Thursday 26th September 2024 Here's another one of those community involvement success stories. It's from the Lake District where a volunteer-led community group called Sustainable and Integrated Transport for Ullswater (SITU) has set about organising and funding two additional bus routes to supplement Stagecoach's successful and well used bus network through the National Park. Key... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 24th September 2024 It’s been a long while since I’ve visited the wonderful Amberley Museum in West Sussex so its annual autumn Bus Show on Sunday was a good opportunity to put that right. It’s a fantastic museum located in a former chalk pit which housed a working quarry doing its business between the... Continue Reading →
Saturday 21st September 2024 We're now into the top three of this year's run down, month by month, of Britain's busiest railway stations, using the Office of Road and Rail’s statistics for the year ended March 2023. Which brings us to Waterloo. Pre-pandemic and pre-Elizabeth line, Waterloo always proudly held the top spot, but nothing's... Continue Reading →
Thursday 19th September 2024 Over fifty keen, energetic, enthusiastic young bus professionals working in the bus industry met up for just over 24 hours in Cambridge on Thursday and Friday last week for the network’s latest conference. Over the the last 13 years I've had the pleasure of jointly hosting these proceedings and, as always,... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 17th September 2024 1. Penny pinching over Railcard discounts Holders of Railcards will notice their discounted rail ticket has increased in price this week. That's because the discount reduced marginally on Sunday from 34% to 33.4% making it closer to the actual "one third" discount included in all marketing and advertising literature for Railcards.... Continue Reading →
Saturday 14th Septmber 2024 I featured an early morning journey on Preston’s bus route numbered 100 last month and it made sense on the same visit to head on northwards to explore Lancashire’s other route 100 in the lovely city of Lancaster. Operated by Stagecoach this busy double deck route is part of a mini... Continue Reading →
Thursday 12th September 2024 What is going on with the Isle of Wight's railway? The Island Line’s first closure of recent times was between 4th January and 1st November 2021. Originally billed to last three months with a March reopening, it dragged on through the summer season and lasted for a total of 10 months.... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 10th September 2024 As the mood music from Government turns up the volume of "local communities put back in the driving seat"; “new powers to take back control of local bus services” and "public control to be delivered faster and cheaper" with yesterday's DfT announcement of its upcoming "bus revolution"... ...recent developments in Derbyshire... Continue Reading →
Saturday 7th September 2024 I left you in Thursday's blog departing Machynlleth on the 08:52 Transport for Wales train up the Cambrian Coast line to Pwllheli on day 2 of a tour of the scenic rail lines in Wales. The Cambrian coast timetable has eight return trains a day roughly every two hours between Machynlleth... Continue Reading →
Thursday 5th September 2024 Llanwrtyd station in the Heart of Wales After last month’s three day jaunt enjoying Scotland’s scenic railways with a Spirit of Scotland Travel Pass I spent a couple of days in Wales at the beginning of this week doing the same. My brother had expressed a desire to enjoy the best... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 3rd September 2024 I featured the three seasonal bus routes that ran in Kent this summer in a blog last month so thought I’d better also take a ride on neighbouring Medway’s summer offering before it ended last weekend. As you can see it was a convoluted circular route linking Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham... Continue Reading →
Sunday 1st September 2024 It wasn’t that long ago (2021-2023) TfL’s bus route planning department was all about frequency cuts and service withdrawals. Justification for cutting long standing routes habitually quoted the Hopper Fare allowing passengers to “seamlessly” change buses without incurring a fare penalty when their direct journey was no longer possible. This period,... Continue Reading →
Saturday 31st August 2024 (Non subscribing readers using smartphones to land on this webpage may have missed yesterday's unscheduled extra blog. If so, here's a link.) And here's another month's round up of items spotted on my travels but not blogged about. New Travel Information Centre opens And first up this month it's good news... Continue Reading →
Friday 30th August 2024 Welcome to an extra unscheduled bonus blog which I promised all the regulars on Carlone’s Thursday only route 525 I’d write and upload when I took a ride on the route yesterday. It was the very last journey ever of this much loved and well used once-a-week shoppers’ bus that’s been... Continue Reading →
Thursday 29th August 2024 I took a ride on Stagecoach South East's route 100 last year and blogged about it at the time. It turned out to be the inspiration for this year’s fortnightly series. While enjoying the East Sussex scenery between Hastings and Rye last summer, it set me wondering how many other bus... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 27th August 2024 When I set out to ride and blog about all Britain’s 26 bus routes numbered 100 at the beginning of the year I explained I was ignoring school journeys and sightseeing specials (eg Chester) which often don’t even display the number but use it for administrative reasons. However two additional route... Continue Reading →
Sunday 25th August 2024 After the delayed but enjoyable journey up to Aberdeen (see Part 1 of this two part blog from yesterday) and bought my Travel Pass from Aberdeen station's ticket office, day one of my Spirit of Scotland adventure began on the 10:08 ScotRail train from Aberdeen to Inverness. It was a nice... Continue Reading →
Saturday 24th August 2024 I've recently spent a few days enjoying travelling on Scotland's (indeed, Britain's) renowned scenic railway lines with the freedom that comes with a Spirit of Scotland Travel Pass. "Uncover the true spirit of Scotland - from the wilderness of the far north, to the urban delights of Scotland's seven cities." So... Continue Reading →
Thursday 22nd August 2024 In DRT news ……. following last month’s blog about NottsBus On Demand expanding into West Rushcliffe comes the long awaited new scheme in Buckinghamshire. I paid a visit to Aylesbury on Tuesday to check out the town’s new Village Connect branded operation which began on Monday. There have obviously been issues... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 20th August 2024 It was fifty years ago in 1974 Jeff Morss set up his one man bus company called Fareline. Based in Wingfield, Suffolk - a village close to the County’s border with Norfolk, eight miles east of Diss - the Company has made a speciality of running rural bus routes in north... Continue Reading →
Sunday 18th August 2024 Enticed by the attractive bus timetable booklet I mentioned in a recent blog, I took a day trip over to the Isle of Wight a few weeks ago and was quickly reminded why Southern Vectis is a well deserved award winning bus company. I highlighted how the company exudes quality in... Continue Reading →
Saturday 17th August 2024 After my abandoned ride on the Sunday only route 100 around Barry, described last time, I headed up to Preston for an overnight stay before an early Monday morning exploration of that city’s route 100, one of two in the county of Lancashire. And, it turns out just in the nick... Continue Reading →
Thursday 15th August 2024 A decision on the future of the UK Government’s £2 fare cap scheme on bus routes in England needs to be taken in the next few weeks. When it ends in December the scheme will have been in place for two years, having being introduced in January 2023. That’s eight times... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 13th August 2024 We're up to number 4 in this Pick of the Pops style countdown of Britain's busiest railway stations and after looking at Victoria in fifth place last month with its 45,563,972 passengers, just ahead of it in fourth place is fellow Brighton Line companion, London Bridge, boasting a couple of million... Continue Reading →
Sunday 11th August 2024 I’m a child of the mid to late 1950s and early 1960s and as regular blog readers will know, growing up in the fairly affluent north London suburb of Winchmore Hill my early interest in public transport was first kindled by watching and travelling on the soon to be replaced trolleybuses... Continue Reading →
Saturday 10th August 2024 All is not well on a rural bus route in Bedford. As you can see from the above headlines in last week's trade press (Route One) and the Bedford Today online news website, a row has broken out between the respected locally based Grant Palmer bus company, Bedford Borough Council and... Continue Reading →
Thursday 8th August 2024 My recent post about The way ahead for buses and trains attracted a large response of more than 80 comments. I'm sure not every reader reads through every comment, particularly those added a few days after the original post, so today I'm reprinting a comment left by an anonymous train driver... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 6th August 2024 This summer school holiday has seen three new bus routes hit the road in Kent. First up, commencing on Saturday 20th July, is a free shuttle bus on new route 51 connecting Folkestone West and Folkestone Central railway stations with Folkestone Harbour Crosskeys are running the daily service on behalf of... Continue Reading →
Sunday 4th August 2024 London Transport Museum’s programme of behind the scenes tours of disused parts of the Underground gained a new tour last week featuring Holborn. I was fortunate to secure a place on the very first tour on Wednesday morning. Our hosts were the Museum’s very experienced tour guides, Pat and Tommy, who... Continue Reading →
Saturday 3rd August 2024 Welcome to the second of only two bus routes numbered 100 in Wales which, as mentioned last time, are both to be found in the south. This one is in Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan. Of all Britain’s 26 bus routes numbered 100, this one is unique in that it... Continue Reading →
Thursday 1st August 2024 Welcome to another month's miscellaneous matters. Those little things I spotted while travelling around during July but not so far blogged about ....... and first up a quick report on a journey I took from Tring to Chesham on Red Eagle operated route 199 at the beginning of the month.... The... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 30th July 2024 As explained in a recent blog about Arriva’s exit from High Wycombe (enacted at the weekend), Carousel Buses and Reading Buses began providing their competitive replacement bus routes between Henley and Reading on Sunday. Carousel has replicated Arriva's previous routes 800 and 850, each on an hourly frequency between High Wycombe,... Continue Reading →
Sunday 28th July 2024 Nottinghamshire County Council has expanded its DRT scheme for the third time. Thanks to the DfT's Rural Mobility Fund, NottsBus On Demand began back in August 2022 operating in two adjacent geographic zones North Ollerton and South Ollerton covering an area stretching from Gainsborough in the north to Newark in the... Continue Reading →
Saturday 27th July 2024 Norfolk is typical of a number of 'shire counties' embracing the opportunities presented by Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding in England. It doesn't have a high profile directly elected Mayor continually courting media coverage to spout the mantra about "taking back control". Instead, experienced and dedicated staff at the Council... Continue Reading →
Thursday 25th July 2024 Here's what King Charles III read out in his speech to both Houses of Parliament last Wednesday: "A Bill will be introduced to allow local leaders to take control of their local bus services. My ministers will bring forward legislation to improve the railways by reforming rail franchising, establishing Great British... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 23rd JULY 2024 Many years ago Stagecoach ran a bus route (numbered VT99) on behalf of Virgin Trains linking Milton Keynes Central station with Luton and its airport. Press fast forward and it became route MK1 and more recently Stagecoach linked the service to its Luton to Bedford bus route creating a pronounced V... Continue Reading →
Sunday 21st July 2024 Photo courtesy Nicholas Owen A rally marking the 70th Anniversary of the very first public appearance of a Routemaster bus at the 1954 Commercial Motor show is taking place this weekend at Chiswick Business Park - the site of London Transport’s famous Chiswick Works. RM1 is in attendance along with the... Continue Reading →
Saturday 20th July 2024 We’re in south Wales for this ride on one of Britain’s 26 bus routes numbered 100. It’s one of only two route 100s in Wales and both can be found close to Cardiff. This 100 is operated by Edwards Coaches. Edwards is a long standing well known coach and bus operator... Continue Reading →
Thursday 18th July 2024 A commenter recently suggested I publish a blog outlining the logistics of last month's Rail Rover. On that very theme here’s one I prepared earlier … (it’s been sitting in the pending folder since March) … explaining what happened on a day trip to Weston and Wells. 07:05 Arrive Hassocks station.... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 16h June 2024 TfL introduced the final route change in its Central London Bus Review at the end of last month - the extensive proposals launched and consulted on during the summer of 2022. It never pays to rush these things. The delayed change involves route 211 which had operated between Hammersmith and Waterloo... Continue Reading →
Sunday 14th July 2024 This delightful paperback book by Gray Lightfoot was published earlier this year and if you fancy a funny, irreverent, down-to-earth honest account of what it’s like to be a bus driver in the tourist hot spot of Cornwall, then this is definitely the book for you. Author and poet Gray, joined... Continue Reading →
Saturday 13th July 2024 I’m back on the the top ten countdown of Britain's Busiest Railway Stations and at Number 5 it’s Victoria where Southern and Gatwick Express meet Southeastern in a divided station which historically was two separate entities from rival companies. Southeastern uses eight platforms (1-8) Southern uses nine (9-12 and 15-19) with... Continue Reading →
Thursday 11th July 2024 It's been ages since I've explored the four branch lines off the Great Western Main Line between Paddington and Reading, so I put that right on Saturday taking advantage of GWR's Thames Branches Day Ranger. With a Senior Railcard, it costs a very reasonable £17.20 including travel on the main line... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 9th July 2024 Two very different new bus routes began operating on Sunday and I’ve taken a ride on both. First up, thanks to Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding, is a cross-city limited stop route in Brighton and Hove. New route 1X links the residential area of Mile Oak (in the north west... Continue Reading →
Sunday 7th July 2024 Ian Budd, the enthusiastic knowledgable convenor of the Friends of the Far North Line (FoFNL) kindly invited me to speak at the organisation's Annual Conference last month in Inverness. It was wonderful to see and hear the passion and enthusiasm of everyone attending; all committed to making the Far North Line... Continue Reading →
Saturday 6th July 2024 Time for another exploration of one of Britain’s 26 bus routes numbered 100. And this time I’m back in the Home Counties taking a ride on Red Rose Travel’s route between Aylesbury and Milton Keynes. In what is a topical piece of history, the route was introduced as recently as 2020... Continue Reading →
Thursday 4th July 2024 It's just over three weeks until Arriva's exit from High Wycombe (along with Aylesbury) so I decided to pay a visit to see what the company will be leaving behind. Despite imminent abandonment of the town Arriva's website continues to extol its virtues..... "High Wycombe is a thriving market town situated... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 2nd July 2024 Hot on the heels of the much delayed commencement of trams running to Blackpool North railway station, comes another “At last” transport development: the long awaited, much anticipated, opening of Cardiff’s new Bus Interchange on Sunday. The Welsh capital’s former bus station closed in 2015 to make way for a smart... Continue Reading →
Sunday 30th June 2024 Blog reader Stuart got in touch and kindly recommended I take a ride on the Faringdon Tourist Bus. It was a new one on me. A Saturday only route exploring border territory where Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire come together, comprising three circular round trips, each lasting almost two hours. Journeys leave... Continue Reading →
Thursday 27th June 2024 It was back in December 2017 Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling (remember him?), gave the formal go-ahead for the £23.4 million Blackpool Tramway extension from North Pier along Talbot Road to Blackpool North railway station, enabling construction of the 600 yards of track to begin in April 2018 with... Continue Reading →
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