Travel Bosses try to make an island out of Sussex!

Having to rely on the A24, M23, Southern Rail and Thameslink, Sussex football supporters are used to seeing their journeys thwarted by leaves on the line, the wrong kind of snow, the wrong kind of timetable, a lack of available staff or major roadworks. Generally these problems happen at short notice and are difficult to predict, but during this season you will be able to plan your disrupted journeys in advance, as transport bosses have announced rail and road improvement works which will impact on most supporters travelling to and from the county.

The Highways Agency had already announced that most of the M23 in both directions would have narrow lanes and speed restrictions as it is turned into a ‘Smart’ motorway (turning the hard shoulder into an additional lane) and that this work would continue until ‘Spring 2020.’ To join that, we now have confirmation from Network Rail that the Brighton Mainline will be closed on FIFTEEN Saturdays during this season- and that this will affect trains to Lewes, too. So if you are a supporter of Whitehawk, Lewes, Burgess Hill Town, Haywards Heath Town, Horsham (whilst they play at Lancing FC), Worthing or possibly Bognor Regis Town depending on your trip, put your hands over your eyes whilst you read the rest of this article. And, of course, if you are a supporter of a club visiting one of these sides during the next season, you may have a moment of horror too.

Here are the details:

National Rail have announced that there will be no trains between Three Bridges and Brighton/Three Bridges and Lewes on the following dates:

• Saturday 8th September
• Every Saturday and Sunday in October
• Saturday 3rd November
• Saturday 10th November
• Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th November.
• Sunday 6th January 2019
• (Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th January trains between London and Gatwick will run via Horsham, adding an hour to your journey)
• Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th February
• EVERY DAY from Saturday 16th February to Sunday 24th February (yes, including the working week)
• Saturday 2nd March and Sunday 3rd March
• Saturday 23rd March and Sunday 24th March
• Saturday 30th March and Sunday 31st March
• Saturday 6th April and Sunday 7th April
• Sunday 5th May

Now National Rail will be able to get you to Brighton, apparently, and on that basis to Worthing, but these trains will be diverted from Three Bridges via Littlehampton so there will be far fewer of them, they are likely to be rather full, and the journey time from London to Brighton will be lengthened by around an hour (each way). There might also be a replacement bus service between Three Bridges/Brighton/Lewes, but they haven’t finalised that yet.

Looking at our current fixture list, and leaving out Bognor Regis Town- and Horsham after Christmas as it is hoped they may have a home of their own in their own town by then- the impact on our Sussex clubs and their visitors during League Fixtures could be as follows:

Premier Division

Burgess Hill Town

Sat 6 October Bishop’s Stortford A
Sat 13 October Haringey Borough H
Sat 20 October Leatherhead A
Sat 3 Nov Margate A
Sat 10 Nov Kingstonian H
Sat 24 Nov Corinthian-Casuals A
Sat 9 Feb Enfield Town A
Sat 16 Feb Tonbridge Angels H
Sat 23 Feb Potters Bar Town A
Sat 2 Mar Dorking Wanderers A
Sat 23 Mar Margate H
Sat 30 Mar Merstham A
Sat 6 Apr Corinthian-Casuals H

Lewes

Sat 6 October Harlow Town H
Sat 13 October Potters Bar Town A
Sat 20 October Folkestone Invicta H
Sat 3 Nov Kingstonian A
Sat 10 Nov Brightlingsea Regent H
Sat 24 Nov Merstham A
Sat 9 Feb Corinthian-Casuals A
Sat 16 Feb Dorking Wanderers H
Sat 23 Feb Carshalton Athletic A
Sat 2 Mar Whitehawk H
Sat 23 Mar Kingstonian H
Sat 30 Mar Haringey Borough A
Sat 6 Apr Merstham H

Whitehawk

Sat 6 October Carshalton Ath A
Sat 13 October Brightlingsea Regent H
Sat 20 October Enfield Town A
Sat 3 Nov Tonbridge Angels A
Sat 10 Nov Worthing H
Sat 24 Nov Folkestone Invicta H
Sat 9 Feb Wingate & Finchley A
Sat 16 Feb Potters Bar Town H
Sat 23 Feb Harlow Town A
Sat 2 Mar Lewes A
Sat 23 Mar Tonbridge Angels H
Sat 30 Mar Bishop’s Stortford H
Sat 6 Apr Folkestone Invicta A

Worthing

Sat 6 October Enfield Town A
Sat 13 October Kingstonian H
Sat 20 October Brightlingsea Regent A
Sat 3 Nov Folkestone Invicta H
Sat 10 Nov Whitehawk A
Sat 24 Nov Dorking Wanderers H
Sat 9 Feb Potters Bar Town H
Sat 16 Feb Harlow Town H
Sat 23 Feb Wingate & Finchley A
Sat 2 Mar Bognor Regis Town A
Sat 23 Mar Folkestone Invicta A
Sat 30 Mar AFC Hornchurch H
Sat 6 Apr Dorking Wanderers A

South East Division

Haywards Heath Town

Sat 6 October Sittingbourne H
Sat 20 October Faversham Town A
Sat 3 Nov Cray Wanderers H
Sat 10 Nov Whyteleafe A
Sat 24 Nov Phoenix Sports H
Sat 9 Feb Herne Bay H
Sat 16 Feb Phoenix Sports A
Sat 23 Feb Greenwich Sports H
Sat 2 Mar Hastings United A
Sat 23 Mar Cray Wanderers A
Sat 30 Mar VCD Athletic A
Sat 6 Apr Whitstable Town H

Horsham (at Lancing FC) *

Sat 6 October Ramsgate A
Sat 20 October East Grinstead Town H
Sat 3 Nov Ashford United A
Sat 10 Nov Greenwich Borough H
Sat 24 Nov Three Bridges
*assuming most Hornets fans haven’t moved house to be near the team in Lancing, many of these matches shouldn’t cause too much of a problem for them!

Three Bridges FC, of course, shouldn’t be unduly affected by these works, Hastings United fans have both South Eastern and Southern trains (not that this is necessarily a bonus) so apart from inter-Sussex matches generally have an alternative, and any East Grinstead Town supporters who already use the unreliable line between their home town and East Croydon (which isn’t affected by these works) are used to dealing with adversity on a large scale and will undoubtedly scoff at these difficulties.

For more details on the M23 works, go here.

For more on the rail improvement works, it's here.