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

[supaseagull]

I've tried the trains once by myself - there is no way I'll be taking my young children to the Amex on the train. The buses worked perfectly - guess me and my kids won't be going very often next season ( if at all ).

Same here...I went to the Millwall game by train last year and it took me just under 2 hours to get home to Mile Oak afterwards...11:30pm on a School night...yeah that will encourage people to bring their kids to matches.

So what happens then? We end up with ANOTHER lost generation of supporter as kids, whose parents will find it easier to sit at home and watch Chelsea & Man United Champions League games, rather than go with the hassle of going to watch a game at the Amex. AND before anyone says JCL this, JCL that...I remember being stood in a crowd of 3000 against Lincoln City at the Goldstone watching us get beaten and being thoroughly depressed and I know what I'd prefer....It ain't Lincoln!

 

[Return of the Rev]

Not in footballing terms it's not.

AND...I'm sorry but if the club are losing money hand over fist, then you really really have to question why. The cancellation of a transport service is, as others have mentioned, MASSIVELY counterproductive!

The travel side has cost the club dear,a huge mistake

 

[martyn20]

Have the club confirmed these bus services will not be replaced before the start of the season?

 

[Easy 10]

Thankfully I don't use the buses anyway, but if the club have arbitrarily cancelled those special bus routes, made no alternative provision, and made no mention of it to the fans (sorry, customers) WHATSOEVER when we're 3 weeks away from the start of the season, then that absolutely stinks. I mean that truly reeks.

I have no idea on the number of fans who rely on those buses, but whether it was 50 fans or 5,000, that is a disgusting, shoddy way to treat them when they've continued to stump up for their season tickets in good faith, under the (not unreasonable) assumption that the travel arrangements they've been using for the last 2 years will still be in place.

Despite how it appears right now, I sincerely hope this is all just a misunderstanding, and the club have not just royally shafted the fans to save a few bob on transport. I find it inexplicable that this news has come out from the bus company, while the club has remained silent. If this is how it currently appears though, then it is a PR disaster of quite monolithic proportions. Completely and utterly unjustifiable.

I can hardly believe what they're doing here, its unbelievable. The club need to get a statement out explaining this, and sharpish.

 

[gripper stebson]

Re: No special buses this season

Looks like the club ARE sorting this according to NotWorthThat on Twitter

 

[Westdene Seagull]

The travel side has cost the club dear,a huge mistake

Part of the planning conditions - not a huge mistake. It should hardly have come as a shock to them !

 

[somerset]

I shall write......why don't you?
Customerservices@bhafc.co.uk

 

[martyn20]

I shall write......why don't you?
Customerservices@bhafc.co.uk

Why not wait to hear what the club actually say about this,

 

[somerset]

Re: No special buses this season

Part of the planning conditions - not a huge mistake. It should hardly have come as a shock to them !

I assume the business plan/model was done on the back of a fag packet.

 

[BUTTERBALL]

Chicken and egg mate.......you can't resolve the effin finance issues by making it effin impossible for fans to attend......this decision could escalate the crisis.....that's what I get.

Exactly this. I sincerely hope they have just switched operators.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Have the club confirmed these bus services will not be replaced before the start of the season?

No, the club website still states Special bus services will be provided.

I still think it's possible that the club can be contracting these services out to someone else. Brighton Buses hired a lot of the special buses anyway as not all were their stock.

 

[Easy 10]

Why not wait to hear what the club actually say about this,

They should already have said something.

If I relied on those buses for my travel arrangements, then I'd want to know a long, long way in advance that they were planning on binning them for this season. I would not expect to find that out (by chance) a few weeks before the first game. And from the cuffing BUS company.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

I would hold off speculation etc for a short while.

The club is working on something. Announcement etc expected fairly soon. Perhaps best to wait and see what alternative the club comes up with before judging too harshly.

As someone who used a special bus service each game last season and the season before, it was proper shit at times. Better last season than in our first year at Amex, but still fairly poor at times. Maybe we will end up with an improved service.

I do agree though with the posters who say this should have been sorted prior to the season tickets being sold etc so people had the full picture.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Exactly this. I sincerely hope they have just switched operators.

I'm now expecting Lord Bracknell's company to announce they have a gleaming fleet of brand spanking new Mercedes coaches to ferry us to and from the games! Well done Paul Barber; it's a veritable roller coaster supporting the Albion.

 

[MattBackHome]

To be fair, you'd have to be quicker than Tyson Gay in a teleporter to actually make the P bus from West Upper without leaving early. If you miss it you have to wait and watch 48,000 R buses go past.

Hopefully a change will make for some smarter 'timetabling' - i.e. fill up a bus then drive off.

 

[somerset]

Re: No special buses this season

Exactly this. I sincerely hope they have just switched operators.

Fingers crossed.

 

[martyn20]

They should already have said something.

If I relied on those buses for my travel arrangements, then I'd want to know a long, long way in advance that they were planning on binning them for this season. I would not expect to find that out (by chance) a few weeks before the first game. And from the cuffing BUS company.

And if the Bus company have pulled out today and it's nothing to do with the club side?

 

[gripper stebson]

Once again.

NotWorthThat ‏@NotWorthThat 23m
Hold fire on the #bhafc special bus concerns and rumourmongering. Looks like club IS sorting alternative. Don't know details yet though.

 

[Hillian1]

And if the Bus company have pulled out today and it's nothing to do with the club side?

Then the Club should put out an announcement regarding it.

 

[red star portslade]

I specifically relocated to the new family stand for it's handiness for the specials. I even chose seats next to the exit so i could leave on the final whistle meaning the kids and i wouldn't have to run for the bus.