[Albion] The 25 & N25, 28 & 29 Bus Services

[The Maharajah of Sydney]

How viable is it to return to city centre by either taking the 25 / N25 from the outside the ground or walking a little further along Lewes Road and getting on a 28 or 29 ?
Don't really see these options pushed as an alternative to the train or park & ride.
Are the queues worse than the trains ?
Are the services too infrequent ?

 

[BNthree]

N25 is a nightbus so definitely not an option. See plenty queuing for the buses after matches and also walking down past the Bridge car park to get the 49 from its terminus point. Thing is very limited numbers can get on each bus and they’re not that frequent.

 

[Gwylan]

For afternoon games, it's not too bad but the services are very sporadic in the evening. And you may have to wait to find one that's letting people on.

A better option would be to walk a bit further and get the 49 from Moulsecoomb. They're pretty frequent and won't be full of people from the match. If I were going back into town after a game, that's the option I'd choose.

 

[Cotton Socks]

I'd walk a little further from the ground to the bus stop outside the Ruby at the bottom of Coldean Lane. It goes up Coldean Lane, around the houses a little bit, pauses at Asda for a couple of mins and then pretty much goes straight down Ditchling Road. Not that busy & everyone can get on the 1st bus that comes along. You can even cross the road at the Asda stop to get the 5B into town, but I'd say not to bother. If there are massive queues next time I do that route I'm going to wish I hadn't said this!

 

[halbpro]

The 25 is particularly variable post match, as it runs through both universities so is heavily effected by post match traffic. The bus stop by the coach park seems a better bet than the one at Falmer Station for 25s.

You certainly can use them of course, and I tend to catch the bus pre-game at the minute. But there’s vastly lower capacity than trains and much less predictability in the service due to traffic when getting away from the Amex. An 8 carriage train can do about 600ish I believe, a bus only does 120 or so.

 

[The Maharajah of Sydney]

Looks like a good 40 minute walk to get a 49 at Moulsecoomb.
Cotton Socks - your suggestion seems like the best option as it's only half the distance but what number bus are you refering to and what is the Ruby ?

 

[Gabbafella]

It's very hit and miss as to how long it takes.
I've had games when I've walked out the stadium and straight on to a bus, I've had others where I've waited for an hour with no joy.
And if you're really lucky, you'll queue for what feels like an eternity and the wanker of a driver will stop at the arse end of the queue, pissing everyone off.
I'd say average wait is about 20mins but be prepared for that one day that's a total nightmare.
I need to get away quick this weekend so I'll probably do P&R just to be sure.

 

[Badger Boy]

Looks like a good 40 minute walk to get a 49 at Moulsecoomb.
Cotton Socks - your suggestion seems like the best option as it's only half the distance but what number bus are you refering to and what is the Ruby ?

40 mins if you walk backwards on your hands, maybe.

 

[Cotton Socks]

Looks like a good 40 minute walk to get a 49 at Moulsecoomb.
Cotton Socks - your suggestion seems like the best option as it's only half the distance but what number bus are you refering to and what is the Ruby ?

The Ruby is the pub at the bottom of Coldean Lane. Its the 24 bus up until Asda, then it changes it's number to the 26.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Looks like a good 40 minute walk to get a 49 at Moulsecoomb.
Cotton Socks - your suggestion seems like the best option as it's only half the distance but what number bus are you refering to and what is the Ruby ?

It’s not that long, even at my pace.

 

[Seaview Seagull]

We used to get the 25 and the best stop to get on is definitely the one inside Brighton University. The service is affected by the exiting traffic but I have usually got away within 30 mins or so.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

We used the 49 for a while but it has become much more popular. It is also very slow as it weaves it way through the parked cars in the residential areas.

If you are someone who likes to cheer the team off at the end the game, you still won't get back into the Old Steine until around 5:45pm, later to Churchill Square. It is usually just as quick to hang around for a drink and then get one of the later trains back into the city.

The buses from Falmer Station down the Lewes Road have been suffering with the congestion from people coming out of the Bridge as they can take ages to be able to get into the bus lanes.

 

[surrey jim]

Looks like a good 40 minute walk to get a 49 at Moulsecoomb.
Cotton Socks - your suggestion seems like the best option as it's only half the distance but what number bus are you refering to and what is the Ruby ?

The end of line is Bolney Road bus stop, per google maps its a 15min walk

 

[Gwylan]

I'd walk a little further from the ground to the bus stop outside the Ruby at the bottom of Coldean Lane. It goes up Coldean Lane, around the houses a little bit, pauses at Asda for a couple of mins and then pretty much goes straight down Ditchling Road. Not that busy & everyone can get on the 1st bus that comes along. You can even cross the road at the Asda stop to get the 5B into town, but I'd say not to bother. If there are massive queues next time I do that route I'm going to wish I hadn't said this!

The quicker route back into town is the 24 going the other way, the Coldean Lane bus stop on the LH side of the road (coming from the Amex) - it's 10 minutes quicker going into town (but not if you're going to Ditchling Rd or Fiveways).

But it's not great for evening games as they're only every 30 minutes after 7.00

 

[Beanstalk]

If everyone could keep the 49 route to themselves that'd be much appreciated.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

For afternoon games, it's not too bad but the services are very sporadic in the evening. And you may have to wait to find one that's letting people on.

A better option would be to walk a bit further and get the 49 from Moulsecoomb. They're pretty frequent and won't be full of people from the match. If I were going back into town after a game, that's the option I'd choose.

Me too. Another advantage of walking to Moulescomb and catching a 49 is that you will be boarding the bus at the start of it's journey.

My second choice would be to walk through the underpass and join a 25 before it actually gets to the stadium. It will take a few minutes to wend it's way through the uni campus, but you should even get a seat!

For me it's bus over train every time. Just reading many of the horror stories on here of joining the long queues to get onto the station platform, both at Falmer and at Brighton pre-match, are enough to put me off for life.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

If everyone could keep the 49 route to themselves that'd be much appreciated.

Too late, the secret is out.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

The 25 is particularly variable post match, as it runs through both universities so is heavily effected by post match traffic. The bus stop by the coach park seems a better bet than the one at Falmer Station for 25s.

You certainly can use them of course, and I tend to catch the bus pre-game at the minute. But there’s vastly lower capacity than trains and much less predictability in the service due to traffic when getting away from the Amex. An 8 carriage train can do about 600ish I believe, a bus only does 120 or so.

You would be doing remarkably well to cram 120 passengers onto a 25. When the route was operated by bendybuses then yes maybe, but the double deckers that now operate the route carry nothing like that number, legally at least.

 

[BNthree]

I'm going to annoy someone by letting this secret out but the Falmer Village westbound stop for 28/29 is a good option get ahead of the crowds. Less services but guaranteed to get on (accessed from the footbridge between Falmer pond and the Swan pub). Also the stop just leaving Sussex campus by the mini-roundabout there (called Falmer Village southbound I believe) beats the crowds but will still head to Village Way and the traffic chaos there so not speedy. The 49 stop is about a 15 minute walk and much more popular these days.

 

[The Maharajah of Sydney]

Thank you all for your insights.
Amex to Brighton Uni showed 43 mins but Bolney Rd comes up at just 18 - appreciate the tip.
The 49 at the start of it's journey looks possibly the best of the options.
Do you just show the bus driver your digitial ticket or is there a card reader ?
How does it work with unmanned automatic barriers at train stations ?