More life after Stagecoach East

Sunday 6th November 2022 When I wrote about Stagecoach East’s cuts to services back in September I mentioned two routes in Peterborough (routes 23/24) the company was withdrawing from for which I couldn’t find any timetables online. I’m grateful to Mel Holly and Brendan Fox for explaining the services were limited to just three or... Continue Reading →

Life after Stagecoach East

Saturday 5th November 2022 I wrote about Stagecoach East’s service cuts back in September and suggested at that time there’ll be other bus companies based in the area that’ll likely come forward to take over the bus routes being withdrawn. Sure enough Grant Palmer, Stephensons and Vectare stepped forward and contracts have also gone to... Continue Reading →

10 Show cases

Thursday 3rd November 2022 The Euro Bus EXPO 2022 show is on at the NEC over three days this week (it ends today, Thursday). I popped up for a quick look round on Tuesday’s opening day to check out what’s new since the last exhibition four years ago which I blogged about here. Back in... Continue Reading →

40 years ago

Tuesday 1st November 2022 Welcome to the first instalment of an occasional series looking back to this day 40 years ago. It stems from today being the exact 40th Anniversary of my arrival in Brighton on 1st November 1982 to the role of Assistant Traffic Manager with Southdown. As you can see from my appointment... Continue Reading →

U is for Uttoxeter

Saturday 29th October 2022 No surprises that Uttoxeter has to be my mid size town for the letter U although it's somewhat on the smaller than 'mid size' with a 13,000 population, but there wasn't a lot of choice and besides it's a very pleasant Staffordshire town to visit. I paid a visit there a... Continue Reading →

A bus ride along Norfolk’s coast

Thursday 27th October 2022 A couple of weeks ago I took a ride on three bus routes operated by Norfolk based Sanders Coaches, in particular the company's route 34 which takes a delightful route hugging the coastline as it links North Walsham and Stalham. Thanks to Ray Wilkes who kindly got in touch to suggest... Continue Reading →

My Word is my Bond Street

Tuesday 25th October 2022 A new National Rail station opened for business yesterday as the TfL run Elizabeth line finally welcomed Bond Street to the network. It was only three years and ten months later than originally expected from the "Crossrail is on time and on budget" fantasy world of the previous management. That was... Continue Reading →

10 takeaways from young managers

Sunday 23rd October 2022 I had the pleasure of jointly hosting another Young Bus Managers’ Conference last week with Martijn Gilbert. Held in Sheffield it was another inspirational event over brimming with energy and enthusiasm emanating from around 60 keen young people from whom I’m sure senior industry leaders will emerge in the future, bringing... Continue Reading →

Seen around

This month's pot pourri of observational miscellany from recent travels. Not First Greater Anglia has invested in an impressive new fleet of trains including the rather nice Class 745 which offer first class seats on the Norwich to Liverpool Street service. A problem arises when one of these trains is unavailable and substituted by one... Continue Reading →

More Moors bus journeys

Thursday 20th October 2022 I can’t let Rannoch Moor, Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor and Exmoor get all the bus blog action so thought it was high time I paid another visit to the lovely North York Moors and take a bus ride across this scenic delight of a National Park. You just can’t beat a double... Continue Reading →

Londoner Buses brings back RM buses

Tuesday 18th October 2022 Three Routemaster buses are back in service on a bus route in central London. New route A started running between Waterloo and Piccadilly Circus on Saturday. From social media posts over the last couple of weeks it looks unashamedly targeted at bus enthusiasts and tourists, but will it succeed where TfL’s... Continue Reading →

T is for (Royal) Tunbridge Wells

Saturday 15th October 2022 Tunbridge Wells is situated on the south western fringes of Kent just over the border from East Sussex. The town has a population of around 56,000 which is roughly half the number living in the wider Tunbridge Wells Borough Council area including Paddock Wood, Goudhurst, Cranbrook and Benenden. Like Leamington Spa,... Continue Reading →

Serco’s sleeper nods off

Sunday 9th October 2022 Last week's announcement that Serco will be ending their franchise for the Caledonian Sleeper next June came as no great surprise. I won't be shedding any tears at the company's departure. Unlike Merseyrail where this giant global monolith of an outsourcing business seems to be doing a good job running the... Continue Reading →

Three mini blogs

Saturday 8th October 2022 Hidden London: Shepherd's Bush Photo courtesy London Transport Museum London Transport Museum's popular programme of Hidden London tours gained a new location this week, offering a look behind the scenes at the Central Line station at Shepherd's Bush. If you enjoy having a nose behind usually locked doors at a full... Continue Reading →

Broad Marsh back in business

Thursday 6th October 2022 Nottingham’s Broad Marsh bus station has finally reopened after a five year demolition and rebuild programme. It's part of a £250 million regeneration of what's called “Nottingham Southside” and also includes a new intu Broadmarsh centre, a Nottingham City Hub incorporating a new library and a redveloped Nottingham Castle. Within "Nottingham... Continue Reading →

A brief visit to Cornwall

Tuesday 4th October 2022 Truro bus station Despite Saturday's rail strike I managed a quick visit to Cornwall over the weekend which entailed an unwelcome long drive as I had a commitment in Truro on Sunday morning I had to fulfill. As I seldom drive long distances these days the trip reminded me of the... Continue Reading →

S is for Salisbury

Saturday 1st October 2022 I’m sorry Scunthorpe, I was intending to feature you in my fortnightly AtoZ visits to mid size towns as suggested by a correspondent but Northern Trains’ incompetence at organising rail replacement buses last weekend coupled with TransPennine Express’s penchant for cancellations meant I had to give up on the idea for... Continue Reading →

Pick me up at the Coachway

Tuesday 27th September 2022 I was back in High Wycombe again last Friday. Checking out Carousel's route 34 before it's demise yesterday being replaced by Buckinghamshire Council's new DRT scheme for the town which begins today. I'll tell you more about that on Thursday. Route 34 looks to have been one of those bus routes... Continue Reading →

Northern’s new slogan: DO NOT TRAVEL

Sunday 25th September 2022 Weekend rail travel is booming. Fortunately for the rail industry the post pandemic reduction in five day week commuting has been offset by huge growth in leisure travel especially at weekends. In my experience trains at the weekends are now the busiest of the week. I recall Sir Peter Hendy opining... Continue Reading →

Multi modal Mallaig and back

Saturday 24th September 2022 An annual ride on the wonderful West Highland Line is a personal must in my book so having missed a full blown Glasgow to Mallaig journey during the pandemic (I managed one trip as far as Tyndrum) it was good to be back on board on Monday last week. It was... Continue Reading →

Stagecoach Cambridgeshire cuts

Thursday 22nd September 2022 First comes surprise news last night TfL’s Transport Commissioner Andy Byford is quitting after just two years in the job. It’s somewhat ironic his mantra since arriving at TfL’s top job in June 2020 has been the need for long term funding and stability for the organisation yet he’s turned out... Continue Reading →

Lewes loses its bus station

Tuesday 20th September 2022 Last Thursday was a sad day for Lewes, the county town of East Sussex. The town’s centrally located bus station closed its non existence gates after 68 years of service. Southdown first opened the bus station in March 1954 with the adjacent garage building coming on stream a few months later.... Continue Reading →

R is for Runcorn

Saturday 17th September 2022 It's got the original and best busway you'll find anywhere in Britain. Indeed it's said Runcorn has "the world's first bus rapid transit system". Yet you hardly ever hear it getting a mention these days. Conceived as part of the Runcorn New Town Masterplan in 1955, the 14 mile exclusive road... Continue Reading →

Trolleybus travels

Tuesday 13th September 2022 Many thanks to Cartographer-in-Chief Ray Stenning for this superb map. Last Friday saw the "LCBS 50th Anniversary Tour Group (and assorted other adventures)" reunite for some nostalgic bus riding around south west London with the whacky idea (thanks Andrew) of retracing London Transport’s small trolleybus network centred on Kingston which was... Continue Reading →

Seen around

Saturday 10th September 2022 Another pot pourri of observational miscellany from recent travels. Models Firstly a shout out to Brian Jackson for his well earned retirement as proprietor of Morris Models, the fabulous model shop he's run in Lancing, West Sussex since taking over the business in 2004. Brian has decided it’s time to retire... Continue Reading →

1938 Stock’s Amersham outing

Thursday 8th September 2022 A shorter blog than usual this morning; appropriately about a shortened 4 car Underground train. London Transport Museum has a beautifully restored four car Underground train dating back to 1938 in its Acton based collection which occasionally runs on bookable special trips on the network. The train which was restored in... Continue Reading →

Two Rambles in the South Downs

Sunday 4th September 2022 The South Downs National Park is blessed with some excellent frequent bus routes criss crossing its extensive area as well as Southern and SWR run railway lines. They make for helpful connections at the start and finish of walks, including the popular South Downs Way. Routes that come immediately to mind... Continue Reading →

Q is for Queensferry

Saturday 3rd September 2022 I know; it’s not a mid size town in its own right; not even a small size town come to that. More just a crossroads in Flintshire’s sprawling Deeside conurbation but ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ when it comes to awkward letters in my fortnightly A-to-Z visiting odyssey. The town gained its... Continue Reading →

Britain’s narrowest bus route is ending

Thursday 1st September 2022 I left you at the end of Tuesday's blog enjoying a wander around Launceston preparing to take a ride on Cornwall’s other about-to-be-withdrawn-from-this-weekend bus route - the three journeys a day (Monday to Friday) route 235 from Launceston south to Callington. Spoiler alert: I don’t really know if it’s “Britain’s narrowest... Continue Reading →

Buses no more over Bodmin Moor

Tuesday 30th August 2022 Cornwall is the country’s luckiest county; being first in the queue to receive oodles of Government cash to splash on additional bus routes, improved frequencies, new buses and cheaper fares - the way things are promised for 31 other areas fortunate to draw a winning ticket in the Government's Bus Service... Continue Reading →

A rival for troubled Avanti

Saturday 27th August 2022 Yesterday afternoon saw the second outing of an interloper’s new weekly appearance competing on the West Coast Main Line. The rail tour company Locomotive Services Ltd (trading as InterCity) has started running a southbound journey between Crewe and Euston followed by a return back to Manchester leaving London in the busy... Continue Reading →

Changes in the Chilterns

Thursday 25th August 2022 Firstly an update to Tuesday's blog regarding Kent's bus cull for blog subscribers and early morning online readers before the post was updated at 07:30. Thanks to reader Darryl I added an update after it had been published to confirm at a Kent County Council Scrutiny Committee meeting last Thursday the... Continue Reading →

End of the road for Kent’s shopper buses

Tuesday 23rd August 2022 Earlier in the year I reported on Kent County Council’s review of its supported bus services with a mission to save £2.2 million from the Council's annual £6.1 million tendered bus budget. And that was before the impact of Covid Bus Services Support Grant/Bus Recovery Grant originally scheduled to end this... Continue Reading →

P is for Potters Bar

Sunday 21st August 2022 Continuing my AtoZ travels, I thought Potters Bar would make for an interesting mid-size town to look at with it being on the fringes of, but not part of, London. Although with a population of surprisingly only around 22,500 it’s more in the small-town size category, rather like O is for... Continue Reading →

Useless platform announcements

Saturday 20th August 2022 Southern and Thameslink seem to be going through a bad patch lately with cancellations and delays for a whole variety of announced reasons including “due to more than the usual number of trains needing repair at the moment”; “due to a shortage of train crew”; “due to a problem under investigation”... Continue Reading →

What next for HCT Group?

Thursday 18th August 2022 HCT Group, the country's leading social enterprise bus operator, posted an ominous update on its website a few days ago. It announced last Friday community bus route 812 in the Borough of Islington will cease operation after Friday 26th August. Although not a headline grabbing seismic development in the grand scheme... Continue Reading →

Time is running out for route 250, but why?

Tuesday 16th August 2022 It looks as though Oxford’s failed Pick-Me-Up DRT operation is going to make a comeback; this time in deep rural Oxfordshire (cue emoji with raised eyebrows). It’s reported Oxfordshire County Council later this year is planning to replace hourly tendered route 250 which currently serves the expanding residential development known as... Continue Reading →

Transport turmoil

Saturday 13th August 2022 Let’s take stock. The battle for TfL is ominously sliding towards a possible nuclear option of bankruptcy and Government "taking back control"…… Rail strikes are continuing with more trains in the sidings than on the tracks today with ASLEF drivers’ turn to stop work and RMT and TSSA members out again... Continue Reading →

More more in Bournemouth

Sunday 7th August 2022 Thursday 4th August 2022's stark announcement Bournemouth’s buses dramatically changed colour yesterday following the sad news on Friday 29th July the town’s Yellow Buses had called in the Administrators. The company ceased trading less than a week later at 18:00 on Thursday 4th August leaving the town without its familiar bright... Continue Reading →

O is for Oswestry

Saturday 6th August 2022 It’s the smallest town I’ve visited in my fortnightly AtoZ safaris but there aren’t many O options to choose from. Oswestry’s population at around 17,000 means it’s not my normal ‘mid size’ town for a visit although by Shropshire standards it is in fact the second largest town in the unitary... Continue Reading →

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