Why is the shuttle bus to/from SMS not a free service?

In our Prem days prior to relegation, financial meltdown, buy out of the club etc, the shuttle busses to/from SMS were free. Of that I am certain.

Furthermore, if I recall correctly, provision of free shuttle busses was a condition of the planning approval for SMS..... so far, so good.

However, during our dark dismal days I believe SFC appealed to the City Council for the right to withdraw club funding from the service (citing unaffordability - given that the club was on the brink of collapse), meaning that it had to be run commercially - ie paid for by those using it. I assume that this agreement was a temporary relief from the planning conditions - but I stress this is an assumption.

Does anyone else agree with my memory of this history/interpretation?

If so, then I wonder why there is no clamour for the club to once again subsidise the service (and respect the original planning conditions) given that we are no longer on the verge of financial collapse....

I would be happy to told I am way off the mark - and willing to understand the true story.

My head is over the parapet.......GO :-)

Was there ever a free shuttle from Wiltshire?

Bus vouchers were included with the season ticket booklet.

You've got it all pretty spot on to be fair. Inner city bus travel was free as part of the match ticket but was withdrawn after relegation and replaced with a discounted service on bluestar and not first bus. Pretty sure the echo ran an article a year or so ago debating why the free bus travel hadn't been reinstated as it was part of the terms of planning permission as the OP stated.

The ones to the station and park and ride are free arent they? (Although IMO it's much quicker to walk to the station)

The ones to the station and park and ride are free arent they? (Although IMO it's much quicker to walk to the station)

Nope. And yes, if you are fit and reasonably young it's quicker to walk/jog. But some aren't so young, have health issues or even Sunday footie injuries! So Tony F is indeed right, and now the club is re-established I think the terms should be reinstated. Maybe it'll have to wait until ground expansion... but it must be a good thing to get people out of their cars.

Was there ever a free shuttle from Wiltshire?

Witty retort sir! I normally use the train and walk from Central, but when its crappy weather the (free) bus is a good option.

Its £3 now. Not sure that represents a discount

The ones to the station and park and ride are free arent they? (Although IMO it's much quicker to walk to the station)

No Mattio, that's the point. The station (and IoW ferry, I believe) shuttles are not free....... but they used to be.

At my age, they're all free now.

We used to park at the old Ordnance Survey Headquarters and coaches were laid on to take us to St Mary's and pick us up just past the Le Tissier arms to take us back. These were free and the Club gave us a pass to show.

I'd like to see this re-introduced. Anything that reduces the rush on the 85th minute by people wanting to beat the traffic is a good thing, we've got to be one of the worst clubs for that. Might encourage fans to spend a bit more time in the city and have a beer instead of rushing off.

In our Prem days prior to relegation, financial meltdown, buy out of the club etc, the shuttle busses to/from SMS were free. Of that I am certain.

 

Furthermore, if I recall correctly, provision of free shuttle busses was a condition of the planning approval for SMS..... so far, so good.

 

However, during our dark dismal days I believe SFC appealed to the City Council for the right to withdraw club funding from the service (citing unaffordability - given that the club was on the brink of collapse), meaning that it had to be run commercially - ie paid for by those using it. I assume that this agreement was a temporary relief from the planning conditions - but I stress this is an assumption.

 

Does anyone else agree with my memory of this history/interpretation?

 

If so, then I wonder why there is no clamour for the club to once again subsidise the service (and respect the original planning conditions) given that we are no longer on the verge of financial collapse....

 

I would be happy to told I am way off the mark - and willing to understand the true story.

 

My head is over the parapet.......GO :-)

I don't know about now as I haven't used the bus from the station for a few years, but I have used it for free since our return to the prem. It was the Ramirez home debut Vs Villa match. I took my elderly parents. We traveled to Southampton by train and caught the bus to St. Mary's (and back). We showed our natch tickets and rode it for free (incidentally, so did a number of Villa fans). I don't when this stopped (if it has) as I haven't used that service since.

In our Prem days prior to relegation, financial meltdown, buy out of the club etc, the shuttle busses to/from SMS were free. Of that I am certain.

 

Furthermore, if I recall correctly, provision of free shuttle busses was a condition of the planning approval for SMS..... so far, so good.

 

However, during our dark dismal days I believe SFC appealed to the City Council for the right to withdraw club funding from the service (citing unaffordability - given that the club was on the brink of collapse), meaning that it had to be run commercially - ie paid for by those using it. I assume that this agreement was a temporary relief from the planning conditions - but I stress this is an assumption.

 

Does anyone else agree with my memory of this history/interpretation?

 

If so, then I wonder why there is no clamour for the club to once again subsidise the service (and respect the original planning conditions) given that we are no longer on the verge of financial collapse....

 

I would be happy to told I am way off the mark - and willing to understand the true story.

 

My head is over the parapet.......GO :-)

Bloody freeloader, sponging off the state. Get on yer bloody bike!

Bus vouchers were included with the season ticket booklet.

This is correct and was happening in the L1 era certainly.

We used to park at the old Ordnance Survey Headquarters and coaches were laid on to take us to St Mary's and pick us up just past the Le Tissier arms to take us back. These were free and the Club gave us a pass to show.

I used that service but it wasn't free. It was also rubbish. Quite often they used drivers who didn't know Southampton and I had to give them directions. The final straw was when after one 3.00 pm kick-off I didn't get back to the car until 6pm, with a two hour journey home ahead of me. But yes the thoughts of the OP are correct, the free travel was integral to planning permission because the stadium doesn't offer the required parking. In fact it is travel and parking that caused the stadium to be limited to its current capacity, it would have been built bigger to start with otherwise.

Long time site contributors might recall my huge rant when the free bus tickets were removed from the paper STs in the last season under Lowe - effectively slapping an increase on ST cost because instead of buying ST and free bus travel, you just got the 23 matches and had to get there yourself so you got less for your money. This was never communicated and everyone buying the ST was duped into thinking they were getting the same product as the previous season at the same price.

IIRC, Lowe negotiated a deal with the council circa 2008 where Saints no longer subsidised bus tickets to the match as long as crowds weren't above 25k for more than 10 matches a season, at a time when that wasn't looking likely (Championship strugglers already, about to go into admin and get relegated to L1).

The original St Mary's plans required a green solution for both free bus travel (paid for by the club) and the Bursledon park and ride, also no longer operating, and it's clear there's no interest from either club nor council in reinstating this, or it would have happened already. We have had a couple of bluestar deals for discounted tickets (and the free thing for people not at the EFL Cup Final if they wore a Saints shirt on the day of the match) but nothing near the original "ticket anywhere on any bus" situation we had from 2001-2008(ish).

This is correct and was happening in the L1 era certainly.

It had already ended by then - pretty sure the bus tickets as part of the season ticket went away in the summer before admin (2007) which was the season we got relegated to L1 (2007/8 ) - which was the season of all of Lowe's cuts, including closing the corners (which reduced stewarding costs but also served to show the council we couldn't then get big enough crowds to need to abide by the green travel requirements originally imposed).

It had already ended by then - pretty sure the bus tickets as part of the season ticket went away in the summer before admin (2007) which was the season we got relegated to L1 (2007/8 ) - which was the season of all of Lowe's cuts, including closing the corners (which reduced stewarding costs but also served to show the council we couldn't then get big enough crowds to need to abide by the green travel requirements originally imposed).

COME ON FELLOW PEDANT.

We went into admin on 2/4/09 and were relegated a few weeks later.

Where does the current service pick up from?

It had already ended by then - pretty sure the bus tickets as part of the season ticket went away in the summer before admin (2007) which was the season we got relegated to L1 (2007/8 ) - which was the season of all of Lowe's cuts, including closing the corners (which reduced stewarding costs but also served to show the council we couldn't then get big enough crowds to need to abide by the green travel requirements originally imposed).

I can't say I ever used them as I drive from a fair distance so park convenient for a getaway but I'm sure I still have the book of tickets.....they were contained in the colourful but slightly tacky plastic wallet for the 09/10 season tickets which were the tear-off ones? I'll have a dig around up in the garage.

There used to be a little minibus that picked up from opposite Woolston station, and drops off outside the ground, must have got it every time I went to a match for years. Was £1, absolute bargain, although the driver always let too many people on board. Not seen it for a while though. Now you either walk over the Itchen bridge, or pay £2.50 (rip-off) or whatever it is for a regular bus to drop you off the other side of the bridge, and then walk the rest.

There used to be a little minibus that picked up from opposite Woolston station, and drops off outside the ground, must have got it every time I went to a match for years. Was £1, absolute bargain, although the driver always let too many people on board. Not seen it for a while though. Now you either walk over the Itchen bridge, or pay £2.50 (rip-off) or whatever it is for a regular bus to drop you off the other side of the bridge, and then walk the rest.

Thought you'd use your chopper, Zed?

First Buses were doing free rides for Saints fans on the day of the EFL Final. Knew my replica shirt would come in useful for something.