A MATCHDAY bus operator will be increasing ticket prices for matches where rail strikes have been announced so it can provide more vehicles for fans.
Supporters are already having to contend with rail strikes for the trip up to Liverpool this Saturday, as well as Albion’s home match against Tottenham next Saturday, October 8.
Seagull Travel, which operates coaches for the Albion’s home and away matches, has increased capacity for its services from locations in West and North Sussex for home matches.
It has done this “in preparation of further strikes”.
But the company, which recently celebrated ten years providing coaches to the Amex, needs to up ticket prices to be able to provide enough coaches for matches affected by future rail strikes, they said.
It currently charges around £9 for return trips for its matchday home buses.
Matchday express coaches, which provide services to the farthest reaches of Sussex for home games, cost around £20.
The company said rail strikes normally leave little time for travel operators to scale up their operations.
Once strikes are announced, costs to hire coaches increase immediately.
It is in “the middle of the worst coach driver crisis seen in the sector” which it says restricts the amount of vehicles available for it to hire.
As a result, it is urging fans to “think about the prospects of further strikes” and book before any rail strike is known “until the current situation is sorted”.
A spokesman said: “In preparation of further strikes we have increased capacity from West and North Sussex for home matches.
“We also have a plan (not yet in action) which sees us increase the individual coach seat price once news of a strike is known.
“This increase would allow us to source more vehicles. We could have sold out on another 6 coaches for the trip to Liverpool but we simply could not get the vehicles.
“If we increased the seat cost, for example by an extra £10 per seat - our options would improve.
“We are already seeing very high demand for the Carabao trip to Arsenal which we assume is due to the fear of any strike.”
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