[Albion] Special Buses: Negotiations Ongoing with Alternative Bus Co + "supporter contributiion"

[Brighton Breezy]

Walt you have been in discussions with the club over this transport issue. Did you by chance talk about fans who may want to cancel their season ticket as they have broken the charter?

I asked Paul Barber this about an hour ago for you and he said each case would be judged on its own merits. Not sure that helps clear things up, but that was the answer...

 

[Beach Hut]

Because you complained about your very poor pay rise and your company lying about it. Wonder how that would go down with your direct manager / boss? Have you raised it with him or just taken the cash and bitched on here?

We are a bit tense tonight aren't we, WTF is it to do with you ?

 

[Guinness Boy]

FFP is clearly the thing to use like my company uses the recession as an excuse for a very poor pay rise when in effect we are making record profits.

We are a bit tense tonight aren't we, WTF is it to do with you ?

Because you mentioned it first on a public internet forum.

 

[AZ Gull]

FFP is clearly the thing to use like my company uses the recession as an excuse for a very poor pay rise when in effect we are making record profits.

Do you think the club is lying about losing 8million every season?

 

[supaseagull]

Special Buses: Negotiations Ongoing with Alternative Bus Co + "supporter contri

The simple fact of this now is that I will refuse to drink and buy food within the stadium.

That's at least £20 per game...times that by 22 games...£440...not a lot really is it? unless 5,000 fans follow suit...£2.2 million? Now that's more than the £1.7 million B&H buses apparently wanted from the club.

I'm afraid Mr Barber is starting to lose a lot of respect...I was happy to go along with pretty much most of what had happened, but this will cause big issues and I would be interested to know what Trading Standards would have to say about this...

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

This is so painful but I'm desperately close to being priced out of the Amex. Barber might consider £75 as just a couple of quid here and there but on top of £445 it's killing me

 

[nordicgod]

At least I won't have to wait 30 odd mins for an s bus to maybe turn up at mileoak before the game, and then because I stayed to end of games having to wait 40/50 mins in the freezing cold to get an s bus back that took a whole tour around withdean and hove before even getting to mileoak.

Now I can wait for hours at falmer train station to get a train to Brighton and then queue again for west coast trains.

Always thought the travel subsidy was a cheek anyway as a train driver I and boy get free travel anyway

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

The simple fact of this now is that I will refuse to drink and buy food within the stadium.

That's at least £20 per game...times that by 22 games...£440...not a lot really is it? unless 5,000 fans follow suit...£2.2 million? Now that's more than the £1.7 million B&H buses apparently wanted from the club.

I'm afraid Mr Barber is starting to lose a lot of respect...I was happy to go along with pretty much most of what had happened, but this will cause big issues and I would be interested to know what Trading Standards would have to say about this...

B&H Buses didn't want £1.7M from the club , that sum if its correct is what it costs the club to subsidise ALL the transport costs per season. P&R sites , rail , buses , coaches , renting car parking spaces at the Uni and Bennetts Field , the residents parking permit scheme in Coldean and Moulsecoomb on match and event days and enforcement , plus other associated costs.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Now I can wait for hours at falmer train station to get a train to Brighton

Really? Hours?

Why not just jump on a train and get a seat?

 

[supaseagull]

Special Buses: Negotiations Ongoing with Alternative Bus Co + "supporter contri

B&H Buses didn't want £1.7M from the club , that sum if its correct is what it costs the club to subsidise ALL the transport costs per season. P&R sites , rail , buses , coaches , renting car parking spaces at the Uni and Bennetts Field , the residents parking permit scheme in Coldean and Moulsecoomb on match and event days and enforcement , plus other associated costs.

Sorry but none of that is accurate.

 

[Husty]

Do you think the club is lying about losing 8million every season?

The club could save MOST of that money by telling McSmudger, Sicknote hoskins and Ryan Harley where to stick it, rather than fleecing fans left right and center.

 

[fosters headband]

I asked Paul Barber this about an hour ago for you and he said each case would be judged on its own merits. Not sure that helps clear things up, but that was the answer...

Thanks for trying Walt. I might just email him myself stating my own position, and see what he comes back with.
But I must be thick here, if somehow people can get to the station or a Brighton bus service (instead of the specials) they will get there and back for free, won't my trip on this bus or train have to be paid for ?
So Brighton buses end up putting on more buses to deal with the extra passengers, how does this help reduce the costs to the Albion?

 

[fosters headband]

This is so painful but I'm desperately close to being priced out of the Amex. Barber might consider £75 as just a couple of quid here and there but on top of £445 it's killing me

I feel sorry for the Dads with a couple of kids and there were many on the R buses. Seagull Travel are not known for giving huge discounts for kids. So what is the cost to them another couple of hundred pounds ?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

How can Barber claim the transport is heavily subsidised when the cost of the new bus is more than a normal bus!? How much does it cost without the subsidy, because £4.75 is lot already for a bus.

The Special buses will only operate for a couple of hours before the match and a couple of hours after the match. The regular bus routes are not exclusive to Albion fans , they do carry fare paying passengers too and run a normal service 7 days a week. In reality these routes have to return a profit or at least break even , journeys that become uneconomically viable end up being cut from the timetable unless the local council provides a grant to keep them going.

 

[maglers]

The simple fact of this now is that I will refuse to drink and buy food within the stadium.

That's at least £20 per game...times that by 22 games...£440...not a lot really is it? unless 5,000 fans follow suit...£2.2 million? Now that's more than the £1.7 million B&H buses apparently wanted from the club.

I'm afraid Mr Barber is starting to lose a lot of respect...I was happy to go along with pretty much most of what had happened, but this will cause big issues and I would be interested to know what Trading Standards would have to say about this...

This is the way to protest - hit the club in the pocket. If the majority were to halve their spending in the stadium and the club shop (or stop it altogether) then the club would get the message. I take my two kids and we all have a pie and a drink each and probably a bag of sweets. That's got to be £25. Won't take me long to be in credit if I cut that out or scale it back.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

I feel sorry for the Dads with a couple of kids and there were many on the R buses. Seagull Travel are not known for giving huge discounts for kids. So what is the cost to them another couple of hundred pounds ?

This. My dad's plans are now in jeopardy and I know of a few other families who will suffer a fairly big hit from this.

 

[Ernest]

It's that easy, one less pint, one less pie will cover the extra and Barber may find out the hard way not to take us all for mugs

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Thanks for trying Walt. I might just email him myself stating my own position, and see what he comes back with.
But I must be thick here, if somehow people can get to the station or a Brighton bus service (instead of the specials) they will get there and back for free, won't my trip on this bus or train have to be paid for ?
So Brighton buses end up putting on more buses to deal with the extra passengers, how does this help reduce the costs to the Albion?

Has anyone contemplated the possibility that B&H Buses might one day say that they don't see any point in providing extra buses to and from the stadium? Or Sussex University saying they won't any longer open up their private roads to football supporters who want to park?

It's ESSENTIAL, in my opinion, that the Club take a view of the future that looks a bit further than FFP. At the very least, the Club needs to be considering things like how its supporters/customers can get to and from games with reasonable ease and convenience. At the moment, I get the feeling that we are being taken for granted.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Sorry but none of that is accurate.

It was you who originally posted that B&H Buses wanted £1.7M , where is the proof that this is factually correct and the whole range of transport costs I've mentioned are inaccurate ?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Well, quite frankly, if I were B&H buses or the Big Lemon or someone I would run a bus service along the exact same route and undercut the club.

An interesting thought, especially for fans of competition in the market place.

It does seem to me that the Club have handed a deal to Seagulls Travel that may be far from competitive.