Commuting from Hove/Aldrington/Portslade: will I get a seat?!

[ababycalledbrian]

Hello all. We've just moved from London but I'm going to commute 3 days a week when I go back to work after maternity leave in the Autumn. We're trying to work out where to buy, but could be flexible as to which station we live near - Hove, Aldrington or Portslade. I was wondering if others / others' DPs commute from those stations and could tell me whether you think I'd get reliably get a seat in rush hour? Are trains that start in Brighton or Hove always over-crowded (ie with some people having to stand) in rush hour? Is it better if you go slightly earlier or later? Thank you very much in advance for any intel.

[Kcubs1]

DH used to commute from hove about 1.5 years ago (luckily now works in brighton) and he usually got a seat, that was on the popular 7.20 ish train and you needed to know where on the platform to stand as there Weren't that many! You should be ok but there would be more seats earlier and later and more from earlier stations too.

[ababycalledbrian]

Thanks very much Kcubs - very helpful.

[WilliamPoet]

I commute from Hove 3 days a week and DP every day and we always get a seat (except when something's gone wrong, of course). This spans the 7.41 and 8.08 trains, the 7.20 and 7.11 are busier and need to find out where best to stand for those, but I used to find that if I kept walking down the train I'd usually get somewhere.

Just a note that the trains are not direct from Aldrington as far as I'm aware.

[ababycalledbrian]

Thanks William. We're hopefully buying a house near Stoneham Park so my plan will be to walk (fast!) to Hove from there and catch the train from there.