Sunday 21st April 2019
Let’s get the vinyl-over-windows frustration out of the way first. It’s never a good idea to ask the public to vote on branding; it’s bad enough letting them decide on EU membership or naming a research vessel for the British Antarctic Survey so when CT Plus Jersey (an HCT Group company) celebrated winning the contract to replace Connex to run the State of Jersey’s bus network in January 2013 and invited the public to vote on the marketing and branding for the revitalised network as a bit of a ‘community involvement’ PR stunt, it was bound to offer up a Boaty McBoatface result.
Sails are all very well, but whoever thought it was a good idea to cover bus windows with them has obviously never travelled on a bus, especially on an island renowned for its spectacular views across glorious bays.
The fact the public backed livery went on to win an award for ‘Best Brand Campaign’ at the ‘Jersey Chartered Institute of Marketing Awards’ in 2013 speaks volumes about such dubious accolades rather than anything to crow about.
Six years on from winning the contract it was telling to see what seems like the majority of buses looking distinctly slapdash with missing vinyl where panels have been replaced during my whistle-stop visit to Jersey this Easter weekend…..
….. but there’s a glimmer of hope for the future as it appears the designers have finally seen sense, with a year left to run on CT Plus’s initial contract and introduced a very welcome modified livery with less prominent sails which I spotted on a few newer or repainted buses.
So, having sorted that, here are some of the many positives about LibertyBus.
It’s a tidy, easy to understand network with all bus routes sensibly radiating out from St Helier which lies a little to the east of the centre of the south coast, and is the Island’s capital. Pretty much all the main tourist hot spots and coastal bays are served by bus meaning there’s no need for tourists to hire a car, although many must do as this rather effective and poignant message on a bus confirmed.
For those eschewing car hire, three bus routes serve Jersey Airport, located in the west of the Island, with buses stopping right outside the exit to the terminal building.
Most routes run to an hourly frequency with route 15 to the Airport and route 1 to Gorey Pier, on the east coast, running every 15 minutes Mondays to Saturdays and every 20 minutes on Sundays. Route 3 to Jersey Zoo is increased to half hourly from the end of May to the end of September when there are a few other seasonal enhancements to the network.
Most routes are operated with single decks (Solos, both long and short, dominate the fleet) but route 15 as well as route 22 to the west coast are double deck (Alexander Dennis Enviro400s and a few ex London Scania OmniCity buses).
Buses were busy as you’d expect over a late Easter weekend with superb weather but the frequencies and vehicle capacities seemed to be coping well. I saw one or two ‘stacked out’ Solos on route 12A which skirts St Aubin’s Bay on its way to the picturesque St Brelade’s Bay and Corbière on the south coast. On Sunday buses were leaving Liberation Station showing ‘Sorry! Bus Full’. I reckon the ‘high summer’ seasonal route 12 could usefully be added to the network from Easter.
Summer only route 14 which follows a similar route to the 12A as far as St Brelade’s Bay has a Beach Bus branded open topper (a second hand Dennis Trident from Lothian) and was doing a good trade for much of the day although I noticed it had been replaced by a standard closed top double deck later on.
It was noticeable how many families and people of all different ages were travelling by bus, and although there was some minor late running due to squeezing pass traffic on narrow roads, there was no real congestion issues and it was all the more enjoyable to travel around the Island without incurring severe Bank Holiday traffic delays. I was particularly struck by how few sets of traffic lights I encountered on my travels.
LibertyBus have a unique system for marking bus stops; in many cases there’s no pole on the pavement but simply the word BUS painted on the road with a four digit number (which appear to be to any random sequence along a route) to identify the stop to find live departure times online, although the look up option also includes bus stops by name too. I wasn’t convinced all the information was showing ‘real time’ either.
The most odd feature is the listing of routes online which, like the bus stop numbering, also appears to be in a strange random order. I guess locals get used to it though.
There’s a very impressive zoomable colour coded online map which shows the exact position of every bus on each route by colour as well as every bus stop being clickable for departure times and interestingly this sits on a Government of Jersey webpage rather than the LibertyBus website.
Slightly less impressive, the online network route map which backs up the ‘journey planning’ tool is out of date showing a route (27) and network link (route 4 to the Zoo) which are now withdrawn.
The website also contains an image of the very colourful and helpful network timetable book which one can scroll through, but frustratingly as the timetable pages are printed landscape you have to crick your neck to try and see them at ninety degrees on screen.
It would help if a pdf of the timetable pages in the book could be shown turned by ninety degrees or more pertinently the website be updated and the timetables which are showing the right way up but expired on 31 March (for the winter), and still displaying, need to be taken down and replaced with the now current summer timetables.
There’s no app available which is a shame as these rather cumbersome look up features, including real time departures, lend themselves to be much simplified through using a handy app on a smartphone when out and about. It could also give the option of mobile tickets.
The heart of the bus operation is Liberation Station where all services terminate. There’s a Tourist Information desk as well as a LibertyBus Customer Services desk with extensive opening hours.
Both have supplies of the timetable book to hand out but I noticed none were on wide display for passengers to help themselves, which is a shame. I did spot a little pile on the Customer Services counter from time to time.
There were lots of racks containing plenty of other tourist leaflets including a Visitor Map of the island which I noticed many people using (it does show some bus route numbers but is no good to follow the routes).
I also noticed a lack of timetable books on board buses and other distribution points such as hotels; something Stagecoach do very well in the Lake District by comparison.
The bus station concourse is extremely well laid out being very inviting and airy as well as functional. There’s a coffee/snack bar and also a Brompton Cycle Hire facility and toilets are adjacent.
There are a few seats by each of the ten departure bays on the inner side of the concourse which have doors covered by advertising material so you can’t see into the gloom where the buses draw up.
However, there are screens advising of upcoming departures and at each departure bay a screen shows imminent departures.
The advertising at most of the bays features a tourist attraction along the route which is a nice touch.
Once a bus pulls up ready for boarding the departure door opens.
The area hidden from view reminded me of Aylesbury bus station, except there passengers have to wait and board buses in the gloomy area.
This side of the bus station can only take single deckers so the double deck operated routes depart from the other side of the concourse on the roadway where there are a further four departure bays and where all evening departures leave when the concourse is closed. Many buses also set down at these stops too.
Smartcards are available for regulars, visitors and students on which a range of consecutive day tickets or pay-as-you-go can be added and contactless is also available, but there’s no on board Wi-fi or usb sockets, but there are next stop displays and in some cases, audio too, although I noticed on some routes the displays seem to get stuck. The audio only plays for major tourist destinations. As mentioned earlier, no mobile tickets are available which would prove useful for visitors.
Fares and ticket prices are good value. A day ticket at £8 gets cheaper the more consecutive days you buy (2 for £15, 3 for £21 and 7 for £30). A 10p increase was applied to the flat £2.20 fare from the beginning of April but it’s still just £2 per journey for contactless payment or a bargain £1.65 for pay-as-you-go.
I spotted the above notice on a bus which would indicate there are cheaper ticket prices for residents who register and use an ‘Avanchi’ smartcard – 7 days travel for £21 instead of £30. If so, CT Plus Jersey are running a risk of a claim for discrimination!
Three highlights of my visit and highly recommended are a ride on the hourly route 22 (also route 12 from end May to September) over to the west coast which takes about an hour to reach the terminus at L’Etacq and the views from the top deck between Corbière and around St Ouen’s Bay are magnificent as pictured above; secondly a trip on the less frequent route 4 (nine journeys a day) which reaches the north of the Island and particularly Bonne Nuit Bay and the quintuple hairpin bends down to, and back up from, the scenically spectacular Bouley Bay (below)…
…. and thirdly a ride on one of the heritage buses operated by the independent Jersey Bus & Boat Tours to the Jersey War Tunnels; if you’re lucky on the wonderful RTL 326.
This tour company runs a number of island tours which are worth considering if you want to explore the island in one journey without taking a myriad of local bus routes.
I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend’s wander around the island using routes 1, 1A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 21, 22, 23 and 28 finding well used buses even away from the main tourist spots, keeping pretty much to time, and with very friendly and helpful drivers. The only mishap was the driver on my open top journey on route 14 this afternoon taking a wrong turning instead of heading to St Brelade’s Bay necessitating a 20 minute detour to get back to the same point but it was all taken in good spirit and we all enjoyed a bonus longer journey.
CT Plus Jersey’s initial seven year contract expires at the end of this year but I’m sure the optional three year extension will apply; all the signs are that it’s going very well. Passenger numbers have been reported as growing year on year although I noticed this year’s summer timetable has retained a couple of winter features rather than the usual seasonal enhancements.
A 9 by 5 mile island would lend itself to electric buses and local press reports indicate environmental issues are rising up the agenda. Certainly something well worth considering.
As is a more frequent timetable on the 12/12A with double decks perhaps earlier in the season as well as wider distribution of the timetable book, an app together with mobile ticket options, and add usb and Wi-Fi on board. Sorted.
Roger French
It’s not often a completely new bus route starts up. Usually changes to bus services see variations to long standing routes featuring improvements or reductions to frequencies and journey times or diversions to routes to serve new developments.
§Instead of running via Lewes, the 11X route astutely leaves Brighton along the busy Coast Road via Rottingdean, Saltdean, Telscombe and Peacehaven as far as Newhaven before heading inland on the A26 to Beddingham joining the A27 to Polegate and importantly serving Middle Farm and Drusillas Zoo Park along the way before continuing south on the A22 to Eastbourne.
Shaun drove up in the Drusillas branded bus in good time at 8.50am and we left spot on time with twenty on board.
Encouragingly there were many families and children on board; concessionary passes and their poor reimbursement rate were definitely in the minority. Even more impressive, forty passengers alighted at various stops along the A27 including Firle, Middle Farm, Charleston Farmhouse, Wilmington and around half at Drusillas. Until today none of these destinations had been available by bus from Brighton and the Coast Road.
Bus stops have been updated with the 11X route number and timetable….
…. the real time signs included our departure, on board next stop displays and announcements have all the new stops and there are timetable leaflets on board too, all key ingredients alongside an updated easy to use website with information too.
I wish those managers at bus companies who reckon because there’s a timetable online there’s no need to print anything could have seen all the passengers on board this morning clutching the latest edition of Bus Times magazine which was also available on board. This is how you encourage passengers.
Arriving in Eastbourne Shaun was understandably well chuffed with a total of 65 passengers having travelled on the very first journey. I reckon this must be something of a record.
One of London’s best bus routes started up again today for the summer season.
And there’s a brand new bus for this year’s operation. Provided by RAKAT (Richmond and Kingston Accessible Transport) it’s a smart and comfortable 16 seater Mercedes with room for wheelchairs and is used on their community and welfare transport work on other days.
The RP1 route comprises a full clockwise circuit around the ten mile internal perimeter road in Richmond Park with bus stops by each entrance/exit including two brief excursions to serve bus stops just outside the Park at Ham Village and Common and Roehampton’s Danebury Avenue. The route also includes a short diversion to Penn Ponds inside the Park as well as the accessible entrance to the Isabella Plantation with its magnificent collection of rhododendrons. There’s also a stop at Pembroke Lodge.
It takes just over an hour to do the full circuit. It’s the best hour’s bus ride you’ll ever have in London. I’ve travelled the route at least once each year for a few years now and always thoroughly enjoy the experience. Not least because Malcolm the regular driver makes it so special.
Malcolm has been involved in the Royal Parks’ educational trust for many years making sure youngsters get to know all about the amazing features and history of the Park. He’s in his element out and about on Wednesdays driving the bus and providing a fascinating running commentary during the journey not only about the many interesting features you pass by including the famous deer and wildlife but also many historical anecdotes and facts. For example the magnificent tree pictured below is the oldest (circa 800-900 years) in the Park.
Every year Malcolm tells me he’s going to retire, but every year to my and other regular passengers delight he’s back for another season, as he was today and on top form too.
Whether it be putting out promotional ‘A frames’ at bus stops in Ham ….
…. making sure timetables are in place at bus stops all round the circuit ….
….. or delivering supplies of the timetable leaflet to any location that will take them.
Malcolm also displays remarkable patience with everyone boarding and alighting including those needing a helping hand and being besieged by families wanting to take a ride into the Park for a school holiday picnic as happened on the second journey this morning.
It was also hugely impressive to see TfL come up trumps and inserted this year’s RP1 timetable in the cases at stops in Ham Village and Ham Common so connections with routes 371 and 65 can be promoted.
Malcolm was visibly chuffed to see his hard work supported by TfL as was I.
Malcolm appeared a few minutes before the first journey’s scheduled departure time of 0940 and another regular passenger (who’d come for the full circuit) and I boarded. We were soon chatting away with Malcolm and were joined by another passenger as we got underway on the circuit picking up two more at Ham Common just outside the Park.
We dropped one passenger off at the Isabella Plantation and another at Pembroke Lodge where we picked up a family of four who were travelling round to Robin Hood gate as well as another passenger boarding for the circuit.
We were lucky to see many of the Park’s deer population today basking in the sunshine including a group of red deer crossing in front of us near Sheen Gate.
Back at journey’s end at Danebury Avenue the regular passenger and I alighted and left Malcolm to deal with those families off for a picnic.
I can’t recommend a ride on the RP1 highly enough. Malcolm is training up another driver to stand in for him on some weeks as well as ensuring he can have a well earned summer holiday this year, but if you do get to ride with Malcolm you’re in for a treat.
After that ride I headed over to Hoxton in Islington for a ride on London’s other quirky minibus operated bus route; the long standing 812 which meanders around Islington’s residential roads providing links to the Angel, Clerkenwell and Old Street areas which compliment TfL’s traditional red bus routes.
Ironically although the route runs in Islington, it’s operated by HCT Group which has its origins as Hackney Community Transport based in the neighbouring Borough of Hackney but which has grown hugely over the last decade and now has transport interests in many areas of the country.
HCT’s London operations are now run by a company called CT Plus and the 812 has regular drivers employed by CT Plus who are very attentive to passenger needs and provide extra help as needed.
I arrived at Hoxton just before the 1220 scheduled departure this morning and the smart minibus was already waiting nearby the terminus at Bridport Place; the usual bus stand being blocked by a short turning route 21.
We headed off bang on time with one other passenger who mysteriously also travelled all the way around the circuit. Only one other passenger boarded, and she was obviously hugely grateful for not only the service but the extra help provided by our driver as she boarded with her wheelie walking aid.
Two buses are needed to run the service and London’s new ULEZ has meant CT Plus have redeployed minibuses from special needs transport work on to the 812 with a refreshed branding and livery.
My final foray on London’s non red bus routes was last week after my trip on the Tuesday only 969. Kingston University has been running its bespoke network of bus routes for some years and at the end of 2016 splashed out on a fleet of smart new Wright bodied hybrid buses. Actually it’s RATP-DEV who’ve invested in the buses as they operate the contract to provide the Uni routes alongside their London United bus company which runs an extensive number of contracted routes for TfL in this part of south west London.
The three routes KU1, KU2 and KU3 are free to use and aimed at students and staff at the University, but there’s nothing to stop any member of the public hopping aboard (“there is no need to show your University ID”) if the bus is going your way; which it might well do if you travel to and from Kingston town centre from the various University campus sites in Roehampton Vale, Kingston Hill and Penrhyn Road or near the University residential complexes at Seething Wells, Clayhill and Fairfield South.
Wiltshire’s Wigglybus was introduced way back in 1999. At one time it was considered so cutting edge as a project to solve the rural transport challenge it attracted £1million in Government funding for expansion. Rebranded, along with other shared taxi type services across Wiltshire, to the less colloquial ‘Connect2Wiltshire’ umbrella brand in 2007 the original routes in the Vale of Pewsey area are now operated by Go South Coast subsidiary Tourist Coaches, masquerading as sister company Salisbury Reds out on the road.
Basically it’s like one of the new fangled app based ‘Demand Responsive Transport’ (DRT) services operating to a flexible route as demanded by passenger bookings up to two hours before departure (think Arriva Click and Oxford Pick Me Up) ….. but without the app. Instead it’s got the wonderful John based in ‘Tourist Coaches Control’ answering the telephone when you ring to book your journey from one of the many small hamlets located across the delightfully scenic Vale of Pewsey between Pewsey and Devizes in southern Wiltshire.
This is no ‘innovative bus operation’ in a large conurbation; this is a sensible and practical way for Wiltshire County Council to maintain a semblance of public transport in a deep rural area. Furthermore it’s based around a fixed bus route with advertised times from the route’s origin and final destination and at popular stops across the area but allowing flexibility to dive off down country lanes as needed to serve micro hamlets which would otherwise be isolated.
Having experienced lonely solo rides and disappointingly long waits for app based DRT services (“no buses are currently available – please try later”) and frustratingly no means to contact a human being to ask how long the wait might be, I was intrigued to see how a hybrid scheme mixing fixed timetabled times and flexible routings with a human being in control rather than an AI driven algorithm worked in practice. So I wandered over to Pewsey yesterday to take a ride on the ‘Connect2Wiltshire’ routes 101 and 102 between Pewsey, Devizes and surrounding hamlets.
Andy pulled up outside Pewsey’s Co-op spot on time for the 1200 departure on route 102 which heads south to Upavon. This route is also covered by Salisbury Reds hourly X5 between Swindon and Salisbury which gets ten minutes for the direct journey. The flexible 102 can travel via Pewsey’s Broadfields Estate (we did; and took one returning shopper to her house there) as well as the hamlets of Manningford Bruce, North Newnton and Rushall which we had no-one on board for so let them be.
In fact we had no-one else on board for anywhere, so made it to Upavon in good time and continued beyond the village centre, and off the X5 route, to a small residential area called Avon Square on the A342 where our scheduled return time was 1218.
Time for a short photographic stop before returning direct to Pewsey and with no pick ups booked we arrived at 1230, six minutes ahead of schedule ready for the 1240 departure on route 101 across to Devizes.
On arrival Andy pulled up in the corner of the Co-op car park to give John a call and hear details of the booked pick-ups for the next trip. It turned out just one passenger had booked us from a stop on the outskirts of a hamlet with the wonderful name of Honeystreet.
Five passengers were waiting for us as we pulled round to the bus stop right outside the front door of the Co-op for the 1240 departure. Three travelled all the way through to Devizes, one got off within a few stops as we left Pewsey and the fifth, a teenage girl, was travelling to Stanton St Bernard meaning we’d be wiggling off the standard route to drop her off.
Andy took this potential hiccup in his stride; parked up, stepped out of the bus to give John a ring and update him. “They often get picked up by someone they know passing by in a car” Andy explained. I asked if she would have let John know she no longer needed us, but apparently that rarely happens, but at least John is on hand for updates, something an app can’t help with.
As the second passenger boarded he pointed out our further progress through All Cannings was blocked by a window cleaning van parked directly opposite a car so there was nothing for it but for me to get into ‘reversing supervision mode’ again and see Andy safely back into a driveway from where he skilfully did a shunt or two to turn around and wiggle back the way we’d come into the village and get back on route via another way.
Crossing the line at Woodbrough, Andy pointed out the extensive sidings still in situ which at one time would carry train loads of daffodils grown extensively in the area for sale in Covent Garden.
Another interesting insight was a long abandoned and grassed over war time runway alongside the road between Alton Barnes and Staton St Bernard which had been protected by dug out mound type shelters camouflaged with grass around a small entrance and which can still be clearly seen as you drive by today.
Other wonderful sights on the journey included so many thatched roofs, I lost count; including a rebuilt one which Andy explained followed a devastating fire (six fire engines attended); the farm where a thrashing machine was in full flow making the raw material ready for the thatchers; the famous Pewsey White Horse which can be seen from all over the area; and just mile upon mile of delightful scenery and splendid Wiltshire views.
I was also impressed by the obvious availability of roadside information about Connect2Wiltshire; not only in Pewsey and Devizes but all along the route. Timetables were also available to pick up on the bus (as seen in the reflection of the dashboard below)!
You couldn’t fail to miss the bus stop plate and information at Pewsey’s Co-op.
Devizes also sported a handy map at the main Market Square bus stops which is also available online.
With all the excitement of the journey, we arrived in Devizes just over five minutes late and Andy welcomed the nine passengers boarding for the return journey to Pewsey and see how much wiggle room there’d be heading back to Pewsey.
Transport for London’s bus service 969 is the last route standing of a once substantial ‘Mobility Bus’ network of routes operating one or two days a week to a local shopping centre from relatively low-density neighbourhoods where no alternative mainstream route in the main bus network served the area. In the old days the buses were wheelchair accessible so also provided a service for those with impaired mobility.
From Richmond it heads east towards Barnes along the Upper Richmond Road, also served by three other bus routes, except our 969 bifurcates to pass by Mortlake Station, the River Thames (pictured below) and Barnes Bridge Station as well as the delightful Barnes Pond before heading back south at the Wetland Centre passing Barnes Station and then deviating off into another small residential area unserved by other bus routes called Lennox Estate.
The 969’s final furlong is south again via Roehampton Lane turning right on to the A3, Roehampton Vale and Kingston Vale, where it terminates at the large Asda.
The Abellio operated bus arrived in Rosebine Avenue, a short nondescript link road from the A316 Chertsey Road into a small cul-de-sac triangle of roads at spot on the scheduled time of 10am and despite there being a timetable posted on the opposite side of the road, the bus pulled up and an empty shopping trolley wheeling passenger who, like me, had been lurking for the previous ten minutes climbed gratefully aboard across the grass verge.
I’d done a little recce around the Gladstone Avenue triangle and already clocked a lorry delivering bricks to one of the bungalows which would cause a problem when the bus arrived; but luckily unloading had virtually finished by the time we got there and the delay was only a few minutes.
We’d picked up four more passengers outside their bungalows as we cruised around Gladstone Avenue and Rosecroft Gardens (meeting another obstacle as a van gingerly reversed into a parking spot) ….
….. before rejoining the Chertsey Road for our next loop along Lincoln Avenue where Google Maps identifies four ‘recognised’ bus stops but I spotted only one timetable case at the beginning of Lincoln Avenue with no identification at the other three locations.
The Chertsey Road (A316) is a fast dual carriageway which feeds directly to and from the M3 so there’s no scope for any more bus stops along the way, even though no other bus routes use it, until we turned right on to St Margarets Road and could safely stop by the station where we picked up two passengers who confidently boarded us even though the normal H37 pulled up behind. One of these travelled just a couple of stops and the other rode the six stops into Richmond where two of our original five Gladstone Avenue boarders alighted. Another had already left us just after St Margarets leaving just two on board.
As everyone clambered aboard with our driver sorting out the trolleys so they were neatly stacked he also warned there was another building supplies delivery ahead with the offending lorry completely blocking our path around the estate.
Our driver Sina, who until now had been ably deputising for regular driver Steve who was away on his holidays (you pick these news snippets up on bus routes of this kind, although no-one knew whether Steve had gone abroad) doned his high-viz and wandered down to see what the prognosis was.
Having been sitting awkwardly for around an hour in my favourite single deck London bus seat immediately behind the centre doors (where you can keep an eye on most things) due to bus manufacturers once again not catering for anyone with a shoe size larger than size 5, I’d already decided to give up my seat to those boarding with various walking aids and needing it far more than me, so now got off the bus to see what might be done to alleviate the lorry blockage.
Sina soon returned and announced there’d be a twenty minute delay while the unloading continued, but our nine regular Lennox Estate passengers were having none of that, and explained Steve often reverses back up and goes around the estate the “wrong way” before making a u-turn in a lay-by and retracing his steps.
Gallantly I offered to help Sina reverse back and we performed the ‘Steve contingency plan’, but in the event not picking any more passengers up. Turns out Mavis wasn’t up for shopping today and had given the bus a miss.
Sina helped unload all the shopping trolleys before taking the bus off to the official ‘Bus Stand’ on the slip road off the A3 where he parked up until the return journey at 1.15pm.
And ironically the spider map it displays doesn’t show the 969; the one route passing by; it’s relegated to being classified as an “other route”. It may not have a coloured line on a map; but it’s got a bus shelter!
It’s that time of year when local authorities begin a fresh financial twelve months which with dindling Government funding often means less money to spend than the year just ended. For subsidised bus routes that can only mean one thing … another round of cuts and withdrawals. I’ve been out over the last fortnight taking a ride on rural routes facing the axe.
Secondly it links the villages of Godden Green, Stone Street, Ivy Hatch, Shipbourne, Dunk’s Green and Plaxtol to Sevenoaks from the east also with a school timed journey at 0740 and return at 1526 as well as three off peak journeys for shoppers two of which continue through to Ide Hill to the west of Sevenoaks (on the way towards Edenbridge). There’s a late afternoon journey at 1735 but this only continues beyond Ivy Hatch if needed.
The new timetable from next Monday removes the off peak circuit serving Shipbourne, Dunk’s Green and Plaxtol furthest east (but these villages are also served by route 222 operated by Autocar runing north-south between Borough Green and Tonbridge) and reduces the number off peak journeys from three to two as far as Ivy Hatch. However, in a positive development these journeys will continue all the way through to Edenbridge rather than Ide Hill as previously together with an extra new morning journey from Edenbridge as far as Sevenoaks.
Yesterday was the penultimate day of the current timetable and I took a ride heading east on the 1415 journey from Sevenoaks to Plaxtol and back again. There were just two passengers besides me. The female passenger got off after a delightful twenty minute ride through Godden Green, Bitchet Common and Bitchet Green at the lovely village of Ivy Hatch while a man took the bus around the soon to be abandoned circular route including Shipbourne, Dunk’s Green and Plaxtol (which was well worth it too, as can be seen in the photgraph below, taken while we waited time at Shipbourne Church) and he alighted at the National Trust property of Ightham Mote, where he had an hour and a half to explore before the bus would take him back on the return journey after the school trip.
In the new timetable it’s good to see Ightham Mote (a medieval moated manor house) will still be served by bus with an arrival at 1043 and a departure at 1340. Not that the National Trust will be bothered, as their priority sadly seems to be to attract motorists more than anyone else as the notice on the driveway to Ightham Mote captured below confirmed.
We didn’t carry anyone else on the outward journey or anyone coming back into Sevenoaks on the return journey at all, so it’s unlikely this bus is going to be missed by many actual passengers and frankly it makes for a sensible economy. Mind you, when you see the large mansion style exclusive properties we passed on the journey it’s perhaps not surprising – one private road even had a barrier to restrict entry, it was that exclusive!
Returning to Sevenoaks, this bus left again at 1526 for its next journey to Plaxtol but with no-one on board although it undoubtedly picks up school children returning home from the nearby academy.
On yesterday’s showing of such sparse loadings, rural residents around Sevenoaks are doing well to still be receiving a bus service running each day Monday to Friday, albeit limited in frequency. It’s a shame more journeys can’t be justified, as it really is a lovely rural ride and well worth seeking out if you’re ever in Sevenoaks.
The main purpose of the route seems to be to serve the mobile home community, many of whom are of pensionable age, at East Hill Farm which is located at the end of a very long and extremely narrow, winding dead end road. These residents really are isolated and rely on their one Wednesday journey a week to travel into Sevenoaks for shopping.
Seven got off at East Hill who all seemed to be regulars with two others alighting in the Hillingdon Rise residential area in Sevenoaks, exclusively served by the 405, and another in Otford, while two others continued into West Kingsdown.
However, all is not lost as I spotted a notice in the bus shelter in West Kingsdown explaining that Buses4U (a Community Bus Operator) runs a Thursday journey to Bluewater and Gravesend on route 422 but it would seem you have to be a “member” at East Hill to travel, so that rules me out.
While it was nice to ride this pictureseque route on a double decker, the filthy condition of the interior and the cracked upper deck front window presented a terrible image for bus travel.
I sat upstairs with two regular passengers who commented how busy the journey was yet we only had eight on board from Tonbridge at 1222 and only me and two others travelled the whole journey to Borough Green. We dropped one passenger off in Ightham, just before Borough Green, where it meets the Arriva route 308 from Sevenoaks via Borough Green to Gravesend at exactly the same arrival time, 1258. Luckily he made the connection, but he’d been worrying the whole journey whether he’d miss it and have an hour to wait for the next bus. Strikes me a small retiming of the 222 would make all the difference … as would a decent bus to travel on too.
I’d seen the build up in the trade press last summer. Another ‘on-demand’ ‘ride-sharing’ ‘app-based’ ‘innovative’ minibus service due to start running between central/north London and Luton airport from October 2018.
I heard no more until last week when a fullsome effusive four page article appeared in the same trade magazine confirming what was now called B.Bus has been up and running for a month ….. and “we already carried around 20 passengers in the first two weeks”.
I must have missed the bit when it said pick ups/set downs are initially only in the Paddington and Bayswater area, and it could well be my personal technical limitations at how to use apps but I found I could only default to having Luton Airport as the origin rather than destination for my journey.
I received a confirmatory text at 1306 that my journey was booked and scurried off to try and find the rendezvous point in ‘Drop Off zone area Bay F’ ready for a 1316 departure. This was impressive stuff.
They’re Alexander Dennis Enviro400XLB bodies on a Volvo chassis (according to the swanky promotional video which plays out every five minutes or so on two of the four on board TV screens – a pair on each deck). I think most passengers were just impressed they were smart new buses with lots of seats to travel on, rather than a manufacturer’s techy sounding bus model name check!
They’re not all out in service yet – it takes a while to commission 42 new buses (although thankfully not as long as commissioning new trains), as I found out first thing this morning when four consecutive older buses turned up in Princes Street between 0650 and 0735 on route 11.
My patience paid off though as one of the gleaming new jumbo sized buses eventually arrived and I began my first trip to route 11’s southern terminus at Hyvots Bank. About fifteen passengers had spread themselves out on both decks, which wasn’t hard as there really is a lot of room, both upstairs and down to spread out in.
The seats are very comfortable with ample leg room throughout.
The two front offside seats upstairs has particularly generous legroom, as does the nearside seat over the first set of rear wheels.
Being a tri-axle there’s a longer than usual wheel arch giving a double set of backward facing seats.
Some bus companies are now eliminating rear facing seats and replacing them with other novelties like a reading shelf. This also helps deter feet-on-seat syndrome. But here the name of the game is to maximise seating capacity.
Strangely for a bus with a lot of room there’s only a single ‘three tip-up’ sized space for a wheelchair or a buggy.
On one journey a passenger using a wheelchair boarded which meant no buggies could be carried and on another a buggy soon occupied the space with a second having to be folded.
Some bus companies are now installing two wheelchair spaces which has the benefit of increasing the chances for buggy owners to travel easily too.
The pairs of screen monitors are behind the staircase facing the rear on the lower deck and at the top of the front window on the upper deck, sadly restricting the forward view a touch for front gangway seat passengers.
I’m not a great fan of screens inside buses, and certainly not two of them in pairs. I just think it’s way over the top leading to information overload. On the positive side the left hand screen (upstairs) and top screen (downstairs) show very clearly and helpfully the next three bus stops (the next one being announced too) and every so often within a display cycle the right hand screen (upstairs) and lower screen (downstairs) shows the expected arrival time at key points further along the route which is an excellent idea – a similar display in the Airlink buses to Edinburgh Airport helpfully gives up to date flight departures (and I know other bus companies are following Reading’s lead in showing train departures too).
This is all good stuff but I reckon the same effective content can be achieved by cycling through displays on just the one screen rather than having two.
I’m not convinced passengers are avidly watching these things and indeed on a busy bus if you’re sitting towards the middle or rear you can’t make out the screens anyway.
My journey down to Hyvots Bank was ‘against the flow’ of commuters and scholars heading into the city centre so was fairly lightly loaded but it gave me a chance to spot buses on route 11 heading towards the city and I was highly impressed at seeing busy buses which kept on passing by with very few spare seats.
I can certainly appreciate why 100 seat buses make sense on such a busy corridor through the Morningside area heading into the city centre. The current timetable supplements route 11’s daytime ten minute frequency with extra peak hour journeys running at least every five minutes. It looked to me as though there were extra buses to those with at one point four buses virtually following each other, and not long after four more, all well loaded.
Coming back into the city on my return journey between 0800 and 0900 we also got busier and busier as we approached the stop called Morningside Station (there isn’t one) and it was interesting to note there were seats available on the top deck especially towards the rear but downstairs was obviously getting crowded and congested with our driver calling out for passengers to go upstairs “where there are plenty of seats”.
I read Richard Hall, Lothian’s MD, suggesting the introduction of these high capacity buses might enable reductions in frequency. On the strength of this morning’s observations I’m not sure you’d be able to squeeze too many peak buses out, they’re very busy, although not all the route is yet run with the new buses.
It must confuse visitors and tourists that the only references are to either Elm Row or West End, Lothian Road which are the stops before and after Princes Road – and 14 minutes apart at that. Most odd.
Lothian are excellent at providing timetable information – displays of leaflets in their Travel Centre and bus station – and there’s a colourful diagrammatic network map. Their website is full of well laid out helpful information and their fares are great value. There’s real time information via online and on the app as well as at many bus stops with a long established system that now looks a bit dated, albeit seemed to be working well, including switching to giving advice about using the new (Enviro400XLB) buses!
As usual I found Lothian drivers to be cheerful and professional including taking obvious care with the longer than usual new buses not to block junctions…
All in all a great positive development to see these new high capacity buses in service. I’m sure there are applications for such workhorses elsewhere in the country.
Intrigued by all this I headed off to Norwich to investigate. In the event things didn’t work out as planned. The journey I planned to catch on the 88 at 1205 from Norwich was cancelled at short notice due to staff sickness meaning an hours delay and a missed connection in Southwold to the infrequent route 90.
It’s not surprising the wheels are coming off. The post deregulation history of PLC transport groups in East Anglia is not encouraging. First Bus have struggled for years throughout the region. Their Essex operations are down-at-heel befitting the struggling finances. Norwich based operations are looking better than for many a year (and amazingly now seeing off Go-Ahead on the 88) but they gave up on large parts of Suffolk and Norfolk years ago. Stagecoach tried its hand and failed spectacularly with Norfolk Green.
What’s more, the image doesn’t look good either. On the positive side the Travel Centre in Norwich bus station, staffed by Konectbus, looks smart and offers an impressive display of timetables covering all bus operators in the city, as does the Norwich Park and Ride operation but the state of the Company’s vehicles on other routes is anything but smart and leaves much to be desired.
With one exception shown above (indicating the bus wash must have been working), buses were filthy and unattractive. Some were still in Bluestar livery which must look odd to passengers unaware of that award winning sister Go-Ahead company on the south coast. The image portrayed reminded me of a down-at-heel small time bus operator on the verge of going out of business rather than a subsidiary of a well regarded aspirational multi national transport group quoted on the stock market proud of its reputation. Shareholders wouldn’t be proud of this image nor should management.
My next departure at 1305 on the 88 on my aborted day trip unimpressively left late because the driver failed to turn up on time meaning passengers experienced well over an hour to wait and of course there was a double load to load too, and for a route in its last couple of weeks operation was actually quite a decent load.
Down in north Essex and south Suffolk Go-ahead owned Hedingham and Chambers (also both acquired in the 2012 Anglian buying spree) present a smarter image but there are odd inconsistencies in corporate livery. Despite my keen interest in these things I was confused what each brand/company was supposed to look like or whether they were supposed to look the same; goodness knows what passengers and potential passengers think. It’s a complete muddle.
The Chambers operated 753/754 trunk route between Colchester, Sudbury and Bury St Edmunds seems well run as does the Hedingham run 88 (yes, another 88) between Colchester and Halstead (in a long standing joint operation with First Bus – from the days of Eastern Counties and Hedingham working together) and route 89 between Halstead and Braintree all of which I sampled, but these routes will never be double digit profit margin bankers for a PLC.
My advice to Go-Ahead is to get First Bus to agree a couple of hundred grand off the price of Manchester Queens Road and throw this lot in as part of a transfer deal. It would make for a sensible ‘Withdrawal Deal’ for Go-Ahead in Anglia. Another exit strategy would ironically be to sell the former independently operated routes back to, err, an independent operator (see below).
I mentioned above that First Bus seem to have got their act together in Norwich now looking smarter and presentable. The high profile excel ‘X1’ route at one time from Peterborough to Lowestoft, now split into manageable sections, still brings quality looking buses into Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. While at one time Anglian Bus seemed to be running rings around First Bus on the Norwich, Beccles, Lowestoft corridor nowadays First’s X2 (fast) and X22 (via Loddon) provide four buses an hour (two on each route) making for a decent service which seemed well used on my travels.
Lowestoft has always seemed to be low down the First Bus priority list whenever I’ve visited and this time was no exception.
The hourly route 99 down to Kessingland and Southwold was characteristically operated by ‘W’ registration double deckers dating from 2000 giving a travel experience befitting of the east coast resort’s dated image.
The bespoke livery variation used in Ipswich looks smarter than plain First Bus colours, if a bit dull, but with seat backs also branded for these operations I fail to understand the logic of where local branding fits into the First Bus strategy. There was a time Corporate HQ told us it was essential to have a nationwide corporate livery so that buses could easily and cost effectively be transferred around the country as needed (in addition to satisfying Aberdeen’s corporate ego). So what’s with the bespoke seats then?
It would be so much better if those Aberdeen control freaks just empowered managing directors to reintroduce proper local branding and really show what could be achieved in tune with the Anglian market.
Sadly First Bus still leave a lot to be desired when it comes to detail. I wasn’t impressed catching the early morning 0615 departure on route 64 from Ipswich to Aldeburgh after initially being reassured to find the bus already screened up and waiting on stand soon after 0600 only to find the driver saunter up to the bus at 0622 and load the six of us boarding, one of whom told me it happens every day. 
We finally left ten minutes late at 0625 but by Woodbridge were already ahead of scheduled time so waited four minutes there, a further five minute wait at Wickham Market and finally arrived Southwold two minutes early.
You can easily take twenty minutes out of the scheduled time for that journey and stop regular passengers having to wait on a cold windy morning for the bus doors to open at the bus station. I tweeted this experience to First’s centralised tweeting operation; obviously didn’t receive any reply or apology, not even an acknowledgement. Frankly a contemptuous way to treat passengers.
The general impression of buses around Colchester is poor. Neither First Bus or Arriva’s presence in the town is particularly dynamic and enticing. 
The bright spot is the First Bus run Travel Centre located fairly close to the main departure bus stops in Osborne Street. It contains an impressive display of timetable leaflets and even a network route map displayed on the wall (albeit requiring a minor updating, but at least this was admitted by way of a piece of paper stick to it).
What would really be helpful for passengers is timetables for routes run by other operators to also be displayed. I didn’t visit the First Bus Travel Centre in Norwich this time, but suspect the same policy holds good there too. It wouldn’t cost anything and would do a huge amount to promote public transport use overall, instead of making it so hard for passengers to obtain information.
East Anglia is fortunate in having a good selection of quality independently owned small bus companies providing key routes across the region. From the expanding Stephensons in the south of the region to Sanders Coaches in the north and many more in the middle.
Julian Paterson, formerly of Konectbus now owns and runs the excellent Lynx in West Norfolk while Andrew Pursey formerly of Anglian Bus has started and runs Border Bus. I travelled on two of their three routes during my visit this week, the tendered four-journey-a day 521 between Aldburgh and Halesworth and the hourly (with extra morning journeys making for half hourly) 146 running fast between Norwich and Beccles where it competes with the already mentioned First Bus operated X2 and X22. It then continues to Carlton Coalville and Kessingland on the outskirts of Lowestoft before terminating in Southwold.
The lunch time journey I travelled on out of Norwich had a good seated load of twenty with around a third getting off in Beccles, half in Kessingland and just a smattering travelling all the way to Southwold. The 521 was less busy. In fact it was dire, which brings me to….
I spent most of my time this week exploring Suffolk as well as in northern Essex with only shorter incursions into Norfolk. Suffolk is a delightfuly county but with many transport challenges not least the very low density of population. Aside from Ipswich and Lowestoft and their environs, and the smaller market towns of Beccles, Bungay, Bury St Edmunds, Halesworth, Saxmundham, Stowmarket, Sudbury and Wickham Market, away from the coastal communities of Aldeburgh and Southwold the county is characterised by hundreds of tiny hamlets connected only by circuitous narrow country roads. The rural transport challenge for the county is therefore huge, not helped by Suffolk deciding to save 20% of its £1.7million budget from April.
Apparently off peak journeys are at risk but I travelled on one of the few peak hour journeys leaving Diss at 1655 and arriving Ipswich at 1808. A deadly quiet Diss bus station is pictured above at 1645 approaching the evening peak. Three passengers boarded with me at Diss all travelling to the village of Eye just thirteen minutes south. For the next hour and four minutes until we reached Ipswich it was just me and the driver.
It’s not cuts to rural bus routes leaving passengers isolated, its passengers deserting buses leaving the buses isolated and running empty. My journey on the Border Bus operated tendered route 521 at 0855 from Aldeburgh to Halesworth was similarly sparsely loaded.
We travelled empty all the way to the hamlet of Benhall Green where at 0929 we picked up four passengers and dropped them off five minutes later in Saxmundham picking a Mum and child up there and dropped her off seven minutes later in Yoxford. The rest of the journey taking around an hour was just me and the driver.
The journey on the Konectbus 88 (soon to be a First Bus 99A) between Halesworth and Southwold at 1023 had just two passengers on board while the afternoon peak journey on route 90 leaving Southwold at 1638 travelled all the way to Halesworth via Beccles (a journey of 1 hour and 17 minutes) carried just two other passengers besides me and the driver and then only between the hamlet of Willingham and Beccles – a journey of around ten minutes. Border Bus have announced they’ll be stepping in to run partial replacements for the withdrawn 90 with new services 522 and 524 but with paucity of numbers travelling it’s a bleak future. Unsurprisingly a significant role is played by community transport in this region.
It’s interesting to see up in West Norfolk one of the beneficiaries of the Stagecoach pull out in Kings Lynn has been West Norfolk Community Transport (WNCT) who’ve expanded their ‘Go to town’ branded bus routes, which now provide a significant part of the town’s bus network. It’s also interesting to see Ben Colson who owned and ran Norfolk Green heavily involved in WNCT who, with the already mentioned Julian Paterson and Andrew Pursey are three key people in making the Anglian bus scene a success. It also shows you can’t keep a good busman down; they just pop up in another exciting bus venture. Indeed Andrew also volunteers on the Committee of the Beccles and Bungay Community Transport who I had the pleasure of spending the whole of yesterday morning with travelling around their Wednesday only three rural bus routes between Halesworth and Beccles, all using the number 532.
I’d been recommended to travel on the routes by blogger 
The Wednesday only route 532 really is a ‘lifeline bus service’. Yesterday around a dozen people travelled on the first journey from Laxfield, Heveningham and Huntingfield north into Halesworth for a morning’s shopping and other commitments. Two stayed on the bus for the next journey which runs via Brampton, Willingham, Sotterley, Wrentham, Rushmere and Mutford to Beccles which I joined. 
A lovely couple boarded along this part of the route with the husband helping Mick out to provide a commentary by adding historical background to the sights we passed – which were mainly churches – an amazing number too – all told, we passed 21 churches yesterday morning, some with just a few houses nearby. The one pictured below, a paticularly fine example, at the end of the route in Laxfield. As you can see, even the cars park in a colour coordinated way, the village is so pretty!
After dropping our four shoppers off in Beccles from that trip it was time for Mick’s third run of the day back to Halesworth via even more tiny micro hamlets and churches (and the odd water tower) including Ilketshall St Andrew, Ilketshall St Margaret, St Peter South Elmham, All Saints South Elmham (you get the idea this used to be a very religously devout area!) and finally Rumburgh and Wissett; we picked up four regulars along the way who all had an hour and twenty minutes in Halesworth before return time, while we continued back to Laxfield to take ten passengers back home who’d come in on the first journey, bringing one regular back into Halesworth on the return.
Mick was off back to Beccles via the All Saints route but I left him there having completed the full circuit and having thoroughly enjoyed it too. One of the regulars who boarded in Wissett followed me into the library at Halesworth to find out more about why on earth someone from Brighton was riding around Suffolk’s rural countryside and we got chatting about the problems of rural buses and her concerns at being stranded if Suffolk County Council were to cut this vital once a week route. Apparently it’s up for review soon as the conract ends in the summer.
Secondly there’s a vital need for East Anglia to follow Kent/Surrey/Sussex’s lead in establishing an all bus operator day ticket like the latter’s Discovery ticket. With a variety of small bus companies and a few larger ones (Ipswich Buses, First Bus and Arriva) it really would make for a passenger friendly way of travelling around rather than having restricted ticket availability to each operator. You need every passenger you can get – don’t make it hard. Perhaps Suffolk County Coiuncil could initiate discussions on such a proposal?
