Tuesday 28th February 2023 Welcome to February's compote of miscellany I've encountered on recent travels but first a couple of plugs for two recent publications. UK National Rail Map Alex Nelson and his nationalrail.com website has updated his brilliant map showing every railway station in the UK (yes, it includes Northern Ireland too). If you... Continue Reading →
Saturday 25th February It’s the archetypal family owned business. Delaine Buses is one of the very few left in the bus industry. Fiercely independent and hugely proud of its heritage which can be traced back to 1890 when the family’s carpentry and general contracting business began carrying people to local fairs and markets using their... Continue Reading →
Friday 24th February 2023 I couldn't round off a week of travelling on new bus routes without a ride on the very latest DRT scheme which started on Monday in Kent. (New blog subscribers are welcome to put DRT into the search function on this website to read about my travel experiences on all other... Continue Reading →
Thursday 23rd February 2023 After visiting Telford, Skelmersdale and Bicester it's time to take a journey on another new bus route and this time one linking England and Wales. Last week I went to Chester to take a ride on the new TrawsCymru route T8 which passes through Flintshire and Denbighshire to terminate at what's... Continue Reading →
Wednesday 22nd February 2023 After Telford and Skelmersdale today's New Bus Route Week blog features new bus routes 24 and 25 in Bicester, Oxfordshire. Readers may recall I blogged about route 250 running between Bicester and Oxford via the huge new residential development at Heyford Park last August. The original plan had been to replace... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 21st February 2023 All this week I'm describing travel experiences on brand new bus routes. It certainly makes a change from cataloguing routes about to be withdrawn and with Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding now starting to flow, we can expect to see many more forlorn initiatives like the ones I'm featuring in... Continue Reading →
Monday 20th February 2023 This week is New Bus Route Week on the BusAndTrainUser blog. In contrast to all the negative news about bus routes being withdrawn or threatened with cuts due to lack of funding I’ve been out and about sampling recently introduced bus routes and will celebrate their arrival with a post every... Continue Reading →
Saturday 18th February 2023 It's the end of an era for buses in Southampton today as First Bus closes its bus garage doors for good bringing to an end 143 years of bus operation that can be traced back to 1879 when horse bus operation began and in due course Southampton Corporation Transport took over... Continue Reading →
Thursday 16th February 2023 The train journey along the East Coast Main Line between Newcastle and Edinburgh is always a treat with some wonderful coastal views to savour. Although taking the bus for the 100 mile journey obviously takes much longer it offers equally fantastic scenery including castles and market towns. It's been many years... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 14th February 2023 Inverness Airport railway station had an official opening on 2nd February Back in December I reported on four bus and train developments in and around Inverness: the introduction of Request To Stop facilities at Scotscalder on the Far North Line; new electric buses in Inverness; the about to open Inverness Airport... Continue Reading →
Saturday 11th February 2023 Chiltern Railways is how rail franchising was always meant to be. Commencing operations in July 1996 it was crucially awarded a lengthy 20 year franchise in 2000 enabling the late and much missed Adrian Shooter and his team to invest significantly in infrastructure improvements over that substantial timeline during which they... Continue Reading →
Thursday 9th February 2023 Tuesday's newspapers gave a strong sense of déjà-vu with reports of yet another impending bus cuts cliff edge as post Covid funding for bus services comes to an end on 31st March with registrations for any service withdrawals/amendments from that date due within the next week. We’ve been here twice before,... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 7th February 2023 The transformation of Transport for Wales' train fleet continues with new Stadler built diesel powered Class 231 trains now running on the Rhmney to Penarth line in the Cardiff Valleys. It follows November's launch of the first CAF built Class 197s in North Wales. The 11 trains which make up this... Continue Reading →
Saturday 4th February 2023 Welcome to another quarterly dose of nostalgia going back 40 years recalling what I got up to as the recently arrived Assistant Traffic Manager (ATM) at Southdown Motor Services Ltd, one of the National Bus Company’s prestigious subsidiaries based in Brighton with an operating area stretching along the south coast from... Continue Reading →
Thursday 2nd February 2023 It’s been a long time coming, as these things always are at TfL. Having launched a consultation proposing the withdrawal of route 271 and associated changes to routes 21, 141, 143, and 263 as long ago as November 2021, the end is finally here. Tomorrow is the last day to enjoy... Continue Reading →
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