Thursday 27th February 2025
Another month end and another potpourri mix of miscellany spotted as I’ve travelled around.
Hydrogen blockage eases to power more buses in Surrey
At long last it seems Metrobus has been able to start using the permanent Hydrogen storage facility at its Crawley bus garage albeit not yet to the extent it needs to put all its many new buses on the road, but it’s good to see more of the original 20 Wrightbus GB Kite Hydroliner single decks earning their keep – route 10 is almost always run with these impressive buses these days and this month has seen at least two of the next delivery of 34 new buses destined for routes in Surrey now running each day including a couple of Streetdeck Hydroliner double decks on route 420 between Crawley and Sutton.
They’re pretty much standard interiors both on the lower deck (with two wheelchair spaces)…
… and the upper deck with one table at the rear offside.
The livery includes references to the bus being low emission…
… and hydrogen powered and they give a quiet, smooth and comfortable ride. Here’s hoping the full new fleet are soon able to be introduced with the storage facility used to its intended capacity, not least as there’s another 43 buses on order.
Market share on the X38 on the A38
While I was in Derby a couple of weekends ago I spent a random hour on Saturday lunch time watching departures on the hotly contested X38 to see how relative market shares were shaping up. I was positioned at the Victoria Street terminal point for Trentbarton’s 15 minute frequency and where Arriva’s 20 minute frequency also picks up with its buses having commenced at the bus station a couple of minutes away. Here’s what happened.
Scheduled time: 13:36 – Arriva left at 13:38 – 7 passengers.
Scheduled time: 13:46 – Trentbarton left at 13:53 – 10 passengers.
Scheduled time: 13:56 – Arriva left at 13:58 – 11 passengers.
Scheduled time: 14:01 – Tranetbarton left at 14:01 – 0 passengers.
Scheduled time: 14:16 – Arriva left at 14:18 – 13 passengers.
Scheduled time: 14:16 – Trentbarton left at 14:18 – 2 passengers.
Scheduled time: 14:31 – Trentbarton left at 14:31 – 6 passengers.
Arriva carried 31 passengers (63%) on its three departures.
Trentbarton carried 18 passengers (37%) on its four departures.
However, had Trentbarton’s departure at 14:16 arrived in Victoria Street on time (a couple of minutes earlier than it did) it would have got there before the Arriva departure (scheduled at the same time) and picked up the six passengers waiting at the bus stop making the respective totals: Arriva 25 and Trentbarton 24, almost a 50/50 split; which I suspect is how it’s working out on average across the days and week.
You’ll notice the bus stop has no shelter, although it looks like that’s a temporary arrangement while work to install a cycle lane and other highway beautification issues continues. The bus stop flag carries both company logos…
… and there are departures for each company shown back to back in timetable cases.
Multi-modal departures at St Budeaux
Blog reader Gary who works with the Community Rail Partnership Network kindly sent me a photograph of a new electronic departure sign installed by a pedestrian crossing near the two railway stations in St Budeaux, Plymouth which conveniently displays both rail departures from the two stations and bus departures from bus stops. It must be unique to not only be multi station but multi modal.
Oxford’s multi modal information provision
While passing through Oxford railway station I was impressed with the GWR facilitated display of bus information with a map and bus timetable leaflets on one side of the free standing poster frame as you leave the concourse towards the bus stops outside, and, if you remembered to look around as you passed by to the exit…
… an excellent display of more timetable leaflets on the other side. There’s no doubt GWR are doing some great things to promote rail and bus integration and good to see even Stagecoach producing printed information.
electro -v- electricity
Also in Oxford, I was impressed to see many more of Stagecoach’s smart new electric powered ADL Enviro400EV buses out in service and noted they’re branded eletcro but bear the same green and blue livery as those operated by Oxford Bus which uses a similar but slightly different brand name of electricity. I wonder if many passengers notice.
Oxon4buses
I was in Oxford to make a presentation to a workshop organised by a community based group called Oxon4Buses led by Brenda, a very enthusiastic and committed community minded supporter of buses. It was a very interesting session with representation present from the county council, city council, bus operators, community groups, bus users, major employers, the university, hospital and others. The idea was to come up with ideas to “deliver better bus services” in the county and help the county achieve its “stretched target” in the Bus Service Improvement Plan of 52.8 million passenger journeys by 2030 (2023: 33.6 million). Well done to the organisers and I’m sure the county council representatives present found it useful and thanks to David (and Brenda) for the invitation to be involved. 57% growth over seven years is certainly a s-t-r-e-t-c-h target.
Botley Road’s 2026 deadline
One more Oxford snippet; as I arrived in the city and the train passed over the Botley Road bridge I was reminded that it’s now been confirmed this important artery in the city’s road network which has been closed since April 2023 will remain shut until August 2026. Work is continuing on the new entrance/exit to the station on the west side as well as increasing the number of tracks and a new platform.
DInner’s on its way
Travelling on TfL bus route 45 to Elephant & Castle before it got cut back to Camberwell Green earlier this month I was intrigued to see a Uber Eats delivery on its way to a customer by using the bus. Very sustainable.
Better signs at Farringdon
Passing through Farringdon station the other day I noticed TfL has now added information about which direction trains head to from Elizabeth line platforms A and B on the first ‘totem’ pole as you come down the escalators. Previously this was left blank so as to encourage passengers to head further on to the next sign (where directions were displayed) rather than use the first side passageways to access the platforms thereby allowing that space to be used by passengers leaving the platforms. Obviously all regulars know which way to go, so the tactic didn’t really work and more congestion was caused by unfamiliar passengers trying one side and then realising they needed the other and double backing. At least now everyone can see which way to go.
St Pancras’s rubbish
I was sure these giant tubs were meant for something other than litter but it would seem they’ve now become established as litter bins, if my recent visit is typical. However passing through again yesterday morning those Flower Pot Men tubs had been replaced by a rectangular one clarifying its propose.
The bus will arrive in 1,033 minutes
Arriva has recently improved its app and in particular the next bus information and real time tracking. Except something isn’t quite right with the software giving nonsensical predictions of over 1,000 minutes ahead for arrivals as I found while in Derby waiting for the 1B.
Which way is the train going?
Is it just me that gets confused by which direction the next train indicator boards are telling you the train is pointing, as here at Derby station? I had to really think whether A or H were at the front (or rear). Without zonal markings on the platform, it might be helpful to show an arrow indicating direction of travel.
Derby’s bus station information
I’m sure last time I was in Derby’s bus station the five poster frames on the wall shown above (below the Trentbarton adverts) were devoted to useful public transport information. But they’re not now. Which is a shame.
Also, a poor show that the toilets cost 50p and only cash is accepted, with the contactless option being covered up.
Class 450’s laptop chargers
I noticed the charging plugs on SWR’s Class 450s only refer to being for “laptop battery chargers”. Where are you supposed to charge your smartphones then? Still, at least the accessible toilet has a shaver socket for those commuters hurrying to get to work and had no time to shave at home.
Where’s the coupler cover gone?
The front of a Hitachi Class 800 family train look distinctly unsightly when the cover over the coupling mechanism at the front is missing, as shown above on this GWR train when I was in Hereford recently.
Elizabeth is busy
It’s been reported half a billion passenger journeys have been made on the Elizabeth Line since it opened. I can vouch for its busyness on the 17:30 heading east from Paddington. And this was a day when trains were all running to time.
Arriva’s in the pink
Some recent journeys on Arriva buses brought my attention to the company’s new corporate imagery for internal messaging.
It’s now all going bright pink. Although the driver cab door is still a collection of different notices, at least on the panel behind the driver, the many notices that were previously displayed have been consolidated into one notice….
… even if the print is so small it’s unreadable and useless.
What a difference a day makes…………and three minutes
The first train from Hassocks to London on the Brighton Main Line on which off-peak fares are available is the 08:50 Thameslink departure to Cambridge arriving at London Bridge at the defining time of 09:45. A return fare is £18.50 (£12.30 with a Railcard). The train three minutes before that at 08:47 – is a Gatwick Express departure to Victoria which arrives there at 09:41, four minutes before the definition of off-peak kicks in. A return fare is £53.80 (no Railcard discount available). Not surprisingly, hardly anyone catches the 08:47 and the train leaves virtually empty on its way north, while passengers wait patiently on the ticket office side of the gateline for the doors to close and that train departs, so they can enter the platform for the 08:50 – which is a 12 coach train, and even by Hassocks has very few seats available with standing all the way from Haywards Heath. It’s akin to a peak train for loading; while the Gatwick Express is akin to a quiet off-peak train for loading. But I’ve also noticed a huge difference in numbers travelling on a Monday and Friday (shown above) and mid week shown below.
It’s such a shame the rail industry can’t be more dynamic with its pricing and adapt to the changing market it’s serving. Quite what the justification is for charging four times the amount to travel on a near empty train on a Friday than a jam packed train on a Thursday, I’m not sure.
How can I avoid paying £3.15 more than I do?
I made another off-peak journey from Hassocks to Amersham a couple of weeks ago. The quickest way is to head to Marylebone and catch a Chiltern Railways train to Amersham. I tend to buy a Zones 1-6 Day Travelcard (for the flexibility of travelling back via anywhere I fancy) costing £19.50 which is valid as far as Moor Park and then the problem is paying the fare from there to Amersham. It costs £4.45 for a London Boundary Zone 6 to Amersham single (which I buy in Hassocks along with the Travelcard) but if I went by Metropolitan line and got out at Moor Park, tapped in with an Oyster, and got back on the next train half an hour later, it would only cost £1.30 for the same journey.
An off-peak Hassocks to Amersham day return is £28.30.
Metropolitan 1 on display in Amersham town centre
While in Amersham I came across this rather lovely replica of Metropolitan 1 with two carriages marking the arrival of the railway in the town in September 1892.
Nice to see some history being marked in a prominent position in the town centre right next to the shops.
Pigeon rides along
Returning into London on the Metropolitan line we paused at Baker Street for a few minutes before heading on to Aldate and were joined by a pigeon who seemed well used to travelling along this section of the line. I very much doubt it had touched in though.
The doors on this carriage will NOT OPEN….
… at Brighton? And in every carriage too. Luckily they did and we all got off.
Missing Vinyl of the Month Award
Congratulations to Metrobus which wins this months Award.
The TfL Bus Stop Award for the highest number of low numbered bus routes
And the winner is ….. Stop C at Waltham Cross Bus Station. And no, it’s not an extension of many central London routes towards Essex, it’s the enterprising Central Connect bus company gradually renumbering its Essex network of bus routes. And well done to TfL’s e-plate contractor for keeping up and getting the information almost correct. (It’s just the 505 tile that needs removing following the route being renumbered 15/15A/15B.)
Missing logos
While in Glasgow at the weekend I noticed many of First’s buses, especially single decks are now sporting the new purple colours as part of the company’s “Moving the everyday” campaign to “celebrate the role of bus in bringing the nation together”. The makeover is being introduced to “achieve a consistent look and feel for customers”.
The only problem is there seems to be a shortage of the new logo letting us all know who’s behind the new consistent look. All the buses I saw were logo-less. I did spot one bus with the old logo, but that doesn’t do much for “consistency”.
More miscellany next month.
Roger French
Blogging timetable: 06:00 TThS
BusAndTrainUser 
Re your X38 item – you don’t mention if you saw any passengers let a bus go by in order to wait for the alternative company bus, but I assume you would have highlighted that if it had occurred. I think it was in Buses magazine, many years ago, that someone from the CMA (or whatever it was at the time) earnestly assured readers that the benefits of competition in the bus world were such that people would choose their bus mainly by which operator it belonged to, quite happily waiting while several other buses passed the stop.
LikeLike
Good point Rick – everyone caught the first bus that arrived although I noticed at 14:18 two passengers who were about to board the Arriva bus at the bus stop saw the Mango liveried TB bus about to overtake and moved out into the road to catch that.
LikeLike
With the Hitachi Class 8xx coupling cover issues, simply drivers forgetting to close the doors on them.
The issue is the button to close the cover is not in the driver’s dash board but on a panel on the back wall behind the driver.
Catches many rail staff out also not familiar with the units too as they think something is a miss when in fact there isn’t
LikeLike
Central Connect’s renumbering is a classic case of what happens if bus companies just do their own thing. Hertfordshire now has two 15s and two 16s (to go along with its two 1s, two 20s, two 346s and two 354s etc.) And all the buses into Bishops Stortford from the west which were previously 386s are now a mixture of 36s, 36As and 386s.
Not that the County Council itself is much better with its BSIP routes being numbered in the 300s, 700s and 900s. Herfordshire used to have a very simple number scheme; 300s were interurban and rural services, 700s limited stop services, 800s school services and town services were almost entirely in lettered sequences. It’s just a total mess now.
Meanwhile it looks like Arriva and Trent Barton have managed to turn one profitable service into two loss making ones, while tying up considerably more vehicles and drivers. You’d think given the political environment that senior management would step in and knock some heads together.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Central Connect has invested a fair amount of commercial risk in developing services commercially both in Herts and Essex. They see the marketing benefit in promoting routes that fit into the Central Connect numbering system (and what’s so special about the 505?). If this ultimately helps route sustainability, who are we to argue?
It is very difficult to avoid duplication in bus route numbers. 5 years ago, Hertfordshire had no ‘324’ numbered routes, now we have three! The first 324 was originally a ‘Bus Back Better’ funded route to augment the 724 between Hertford and Welwyn Garden City. The second came courtesy of TfL who extended their Brent Cross to Stanmore 324 to Centennial Park, just within the Herts boundary in Elstree. The final (?!) 324 is an Essex CC contract between Bishop’s Stortford, Great Dunmow and Stebbing.
We also have three 331s in the County – Hertford to Buntingford (Arriva/A2B); Uxbridge to Ruislip (TfL) and Welwyn Garden City to Nicholas Breakspear School (Sullivan Buses).
All seem to operate without apparent confusion. Maybe because they are all geographically quite spread out?
Roger – Maybe a ride round on duplicated bus service numbers in a given County could be the subject of a future blog?!
Dan Tancock
LikeLike
Central Connect have developed quite a market in what was once Arriva territory
Arriva Kent and Thameside and its previous incarnations have rarely made profit and recently they6 lost the Kent Fast track services and the ECC contrite services
LikeLike
Derby City Council have made it clear to Arriva and trentbarton that they would prefer the companies to work together on the X38, but there isn’t much they can do. Though they make them use a separate, unsheltered, stop on Victoria St, where the other stops have new shelters! If it’s raining, you have to decide whether to catch an Arriva from the bus station, a trentbarton from a shelter in front of the Council House, or get wet waiting to see which comes first on Victoria St.
Running a full set of buses on X38 but not always on routes without competition is not winning any friends for trentbarton.
Jim Froggatt
LikeLike
Just to be pedantic about your comment regarding Moor Park – it has several trains per hour heading to Watford and Chesham as well as Amersham, so half an hour is the longest you would have to wait if tapping in/out – it would normally be a lot less.
LikeLike
Re Derby CIS. The pointy end on Coach A ie drivers cab would indicate to me that Coach A is at the front. Backed up by expecting the order to read left to right.
Jan B
LikeLike
I have seen passengers using “Cleaners'” sockets on trains occasionally but as the voltage cannot be guaranteed as being safe and stable, these people risk damage to their equipment using these sockets on a moving train.
LikeLike
Another interesting blog. I did not notice immediately that the TB X38 was not Arriva as the colour is similar.
The railway ticketing issue is a source of frustration. There are those who advocate increased simplicity of ticketing and those who take advantage of the cheap tickets available, especially to those in the know. My opinion has changed a little as LNER now offer no tickets that entice me to travel so if this is the model for the future it risks losing leisure passengers.
Finally a typo in the Oxford section, electro not eletcro (red squiggly line shows for both).
Gareth Cheeseman
LikeLike
Thanks for covering the Metrobus hydrogen bus rollout Roger.
The liquid hydrogen supply has been reliably operating for the past few months, allowing consistent operation of hydrogen buses on Fastway routes 10 & 20. The challenge on the further rollout of the Surrey buses has been with the delivery of the new buses but they are now rapidly entering service with 29 hydrogen buses in operation today, ramping up towards the full 54 over the coming weeks.
Nick Hill, Metrobus
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great news Nick; thanks for the update and clarification.
LikeLike
A pity the rest of the vinyls were not missing from the Metrobus single decker. What a mess these buses look.
And what a pity Stagecoach most certainly and Arriva too don’t learn from the new First livery. Both the former with insipid messes (although at least Arriva is an an over one), instead of an attractive and bold colour which is pleasing to the eye.
Terence Uden
LikeLike
I’m glad to see the Oxford rail station bus info board now has the map facing people leaving the station. If I remember correctly it used to face the other way.
Noticing the difference between the Stagecoach and the Oxford Bus Co electric buses (look at the logo below the front window) is important on (the only remaining?) jointly-operated route 8 to Barton as Oxford Bus Co accepts tap on tap off (Freeflow) but Stagecoach doesn’t.
LikeLike
From the Oxford workshop piece:
to “delver better bus services” in the county and help the county achieve its “stretched target” in the Bus Service Improvement Plan of 52.8 million passenger journeys by 2030 (2023: 33.6 million).
Apart from the obvious typo, what caught my eye was the precision of the target – surely 53 million would make more sense for something highly variable in five years time. Three significant figures rather suggests that individual route/corridors have been projected then summed, then the total rounded.
LikeLike
Railcards are valid on the 08:47 from Hassocks to Victoria, just not all railcards.
MKIan
LikeLike
I’m generally happy with Central Connect but when I see how many prefixes they use at Waltham Cross, I’m like what are you doing? The A and B prefixes aren’t needed for the 13 and 15 really. The 14 and 16 aren’t really needed at all as separate numbers and join a sizable number of ridiculously short routes in London-Herts-Essex once you factor in TFL’s 327 that only goes to Bullsmoor Estate and the 379 that runs through Chingford to Yardley Lane. All 4 routes take around 15 minutes end to end. I can’t help but feel the bus network around Enfield, Waltham Abbey and Cheshunt needs to be combined and coordinated far better, it’s all 1 built up area. Most of the demand for buses is within 3 miles of Waltham Cross and yet the 251 is the only route that doesn’t terminate there. Our area makes no sense and the bus stop gives a false impression as Waltham Abbey’s buses are rubbish! Also, good to see Central Connect put double deckers on the 25 to Harlow but it needs to be more frequent than once an hour!
Aaron
LikeLike
The problem Waltham cross faces is it is a border town between Herts London and Essex and with de regulation that’s become a big problem. In the past it as not really a problem as the areas were covered by LT’s red buses or LT’s country buses,
LikeLike
The entire Waltham Cross network needs reconfiguring but with 3 counties involved it is not going happen
Historically the Red London buses mainly terminated at Waltham cross with London country taking over past Waltham cross. Terminating mot buses at Waltham Cross back then made sense as Cheshunt and Waltham Abby was not very built up but thats no longer he case
LikeLike
I agree with you that it’s unlikely and this is why it frustrates me that the government seems to be missing the perfect opportunity to redraw the boundaries in my area, reorganisation shouldn’t be keeping the same Hertfordshire and Essex borders, it’s madness and transport is not the only issue hit badly by the border problem, every public service is. The buses were actually alright in both Waltham Abbey and Cheshunt until austerity hit, there’s always a long wait for a bus to these places now and evening services are very poor. Waltham Abbey is now 23000 people, Cheshunt almost 50000 with the latter seeing lots of new developments and expansion into the green belt planned. It needs to be sorted out somehow, it’s a bit of an injustice that we don’t get red buses when many of the neighbouring towns to the east and west still do. Given the 242 to Potters Bar and routes to Hammond Street were red routes, as well as everything that served the Abbey, why did it need to change? We may be different counties, but we have very strong ties with North London, far more than either Herts or Essex, the counties we are supposedly apart of.
Aaron
LikeLike
If we had the old London Country are become as franchise area that would help considerably. It also needs the 310 restored to run into Enfield
LikeLike
Any direct bus fullstop from Cheshunt to Enfield Town would be so useful, so surprising such a route doesn’t exist. The 317 isn’t a long route at all and Waltham Cross isn’t a great terminus, too small! Ideally a single transport authority would cover all the commuter towns around London. They definitely had the right idea when London Country was a thing.
Aaron
LikeLike
Service to Enfield could be re3stored at quite a low cost
The 217 could be restored to run through to Waltham Abbey BUT only on Mon to Sat day times and only two buses an hour would run through to Waltham Abbey, This would keep the cost down
The 310 would also be restored to run through to Enfield but again only Mon to Sat day times and only two buses an hour would be e4xtended to Enfield
LikeLike
To anonymous,
Why limit it to daytimes and nothing on Sundays? If it were up to me, extend the 217 to Hammond Street and 317 to Upshire and keep the same frequency and timetable (5am to 1am, 7 days a week) as now for these routes. No need for the 251 at all then. You’re right that it wouldn’t cost much to do this, just the daft counties in the way. A more radical change I’d want is to have a bus from Enfield to Hoddesdon replacing the 310 and they’d only overlap from Broxbourne station. These sort of changes would have TFL cover the actual built up area here properly. As a resident of Cheshunt, it’s the lack of buses after 7pm and on weekends that are the problem and is very limiting.
Aaron
LikeLike
Always enjoy your Seen Around blogs. It is good to see Stagecoach providing printed information for Oxford. Since September they have been doing that where I live in Andover – a timetable leaflet for the town network and individual timetables for routes to Basingstoke, Winchester and Salisbury are provided within the bus station and appear to be well used.
Tony G.
LikeLike
Maybe having the Oxford bus information stand with many more timetable holders on the “wrong side” (i.e., facing the station entrance rather than the barriers) is a smart move. If you arrive at the station and have just paid an expensive taxi fare, you might want to grab a timetable to read on the train. This might allow you to work out a cheaper approach for when returning to Oxford by train, using the bus to your final destination (CH, Oxford).
LikeLike
It’s not simply the content of the display cases in Derby bus station that bothers me, it’s the arrangement of the top line relative the lower.
Instead of being badly offset they should be aligned at the left and right side with the upper middle one centred above the lower ones. Or is that just me?
John
LikeLike
While it’s certainly good to see GWR making space for bus timetables at Oxford station, what would be really useful would be if GWR printed train timetables and had them available at every station.
Petras409
LikeLike
St Pancras is severely lacking in litter bins, I assume because with Eurostar and trains to two different airports it’s considered a big terrorist target.
Pigeons on the subsurface lines have been a thing for years, especially on sections with many open-air stations.
Phil E
LikeLike
More for the London Bus Cuts Tracker.
Assorted routes in the “H” series get widened early morning schedules, there are some temporary west london widening of headways and the main change is (1st March)
LikeLike
I cannot quite make Oxford out. The passenger increase is a touch under 6.5percent per annum . Presumably some park and ride, more tourists, more development , hope that Mini construction will continue. What is being measured – trips in the City or commuting in , are we counting Oxford Tube etc services ?
LikeLike
I really don’t care what colour First’s buses are; changing a livery is usually significant of a new MD’s vanity or a company’s cluelessness. I would be more impressed if this disaster of a company put some effort into telling people about its services: printed maps would be a start; printed timetables would be rather useful; presenting those timetables clearly would make them easy to read; and making the things available in libraries, TiCs, rail stations, buses and, I hesitate to say, travel offices, would be the icing on the cake.
Don’t laugh.
LikeLike
The subject of utility caused traffic disruption has come up in comments before, so this call out is welcome.
https://www.cpt-uk.org/news/bus-operators-call-for-action-to-tackle-badly-co-ordinated-streetworks/
Peter Brown
LikeLike
What are the tree guard like things on the top deck rear corners of the Metrobus hydrogen bus and why?
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are to protect the outlets that the steam comes out of
LikeLike