So what happened to the expected travel chaos?

[Seagull on the wing]

The biggest issue seems to have been the time it took to get away from Bennetts Field and the University car parks - holding vehicles back from getting out of Bennetts Field would certainly help get buses and coaches out of the coach park.





And disabled parking certainly remains a problem.

That was caused all the hold ups Lord B,I had a 10 mile journey and did'nt get in till 7pm,the steward was not doing anything and just letting people get on with it as a free for all,if he let 10 go from queue,then 10 from another and 10 from the third queue traffic would have flowed much better...but it is a ramp up event so maybe things will improve.

 

[Samej]

Seemed to work fine for nearly everyone. Lord B, any comments?

No chaos we stayed for the full time whistle ,used the train and home in Seaford for 5.40.

 

[APACHE]

Train from and to Polegate packed but home by 1740.

 

[beorhthelm]

by train, from brighton at 13:40 (?) train was rammed. some tried to get on at London Road and Moulsecoomb, no chance.

stayed after the game for a beer, got the train ~1750 after a wait. train was half full already (seating wise) but the concourse cleared onto that train. ive been grounds you have to wait/walk an hour or more to get to civilsation, so seems not too bad. frustrating that only 4 car trains go through though.

 

[severnside gull]

A really promising start for the club - if it goes anywhere near as well next week and they continue to learn from the experiences we are definitely on target for an 8K increase in capacity next season. Roll on next week and then the Gillingham evening match - now that will be a real test

 

[Deadly Danson]

I left car park 3 in the Uni, started to go up the hill and saw traffic backed up for what was obviously a long way. A couple of cars started turning around so I did the same. I was stopped by some spotty faced oil of a steward who told me that they wanted all cars to leave from the other exit but 'this week you can go through'. Why on earth would they want to add to an already congested situation? I was the only vehicle leaving via the Stanmer Park exit and I was on the A27 a hell of a lot quicker than the poor sods using the other exit. if the Uni has more than one exit why not use them all? Doesn't make sense to do it the way they did yesterday

Very much agree. I can understand perhaps with the lack of footpaths that the powers that be want a one way system to be in operation but surely, SURELY common sense would take cars out via the Stanmer Park exit thereby avoiding all the rest of the traffic leaving the ground and helping to shift park and ride buses, taxis and Bennetts Field parkers faster. We actually managed to persuade a steward to let us use that exit and we were out and home in minutes. I notice a couple of questions have been asked to Insider about this and I'd be very interested in his replies and if he reads this - PLEASE change this system, it can only assist in getting more people out of the area faster and thereby helping the Albion achieve their transportation goals that they need to get the extra seats put in.

 

[Jam The Man]

Encountered a slight issue / problem on the Brighton bound queue for the train.. quite a lot of fans (mainly Spurs) were climbing over the barriers to jump the queue which was naturally upsetting a few people. The stewards put up a feeble effort to stop it and as soon as the jumpers were approached they threatened the stewards who backed right off. All the while there were 8 police standing on the bridge... perhaps one or two might wish to relocate in future as it was getting a bit tasty and it may be a recurring problem.

 

[hastings]

Ended up near the back of the queue for mill road and in comparison to the years at withdean got bk to mill road about an ur later. Mill road certainly seemed the most popular. System did run smoothly although it took a little time. Main problem will be on a cold wet December afternoon.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

frustrating that only 4 car trains go through though.

Pretty sure the 18.21 back to Brighton was a 6 car train. And there were certainly 6 car trains on the way to the ground. Got on one at London Road at about half 12. Well played the trains yesterday!

 

[mlg57]

Left at final whistle from WSU and caught 3rd train back to Brighton. Queue was well managed and we were away by 5:15. At Brighton caught the 5:49 to Clapham and then onto Watford Junction and MK by 8:15. Not a bad experiemce, avoided the underground and was home in just over 3 hours. Not sure if that was the quickest route home but happy with journey and was all seated. Test will be next Tuesday, could be a long night

 

[Postman Pat]

surely a good bet is to park in the university campus up coldean lane.

Loads of building work going on in there at the moment, no parking spaces at all. Will be interesting when the students all come back as they have been parking down Coldean Lane.

Maybe the club should be asking about the old army barracks on Lewes Road to extend the P&R while no one is building anything on there at the moment.

 

[Lush]

Loads of building work going on in there at the moment, no parking spaces at all. Will be interesting when the students all come back as they have been parking down Coldean Lane.

Maybe the club should be asking about the old army barracks on Lewes Road to extend the P&R while no one is building anything on there at the moment.

No need. Mithras House and Cockcroft car park opposite looked pretty quiet.

 

[trueblue]

Got the train there just before half twelve and the train back about six. An absolute breeze (admittedly that was arriving early and leaving late). Don't tell anyone though or the carriages will be rammed next time

 

[Bisto]

No need. Mithras House and Cockcroft car park opposite looked pretty quiet.

I let the train take the strain....travelling East no problems well managed.

When at Withdean I always used Mithras P&R for 2 reasons.......NO queue for the bus after the game and no queue when leaving the car park (though a bit 'hairy' pulling out blind as the P&R bus blocked one's view)

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Maybe the club should be asking about the old army barracks on Lewes Road to extend the P&R while no one is building anything on there at the moment.

Oi !! That's where I work. Preston Barracks is the operational base of about half a dozen businesses, some of which are in operation on Saturdays and in the evenings - including the organisation I manage.

The site has been used for football P&R in the past (when the Mithras House car park wasn't available, because of a University event). I can confirm, though, that no enquiries have been made by the Club to use the site on a permanent basis. For a variety of reasons, it's not ideal.

I was told last week, though, that the City Council is trying to help the Club find an extra site somewhere.

 

[The Oldman]

No need. Mithras House and Cockcroft car park opposite looked pretty quiet.

Sshh! Don't tell everyone. They will all want to use these two. It was a joy to use yesterday. Better than Withdean days. I know in the past many of the Mithras House users came from Eastbourne/Polegate areas. Perhaps they are now trying the train instead.

 

[Jim in the West]

I was VERY pleasantly surprised....we'd parked at Haywards Heath and took the train via Lewes. Perfect both ways. Falmer station is actually brilliant - is there a football ground in the UK with a closer railway station?

 

[csider]

To be fair a cold wet Tuesday evening game with 22,500 fans all rushing to leave the stadium at once could be a whole different kettle of fish!

Why??

 

[Two Professors]

I was VERY pleasantly surprised....we'd parked at Haywards Heath and took the train via Lewes. Perfect both ways. Falmer station is actually brilliant - is there a football ground in the UK with a closer railway station?

Bescot station at Walsall must run it very close

 

[Fungus]

No need. Mithras House and Cockcroft car park opposite looked pretty quiet.

Where exactly are these P&Rs? I've always used Mill Road before, but these sound perfect! And I promise not to tell anyone else!