[Travel] Mill Road P&R Chaos

[Westdene Seagull]

Expanding of a topic touched on by @Publius Ovidius - the Mill Road P&R was atrocious yesterday. I don't know if being a Sunday didn't help but the removal of the bendy buses by B&H Buses is the main reason - meaning it's probably going to be the same every game.

Took an hour and fifteen to get on a bus and then get to the stadium. Usually manage it in less than 30 minutes. Getting back was ridiculous - I'm normally home within an hour - took nearly two yesterday. I can see many users of Mill Road either leaving early or thinking "stuff this" and not renewing next season.

The bus company and the club need to sort it. I say the club because I had a conversation with one of the gents from B&H Buses that loads the buses. Apparently the club pay for twelve "vehicles" not for capacity ( which strictly speaking means they could send twelve mini-buses I guess ). That means Mill Road capacity has now halved. Even then Race Hill get seven of them ( all double deckers ) while Mill Road gets only five ( all single deckers ).

Yesterday wasn't raining - it's going to be shit standing in the rain for that long mid-winter.

Rant Over

 

[Springal]

Not P&R but I actually emailed Paul Barber for the first time yesterday about Southerns performance - 4 carriage trains only and only 2 services an hour on the West Coastway.

I acknowledged and accept the club have little power, they at least have a commercial arrangement with Southern given they apparently pay them part of the ‘travel subsidy’ so might have some lines of communication to them. But I was told I needed to take it up with Southern myself

The stadium was built based on a sustainable travel plan but based on what’s being provided I don’t see how the club are keeping up its side of the bargain.

 

[Weststander]

We normally join the queue at the top about 45 minutes before KO and sail through to the stadium, have done that for years. Long after the herd have gone.

The game-changer this season imho (bendy buses or not) was the train strikes. Even on non-strike days, it appears lots have given up on Southern Fail entirely, heading to Mill Road instead. Giving vast queues of folk, we were late to a game, another time I simply gave up and walked home.

The dumb and unfair thing yesterday was allowing buses to 80% fill at the bottom. Stewards had always told us that it was 50:50 split. Meaning that just a few of were able to get on at the top when each small bus arrived.

Lesson learnt .... we now get to the top 90 minutes before games.

 

[Dave the OAP]

Spot on! I know the usual suspects will say “ don’t moan, you get it for free” but it was totally unacceptable yesterday and as I said yesterday, if this is going to be the norm ( the game before Chelsea - didn’t go -was a nightmare too) then i will certainly think twice about renewing.

was chatting this morning,to one guy who drove up from salisbury and after parking at mill hill it took him an hour to get to the ground and as he normally stays to clap the players, it took him 2 hours to get back to his car!

looks like the queue for the racecourse busses was also a standstill for as long as I was in the mill hill queue

 

[Brovion]

I am NOT belittling the complaints as they are perfectly valid, and having been stuck in football transport queues I know how frustrating they can be .... but it is noticeable that these complaints always seem to surface after a defeat. (Same as complaints about prices, transfer schemes, bottle tops etc). If we'd won on Sunday no one would give a toss about anything, we'd all be suffused with a warm glow.

However, that point notwithstanding the complaints are valid. If at the end of the season the football has been so-so or poor it'll be the ancillary issues as much as anything that'll determine whether people renew or not. So it needs sorting out.

 

[BNthree]

We normally join the queue at the top about 45 minutes before KO and sail through to the stadium, have done that for years. Long after the herd have gone.

The game-changer this season imho (bendy buses or not) was the train strikes. Even on non-strike days, it appears lots have given up on Southern Fail entirely, heading to Mill Road instead. Giving vast queues of folk, we were late to a game, another time I simply gave up and walked home.

The dumb and unfair thing yesterday was allowing buses to 80% fill at the bottom. Stewards had always told us that it was 50:50 split. Meaning that just a few of were able to get on at the top when each small bus arrived.

Lesson learnt .... we now get to the top 90 minutes before games.

The numbers of people walking to use the Mill Road buses has gone up loads and lots of them are queuing at the top bus stop. Means the queues are much bigger than a few seasons ago.

 

[Weststander]

I am NOT belittling the complaints as they are perfectly valid, and having been stuck in football transport queues I know how frustrating they can be .... but it is noticeable that these complaints always seem to surface after a defeat. (Same as complaints about prices, transfer schemes, bottle tops etc). If we'd won on Sunday no one would give a toss about anything, we'd all be suffused with a warm glow.

However, that point notwithstanding the complaints are valid. If at the end of the season the football has been so-so or poor it'll be the ancillary issues as much as anything that'll determine whether people renew or not. So it needs sorting out.

It's human nature, that an Albion win makes life seem incredible, curing all ills

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

The bendy buses only stopped last week. This is going to be a definite problem

 

[Dave the OAP]

I am NOT belittling the complaints as they are perfectly valid, and having been stuck in football transport queues I know how frustrating they can be .... but it is noticeable that these complaints always seem to surface after a defeat. (Same as complaints about prices, transfer schemes, bottle tops etc). If we'd won on Sunday no one would give a toss about anything, we'd all be suffused with a warm glow.

However, that point notwithstanding the complaints are valid. If at the end of the season the football has been so-so or poor it'll be the ancillary issues as much as anything that'll determine whether people renew or not. So it needs sorting out.

the home game before Chelsea, I queued at the top of mill hill for 3/4 hour and 3 busses came through taking just 10 to 15 people each as they were nearly full!

you are right, if this continues I certainly won’t bother anymore…no matter how good or bad the footy is.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I'm another person that has given up on the trains and have switched to the 'Rodney' fan buses from Steyning. This is by far the quickest and most direct way of getting from A to B in my part of the world.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

We normally join the queue at the top about 45 minutes before KO and sail through to the stadium, have done that for years. Long after the herd have gone.

The game-changer this season imho (bendy buses or not) was the train strikes. Even on non-strike days, it appears lots have given up on Southern Fail entirely, heading to Mill Road instead. Giving vast queues of folk, we were late to a game, another time I simply gave up and walked home.

The dumb and unfair thing yesterday was allowing buses to 80% fill at the bottom. Stewards had always told us that it was 50:50 split. Meaning that just a few of were able to get on at the top when each small bus arrived.

Lesson learnt .... we now get to the top 90 minutes before games.

We get there two hours before kick off. We don't park and walk through the tunnel and, strike day and yesterday excluded, always get straight on to a bus. That bus waits a few minutes and goes up the hill always less than half full. Strike day was bad but I got it. Yesterday was even worse than Strike day. There was a queue back to the Waterhall entrance. I don't mind being there two hours ahead of kickoff if we get to the stadium quickly so we can watch a bit of a match on the TVs and have something to eat and drink. I won't be happy queueing at Mill Road in the depths of winter when it's chucking it down.

 

[Brovion]

Not P&R but I actually emailed Paul Barber for the first time yesterday about Southerns performance - 4 carriage trains only and only 2 services an hour on the West Coastway.

I acknowledged and accept the club have little power, they at least have a commercial arrangement with Southern given they apparently pay them part of the ‘travel subsidy’ so might have some lines of communication to them. But I was told I needed to take it up with Southern myself

The stadium was built based on a sustainable travel plan but based on what’s being provided I don’t see how the club are keeping up its side of the bargain.

As an aside and a bit O/T the whole thing about 'sustainable transport' certainly with regard to Park 'N' Ride is complete bollocks and was only put in to try and keep the Greens onside. Luckily no one questioned why driving, parking, and then catching a fuel-swilling fume-belching bus is 'sustainable', but driving, parking and walking isn't.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

It's just so shit that a stadium less than three miles from Brighton town centre is so consistently, annoyingly tricky to get to and from, for the majority of 'customers'

 

[Westdene Seagull]

I am NOT belittling the complaints as they are perfectly valid, and having been stuck in football transport queues I know how frustrating they can be .... but it is noticeable that these complaints always seem to surface after a defeat. (Same as complaints about prices, transfer schemes, bottle tops etc). If we'd won on Sunday no one would give a toss about anything, we'd all be suffused with a warm glow.

However, that point notwithstanding the complaints are valid. If at the end of the season the football has been so-so or poor it'll be the ancillary issues as much as anything that'll determine whether people renew or not. So it needs sorting out.

While normally I would agree with you - I'd be angry even if we'd won yesterday - barring the strike match this was the first time it's been so poor.

 

[Brovion]

While normally I would agree with you - I'd be angry even if we'd won yesterday - barring the strike match this was the first time it's been so poor.

I do sympathise. If we had won and you'd started the same thread people would say "Typical! Another win but somebody has to moan about something!" (Probably why Dave didn't start one after the Chelsea victory even though it was bad then!)

 

[Pondicherry]

I was in the Racecourse queue and missed the first tranche of buses at the end. There was then a longer than usual wait for them to return down Falmer Road (40 mins maybe) as the traffic lights at the stadium don't let many vehicles through as they try to clear the stadium roads first. Obviously the flaw in this plan is the buses stuck in that queue that are needed to help clear the stadium.

 

[portlock seagull]

Spot on! I know the usual suspects will say “ don’t moan, you get it for free” but it was totally unacceptable yesterday and as I said yesterday, if this is going to be the norm ( the game before Chelsea - didn’t go -was a nightmare too) then i will certainly think twice about renewing.

was chatting this morning,to one guy who drove up from salisbury and after parking at mill hill it took him an hour to get to the ground and as he normally stays to clap the players, it took him 2 hours to get back to his car!

looks like the queue for the racecourse busses was also a standstill for as long as I was in the mill hill queue

This is why the Albion are such a turn off to continue following in the flesh for me too. Already 2hr+ drive away, you have to set off and ‘be in the zone’ 3hrs before the game to park. 2hrs to then get back just to P&R, then queue to get out of…it’s becoming a 24hr event almost for just 90mins of football. Add high cost of petrol, tickets, TV scheduling…and plenty else, it’s not hard to see why I’m enjoying my local NL instead for a walk up football fix! Brighton now has a big reputation for being a nightmare to get to amongst home and away supporters.

 

[Stat Brother]

Nobody is going to like this.

Jnr was playing in the morning, so got the train over.
I didn't want to 'sunday service' that, drove, parking up in Brighton riding to and from the ground.

Assuming the ref blew are 16:00, I got back to the P&R BP garage at 16:42.

Called Jnr wondering why he wasn't there, to which he replied 'still in the queue, haven't moved yet'.

Jnr gave it up and joined the train queue.



Leaving the same place at the same time:-

I got home at 17:30.
He got home at 20:10.

 

[Springal]

I was in the Racecourse queue and missed the first tranche of buses at the end. There was then a longer than usual wait for them to return down Falmer Road (40 mins maybe) as the traffic lights at the stadium don't let many vehicles through as they try to clear the stadium roads first. Obviously the flaw in this plan is the buses stuck in that queue that are needed to help clear the stadium.

Agreed. I’m not adverse to driving as we did for Withdean through the years, but the racecourse is a pain from the west , and sitting in the WSU down near the North Stand by the time we get there all the first buses are gone and it’s a painful wait for the buses to get back in to the car park for return trips

 

[RustyKent]

The bendy buses only stopped last week. This is going to be a definite problem

The bendy buses had stopped a while back. I noticed that there were none at the Leeds game. It took us longer to get back to Mill Road.