[Travel] Train disruption Tonight (Cup versus Liverpool)

[RandyWanger]

Was the girl with the megaphone there telling people 'Straight down the middle...'

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

Was the girl with the megaphone there telling people 'Straight down the middle...'

She'd have to have been standing by the club shop, judging by those photos!

 

[Napper]

Southern hold the aces here

We’ve seen how they refuse a service for large highly attended events these days due to health and safety . The club are probably well aware that they could pull this at anytime and as such can’t speak out

The solution lies with the club putting on a proper shuttle service between the stadium and falmer to take some of the pressure off the dog shit trains

Even the pre match these days sees barriers kicked down and violent exchanges in the rush to get on the delayed services

It’s shit and the reason don’t bother midweek . Can’t guarantee getting home and with work commitments it just isn’t worth it .

Shame on the club over it’s silence on this

 

[Professor Plum]

Service was reduced, and taken under government control basically, which wasn't a massive change in GTRs contract, but companies had more of emphasis to pay back money loaned during lockdown to keep service running when there were minimal passengers. Cost savings were looked at and while there are agreements to run certain services, there aren't always on carriage lengths. The decision was to retire the units and reduce lengths, as well as reduce frequency on some routes (The West Worthing Stopper for example). The 313s were then retired as a cost saving measure as they are on lease, and the government was funding them. Therefore meaning there wasn't the usual spare units on weekdays to strengthen, Eastbourne and Seaford services to 8s, as well as run the Lewes shuttles as 6 car 313s. The problem is of course there hasn't been investment in new rolling stock, which while is needed down in the south, is needed even more up north, its a problem every government kicks down the road. I think changes to commuter/leisure numbers has affected it slightly, and is probably where a solution can be found.

Thanks for the explanation though I can't help feeling there's always a sense of passing the buck with these things. I've no doubt that all stakeholders -- TOCs, government, train drivers' unions, local management, police, the football club... will have their own version of who is really to blame, and why they just can't do anything about it.

Serious question -- have the local MP(s) been formally approached to try to address this? It seems to me to be a potentially dangerous public safety issue and yet no one seems to give a toss. I just can't accept that this is a problem without a solution. The Middle-East conflict might possibly be too intractable to solve, but surely not improving the transport to and from the Amex on matchdays? It seems that in advance of a match, there is no meeting between club and police and train companies and fan group reps, to look at potential issues and how they might be solved.

Personally, I gave up relying on public transport to the Amex about 3 years ago. I then had a season using the Racecourse park and ride but go tthoroughly pissed off having to leave the ground on 80 minutes to ensure I didn't have to wait ages, often in the cold and rain. The final straw was missing the late penalty against Man Utd a couple of years ago. After that I started using Seagull Travel coaches. It costs me an extra £25 or so a match to travel, but at least I can see the entire game and be certain of getting home without having to wait around in queues in the open air for bloody ages. It does mean, however, that I can't stay at the stadium after the final whistle to have a pint with friends.

A point will come, possibly next season, when I'll just stop renewing my ST and go back to Albion+ for occasional games. With IPTV I can see the games live at home. I know it's not the same at all but the sheer pleasure of not having the transport cost and hassle, will eventually make it worth it.

 

[Weststander]

Southern hold the aces here

We’ve seen how they refuse a service for large highly attended events these days due to health and safety . The club are probably well aware that they could pull this at anytime and as such can’t speak out

The solution lies with the club putting on a proper shuttle service between the stadium and falmer to take some of the pressure off the dog shit trains

Even the pre match these days sees barriers kicked down and violent exchanges in the rush to get on the delayed services

It’s shit and the reason don’t bother midweek . Can’t guarantee getting home and with work commitments it just isn’t worth it .

Shame on the club over it’s silence on this

?

 

[el punal]

Do the council still have any sway? Could they maybe step in and force the club to limit numbers until they take start to be seen to take the transport limitations seriously, rather than just seemingly wash their hands of the matter. The club's whole premise to build at Falmer was based on sustainable forms of transport. This has been compromised beyond all recognition. Hence the mad scramble whenever parking spaces get announced. Everybody hates the limitations of the available sustainable transport options.

Anybody got a link to that sweet pure pre-planning-consent propaganda video where Harty and Martin Perry enjoy a cosy chat while being whisked in an empty SASTA carriage from Brighton to Falmer. Gotta admire the spin - which hasn't really aged well, to be honest.

Pretty crap that it's come to this

It’s always been like this! When we played Liverpool in the League Cup (again!) back in September 2011 there were queues going all the way down Queens Road, and that’s when we had a capacity of 22,000+. I’m not sure that you can blame the club for the transport issues, after all it was Falmer or nothing with the constraints being that public transport (90%?) was to be the main means of access to the stadium.

The biggest issue is the lack of trains and their capacity to ensure that fans are transported to and from Falmer as quickly as possible. If you’re looking to point the finger then it’s surely Southern who are the guilty party as they cannot or will not address the problem which has been the on-going beef for both home and away fans since 2011.

My final response to you regarding your post is that back in 2011 no one expected us to have the attendances on or close to capacity. When I went to ‘book’ my season ticket seat the club official told me they anticipated a take up of 12,000 STs. That figure was amended very quickly within weeks to 18,000. Success brings its rewards . . . and its problems.

 

[jcdenton08]

I really thought their reign of terror was going to end next year only to find out they’re here until 2028.

I f***ing hate Southern

 

[el punal]

Was the girl with the megaphone there telling people 'Straight down the middle...'

Hopefully she was stuck at Lewes, with the f***ing megaphone as well.

 

[Professor Plum]

Its all bollocks TBF, there are many grounds in the country which are far far worse that the Amex and plenty are a good 30 minutes walk from a station to start with. Grounds like Spurs, Brentford, West Ham, Arsenal, Chelsea who are very close to a station are rammed if you chose the closest one so most sensible fans walk to the next closest which is a good walk away. We have no other choice at the Amex as walking to Lewes or Brighton is a long way, although probably similar to Preston from memory.

That totally misses the point. London is the worst possible example to compare to. London grounds are surrounded by stations and buses and taxis. Crucially, they are also surrounded by pubs and cafes and other places to hang out for an hour. And it doesn't matter if you miss the first or second Underground train, there'll be another along in a few minutes -- and they all have 8 carriages or whatever. The Amex is totally different. If you miss a train you can wait a half hour or more in the elements. There aren't a selection of pubs and restaurants to wait in the warm. No taxi ranks. You can feel totally cut off without a means of escape, especially late at night.

There are indeed other stadiums (I'm thinking Reading and Stoke for instance) that are out of town but it's wrong to say "there are many grounds in the country which are far far worse that the Amex". How can any ground be far far worse than those chaotic pictures posted earlier?

 

[Seagull Stew]

I know I probably come off as a tedious old fart by saying this, but we can all play our part to improve rail services by claiming every single time our train is delayed by 15 minutes or more, no matter how short the journey, delay time, or money involved. If every single passenger put in a claim every single time they were entitled to, then the financial incentive will be there for rail companies to do something about the service they provide. It is simple economics. Even donate the money to charity.

I understand that this does not apply to our free travel to matches, but there will be a positive knock on effect that will ultimately improve services to and from the Amex. It's simple economics.

 

[Kuipers Supporters Club]

So at 6.49 last night I left Brighton station on an EMPTY 8 carriage train that went to Lewes and only stopped at Falmer.

All this whilst the huge crowds were being held outside.


The only way I was able to do this was by coming down from London and being ‘in front’ of the ticket barriers and on Platform 6 already, where the train left from.

When I asked if the train would be letting football fans on, the staff said they didn’t know, so we left empty with thousands waiting.

Totally inept.

 

[Heffle Gull]

Despite the queues last night, the carriage I was in (eventually) was less than a quarter full. There were more than enough people on the platform to fill it, so why do people choose to stay at falmer when you could help clear the queues by getting on the first available train then changing at lewes?

 

[Jeremiah]

I gave up on taking the train to the Amex about 6 years ago. I live no more than a 2 minute walk to a station that directly links to Brighton and therefore getting to the Amex by train should be a doddle and about 40 minutes in you go by train timetables .

However, as we all know, the trains at my local station are rammed full (dangerously so on match days) and there is no guarantee I can get on them if they arrive on time. I used to catch a bus to Churchill Square and walk up to Brighton Station but faced exactly the same problem there. I now Park and Ride or park in Coldean and walk (we had to push pass the massive train queues last night on foot to Coldean - it looked horrendous and I do feel for the train supporters). Going all the way to the Amex by bus is also a good option and buses are pretty reliable.

More trains , more carriages is the answer but it ain't happening !

 

[Sorrel]

So at 6.49 last night I left Brighton station on an EMPTY 8 carriage train that went to Lewes and only stopped at Falmer.

All this whilst the huge crowds were being held outside.


The only way I was able to do this was by coming down from London and being ‘in front’ of the ticket barriers and on Platform 6 already, where the train left from.

When I asked if the train would be letting football fans on, the staff said they didn’t know, so we left empty with thousands waiting.

Totally inept.

I saw this while walking up from the Bridge car park , thought the game would be empty.

 

[PascalGroß Tips]

I gave up on taking the train to the Amex about 6 years ago. I live no more than a 2 minute walk to a station that directly links to Brighton and therefore getting to the Amex by train should be a doddle and about 40 minutes in you go by train timetables .

However, as we all know, the trains at my local station are rammed full (dangerously so on match days) and there is no guarantee I can get on them if they arrive on time. I used to catch a bus to Churchill Square and walk up to Brighton Station but faced exactly the same problem there. I now Park and Ride or park in Coldean and walk (we had to push pass the massive train queues last night on foot to Coldean - it looked horrendous and I do feel for the train supporters). Going all the way to the Amex by bus is also a good option and buses are pretty reliable.

More trains , more carriages is the answer but it ain't happening !

Not always easy to tell from photos - but from the ones I saw earlier, it looked like it must have been a nightmare for anyone trying to walk past the train queue to get to the Bridge car park and beyond. Bad enough for people able to walk - but for those less able or in a wheelchair wanting to get to the disabled spaces ... not good.

Setting aside the train issues, those queues need to be managed much better ... for safety as much as anything else.

 

[VAL1850]

Can't the club provide some live feeds into the concourses showing live train & bus times along with live feed of queue lengths for the platforms & P&R. At least this way people can make a choice if to stay in the concourse or join the queues. Also get the stewards by the queues to give updates when next train / bus is due. At least people will have some idea of how long they may be waiting rather than being left in dark

Get PBOBE to have a word with Hannover Displays who are a club sponsor to knock a few up for us....

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

Seagulls Travel might do a great service but their smug little social media updates every time there's a Southern Shit show really put me off them.

 

[blueandwhitestripes]

As some have suggested, I’m in favour of a bus shuttle service to Brighton and Lewes for evening matches as Southern are incapable of providing an adequate service. However, I’d be surprised if the club is willing to add this to their cost base without a trade off. From recent fan surveys we know the club has been canvassing opinions on limits to the free travel zone. If in future they restricted the free zone to trains between Brighton/Lewes and Falmer but put on free bus shuttles between those stations for weekday matches, how would those of you who travel from outside Brighton and Lewes feel about it?

 

[tstanbur]

So at 6.49 last night I left Brighton station on an EMPTY 8 carriage train that went to Lewes and only stopped at Falmer.

All this whilst the huge crowds were being held outside.


The only way I was able to do this was by coming down from London and being ‘in front’ of the ticket barriers and on Platform 6 already, where the train left from.

When I asked if the train would be letting football fans on, the staff said they didn’t know, so we left empty with thousands waiting.

Totally inept.

That’s absolutely disgraceful. I was in the queue at Brighton station at that time (with loads of others). The trains that did let fans on were so short, an eight carriage train would have changed everything.

We eventually got to our seats at the stadium missing the first 30 mins of the game.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

I don’t have the time or patience to even bother trying the trains for evening kick offs. Seagull Travel is not cheap (and I wish the club would reinstate the travel payment to ST and the other regular coach and bus providers) but it gets me to the stadium in plenty of time for kick off and I’m usually home in Goring an hour after the game finishes without queuing in the rain.

I know this isn’t an option for all, either because location or cost and not meant to be in any way gloating at those who have to rely on the trains. I had mates heading back to London after the game last night who said it is the latest they have got home after a game at the Amex.