Separate Beds

Tuesday 29th September 2020 It was disappointing to hear Stagecoach has split its Oxford to Cambridge route X5 in Bedford. The X5 is the well established bus equivalent of East-West Rail now under active development. The half hourly frequency has been retained throughout but the opportunity has been taken to convert the more heavily used... Continue Reading →

Improvements at a rate of Notts

Sunday 27th September 2020 Following my Essex experience last week Vecatre boss Dominic Kalantary reassured me their fledgling Essex tendered operation on route 13 between Waltham Cross and Epping was "mobilised at incredibly short notice and watch this space for a touch more class and a significant improvement", adding a photo teaser of a smart... Continue Reading →

On the Essex-Herts-London border: part 2

Friday 25th September 2020 Bus provision in the Harlow area has been challenging for many years. Not helped by a myriad of small bus companies of dubious quality coming and going into the market causing inevitable instability to the network, nor the town being seemingly left out on a limb in Arriva's various management reorganisations... Continue Reading →

On the Essex-Herts-London border: part 1

Thursday 24th September 2020 Fifty-one years ago it was all very straightforward. London’s red buses ventured north as far as Potters Bar, Cheshunt and Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire as well as Waltham Abbey, Epping and Debden in Essex (oh, and Ongar as well of course). London’s green buses ventured much further north to serve places... Continue Reading →

Stagecoach Rewards reviewed

Tuesday 22nd September 2020 According to its website, the Marketing Lounge Partnership (MLP) is"one of the UK's only combined incentive, loyalty, partnership and CRM agencies" which struck me as odd. It seems double dutch to say you're 'one of the only' of anything. Either you're ‘one of a few’, or you're ‘the only’. Surely? Anyway... Continue Reading →

Walking Wherryman’s Way

Friday 18th September 2020 Wherryman's Way is an eight-and-a-half-mile footpath along the north side of the River Yare between Great Yarmouth and Reedham. Half way along the River Waveney joins - at Berney Arms, famed for its no-road-access-isolated station, closed pub and disused windmill. I'd planned to walk from Great Yarmouth to Berney Arms back... Continue Reading →

Guess how many commute by boat?

Tuesday 15th September 2020 When I checked out the new Uber Boat brand for Thames Clipper's service along the River Thames a few weeks ago, I noticed the journeys in the timetable specifically aimed at commuters and thought it would be a good idea to give them a try out during these 'capacity constrained peak... Continue Reading →

Oxfordshire’s back funding buses

Friday 11th September 2020 The last time Oxfordshire funded a bus service was July 2016. That month the County Council scrapped its circa £4 million annual bus subsidy budget abandoning 118 tendered bus contracts to the fate of the commercial market - and turned 34 years of deregulation on its head. Deregulation, you my recall,... Continue Reading →

No Go on JustGo.

Monday 7th September 2020 North Lincolnshire Council became the latest local authority to jump on the app based Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) bus bandwagon today as it launched its new JustGo branded operation. Except this scheme serving a largely rural area has one key positive differential from the other failed DRT schemes; it’s built on... Continue Reading →

From Tiger to Flyer

Wednesday 2nd September 2020 It's all change for the bus network serving Leeds Bradford Airport this week. Sunday saw Transdev Blazefield take over the three bus routes connecting Leeds, Bradford and Harrogate and introduce a smart new 'Flyer' brand. Social media coverage and photographs online looked very impressive so I popped up to Yorkshire yesterday... Continue Reading →

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