Running a shuttle train from Brighton to Falmer

[smiler]

Seems to me the trains to/from Falmer are running at near capacity already, and fair play to them for going the extra mile to squeeze in a few footbal specials. IMHO buses should play much more of a part. Kick the private motorist out of Bennetts Fields and fill it with buses doing a constant shuttle Brighton - Falmer - Lewes - Falmer - Brighton for a couple of hours before and after matches. Those for intermediate stations i.e. Moulsecoombe and London Road could take the train in the normal way, as could those who need the speed of the train to Brighton or Lewes. Price it so the bus is cheaper than the train, or possibly free. Job done!

Totally agree - Leeds have this in operation using old basic buses and works extremely well - the club cannot see beyond the parking needs of the 1901 Club

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Totally agree. But Saturday afternoons and weekday evenings must be off-peak times for the Uni shirley? How many people would actually be affected? A couple of dozen?

Weekday evenings are busy enough at Sussex University to have resulted in the Club not having the use of one of the University Car Parks that is available for Saturday games. The effect of this is to limit the total number of car parking spaces that the Club is able to sell for ALL games - since they ONLY sell parking places for a whole season. Crazy.

 

[Mackenzie]

What we need is an entrepreneurial farmer local to the stadium willing to give up his field for a couple of hours on match days for parking.

 

[Notters]

No, I don't think it does. West of the Falmer Road is outside the park I beleive, and has been earmarked for development for years. The other side of Falmer Road, is an AONB and is in the park.

I'm afraid you're wrong, the National Park boundary runs along Village Way. There is no South Downs AONB anymore. Any development south of Village Way is a non-starter. One possibility would be an underground car park but feck knows how much that would cost.

 

[Robot Chicken]

Weekday evenings are busy enough at Sussex University to have resulted in the Club not having the use of one of the University Car Parks that is available for Saturday games. The effect of this is to limit the total number of car parking spaces that the Club is able to sell for ALL games - since they ONLY sell parking places for a whole season. Crazy.

They surely need to change this policy? This unused University car park surely needs to be made available on a match by match basis?

 

[Notters]

What we need is an entrepreneurial farmer local to the stadium willing to give up his field for a couple of hours on match days for parking.

This would require Planning Permission and won't happen inside the National Park boundary (see above).

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Weekday evenings are busy enough at Sussex University to have resulted in the Club not having the use of one of the University Car Parks that is available for Saturday games. The effect of this is to limit the total number of car parking spaces that the Club is able to sell for ALL games - since they ONLY sell parking places for a whole season. Crazy.

Seems to me it could all be resolved between the Uni and the club with minimal fuss or disruption. The Uni is already well served with a dedicated bus service, the 25. How about that service was ring-fenced for Uni students/employees on matchdays and not available to Albion fans? Particularly for mid-week games. In return the club could buy up all of the Uni's car parking spaces at some mutually beneficial fee. How come the Uni has total say over its vast acreage? Is it being a bit precious here? It doesn't exist in splendid isolation anymore. Doesn't the council have any say? Time a few heads were knocked together to come up with a solution that would work to the advantage of all parties.

 

[adrian29uk]

Seems to me it could all be resolved between the Uni and the club with minimal fuss or disruption. The Uni is already well served with a dedicated bus service, the 25. How about that service was ring-fenced for Uni students/employees on matchdays and not available to Albion fans? Particularly for mid-week games. In return the club could buy up all of the Uni's car parking spaces at some mutually beneficial fee. How come the Uni has total say over its vast acreage? Is it being a bit precious here? It doesn't exist in splendid isolation anymore. Doesn't the council have any say? Time a few heads were knocked together to come up with a solution that would work to the advantage of all parties.

I think most people would be happy to pay a fiver to park there. Its good for the Uni and good for the club. I don't know how many cars they can park at the Uni but it would certainly be a nice little earner for them.

 

[Uncle Buck]

The Southern Water site is empty.

How about building a cable car network?

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

I think most people would be happy to pay a fiver to park there. Its good for the Uni and good for the club. I don't know how many cars they can park at the Uni but it would certainly be a nice little earner for them.

I'd be quite happy to pay £5 too, it currently costs about £15/game.
BTW, the number of available car parking spaces is limited by the Stadium planning consent (2,200 max) - something to do with encouraging the use of sustainable transport that underpinned the stadium's approval.

 

[NorthLainer]

Seems to me the trains to/from Falmer are running at near capacity already, and fair play to them for going the extra mile to squeeze in a few footbal specials.

Agree with this in terms of number of trains, but there is no-one at Brighton/Falmer stations responsible for maximising the numbers on the trains. The last three trips i've made there was definitely space for 25-30% more people as we pulled out. I know this won't have been the case for every carraige on every train, but those queues would move a hell of a lot faster if we have someone to pack in the trains a la the Tokyo subway system. It may not be that pleasant for 10 minutes to have your nose in someones armpit, but at least more people would be able to get there and home quicker.

 

[Spiritualised]

Agree with this in terms of number of trains, but there is no-one at Brighton/Falmer stations responsible for maximising the numbers on the trains. The last three trips i've made there was definitely space for 25-30% more people as we pulled out. I know this won't have been the case for every carraige on every train, but those queues would move a hell of a lot faster if we have someone to pack in the trains a la the Tokyo subway system. It may not be that pleasant for 10 minutes to have your nose in someones armpit, but at least more people would be able to get there and home quicker.

 

[eastterracemike]

Don’t forget us lot going east, it is not only the Brighton trains with problems, in fact the queues for the trains to Lewes and beyond were still there after the Brighton queues had disappeared after the game Wednesday. My view is the problem could be improved by simply adding more carriages to the three/four carriage trains. I still cannot see the point of the two carriage diesels that go to and from Ashford, as the line beyond Ore is not electrified why don’t they terminate it there or Hastings and use a longer electric from there?

absolutely THIS. The queues to Lewes are ALWAYS longer to disperse than back to Brighton . FACT. Lewes can only take 5 carriage trains. At least on wed they put on an 8 carriage train and warned the Lewesians to be in the front 5 coaches - an improvement.