How Newcastle United fans travelling to Brighton can avoid major rail disruption this weekend

An armada of 3,100 Newcastle United supporters will make the 350-mile trip to the Amex Stadium this weekend to watch The Magpies play Brighton - but train strikes will cause disruption to travel.

The easiest way for Geordies to get to the South coast on public transport would be to shoot down to London King's Cross on a train, hop on the underground to Victoria or walk to London St Pancras International and then a final hour-long train to Brighton from there.

On a normal day, fans could make that trip in under four and a half hours. A 9 am departure from Newcastle station could have a fan in London for 11:48 am and then in Brighton for 1:24 pm - time for a pre-match pint and shuttle to the station.

However, there is not a single train ticket available to purchase online for that trip on Saturday, August 13 that will get fans to the seaside town on time.

That is due to the latest round of RMT train strikes as railway workers demand higher pay and greater job security.

Travel by train on Saturday

Rail providers across the country will be affected on Saturday, including LNER and Thameslink - key providers on the Newcastle to Brighton route.

Gatwick Express, which runs services from Victoria to Brighton, are not affected by strikes and neither are East coast providers Lumo - although trains may be impacted by knock-on effects.

For Newcastle fans whose only option is travelling on the railway, there are a limited number of tickets available on a 10:22 departure from Newcastle to London Kings Cross, which arrives in the Big Smoke at 1:14 pm. A connection from adjacent London St Pancras would get you into Brighton at 2:47 pm - likely too late to make kick-off. However, there is a 3:01 pm departure from Brighton to Amex Stadium stop Falmer that arrives at 3:07 pm.

Travel by car

With arriving on time via railway on Saturday seemingly impossible, Newcastle fans will be making alternate arrangements.

Travel by car seems the safest way to make it on time, although a 12-hour round trip isn't for the faint-hearted.

A journey will take you down the A1 and M11 or A1, M1 and M25, with Google Maps predicting a travel time of five hours 53 minutes or six hours nine minutes, without recommended stops. An average tank of petrol for that round journey would cost around £111.

Travel by coach

Travel by coach is feasible, but the long journey would have to be made on the Friday and fans would have to stay overnight.

National Express coaches leave Newcastle at 12:30 pm and 2:50 pm on Friday, August 12 and arrive at 00:45 and 2:45 am - both require changes at London Victoria and cost under £50. If you are going to go by coach, you might be better travelling as far as London Victoria on the earlier bus, which gets in at 8:40 pm and then hopping on a train.

Travel by train on Friday

There are no RMT train strikes planned for Friday, August 12.

Therefore, those needing to travel by rail could do so the night before the match - although tickets are hard to come by at this short notice.

A ticket from Newcastle to Brighton on Friday is available for £76.50 at 8:01 am, getting in at 12:43 pm. Other options are only available at 8:27 am, 3:32 pm, 6:29 pm and 7:02 pm but will cost around £200 or more. There's also an 8:17 pm departure that arrives at 1:24 am for £81.60.

Cheaper options do appear when looking at buying separate tickets from Newcastle to London and London to Brighton.

Train times, ticket availbility and prices are correct according to Trainline as of 1 pm on Thursday, August 11.