ALBION'S chief executive has called for action from politicians after fans were left stranded without trains.

Paul Barber's frustration at the ongoing problems they face as a result of poor rail services peaked after fans were left at Falmer station until 11.30pm following Friday night's home game against Aston Villa.

The club was only informed at about 9.20 - with just 10 minutes to go until the end of the match - that there would be no trains at Falmer station after the game.

Though extra buses were scrambled some fans were still waiting there until at least 11.30pm when some services resumed.

And Mr Barber is calling for Southern Rail to be brought to task over ongoing problems with the RMT union striking again today and tomorrow.

Mr Barber said: “They certainly knew that they didn’t have the staff to run trains after the match before it started.

“Where are the politicians? Where is the Government? Where is the accountability to bring this organisation to account?”

Southern Rail released a statement, apologising for the two-hour late service, stating that the incident occurred “due to a short notice illness”.

But Mr Barber added: “There doesn’t seem to be any pride in the service they are providing and quite frankly we have had enough of it.

“Southern have let us down, let supporters down and let supporters of another club down.”

The RMT is holding further strike action over the change of guard’s responsibilities today and tomorrow, arguing that conductors should retain responsibility for closing the doors, not drivers.

Simon Kirby, MP for Brighton Kemptown, urged Southern and the union to "come up with a solution immediately so that commuters and football fans alike no longer have to suffer this poor service."

And Hove MP Peter Kyle said he is meeting the rail minister Paul Maynard.

He said: "I will be demanding answers on what happened and that the Government takes action to find out who is responsible and to stop this happening again."

Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas said Mr Barber is "absolutely right to be furious"

She said“MPs have chased ministers down corridors, set up an All Party Parliamentary Group, put down parliamentary questions and written countless letters to those responsible for this mess. We’ll continue to do all we can to keep the pressure up.

“It is time for Ministers to step up, strip this incompetent firm of the franchise and put it in public hands. The people who use our trains deserve better than this.”

IT’S TIME FOR POLITICIANS TO INTERVENE IN THIS CRISIS

Brighton and Hove Albion chief executive Paul Barber warns safety is being compromised as he vents his fury over Friday night’s drama at Falmer railway station

ONCE again, it was totally unacceptable. We had no communication, no warning, and therefore no ability to put our contingencies in place.

Once again Southern have let us down, let down our supporters and the supporters of another club, and left the club’s operations team to pick up the pieces.

There’s no accountability, there’s no responsibility and there doesn’t seem to be any pride in providing a service to the public. Like so many, who rely on the rail network for their livelihoods, Our fans have had enough.

We have one of the best travel plans of any football club in the country. It was a condition of the stadium being built that we put in a sustainable travel plan, which means using trains, buses and fewer cars.

Where are the politicians and the government now? Who is going to bring this organisation to account for the poor service to thousands of people in this city, week in week out. It’s not just about 30,000 people coming to a football match, this dispute is having a devastating effect on people’s lives.

The reputation of Brighton and Hove is being severely damaged every week and it’s time the politicians got more involved, started taking responsibility and began to represent their electorate. More importantly than the economic effects, there is an increasing risk someone will get seriously hurt or worse.

On Friday, Sussex Police, British Transport Police and our operations team did a superb job in the face of real adversity on Friday evening to get everyone through the station eventually, but a totally unnecessary panic was created by a lack of communication from Southern, and could have caused serious issues.

Due to the excellent work of our stewards alongside the police, thankfully nobody was crushed or knocked over on the platform, or hit walking down the A27 to try and get to Brighton or Lewes.

It felt as if they have tested us with a strike, tested us by cancelling services at half-time, when we played Reading last month, and now pushed us to the limit by cancelling services with no reasonable notice whatsoever. Typically, in the aftermath of Friday, the two sides have simply blamed each other.

The arrogance on display here is shocking. Since Friday evening, we have had zero communication, after zero communication on Friday night and as Southern Rail’s biggest single customer, they’ve let down 30,000 football fans, and we have not even had an email or phone call to offer an apology or explanation.

It’s quite disgraceful. Southern Rail knew they didn’t have staff to operate the trains on Friday night. I don’t believe that people suddenly dropped out of work at a couple of minutes’ notice and left no staff or drivers to operate a train after the match.

We had been publicising for several days leading up to that game that we were expecting 30,000 in the stadium. We told Southern Rail and they knew it was a huge game and that there’d be huge numbers of people trying to get home on a Friday night.

They knew that the weather conditions were likely to be poor - had they warned us we could have brought in extra buses as we have done previously - but that was absolutely impossible with no notice whatsoever.Enough is enough. Now, it is time for the local politicians and government – who have the power to resolve this dispute – to start to take some responsibility and bring the two organisations to account. Ultimately if this cannot be resolved quickly, then the government need to come up with a proper contingency plan – and fast!

I NEVER THOUGHT IT COULD GET WORSE, UNTIL LAST WEEK

Albion fan Steve Lowe recounts his troubled journey getting home to Uckfield after Friday evening’s match against Aston Villa at the American Express Community Stadium

I WANTED to pass on my congratulations.

Yes, as a commuter on Southern Rail, the lack of train crew to transport fans from the stadium to other stations was inspirational.

As a daily commuter to London I never imagined it could get worse, until Friday night. Two hours, 30 mins to get home. 45 mins to get there. I blame the RMT.

It really cemented my, and many others’, view in that slow, long queue about what a bunch of idiots they all are at the RMT.

They won’t win. They have no support from the people of Sussex that travel on Southern.

They should think about why they exist and sort themselves out.

I heard so many people comment that they will never come to a night game again if getting home after midnight is a possibility.

Whilst the club doesn’t run the train service, having night games on a Friday to bring in lucrative TV revenue needs to be backed up by the club ensuring paying customers can get home.

I left the stadium after the game and got home at 12.05am. Will I risk another night game? Mmm, not sure.

It can’t be right that a public transport provider and an entertainments venue can oversee thousands and thousands of paying customers being stranded late on a Friday evening.

What makes this worse is there are no winners. When I see little kids crying because they are so tired and want their beds, young lads saying they are never coming to a game again on the train, granddads calling home apologising to the wife for their late home coming, all because of… change. Something we all face day in day out.

RMT – Hide in shame. Of the thousands not one had a kind word to say for your cause, sorry.

To rub salt into the wound, after 90 minutes waiting for a train, we got on one only to find the combination of station staff and club security only allowed on about half as many as could board the train and left another raft of fans stranded waiting for the next one. Come on get a grip.