ,when waiting on the bridge for a train ,only to witness one pulling out of falmer towards lewes with empty seats.the station staff could have managed this much better but give the impression they do not give a toss
i acknowledge that transport issues have improved as we have settled in to life at falmer but there is still need of improvement.
we keep being told that b.h.a. are paying a hefty part of the transport levy to the rail company.it feels like we fans and the football club are being mugged by the railway company especially on the evening games where problems still exist

 

[the wanderbus]

agree with the op.i was on that train and witnessed a young girl getting upset because of the crush generated by the amount of fans trying to squeeze into the train.all because of the lack of flexibility by the train company.it was also frustrating after the match ,when waiting on the bridge for a train ,only to witness one pulling out of falmer towards lewes with empty seats.the station staff could have managed this much better but give the impression they do not give a toss
i acknowledge that transport issues have improved as we have settled in to life at falmer but there is still need of improvement.
we keep being told that b.h.a. are paying a hefty part of the transport levy to the rail company.it feels like we fans and the football club are being mugged by the railway company especially on the evening games where problems still exist

Plus there was the idiot steward on the bridge directing people to the already overcrowded bottle neck at the top of the ramp to the platform instead of getting people to join the queue at the back, is he after his own personal Hillsborough?

 

[KNC]

It's all about money.

 

[les dynam]

Also why can't the entrance to the Brighton bound platform be a bit wider... and i mean the fenced bit? The fences create a ridiculously tight bottle neck which means it takes ages to be released onto the platform. Why? If two trains arrive fairly closely, the second leaves half-empty because the staff haven't been able to get enough people onto the platform because of the ridiculously tight entrance they've created!

Also... can people please learn to stand RIGHT DOWN IN THE AISLE. What's the fascination with the door areas.

 

[happypig]

We got the 1801 from Eastbourne and my boy asked why we were getting there so early. When it arrived a Lewes and he saw the crush on the platform, he understood.

With regard to the back of the train, how difficult would it be to extend the platform by a few yards, to enable all carriages to be used. ?

 

[Ernest]

It's all about money.

Jessie J ?

 

[fataddick]

Anyone else experience this? It's a common problem for evening games but this was the worst I've seen it.

PG

Can't comment on previous events as this was my first Amex evening game. I got to Lewes station just as the fast one from Ashford was pulling in. To be honest, having that stop at Falmer might have made things even worse as many of those on the platform would have tried to join it, and an already 2/3rds full train that only has 2 carriages would have been far more overcrowded than the 19.15 was. They could do with some railway staff and police on that platform. There probably wouldn't have been the huge delay in closing the doors (which would have also delayed the train behind if it had lasted much longer) if there had been some stewarding. I learned the best way to make sure you get on that train (about 20% of those on the platform didn't) is to nip through the waiting room as the narrower platform width the other side means less people waiting there...

 

[Gazwag]

What about the cocks 'running the platform' on the way home. A ****ing great train with 8 carriages pulls in for eastbourne and they stop people getting on it so it leaves with the rear 2 carriages having empty seats and loads of standing capacity. ****ing cocks those 2 stewards - the old witch on the gate with her click counter(FFS must be the only station in the country with that happening) and the old bald twot must be on such a power trip to let this happen. Whats the point in a long train coming in and leaving half empty while we're all stood there behind a gate like idiots.

I think you should direct a lot of your critisim to the selfish FANS who will not get on the first train that arrives. 100's of fans who are going to Seaford will not get on the Eastbourne train and change at Lewes because they are lazy and selfish. Hence the railway staff cannot let more people onto the platform because these idiots will not board the train. There are empty carriages because of this.

Educate the fans will ease this problem 10 fold.

 

[Clive Walker's slaphead]

Yes true but that doesn't alter the fact that when the train was sitting there it was empty at the back end and they could have easily have directed a couple of hundred more off the ramp into those carriages.

 

[KJP]

I was actually ok with trains for once, mainly as I checked 10 minutes before i left home and noticed the train I normally get at 6 was cancelled so managed to make the 5.52 only because it was delayed by a few minutes. Then when we got to Brighton we walked off and straight onto a waiting train to falmer, why they don't always just do that I don't know. Then coming home left on whistle, walked down to station, made it on front carriage of the 9.45, and got the 10.03 home, it couldn't have gone better, unfortunately most of the other 50 or so times I've been to falmer have not been as simple