Seen around

Thursday 30th May 2024

Welcome to another end-of-the-month round up of miscellany that’s caught my eye during travels in May which haven’t made it into a full blown blog, but nevertheless might be of interest.

First up, a visit to Oxford, after checking out that frozen-in-time Park & Ride site at Eynsham to see …

Oxford’s ElectriCITY fleet

I sampled a couple of rides on the smart new electric powered buses now being introduced to both the Oxford Bus and Stagecoach fleets in Oxford as part of the city’s upgrade to be fully electric powered. Both the single and double decks buses are impressive with an eye catching livery and a very nice interior specification.

The seats look good and are comfortable to travel in with good leg room.

The next stop display shows the next stop, the upcoming one after that and the destination as well as a scrolling series of promotional messages on the right hand side.

The bays for two wheelchairs and a buggy space are very clearly marked out…

… on both sides of the bus.

The double deck has a similar interior specification…

… with the same seats including usb charging points…

All in all, very impressive buses that are going to make an impact once established all over the city.

Sheffield’s Connect makeover

South Pennine Community Transport is now running new electric powered buses on the Sheffield Connect branded SC1 city centre circular route including a second route SC2.

Sadly an accident has put one of the new buses off the road leading to a reduction in frequency of route SC1 from every 10 to every 15 minutes, but you’d never know from the South Yorkshire Combined Authority produced departure listing.

More positively, there’s good publicity for the newly high profile branded routes with information and posters as you leave the railway station…

… which is followed up by direction signs on the way to the nearby bus station.

The Grindleford café

I mentioned in the recent blog about Peak Sightseer paying a visit to the former station building at Grindleford which is now a lovely family run café.

As you can see there’s a lovely (original?) British Railways station sign still on the outside wall…

… as well as authentic signs inside…

… and one of those wooden barrier type things you used to always get in booking offices in front of the window from where tickets were sold.

Dore & Totley’s new platform

After that I popped off the train back to Sheffield to take a look at the recently opened second platform at the nearby Dore & Totley station …

… including a footbridge with lifts. It’s part of the upgrade to the Hope Valley line between Sheffield and Manchester and a long overdue development as it was crazy that such a busy railway line went down to single track at this key point as it joins the Midland Main Line from St Pancras into Sheffield.

It’s certainly an investment which will reap benefits immediately, as opposed to some schemes which get implemented at huge cost only to then fail to realise their poitential (eg the Ordsall Chord and, to date, the East Coast Main Line upgrade).

Better services to Telford and Shrewsbury

As I was catching a train from Telford Central last week I was reminded of the new improved service being introduced by West Midlands Railway from this weekend including a new hourly “fast service between Birmingham and key Shropshire towns” as described on the white board. What a shame there was no printed promotional literature showing a timetable to really get the message across in an easily accessible format.

I also noticed there was no mention of the withdrawal of the Avanti West Coast direct train to London. But it was nice to see a cube promoting PLUSBUS protruding out of the wall…

… and a new large electronic screen which wasn’t declaring what it would display…

… and letting us know it was an “Asset Not in use currently undergoing commissioning”.

Even better there was a colourful map showing Arriva’s bus network which looked as though it might even be up to date, although I haven’t studied it in detail and what a shame Telford & Wrekin Council couldn’t arrange a comprehensive map showing the routes it funds too.

Barber Shop Bus

It’s always interesting to see where buses end up after their loyal service with bus companies. I spotted this former Wilts & Dorset Optare Solo doing a brisk trade as a Barber shop in the centre of Woolwich last week.

There were four barbers busy at work in the low-floor section with a good number of young people sitting patiently in the rear raised section waiting for their turn.

It didn’t look as though the barbers were part of the DfT’s £2 maximum price though.

The Poo Bus

I’ve seen some interesting bus branding and livery ideas in my time but this one spotted in Harrogate for a bus aimed at children’s activities certainly made me smile, as instructed on the engine bonnet.

When a missing letter just about works

Arriva is famed for its ‘Sunshine Deserts’ displays on the sides of its buses with missing letters and blank panels deforming promotional messages but this bus spotted in Shoeburyness on Saturday just about passed muster.

I’ll have a ‘P’ Bob and then it’ll be fine.

“Raindrops keep falling on my head” in Leeds

It was great to see West Yorkshire Combined Authority promote its £4.6 million 36 week refurbishment delivering a “significant upgrade to the exiting bus station, providing more modern facilities, a new retail unit and improved accessibility for passengers” in Leeds back when it was completed in 2022.

It’s just a shame the project obviously didn’t include the roof as seen in a visit a fortnight ago.

The curse of the temporary traffic lights

Staff at Transdev Blazefield were battling to counter long delays on its flagship route 36 between Leeds, Harrogate and Ripon when I had a ride a couple of weeks ago. As is so often the case the problems were due to multiple sets of temporary traffic lights along the route. One “4-way control” set was to facilitate what looked like significant changes at a road junction in Pannal …

… while another as we left Harrogate towards Leeds was causing long queues towards the southern end of Station Parade …

… only to find the junction with York Place was reduced to one lane so that ….

… a man up a ladder repairing a traffic light, or maybe changing a light bulb (?), could do so safely.

What a pity such work can’t be programmed for early on a Sunday morning. The combined delay from both queues cost us 20 minutes and significant disruption for hundreds of bus passengers (and motorists).

COVID precautions in Crewe

Interesting to see Covid is still causing problems in Crewe. Right alongside the offices used by Cheshire East Council too.

Old Steine bus shelters

The lovely art-deco bus shelters by Brighton’s Royal Pavilion have long been a target for vandals. I’ve lost count of the number of times the City Council refurbished and repaired them. Sadly I noticed the same when taking my recent journey on Stagecoach’s new route 701.

But there are plans to divert buses away from this section of road as part of a grand scheme the Council has been working on for some years and I suspect once the area becomes pedestrianised (as is the plan) and the shelters put to alternative uses (the inevitable coffee ‘shop’ … maybe even a barber shop) the vandalism will stop.

Little & Often Lives On

I had another ride on the Stagecoach Connect DRT operation in the Aylesham area of Kent (north of Dover) during the month and this time the minibus was in the Stagecoach Connect livery but inside there was a reminder of its previous guise as part of the erstwhile “little & often” scheme in Ashford.

And the message to “get the app” would confuse any passenger thinking that’s the app they need rather than the Stagecoach Connect app.

Kent Fastrack on track

When I got to Whitfield north of Dover (the furthest south the DRT goes) it was interesting to see work on the new Fastrack scheme for Dover is almost complete heralding a summer introduction.

Getting the step count up in Runcorn

After one of my trips to Cheshire this month to try and take a ride on the iTravel DRT operation I ended up in Runcorn and noticed once again that the three coach TfW Class 197 train towards Liverpool Lime Street pulls up at the very far (northern) end of the station platform meaning passengers have to walk a considerable distance to the footbridge (around 150 yards) to cross over and exit the station through the building on the other platform.

Why on earth can’t a stop board be placed 100 yards further south so the train comes to a halt right by the footbridge. And please don’t comment that it’s to do with a signal – surely the driver can see that far ahead if there’s a signal at the end of the platform? It works at other platforms.

METRO reaches new heights…

… especially at East Croydon station. There must be an awful lot of METRO readers who pass through leading to containers this tall.

Don’t be fooled by SeatFrog’s instant upgrade offer

I’ve commented before about the opaque bidding process deployed by SeatFrog for upgrading to First Class. A recent trip from Paddington to Ledbury offered me the opportunity to “upgrade instantly for £35” (as shown above) rather than make a bid when the minimum price was at £15.

Knowing the hidden SeatFrog trick, I avoided that offer and instead indicated I was prepared to bid up to £21 (as shown above and below)…

.. only to be immediately advised that I’d won the upgrade at a price of £20 …. explained “as you bid over £20 you’ve won instantly”. If that’s the case why did the company try and fleece me for £35?

As Private Eye would say: “I think we should be told”.

Gloucester’s Transport Hub‘s heritage

I was interested to pass through Gloucester’s fairly recent “Transport Hub” on my way back from riding the Daffodil Line and spot the stones incorporated into the interior wall which were “originally part of a large Roman building which once stood near this spot”. The explanatory posters either side explain the background that “archaeologists found the stone walls of the building about 2 meters below where you are standing”

… including a reconstruction of what it might have looked like.

Quite a transformation.

And a long long platform

I know it’s controversial because it has two numbers (1 and 2) but I always find the length of Britain’s longest continuous (unbroken) station platform (1,977 feet and 4 inches) impressive – looking east (as above) and west (as below) from the same spot.

A career with us

Many bus companies use high profile messaging to attract new recruits including bus exteriors. In London, Arriva does it more subtly.

Catch a taxi rather than a bus

Interesting to see Royal Cars taking the opportunity of TfL’s ineptitude at displaying timetables at its bus stops in East Croydon to instead promote its own operations.

Road closed. Or not.

Is it just contractors in my local authority area – West Sussex County Council – who display Road Closed signs when there’s no road closure? It keeps happening in the Hassocks area and motorists and bus drivers just ignore the signs now … except sometimes they are valid …. leading to the inevitable need for three point turns.

When’s the next bus due?

If you’re at St Michael’s Church in St Albans, served by route S7 in the peaks, it might be worth taking a pair of secateurs with you to see the information posted at the bus stop (with thanks to John Crowhurst for the photo).

More miscellany next month.

Roger French

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