Tuesday 30th May 2023 Last Wednesday and Thursday saw another successful Young Bus Managers’ conference which once again I had the pleasure to jointly host with Martijn Gilbert and imbibe the energy, enthusiasm and positivity not only of the attendees who came from a wide range of different size companies from all over the country... Continue Reading →
Saturday 27th May 2023 Good customer service from First and Southern Firstly a couple of follow ups from last month's round up and bouquets and praise for both First Bus and Southern Rail's customer service teams. On that long wait at Crewe rail station on a route 3 due to what looked like an error... Continue Reading →
Thursday 25th May 2023 While in Edinburgh enjoying autonomous bus riding last week I took the opportunity to take a look at some of the routes McGills inherited with last September's purchase of First Scotland East. First Scotland East ended its days as a business in two halves. Livingston based routes providing a network around... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 23rd May 2023 As well as travelling on fflecsi to explore the Dale Peninsular as described a couple of weeks ago I also used the TrawsCymru network while in the area on a more extensive itinerary to enjoy more of the glorious scenery across south west Wales. Some time ago the TrawsCymru network was... Continue Reading →
Sunday 21st May 2023 Readers nay recall a gloom laden blog I posted back in January 2022 warning that London Mayor Sadiq Khan was drawing up proposals to end Day Travelcards as part of funding negotiations at that time for continued financial support from Government. Sure enough, 16 months later on 18th April, TfL launched... Continue Reading →
Saturday 20th May 2023 It would have been another family owned small bus company on the back of a coach hire business to tell you about as my alphabetical ramblings continue, but the Sutton family who’d owned Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire Ltd since it was formed in 1991 sold it on to a company called... Continue Reading →
Thursday 18th May 2023 I’m sorry to be reporting on yet another new DRT scheme so soon after last week’s East Sussex FlexiBus write up, but this is the reality of the bus industry at the moment with more DRT operations slowly but surely taking over. This latest scheme in West Rushcliffe began on Monday... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 16th May 2023 In what's describe as a “world first”, Stagecoach began operating the much hyped and long awaited autonomous bus trial across the Forth Road Bridge yesterday. And if you’re thinking that “world first” claim rings a bell - you're not mistaken as it was just over two months ago I reported on... Continue Reading →
Saturday 13th May 2023 I thought it would be nice to report on a positive Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) development so took a trip to Leighton Buzzard on Thursday to sample Arriva’s brand new bus network introduced on Tuesday in partnership with Central Bedfordshire Council. Central Beds got awarded £3.7 million for its BSIP;... Continue Reading →
Thursday 11th May 2023 Not to be left out of the firmly rolling bandwagon of local authorities expending vast sums of public money from Government on Demand Responsive Transport (DRT), East Sussex County Council joined in the fun on Tuesday with a “soft launch” of five of ten designated zones covering the entire county. The... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 9th May 2023 “Fflecsi is the perfect way to enjoy fun days out and explore the beauty of this part of Pembrokeshire” encourages a colourful Transport for Wales (TfW) leaflet extolling the virtues of its fflecsi DRT service and the scenic county of Pembrokeshire and the Coastal National Park. I didn’t need convincing about... Continue Reading →
Saturday 6th May 2023 It may not be among the most well known bus companies in Britain, or even Scotland where it’s based (Wishaw just south of Motherwell) but now in its fifteenth year of operations, JMB Travel has carved out an impressive presence amid the otherwise domination of First Bus across Lanarkshire. JMB Travel... Continue Reading →
Thursday 4th May 2023 Moves are in hand to refresh and regenerate the area outside Aldershot railway station. But in a move that's described as "access improvements to Aldershot station and town centre" the adjacent bus station is about to close. I know, I was puzzled too, so took a wander over to the town... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 2nd May 2023 Following the closure of Arriva's bus garages in Macclesfield and Winsford and the company’s withdrawal from Mid Cheshire on Saturday 22nd April I took a few rides around the area last Friday to see how the first week of the new regime was going with D&G Bus principally at the helm.... Continue Reading →
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