Wednesday 30th August 2023 I left yesterday's blog somewhat disappointed at missing out on a Breezer open-top bus ride from Baslow over to Castleton, but the upside was it gave me more time to explore the other open-top bus route introduced this summer for Peak District tourists - Stagecoach Yorkshire's Peak Sightseer. This came about... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 29th August 2023 This summer has seen not just one new open top bus route in the glorious Derbyshire Peak District but two: Hulleys of Baslow’s Breezer and Stagecoach’s Peak Sightseer. These initiatives come thanks to Derbyshire County Council inviting tenders earlier this year for a Bus Service Improvement Plan funded open-top operation aimed... Continue Reading →
Monday 28th August 2023 As the summer season draws to a close here’s the first of three consecutive daily blogs featuring open top bus rides I enjoyed taking last week including three brand new operations for 2023. First up …. the Southsea Coaster operated by First Bus. Building on last year’s foray along the seafront,... Continue Reading →
Sunday 27th August 2023 This week’s DRT experience samples yet another model of operation following recent examples I’ve covered of semi-flexible and Taxibus schemes in West Sussex, Wiltshire and Sevenoaks. It’s the new Go2Gate branded operation operated by Thames Valley (part of Reading Buses) and introduced last Sunday with funding from Heathrow Airport. It’s a... Continue Reading →
Saturday 26th August 2023 Until now I've avoided featuring bus companies owned by large transport groups for this series, preferring to write about some of the smaller ‘unsung hero’ bus companies, and while Stephensons and Safeguard are two obvious candidates for S, I decided to break my own self imposed rule because Southern Vectis is... Continue Reading →
Thursday 24th August 2023 After an understandable Covid inspired lull, Heathrow Airport is back on a bus route funding roll again on its mission to increase the modal split in favour of public transport among staff and passengers travelling to and from the airport. The latest initiative funded by the Airport is operated by Newbury... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 22nd August 2023 I stopped off on my recent return journey on Thames Travel’s new route X34 between Newbury and Didcot at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus to check out the Darwin Autonomous Shuttle (DAS) trial that's been running around the site for the past two years. Harwell is the UK’s leading science and... Continue Reading →
Sunday 20th August 2023 It depends what your definition of DRT is, but there's no doubting the go2 scheme in Sevenoaks operated by Go-Coach Hire Ltd is successfully fulfilling its objective of supplementing the rather limited urban bus routes serving this well-heeled town in north west Kent. go2 is a successful shared taxi service. Austin... Continue Reading →
Saturday 19th August 2023 I’ve previously blogged about visits to Jersey and Alderney so thought it was high time I spent a couple of days on Guernsey. After an aborted visit back in April when fog prevented any flights from landing I spent a very enjoyable couple of days exploring the Island in perfect summer... Continue Reading →
Thursday 17th August 2023 Readers will be aware of my penchant for quirky bus routes so I couldn't resist a recommendation to try out the M2 Motorway Replacement Bus Service that's running until the end of the year. I have to admit I never knew there was a footpath exclusively for pedestrians and cyclists built... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 15th August 2023 The UK’s highest earning bus gate reportedly responsible for a third of all the country’s bus lane fines brought in over £1.5 million in revenue for Brighton & Hove City Council last year. Around 38,500 fines were issued to motorists for violating the regulations working out at just over 100 infringements... Continue Reading →
Sunday 13th August 2023 As explained in last Sunday's blog about route 99 in West Sussex, the other stalwart of semi-flexible rural bus routes to succumb to a technology upgrade and expansion, including a fully flexible additional bus, is long standing route 101 between Pewsey and Devizes in Wiltshire. This was the original ‘Wiltshire Wigglybus’... Continue Reading →
Saturday 12th August 2023 It’s up there with Nottingham City Transport as one of the UK’s top bus companies. Reading Buses has long been admired for offering a high quality bus service with first class marketing with active support from a pro public transport Reading Borough Council, which also owns the business. It’s also benefitted... Continue Reading →
Thursday 10th August 2023 I last did the Wherryman Way walk between Great Yarmouth and Berney Arms in 2020 and with a lovely sunny day forecast a few weeks back decided to do a repeat visit, this time with my brother Jonathan. It's a five mile walk along the banks of the River Yare and... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 8th August 2023 Here’s some good news from Thames Travel, the sister company to Oxford Bus. Its bus routes between Didcot and Harwell Campus were rejigged from 23rd July to include a new hourly service X34 linking both locations with Newbury travelling non-stop down the A34. I took a ride last Tuesday to check... Continue Reading →
Sunday 6th August 2023 Readers will know I cite the semi-fixed arrangements on long standing bus route 99 between Chichester and Petworth and route 101/102 between Devizes and Pewsey as examples of best practice in combining a timetable with times at fixed points with flexibility to serve hamlets and villages on a semi-flexible route in... Continue Reading →
Saturday 5th August 2023 After our enjoyable trip from Hertford to Guildford the Retracing Green Line Routes Gang (RGLRG) recently reassembled for another cross London jaunt, this time reliving the wonderful RF, RC and RCL operated 705 which in the network’s heyday linked Sevenoaks in Kent with Windsor in Berkshire. The half-hourly 705 had a... Continue Reading →
Thursday 3rd August 2023 It's time for another round up of items I've come across over the last month which haven't merited a full blown blog. No pride in trains in Brighton There’s been much comment locally about GTR’s decision to run no trains at all into Brighton this Saturday when the annual Pride festivities... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 1st August 2023 Just beating Portway Park & Ride station (opening this morning) to Britain’s National Rail network is the all new Thanet Parkway station which unlocked its brand new high level platforms and adjacent car park for business first thing yesterday morning. Located by the village of Cliffsend proposals for the new station... Continue Reading →
Sunday 30th July 2023 For this week's DRT travel experience I returned to Hertfordshire to give the Herts Lynx service another try. Along with High Wycombe's Pick-Me-Up and South Forest of Dean's Robin, both of which I've recently reviewed, Herts Lynx, introduced in September 2021, really is being held up as a massive DRT success... Continue Reading →
Saturday 29th July 2023 Preston Bus had a consistent pedigree from its initial municipal ownership in 1922, when the Council inherited the fledgling tram operation that had begun in 1904, right through until the management buy-out in 1993. Marking the 100th anniversary of municipal ownership last year with this heritage livery. However in the mid... Continue Reading →
Thursday 27th July 2023 Following the good news story in Tuesday’s blog discussing the bus boom in East Sussex I’d intended to keep the good news rolling today with another blog about an exciting new service connecting Oxfordshire with neighbouring West Berkshire but yesterday's travel plans were thwarted by a signalling problem disrupting trains out... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 25th July 2023 When it comes to DfT's funding allocations to local authorities for Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs) the difference between the Winners and the Losers is certainly starting to show around the country. The Guardian - Wednesday 19th July 2023 As those that lost out in the postcode funding lottery struggle to... Continue Reading →
Sunday 23rd July 2023 DRT aficionado blog readers will recall my ride on Gloucestershire’s Robin branded scheme soon after it was introduced last October - the one when I was only the third passenger after two weeks of operation and took a trip from the village of Windrush to the Cotswolds’ tourist favourite of Bourton-on-the-Water,... Continue Reading →
Saturday 22nd July 2023 It's another new rail station - one of seven opening this year (we've had Inverness Airport, Reading Green Park and Marsh Barton and have got Thanet Parkway later this month with Headbolt Lane on Merseyside and Brent Cross West in the Autumn ... and not forgetting East Linton and White Rose... Continue Reading →
Thursday 20th July 2023 TfL began the roll out of its Superloop brand on Saturday so I thought I'd take a look and see how it's bedding in. The first thing that bugs me about this whole Superloop business is over the last couple of months TfL have spent £30,000 of its own scarce funds... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 18th July 2023 Go-Ahead Group's Metrobus is the latest bus company to roll out a small fleet of hydrogen powered buses. It follows First Bus in Aberdeen, National Express West Midlands, Metroline in London and Translink in Belfast introducing small fleets of Wrightbus StreetDeck Hydroliner double decks and Merseytravel introducing ADL buses powered by... Continue Reading →
Sunday 16th July 2023 This week’s Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) journey experience comes courtesy of Surrey County Council (which pays for it) and Mole Valley District Council (which operates it). The ‘Connect’ branded DRT drifted into service as a trial in four micro areas close to Leatherhead in 2021 with a public launch in November... Continue Reading →
15th July 2023 It's a true 'rags to riches' story. What at one time were run down unloved, and in some cases unknown, obscure railway lines skirting around London's suburbs with ageing, unreliable rolling stock serving uncared for stations susceptible to vandalism and graffiti, have been transformed into an attractive cohesive "joined up" (literally) railway... Continue Reading →
Thursday 13th July 2023 Along with some bus industry colleagues I recently paid a visit to Belfast hosted by the team at Translink which included a look at three interesting public transport developments in the city. Translink employs 4,000 staff making it one of Northern Ireland's largest employers. It runs 1,400 buses and trains across... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 11th July 2023 OK, let's clear one thing up from the start. Walthamstow is NOT a village and no amount of village-washing and slick branding is going to change that. It's a busy suburb of north east London in the London Borough of Waltham Forest served by the Victoria Line, two Overground lines and... Continue Reading →
Sunday 9th July 2023 You lose some you win some. In the world of DRT trials we see schemes ending as failures after a shoal of public funding has been expended just as others get going thanks to another shedload of money and renewed optimism this really will be the one to succeed because “it... Continue Reading →
Saturday 8th July 2023 The delusional Rail Delivery Group reckon it'll be better than ever. Moving staff from somewhere everyone knows where to find them (ie something called a 'ticket office') to "out of ticket offices and onto station platforms and concourses to support better, face-to-face interactions" is not only plain daft, it's illogical. New... Continue Reading →
Thursday 6th July 2023 Marsh Barton is not the most exciting new station to open on the network in recent years. Located just under two-and-a-half miles due south of central Exeter, not far from Exeter St Thomas station on the main line west towards Plymouth, the station was officially opened on Monday by Secretary of... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 4th July 2023 Today marks exactly eleven months since the demise of Bournemouth’s Yellow Buses on 4th August 2022 and Go-Ahead’s morebus stepping in to provide continuity of service. Aside from Eastleigh based Xelabus taking a trio of tendered services for six months, morebus became the only show in town providing an integrated network... Continue Reading →
Sunday 2nd July 2023 And another one bites the dust. Introduced in September 2021 for "an initial period of three years" the East Leeds FlexiBus scheme was "the first trial of digital DRT within West Yorkshire" to be "used to evaluate the impact, effectiveness and commercial viability of the DRT service for the wider roll... Continue Reading →
Saturday 1st July 2023 We’re now passed the alphabetical halfway mark so what better way to celebrate than visit Britain’s most capped bus company for industry awards and accolades. And all deservedly so. Nottingham City Transport (NCT) simply exudes quality in every aspect of its operation. Wherever you look you’ll find an excellent exemplar of... Continue Reading →
Thursday 29th June 2023 As another month has the finishing line within sight it's time for a recap on some of the things that have caught my eye while travelling around over the last few weeks which are not worthy of a full blown blog (with apologies to Twitter followers who may already have seen... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 27th June 2023 Phase two of the Mi-Link autonomous bus trial in Oxfordshire got underway a couple of weeks ago. It builds on phase one in May which saw the bus circumnavigate roads within Milton Park which I blogged about at the time. After a fortnight's break the bus returned on Monday 12th June,... Continue Reading →
Saturday 24th June 2023 There are currently 1,183 parkrun events taking place on Saturday mornings across the country. This got me wondering how many bus routes ‘run’ inside parks? I know of two. I’ve previously featured Richmond Park’s route RP1 but today’s blog is about another delightful park bus route - one which has been... Continue Reading →
Friday 23rd June 2023 To round off this week's daily blogs featuring Isle of Man Transport and its unique and varied modal offerings I'm going slightly off topic to feature one of two other railways you can visit on the Island which don't come under the purview of the Government but are nonetheless great tourist... Continue Reading →
Thursday 22nd June 2023 We’ve reached the penultimate daily blog reviewing Isle of Man Transport’s operations and I couldn’t finish this series without referring to Bus Vannin’s dalliance with Demand Responsive Transport (DRT). It operates using a Flex branding and provides connections from communities in the far north of the Island to the bus station... Continue Reading →
Wednesday 21st June 2023 It's definitely in my top ten favourite public transport journeys and should be on everyone's bucket list. There aren't many places in the world you can still ride on a horse drawn tram, but one still operates along the promenade road around Douglas Bay and it's well worth a visit. Indeed... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 20th June 2023 Welcome to the Snaefell Mountain Railway. Your ride is almost certain to begin in Laxey, the southern terminus of the railway and where it meets, but doesn't connect on the same tracks with, the Manx Electric Railway as featured in yesterday's blog in this daily series on the Isle of Man... Continue Reading →
Monday 19th June 2023 Continuing this special daily blog series on the variety of modes run by Isle of Man Transport brings us to the Manx Electric Railway. It's the "oldest electric tram line in the world whose original rolling stock is still in service". And it's a double celebration this year as while the... Continue Reading →
Sunday 18th June 2023 Welcome to the second part of this week long daily blog special featuring Isle of Man Transport. Today we take a ride on the Island's Steam Railway. It's celebrating its 150th Anniversary this year. The railway runs 15 and a half miles from Douglas south to Port Erin with a journey... Continue Reading →
Saturday 17th June 2023 The Isle of Man must certainly be the top destination to easily visit from the UK and enjoy a huge variety of public transport. In fact within five hours of landing at Ronaldsway Airport on my long weekend visit last month I'd taken a ride on a bus, a steam train,... Continue Reading →
Thursday 15th June 2023 I blogged about the West Ealing to West Ruislip ‘ghost bus’ when it began back in January. Readers may recall Arriva owned Chiltern Railways' rail replacement division awarded the contract to operate this useless single bus journey a week on a Wednesday morning to Diamond South East for an initial three... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 13th June 2023 When London Transport’s network of Green Line coach routes was in its prime you could glide across London on a limited stop bus, often on the top deck of a souped up Routemaster linking such delightful Home Counties’ locations as Woking and Chertsey with Stevenage and Hitchin or Tunbridge Wells with... Continue Reading →
Sunday 11th June 2023 After my Exmoor Coaster bus ride last Monday, described in yesterday’s blog, I turned my attention to East Devon for three more interesting bus journeys on Tuesday. First up was new route X30 introduced on 3rd April thanks to Devon County Council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan funded by the DfT. Operated... Continue Reading →
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