Best tube route to Brentford

[Magdalia]

Gunnersbury is an island platform with one set of stairs at the north end and a narrow entrance/exit. The closure for an hour after the game is for safety reasons. From a safety perspective it is similar to Drayton Park, which is closed on Arsenal matchdays.

The Kew Bridge/Gunnersbury area is the meeting point of the North and South Circular Roads, and the start of the M4. It can be a nightmare for traffic, especially if there is any road works.

And London buses don't move very fast. Lots of dwell time at stops mean that they usually end up dwelling at traffic lights too. Progress along Chiswick High Road towards Hammersmith will be slow even if traffic is moving well.

But hanging around near the ground eats into your recovery time for if things go wrong on the way to Euston. It is only a good option when you don't have a particular train to catch. And given that, if you hang around, you will probably be standing up, I'd rather be walking!

 

[TFN]

A Rail replacement service (PL1) is running all stations Hammersmith to Northfields (also calling at Gunnersbury)

If you're getting the bus you might as well save £1.65 and use the PL1.

Alternatively it calls at Ealing Broadway as well, as an alternative to the 65.

 

[Taunton]

Time was when Waterloo used to be proud of its ability to manage say summer Saturday combinations of Isle of Wight holidaymakers, Sandown Park horse racing, Londoners all going to Hampton Court, etc, all happening together. There used to be articles describing it all.

Nowadays the opposite, come peak demands and things get closed off, presumably so many will hopefully dissipate by road instead. Train lengths sent out just the same as normal. I understand the closing of station entrances is as much as anything to avoid the costs of additional crowd control staff.

 

[Statto]

Only just seen this thread, going to the football at Brentford from Central London, i'd recommend tube to Hammersmith, then H91 bus to Brentford, the bus stops on the A4, stop is called Vantage West, it's the stop after Chiswick Roundabout stop M, & is by the stadium, it's on that section of the A4 which is under the M4

 

[duncanp]

Time was when Waterloo used to be proud of its ability to manage say summer Saturday combinations of Isle of Wight holidaymakers, Sandown Park horse racing, Londoners all going to Hampton Court, etc, all happening together. There used to be articles describing it all.

Nowadays the opposite, come peak demands and things get closed off, presumably so many will hopefully dissipate by road instead. Train lengths sent out just the same as normal. I understand the closing of station entrances is as much as anything to avoid the costs of additional crowd control staff.

This seems to happen a lot over the whole of the rail network, not just at London Waterloo, and also in other systems such as the London Underground.

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

Only just seen this thread, going to the football at Brentford from Central London, i'd recommend tube to Hammersmith, then H91 bus to Brentford, the bus stops on the A4, stop is called Vantage West, it's the stop after Chiswick Roundabout stop M, & is by the stadium, it's on that section of the A4 which is under the M4

H91 also goes past Gunnersbury.

 

[ChrisEL]

It isn't as easy as their old ground at Griffin Park was, but still far better than Millwall or Charlton. Wimbledon wasn't great when they were at Kingsmeadow, not sure about the new Plough Lane.

NB. the fact that I'm a Huddersfield fan so would be coming from The Cross probably gives me a slight bias against those teams further south.

Apologies for taking this off-topic, but how is it difficult to get to Charlton? From King's Cross you have two main options: 1) Northern line Bank branch (though obviously not right now) to London Bridge, then a choice of trains to Charlton, or 2) Nip across to St Pancras and get on a Thameslink train to Rainham, which will take you straight to Charlton. Then The Valley is just 5 minutes' walk from the station.

Millwall isn't that much harder either, though you will have to change at London Bridge.

And while I really like the new Plough Lane, it isn't ideally located. Haydons Road is the nearest station, but of course that's only served half-hourly on Thameslink, and the alternatives are Wimbledon (20-25 minutes' walk) and Earlsfield (20 minutes' walk)

 

[bfcbri0664]

Thanks for all the help
We decided on the bus to Hammersmith and then tube to Euston and got back in plenty of time for a couple of beers in the Doric Arch

 

[Statto]

Reading all these options, is Brentford the most awkward to access out of all the London clubs?

Tottenham is awkward to get to & from as well, i know there's a station ( White Hart Lane ) nearby but train frequency is not that great, especially after matches, Northumberland Park is 10 to 15 minute walk, Severn Sisters for the tube is at least 25 to 30 minute walk, i went to the NFL at Tottenham last October, even with walking to Northumberland Park then bus ( as the trains were rammed ) it still took 90 minutes to Manor House from the stadium, & including about 15 minute walk to Northumberland Park, Manor House is a couple of miles away, didn't bother with the 279 bus as felt that would be rammed too.

I think Crystal Palace FC, is the worst London ground to get too, at least 20 to 30 minutes on the train from Central London & about 10 minute walk to & from the nearest station, for midweek matches you can get the X68 from Russell Square, baring in mind the last X68 is 18.50 from Russell Square, even then the X68 will take at least an hour.

 

[Mikey C]

Apologies for taking this off-topic, but how is it difficult to get to Charlton? From King's Cross you have two main options: 1) Northern line Bank branch (though obviously not right now) to London Bridge, then a choice of trains to Charlton, or 2) Nip across to St Pancras and get on a Thameslink train to Rainham, which will take you straight to Charlton. Then The Valley is just 5 minutes' walk from the station.

Millwall isn't that much harder either, though you will have to change at London Bridge.

And while I really like the new Plough Lane, it isn't ideally located. Haydons Road is the nearest station, but of course that's only served half-hourly on Thameslink, and the alternatives are Wimbledon (20-25 minutes' walk) and Earlsfield (20 minutes' walk)

Agreed. In normal circumstances you have 6 trains an hour from London Bridge to Charlton (2 Thameslink, 2 from Cannon Street via Greenwich and 2 from Charing Cross via Lewisham). Plus the option of a bus from North Greenwich.

Millwall is much worse as the journey away from the ground is far more controlled, with the police strictly controlling the exit from the ground and entrance to South Bermondsey station.

An alternative for Wimbledon is walking from Tooting Broadway, again a decent trek.

 

[Hophead]

I think Crystal Palace FC, is the worst London ground to get too, at least 20 to 30 minutes on the train from Central London & about 10 minute walk to & from the nearest station, for midweek matches you can get the X68 from Russell Square, baring in mind the last X68 is 18.50 from Russell Square, even then the X68 will take at least an hour.

Norwood Junction is served by Thameslink these days, so around 12 minutes from London Bridge (with trains continuing south into Surrey and beyond), with fast Southern trains on top. It's also on the Overground network, so not exactly badly connected. Selhurst gets a few mainline trains stopping on match days as well.