Reach for the sky class

Saturday 19th December 2020 How appropriate that aside from my usual "Annual Review, Quiz and Awards of the year" which will post tomorrow, for the penultimate blog of 2020 I was able to try out Transdev Blazefield's smart new "Sky Class" buses today. What a positive end to a rather dismal year. Photos and promotional... Continue Reading →

Bus routes to be added to Tube map

Wednesday 16th December 2020 No they won’t be; only joking. But the latest edition of TfL's Tube map has been updated and published both online and in print today. After much campaigning the Thameslink operated National Rail line has been added back ... and not just between Elephant & Castle through the 'core' to Kentish... Continue Reading →

Richmond change around

Saturday 12th December 2020 If you're thinking nothing quite matches the lengthy delays between new trains being ordered and when they finally enter service, you're ignoring the world of bus network developments in London. Today sees the implementation of TfL’s bus review in the Richmond and Twickenham area. It follows a public consultation held way... Continue Reading →

A first class scam?

Thursday 10th December 2020 Have you heard of ‘Seatfrog’? It’s been LNER’s way of offering upgrades from standard class to first class on its trains since 2017. More recently it's begun doing the same for Avanti West Coast and GWR . Although it’s been around for three years I only gave it a try for... Continue Reading →

An Aventra full of seats

Tuesday 8th December 2020 Greater Anglia’s fleet of 33 five-car Bombardier Class 720 ‘Aventra’ trains have finally entered service after many months of delays caused by software issues and more recently due to Covid. The original train order, placed with Bombardier in September 2016 (you have to be patient in the world of new train... Continue Reading →

£13 million down the tube

Monday 7th December 2020 The order was announced in a fanfare of publicity on 4th March: "Europe's most frequent coach service set to get even better with 34 new coaches this summer.... the largest single order of coaches in the history of Stagecoach .... the latest technology designed to enhance the customer experience". Their deferment... Continue Reading →

Switch to switched on Voltra

Sunday 6th December 2020 I always know something serious is happening when a new initiative is upgraded from being described as "ground breaking" in the media release to "game changer" . Mind you, the much derided NHS Covid app was once so described, but that must be the exception to the rule. Go North East... Continue Reading →

15 more rail restorations reviewed

Friday 4th December 2020 I've had a look in a bit more detail at the fifteen ideas for Restoring Your Railways recently awarded up to £50,000 each to investigate whether they have a realistic business case. I can only offer a ‘back of the envelope' view but I reckon I won't be far out, especially... Continue Reading →

Ebbsfleet Garden Clickity

Wednesday 2nd December 2020 Arriva Click began a new DRT (Demand Responsive Transport) venture on Monday thanks to funding provided by house builders Redrow and Henley Camsland who, along with others, are slowly transforming Ebbsfleet's former massive chalk quarries into what is now the fledgling Ebbsfleet Garden City. Ebbsfleet Garden City lies immediately north of... Continue Reading →

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