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 I was encouraged in May last year when Arriva announced they were putting matters right with an exciting modal integration project in North Wales. Arriva... Continue Reading →
Community Rail Partnerships have been the saviour of many rural branch lines. The closest the bus sector gets to something similar is in the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors National Parks where small groups of committed hard working individuals devise and oversee the operation of significant networks of weekend bus routes branded as Dalesbus... Continue Reading →
'We want a mobility ecosystem that delivers seamless intermodal transportation faster, cheaper, cleaner, more responsive and safer than today. This will be enabled by open data on fares and journeys across all modes - data that is available to everyone to access, use and share'. No, they're not my words; it's the "putting passengers first"... Continue Reading →
Jeremy Corbyn: “With fares rising above inflation, passenger numbers falling and services being cut, does the Prime Minister accept her failure on yet another public service: the buses?” Theresa May: “I’m delighted my right honourable friend has taken the opportunity to raise the topic of buses; a vital and hugely important public transport mode which... Continue Reading →
It’s as far north as you can go and still be in Britain. Any further and, aside from dodging the Faroe Islands to the west, you’ll be in the Arctic wastelands of Svalbard. Main administration centre of the 16 inhabited islands, Lerwick, is a tad closer to Oslo to its east than London to the... Continue Reading →
Thursday. And it's Day 4 of Catch The Bus Week 2018. How’s the fun all going for you? Got on a bus yet? If the traditional embarrassed-men-in-suits-plus-a-few-women launch photo in Westminster (Westminster? - it's the only way to nab a Minister on a late Monday morning) (and yes I know #CTBW, as it's affectionately known... Continue Reading →
It’s always a pleasure to spend a few days in Devon. Superb coastlines, rolling rural scenery, two great cities, many attractive towns and lots of delightful villages. Best of all it has an excellent network of well run bus and train services making it very easy to get around. Here are ten reasons why it’s a... Continue Reading →
The plan was to catch Stagecoach operated route 4 from Axminster station at 1215. It runs via Honiton to Ottery St Mary where I’d pick up the four-journey-a-day Hatch Green operated rural route 382 via Whimple and Feniton. A scheduled arrival at Axminster on the South Western Railway train at 1202 provided a nice 13... Continue Reading →
There’s been a bit of a spat on Twitter over the last 48 hours about whether motorists can be persuaded to use buses in the same way they’re enticed to use trains and trams. Train and tram fanatics claim metal wheels on tracks are masters of the mass transit mode with buses just bit players. Examples... Continue Reading →
Well done Oxford Bus. I'm all for innovation and trying new things. And it's time someone had a real go at beating UBER at their own loss making game of undermining the taxi trade. So I'm pleased to see Phil Southall and his Oxford Bus team joining in the fun and games with a brand... Continue Reading →
OK, let’s get this writing journey underway. First up, a few miscellaneous reflections on last week’s travels...... Monday 18th June to Oxenholme and the new West Coast Railways operated fill-in part-time train service to Windermere while Northern continues its May Timetable Meltdown. It certainly got the media coverage. It was overrun with train buffs and the... Continue Reading →
Here's something new. A place for mini travelogues and bus and train comment. Where there's space for more than just 280 characters; follow me as I tweet on the road and from the tracks (@BusAndTrainUSer) keeping an eye on what's good, what's bad and what's positively ugly. It's also for wry and pithy commentary on... Continue Reading →
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