Many thanks, @Hopping_Wanderer. I’ve passed that information on to a 90 year old friend. He lives a short walk from the station but I think the near zero temperature (feels like) will probably deter him. He can be forgiven. He’s supported Wycombe for 81 years!
Yep.if they only have the 1bus at each of the departure times it could be carnage as youdimagine the vast majority want to leave straight away and not 30mins or an hour later.
I did not use the service to get to AP but had a post match pint in The Vere (I know it's had a name change or three but it will always be The Vere to me) and got on the 18.05 back to the bus station. Very few people on this bus & I imagine the one that was due to run later would have been almost empty.
Got the last one to the ground and that was very full. On the way back after a swift half it seemed to still be quite a long wait until the first "late" bus so I didn't bother.
Was hoping to use the first bus to get into town but it was full and departing well before 17:20. Hopefully something that continues and improves over time.
I took the penultimate one from the station it was rammed. It still called into the bus station and managed to cram in even more. Could have taken more but some were reluctant to move down the bus. have to wonder why but ho hum. I took the 1st bus away from the ground, it did leave early but as it was 'overfull' it seemed a bit pointless to wait for the published time. Hope it continues.
In my experience the Carousel service has been inconsistent . There was a week before Christmas when no buses ran at all and the only way we/people found out was by waiting for them and them not turning up. It seems to be difficult to find out any 'live' info about them.
Yesterday I caught the 13.30 from the train station and it was pretty much packed to the gunnels with Oxford fans - who were quite lively! I have heard from several people that the 17.25 bus (ie the first one post-match which is a bit later than the timing of the previous Arriva service) has, on occasions, been very busy/rammed - I think it depends on the number of away supporters using it. Inevitably the bus gets stuck in the traffic in Hillbottom road. Unless I have been hurrying to get back to London I have gone for a pint in the Caledonian before getting the 18.05 bus. Most weeks I have been the only person on it and I imagine that no-one gets the 18.45 but could be wrong. Yesterday the 18.05 didn't turn up until after 18.20, apparently due to heavy traffic. There were about 6 of us on it. As I understand it, the current provision has only one bus (whereas Arriva ran two, at least for departure immediately after the match) so timings are dependent on it being able to run the route in line with the planned schedule - which doesn't always happen.
I get the train to Wycombe from London then the shuttle bus to/from the ground. The pre-match journey works really well for me - there is a 13.02 train from Marylebone that gets to Wycombe around 13.25 and the bus is at 13.30 - great! The return is always more uncertain due to the traffic and you can't plan to get a specific train. Fine if you are not trying to get back to London for something in the evening and if the weather isn't too bad while you have to wait for a while on the station platform. With the uncertainty/unreliability of the Carousel provision I will be wary about using it for Tuesday night games. The Arriva service worked well and I knew I could get home safely.
It's great to have the service and enables people to reduce their carbon footprint and stress levels - 2+ hours driving in traffic from London is grim - but in my view more work is needed to get it working efficiently and encouraging more people to use it.
We left Adam's Park yesterday just after 18:00 intending to drop someone at the station to catch the 18:20 train to London.
Having got as far as the hospital by 18:15, I knew it would the right for time. In fact in then took almost 15 minutes to get to the station due to the gridlock on the Marlow Hill roundabout caused by the road works at the junction of Queen Victoria Road and the High Street.
If the first bus after the game got caught in the same traffic it would explain why the second bus didn't arrive until 18:20.
Can we please reinstate the bus from the Wycombe Hub at Cressex.
Saturday I got to near the ground at around 1:30 and all the car parks were full (the ones in and around the industrial estate ) In The end I had to drive back to John Lewis and park there and walk. The walk there and back probably did me good, but Wycombe Hub coach station is a natural place to run a shuttle bus from.
I used to like that location when it was the last stop and when parking was free.
You could arrive 230 ish and get to the ground nicely by 245. Even better on the way out, bus parks at the end of Hillbottom then goes right avoiding the whole traffic heavy road to West Wycombe Road.
When they changed it to the first stop instead of last, it meant another 45mins or so on there which was an utter non starter.
Especially as you then had to then take ages getting back there later.
It does feel like a no brainer to have a shuttle bus run to a park and ride up at Handy Cross. However, not sure there is any car parks left with all the building work.
It also shouldn't stop anywhere else to encourage people to use it.
Comments
Many thanks, @Hopping_Wanderer. I’ve passed that information on to a 90 year old friend. He lives a short walk from the station but I think the near zero temperature (feels like) will probably deter him. He can be forgiven. He’s supported Wycombe for 81 years!
I can confirm that the first bus turned up in good time (1230ish)… en route to confirming the 20% off a pint in the Flint
This is a great initiative, just hope they are ready for the numbers they might get on the way back.
Yep.if they only have the 1bus at each of the departure times it could be carnage as youdimagine the vast majority want to leave straight away and not 30mins or an hour later.
Maybe they can consider earlier departures if we play like that
4.00!
Anyone use it?
Saw just 1bus on the way out,so I hope most who took one of the 3 buses in didn't want to take the early one.or it may have been cramped.
I did not use the service to get to AP but had a post match pint in The Vere (I know it's had a name change or three but it will always be The Vere to me) and got on the 18.05 back to the bus station. Very few people on this bus & I imagine the one that was due to run later would have been almost empty.
Got the last one to the ground and that was very full. On the way back after a swift half it seemed to still be quite a long wait until the first "late" bus so I didn't bother.
Was hoping to use the first bus to get into town but it was full and departing well before 17:20. Hopefully something that continues and improves over time.
As welcome as the bus from/ to the railway station is , please can we also have a bus from the handycross hub.
I took the penultimate one from the station it was rammed. It still called into the bus station and managed to cram in even more. Could have taken more but some were reluctant to move down the bus. have to wonder why but ho hum. I took the 1st bus away from the ground, it did leave early but as it was 'overfull' it seemed a bit pointless to wait for the published time. Hope it continues.
Good news, but it's very scattergun isn't it.
First game free. Second game no bus
3rd game £1 more than the previous regular price? Although that was a surprising discount from the price before even that.
To conclude...Good news.
Good news indeed, but now need to also reinstate a bus service from the Handy Cross Hub.
Does anyone happen to know if there will be a bus service for the New Years Day game?
Yes- Carousel have confirmed the usual service
https://www.wwfc.com/news/2023/december/29/parking-and-travel-bristol-rovers-h-01-01/
Thanks Alan.
Bus not showing up today is really poor. Second time I’ve been done by it. If I struggled to walk for whatever reason I’d be fucking angry
Before the game?
I think the first after match pickup is 5.25.
I’ve nothing to add.
My name with an empty space under it mysteriously appeared.
After today, although they’ve no showed before in the past
In my experience the Carousel service has been inconsistent . There was a week before Christmas when no buses ran at all and the only way we/people found out was by waiting for them and them not turning up. It seems to be difficult to find out any 'live' info about them.
Yesterday I caught the 13.30 from the train station and it was pretty much packed to the gunnels with Oxford fans - who were quite lively! I have heard from several people that the 17.25 bus (ie the first one post-match which is a bit later than the timing of the previous Arriva service) has, on occasions, been very busy/rammed - I think it depends on the number of away supporters using it. Inevitably the bus gets stuck in the traffic in Hillbottom road. Unless I have been hurrying to get back to London I have gone for a pint in the Caledonian before getting the 18.05 bus. Most weeks I have been the only person on it and I imagine that no-one gets the 18.45 but could be wrong. Yesterday the 18.05 didn't turn up until after 18.20, apparently due to heavy traffic. There were about 6 of us on it. As I understand it, the current provision has only one bus (whereas Arriva ran two, at least for departure immediately after the match) so timings are dependent on it being able to run the route in line with the planned schedule - which doesn't always happen.
I get the train to Wycombe from London then the shuttle bus to/from the ground. The pre-match journey works really well for me - there is a 13.02 train from Marylebone that gets to Wycombe around 13.25 and the bus is at 13.30 - great! The return is always more uncertain due to the traffic and you can't plan to get a specific train. Fine if you are not trying to get back to London for something in the evening and if the weather isn't too bad while you have to wait for a while on the station platform. With the uncertainty/unreliability of the Carousel provision I will be wary about using it for Tuesday night games. The Arriva service worked well and I knew I could get home safely.
It's great to have the service and enables people to reduce their carbon footprint and stress levels - 2+ hours driving in traffic from London is grim - but in my view more work is needed to get it working efficiently and encouraging more people to use it.
We left Adam's Park yesterday just after 18:00 intending to drop someone at the station to catch the 18:20 train to London.
Having got as far as the hospital by 18:15, I knew it would the right for time. In fact in then took almost 15 minutes to get to the station due to the gridlock on the Marlow Hill roundabout caused by the road works at the junction of Queen Victoria Road and the High Street.
If the first bus after the game got caught in the same traffic it would explain why the second bus didn't arrive until 18:20.
Have always wondered why there isn't more carnage with the bus.
There's 3 timings inbound, which is fine as all 3 get you there nicely before kick off .
But the vast majority surely want to take the first bus away. Plus extras who pay for one way only.
So surely sometimes the first one must be overly packed or even turning people away?
Obviously the real peak was when we had about 5 or 6 different routes AND the station bus.
Can we please reinstate the bus from the Wycombe Hub at Cressex.
Saturday I got to near the ground at around 1:30 and all the car parks were full (the ones in and around the industrial estate ) In The end I had to drive back to John Lewis and park there and walk. The walk there and back probably did me good, but Wycombe Hub coach station is a natural place to run a shuttle bus from.
Please WWFC get it done.
I used to like that location when it was the last stop and when parking was free.
You could arrive 230 ish and get to the ground nicely by 245. Even better on the way out, bus parks at the end of Hillbottom then goes right avoiding the whole traffic heavy road to West Wycombe Road.
When they changed it to the first stop instead of last, it meant another 45mins or so on there which was an utter non starter.
Especially as you then had to then take ages getting back there later.
Did somebody say chairlift?
It does feel like a no brainer to have a shuttle bus run to a park and ride up at Handy Cross. However, not sure there is any car parks left with all the building work.
It also shouldn't stop anywhere else to encourage people to use it.