Three Dreaded Words
Friday 15th October 2021 Rail. Replacement. Bus. As you can see down here in Sussex Rail Replacement Buses are front page news again as GTR and Network Rail’s media machine … Continue Reading Three Dreaded Words
Committed to Customers?
Wednesday 18th August 2021 It’s always impressive to read corporate vision documents. You know the kind of thing. Glossy photos of staff helping smiling customers and paragraphs full of glowing … Continue Reading Committed to Customers?
Inconsistencies
Tuesday 4th May 2021 We all know it’s going to be a big challenge to get passengers using public transport after the past year’s pandemic hiatus. And it’s good to … Continue Reading Inconsistencies
Wandsworth’s phantom bus stops
Tuesday 6th April 2021 It’s not often TfL’s bus stop contractors manage to install new bus stops in time for the start of extensions to bus routes. (Readers will recall … Continue Reading Wandsworth’s phantom bus stops
Arriva’s new website. A brutal review.
Wednesday 26th August 2020 It’s been trailed on social media as making “it easier than ever to connect with the people and places that matter to you”. Arriva’smuch vaunted new … Continue Reading Arriva’s new website. A brutal review.
Cornwall’s free bus travel is completely bonkers.
Monday 25th May 2020 Among the “today I can announce” sound bites at last September’s Conservative Party Conference was Grant Shapps gifting £23.5 million over four years to Cornwall Council … Continue Reading Cornwall’s free bus travel is completely bonkers.
I got my £20 penalty fare back from GTR
Tuesday 12th May 2020 Back in the carefree pre Covid-19 days of travelling around the country for pleasure, on Wednesday 5th March, I found myself on a train from my … Continue Reading I got my £20 penalty fare back from GTR
Not so integrated London: 1
Thursday 12th March 2020 London’s so called ‘integrated transport system’ with its much lauded ‘seamless ticketing’ didn’t work for me on Monday. TfL’s ticket machines at stations on the Metropolitan … Continue Reading Not so integrated London: 1
Power failure empowers staff
Wednesday 18th December 2019 There’s never a good time to have a complete signal failure at East Croydon but for the power to go down just as the evening peak … Continue Reading Power failure empowers staff
Slip ‘n Slide
Thursday 21st November 2019 Following last Friday’s try out of TfL’s latest Demand Responsive Transport trial in Ealing, I found myself back in the Borough with two bus industry colleague … Continue Reading Slip ‘n Slide
Another Gatwick Express rip-off
Friday 25th October 2019 Spoiler alert: the postman delivered a National Rail Voucher for £6.70 this morning. I wrote about the outrageous rip-off fares policy on the Gatwick Express back … Continue Reading Another Gatwick Express rip-off
New sleeper turns into a bad dream
Tuesday 25th June 2019 There’s something seriously amiss with Caledonian Sleeper’s train service. I’ve blogged about the new Mark 5 coaches a couple of times recently (here and here) highlighting … Continue Reading New sleeper turns into a bad dream
Colin Dale’s secret bus route
Wednesday 29th May 2019 It’s all happening in Colindale. That’s the area in north west London with a station almost at the end of the Edgware branch of the Northern … Continue Reading Colin Dale’s secret bus route
Friendly feedback for ManFred
Saturday 20th October 2018 Monday’s ‘Business Announcement’ outlining proposals to centralise even more of Arriva’s UK bus business mysteriously landed anonymously in my inbox. I’m told it’s a legacy plan … Continue Reading Friendly feedback for ManFred
A peek into my inbox
I’ve received some interesting promotional emails from the new breed of ride sharers recently. Arriva Click sent an enticing personalised message on Thursday proclaiming some ‘great news’ for me. It … Continue Reading A peek into my inbox
I Didn’t Get Gett
Having been plagued for some weeks by marketing emails from the London black cab App organisation called Gett, I finally relented yesterday and headed up to London to use up … Continue Reading I Didn’t Get Gett
I Gave the Bus A Chance
I arrived in Liverpool yesterday lunchtime to try out Arriva’s new Click service and soon spotted the awful ‘Say Yes To Bus’ bus with its gaudy contravision vinyl, passing by … Continue Reading I Gave the Bus A Chance
The only way isn’t (this part of) Essex
Yesterday saw the demise of another bus company name from the Harlow area. EOS Buses packed up and withdrew four routes, one of which had only been introduced eight weeks … Continue Reading The only way isn’t (this part of) Essex
Don’t ask!
After I returned home from North Wales last week I thought I’d check out how much a few standard fares on Arriva’s bus routes around Rhyl are so I could … Continue Reading Don’t ask!
Trying out the ‘One Arriva’ ticket in Rhyl
I’ve long thought bus and train owning Groups are missing a trick by not upselling travel in the way savvy retailers would (‘people who bought this also bought this’) so … Continue Reading Trying out the ‘One Arriva’ ticket in Rhyl
