[Travel] Train disruption Tonight (Cup versus Liverpool)

[Gazwag]

Is it time for radical thinking and to abandon the "travel tax"?

The club pays the train companies and, presumably as a result of the lack of a Service Level Agreement between club and train companies, there is no penalty for the train companies providing a totally shit service. Ergo no incentive whatsoever for train companies to improve.

If those who travel by train buy their own tickets compensation can be claimed for "delays to your journey". Having to pay out thousands in compo may focus the train companies on improving the service. Even if the services don't improve, at least with the refund policy we won't be paying (following refunds) for the horrendous service.

The club's dismissive attitude of the travel issues is very disappointing. This is EXACTLY the issue that the FAB should be focussing on and (as I've read on these forums) Barber gets upset when the club is criticised over travel all I can say is "aww diddums". Sort it out!

Tickets will not be cheaper as a result though, the club will just say "we have kept prices the same next season, woohoo but you will have to pay for the trains and buses yourself" which will add £100's a season to fans and most won't bother with delay repay

 

[Arkwright]

I never get the bus or coach as a regular train user.
What are the Park and Rides like?
To be honest in general the trains are normally OK, as I always stay for a beer and tend to walk straight onto a Lewes train.
When we first moved into The Amex, we had monitors with the train departures can they reintroduce with CCTV of the queues for the station that might reduce the number's in the queue, could also increases bar sales.

 

[Change at Barnham]

Do we know the percentage breakdown of people heading from Falmer Station in the different directions?
Is it realistic to have bus shuttles going to stations further afield to relieve the Falmer congestion?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

On the plus side, when the club board next convene and the photos of utter CHAOS at Falmer Station are passed around, it can only lead to PBOBE heading to his filing cabinet and pulling out a file marked "MONORAIL" and slapping it down on the boardroom table.

"It is time", he will say.

I think you need to get your head out of the clouds, this is ridiculous and pure fantasy. There’s absolutely no way…….Paul Barber would utter just three words.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I never get the bus or coach as a regular train user.
What are the Park and Rides like?
To be honest in general the trains are normally OK, as I always stay for a beer and tend to walk straight onto a Lewes train.
When we first moved into The Amex, we had monitors with the train departures can they reintroduce with CCTV of the queues for the station that might reduce the number's in the queue, could also increases bar sales.

Pretty sure the displays on the concourse originally mirrored the actual departure boards on the platforms ie. showed the next couple of trains, how late they were running, how many carriages they were. All the useful stuff you need to know to make informed decisions. Then they did away with it about three or four seasons in. Not all that stuff is readily available on your phone, especially as the National Rail Enquiries app recently 'upgraded' to an actual pathetic POS just so they could include more prominent advertising

 

[HangletonGull]

This feels horribly like a situation where something really bad needs to happen for anything to change.

Surely to God club senior management can't just shrug when they see images like last night? We all know how much Bloom and Barber care for this club. This can't be sitting right with them.

I once lived on a 30mph main road that regularly had crashes due to speeding cars, I once asked a council inspector "how do we get a speed camera here?", his response - "there has to be a fatality". Sad state of affairs.

This I could see something bad happening last night (and against Liverpool of all the clubs ) it was quite a crush going on

 

[jackalbion]

Pretty sure the displays on the concourse originally mirrored the actual departure boards on the platforms ie. showed the next couple of trains, how late they were running, how many carriages they were. All the useful stuff you need to know to make informed decisions. Then they did away with it about three or four seasons in. Not all that stuff is readily available on your phone, especially as the National Rail Enquiries app recently 'upgraded' to an actual pathetic POS just so they could include more prominent advertising

I'd reccomend Real Time Trains and Traksy for that.

 

[dstanman]

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

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I'd reccomend Real Time Trains and Traksy for that.

For sure. No match for a big one-size-fits-all easy-to-read display on the concourses tho. I'm sure its not beyond the wit and wisdom of management and techies to make it happen. Seems on the face of it a simple improvement to implement, especially as we had that exact same useful feature available ten years ago

 

[Gazwag]

For sure. No match for a big one-size-fits-all easy-to-read display on the concourses tho. I'm sure its not beyond the wit and wisdom of management and techies to make it happen. Seems on the face of it a simple improvement to implement, especially as we had that exact same useful feature available ten years ago

Added to the fact I cant normally get a bhafc wifi signal or mobile data signal post match due to everybody else trying to use their phones so internet or apps are useless

 

[el punal]

The club would be bricking it each time there was travel disruption.

I’m sure they’d be mortarfied.

 

[Zeberdi]

It wasn't an unusually big crowd though - it was the normal 30-32k or so.

It wasn’t the size of the crowd that was the problem last night it was that so many left at the same time imo - so many people left after the 3rd Liverpool goal that the ramp was already backed up to the concourse before the final whistle- a midweek cup match that we lost, no one was hanging around last night.

The fan-zone may improve weekend matches but not sure it will make much difference to non-league games midweek.

 

[mrjon1976]

So I didn't go last night as I would have had to rely on trains from Kent and had an early start this morning.

Having seen the pictures, I am very glad I gave the game a swerve.

There is no easy answer to the issue sadly - but I do feel that the club need to be more proactive in at least giving the impression they are at least engaging with the fans, even if there is very little that can be done.

It really isn't surprising the number of fans that choose to leave games a few minutes early these days

 

[Weststander]

So I didn't go last night as I would have had to rely on trains from Kent and had an early start this morning.

Having seen the pictures, I am very glad I gave the game a swerve.

There is no easy answer to the issue sadly - but I do feel that the club need to be more proactive in at least giving the impression they are at least engaging with the fans, even if there is very little that can be done.

It really isn't surprising the number of fans that choose to leave games a few minutes early these days

You would've had to have left the game particularly early. I noticed ESL and WSL emptying in a trickle from 70', within a microsecond of the Diaz goal half the NS headed home for example.

 

[Arthur]

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

They used to do this in the early days, for the trains anyway. One of the TVs in the north stand always had the train departures from Falmer.

Guessing they don't any more? I assume it was just a feed from Southern? What you are suggesting would take a bit more effort but It makes good sense to do it. I know if I was stood there and it said there was a 20 minute wait just to get on to the platform I'd have another pint as I'm sure many others would.

I didn't bother last night for numerous reasons, transport being one of the major contributing factors. Having read this thread very glad I made that call. Guess it shows how far we've come that I'm not bothered about missing a game against Liverpool.

 

[Seagull Stew]

Is it time for radical thinking and to abandon the "travel tax"?

The club pays the train companies and, presumably as a result of the lack of a Service Level Agreement between club and train companies, there is no penalty for the train companies providing a totally shit service. Ergo no incentive whatsoever for train companies to improve.

If those who travel by train buy their own tickets compensation can be claimed for "delays to your journey". Having to pay out thousands in compo may focus the train companies on improving the service. Even if the services don't improve, at least with the refund policy we won't be paying (following refunds) for the horrendous service.

The club's dismissive attitude of the travel issues is very disappointing. This is EXACTLY the issue that the FAB should be focussing on and (as I've read on these forums) Barber gets upset when the club is criticised over travel all I can say is "aww diddums". Sort it out!

Or the club could claim the delay repay compensation on our behalf, with the money raised going towards ticket discount for future games.

 

[Springal]

Or the club could claim the delay repay compensation on our behalf, with the money raised going towards ticket discount for future games.

I doubt the club are buying actual tickets ! Just be a commercial arrangement to pay them I guess

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

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

 

[Vicar!]

Bad fan. Had a ticket for Public Service Broadcasting I could not sell. Thus bailed at 1-3, straight onto a train and got to see the second half of the show at the Dome.

 

[Jello]

Having said that, I'm not sure why more people don't use buses: a couple passed me on my way to the ground last night and neither was completely full. The 49 service runs from the Bridge car park to Portslade, there must be quite a few people on that route. And if the queue is too big at the ground, walk to Coldean Lane and pick up a 24 or 26.

I did this last night when I saw the queue, it broke down at Vogue Gyratory I ended up walking back to Brighton station and caught number 7 bus to Hove. Still quicker than the train queues at Falmer