Late Coaches

[STAR TRAVEL]

STAR lay on a good service when it comes to official travel, however I have and still do question the departure times of the coaches. 4pm departure for a journey to the midlands in rush hour seems a bit late to me. Personally I'd rather arrive 2-3 hours early than 5-10 minutes late.

STAR TRAVEL will know better but I believe the police do not want supporters coaches to arrive more than an hour before kick-off so if there is a police escort they just park the coaches until an hour from kick-off so there is little point in arriving any earlier.

This is correct.

[Whistle]

STAR also have to contend with people saying they leave too early for midweek games!

[anR]

STAR also have to contend with people saying they leave too early for midweek games!

To me this doesn't really make sense, as even if the bus left an hour later after the 'scheduled time', I'd still need to take half a day off...

[zac naloen]

Left Theale at 5.30. Was parked at 7.35 and at the ground by 7.45 exactly. Now thats what i call timing. AA route planner i love you!!

[Sharpy]

lol RW just read out a text saying STAR coach got there 5mins before kick off

[AndyRFC]

Tbh, lots of traffic on the M6

[Drew_3]

to be honest p**s poor organisation again, will not be taking star anymore!!!!

[AndyRFC]

to be honest p**s poor organisation again, will not be taking star anymore!!!!

Why?

Weren't you one of the cretins who made STAR be allowed to take you as an unaccompined minor?

Coaches, left at what 9.30am yesterday? That is more than enough time to travel to Wigan. They're not allowed to get there before 2pm, and I belevie if the journey is in excess of 4 hours, which yesterday surely was, the coach drivers are required to take a break. Obviously you don't know about how tiresome the M6 can always be.

[STAR TRAVEL]

to be honest p**s poor organisation again, will not be taking star anymore!!!!

So parking up at Wigan at 2.40pm and sitting down in your seat 5 minutes before kick off is poor organisation. We are sorry that you feel that way, please make yourself known to us come to the STAR HQ, bring your membership card and discount vouchers and we will refund your membership and you can then make alternative travel arrangements that suit you.

[Drew_3]

yeah as it happens i do think its poor organisation you cant get into the atmosphere before the game talk to anyone you know i generaly enjoy the day, oh and to the person who said i must be an unacompanied minor, im 23 an will be driving myself to the games from now on, so i do know about tiresome motorway driving.Its not just me that feels this way its just i choose to voice my oppinion on here.

[Platypuss]

yeah as it happens i do think its poor organisation you cant get into the atmosphere before the game talk to anyone you know i generaly enjoy the day, oh and to the person who said i must be an unacompanied minor, im 23 an will be driving myself to the games from now on, so i do know about tiresome motorway driving.Its not just me that feels this way its just i choose to voice my oppinion on here.

What time would you have set out for Wigan if you had been driving then?

[PieEater]

Wigan charged for parking for the first time on Saturday, and the coaches parked in the same place which was a 5 min walk to the gate. Did the coaches have to pay to park?

[STAR TRAVEL]

Wigan charged for parking for the first time on Saturday, and the coaches parked in the same place which was a 5 min walk to the gate. Did the coaches have to pay to park?

Yes, coaches had to pay. £20.00 per coach.

[handbags_harris]

STAR lay on a good service when it comes to official travel, however I have and still do question the departure times of the coaches. 4pm departure for a journey to the midlands in rush hour seems a bit late to me. Personally I'd rather arrive 2-3 hours early than 5-10 minutes late.

STAR TRAVEL will know better but I believe the police do not want supporters coaches to arrive more than an hour before kick-off so if there is a police escort they just park the coaches until an hour from kick-off so there is little point in arriving any earlier.

This is correct.

Fair point, good response. Rules is rules I suppose.

[retired aggro]

Because we are organised transport we have a police escort and we have to liaise with them

Erm no you don't. Take the Boyle Bus for example to United games. Gets you to town cntres for 11am and parks up at pubs. You can also drink on board. STAR are going out of their way for the police escort

[Rhys The Royal]

Because we are organised transport we have a police escort and we have to liaise with them

Erm no you don't. Take the Boyle Bus for example to United games. Gets you to town cntres for 11am and parks up at pubs. You can also drink on board. STAR are going out of their way for the police escort

[anR]

So parking up at Wigan at 2.40pm and sitting down in your seat 5 minutes before kick off is poor organisation.

So on 6th December, will the coach arrive at Newcastle allowing us 5 minutes to take in the stadium? So 14 hours on the bus with the match at half time?

Being fair I did not get enough time to have a look about the concourse or anything before the game at Wigan, and I know I'm not the only one who wants to take in the stadium before a game.

If there was a vote, I'd want the buses to leave earlier to make sure I have enough time to enjoy the stadium. I understand that police escort obligations prevent us from being there until an hour before the game, but why does this mean we either have to miss kick off or arrive just in time for it?

[The 17 Bus]

thought you had been kidnapped?

[Jerry St Clair]

Being fair I did not get enough time to have a look about the concourse or anything before the game at Wigan

What? Seriously? You wanted to look around the concourse?!

[fozzy]

I hope STAR don't mind me giving my opinion on this. I was a regular coach traveller in the late 70s to early 90s but have only recently returned. I thought the journey would be less stressful by doing so, especially on the tiring return leg.

Re: Saturday. Yes, we got there on time... but really it was by sheer fortune and nothing else. The preceding two hours had been quite stressful and it appeared we wouldn't make the kick-off.

I don't want to be over-critical like some people seem to but please can I comment/suggest the following:

Firstly :-
The departure time (9:15 on Saturday) would be just about OK for Wigan which, if I read correctly, is generally considered as 4 hours on the road. If that's the case, then you have an arrival time of 1:15. If you then allow a half-hour stop, that is 1:45. Given that M6 traffic is so unpredictable and frequently terrible, there is then not much room for error.

Secondly :-
You simply don’t have time to pick people in town. In future, would it not be more sensible for the Mad Stad departure time (being that we're right by the M4) to be the ACTUAL time we get on the road? If Station pick up is necessary (and you may argue that most people can get to the Mad Stad, they do for home games!) then couldn't that be done BEFORE the Mad Stad, as there really is a lot of time wasted before you get on the motorway network. The time was pushing 9:45 by the time we were going up St Peter's Hill in Caversham.... it's all eating in to what was a tight time anyway.

As I said, I don't want to be over-critical, at the end of the day we saw the entire game....... just suggestions for a less stressful outcome.

Now shoot me if you're not happy with that.