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Post by jay38a on Jun 29, 2012 18:16:00 GMT
Yes Last weekend was a joke, the sunday service was running extreamly bad due to the Race for life event blocking the route, my 100 turned up over an Hour late at chelmsford so ran dead to basildon  had to wait another hour for one to turn up 22 late but he actually did the full route and arrived at lakeside only 8 late (was a very fun journey) I do prefer doing non-tfl routes for some reason, as you get less hassle with people trying to get a free ride. Also people actually queue up for buses unlike some in London. The buses you get from outer London may be old as the oldest I've rode so far is a L Reg Olympian on the 200 and you also get some decent speed due to nice country roads. If you like going outside london il recomend an Explorer ticket which in Kent/Sussex/Surrey/Hampshire most operators accept it and costs around £7 (all different companies charge different prices, Metrobus (£7), Arriva (£6.80), Stagecoach (£5.80), Countryliner (£7.50 in Surrey, £5.50 in Sussex). Explorers from certain companies are not valid on some that others are so its best to check, for example a Metrobus explorer can also be used on Wilts & Dorset so covers an area from Weymouth right up to Dover which is massive, for £7 is not bad going, I am at the moment awaiting a reply from First about them accepting it, if so then that would extend the validity to Exeter  (as it does list them as an acceptee on the Metrobus site). |
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Post by romfordbuses on Jun 29, 2012 18:46:45 GMT
If you like going outside london il recomend an Explorer ticket which in Kent/Sussex/Surrey/Hampshire most operators accept it and costs around £7 (all different companies charge different prices, Metrobus (£7), Arriva (£6.80), Stagecoach (£5.80), Countryliner (£7.50 in Surrey, £5.50 in Sussex). Explorers from certain companies are not valid on some that others are so its best to check, for example a Metrobus explorer can also be used on Wilts & Dorset so covers an area from Weymouth right up to Dover which is massive, for £7 is not bad going, I am at the moment awaiting a reply from First about them accepting it, if so then that would extend the validity to Exeter (as it does list them as an acceptee on the Metrobus site). Is this the same Explorer that you can (Or did it get rid off?) get in Essex/Hertfordshire that covered Arriva and If I remember right everyone apart from First for £8? Brilliant value for money them tickets are! |
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Post by jay38a on Jun 29, 2012 20:26:11 GMT
If you like going outside london il recomend an Explorer ticket which in Kent/Sussex/Surrey/Hampshire most operators accept it and costs around �7 (all different companies charge different prices, Metrobus (�7), Arriva (�6.80), Stagecoach (�5.80), Countryliner (�7.50 in Surrey, �5.50 in Sussex). Explorers from certain companies are not valid on some that others are so its best to check, for example a Metrobus explorer can also be used on Wilts & Dorset so covers an area from Weymouth right up to Dover which is massive, for �7 is not bad going, I am at the moment awaiting a reply from First about them accepting it, if so then that would extend the validity to Exeter (as it does list them as an acceptee on the Metrobus site). Is this the same Explorer that you can (Or did it get rid off?) get in Essex/Hertfordshire that covered Arriva and If I remember right everyone apart from First for �8? Brilliant value for money them tickets are! This is a different explorer which is left overs from NBC days, but validity is a bit vague in places now, for example stagecoach dont say what other companies its valid however arriva and metrobus do state where its valid. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2012 8:21:34 GMT
If you like going outside london il recomend an Explorer ticket which in Kent/Sussex/Surrey/Hampshire most operators accept it and costs around £7 (all different companies charge different prices, Metrobus (£7), Arriva (£6.80), Stagecoach (£5.80), Countryliner (£7.50 in Surrey, £5.50 in Sussex). Explorers from certain companies are not valid on some that others are so its best to check, for example a Metrobus explorer can also be used on Wilts & Dorset so covers an area from Weymouth right up to Dover which is massive, for £7 is not bad going, I am at the moment awaiting a reply from First about them accepting it, if so then that would extend the validity to Exeter (as it does list them as an acceptee on the Metrobus site). Is this the same Explorer that you can (Or did it get rid off?) get in Essex/Hertfordshire that covered Arriva and If I remember right everyone apart from First for £8? Brilliant value for money them tickets are! Yes thats the Intalink Explorer, and thats still around for £8, and it does cover some Essex services (such as Arriva's 59, which doesn't even enter Hertfordshire). There is also the Essex Saver for £8 which can be used on all buses, although i've tried to buy it twice and the drivers didn't know what it was. In reply to Jay38a's comment, the Stagecoach East Kent & Sussex Explorer is now £6 (still a good price considering all the different places you can go). It does say it can be used by 'most other operators', but in my experience other operators only use it when parralleling Stagecoach's services, and there arn't many other operators in East Kent! So, a slightly misleading thing for them to say. Some great routes down in East Kent, I rode the 18 from Hythe to Canterbury recently on a Volvo Olympian and some of the narrow lanes it goes down are barely any wider than the bus. Quite a few scenic rural routes, great fun on double deckers banging the tree branches as they go  How the drivers remember these routes, especially the ones with deviations, I don't know especially if they only do them now and again. Yes, thats a great route!  |
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Post by snoggle on Jun 30, 2012 12:18:20 GMT
Yes thats the Intalink Explorer, and thats still around for £8, and it does cover some Essex services (such as Arriva's 59, which doesn't even enter Hertfordshire). There is also the Essex Saver for £8 which can be used on all buses, although i've tried to buy it twice and the drivers didn't know what it was. In reply to Jay38a's comment, the Stagecoach East Kent & Sussex Explorer is now £6 (still a good price considering all the different places you can go). It does say it can be used by 'most other operators', but in my experience other operators only use it when parralleling Stagecoach's services, and there arn't many other operators in East Kent! So, a slightly misleading thing for them to say. Hmm - thanks for the Essex Saver comment. I know about the ticket and would like to try one out but was worried that drivers would not know how to sell one. Your comment confirms my worries. The situation with Explorer tickets south of the Thames is a real mess. Some operators offer excellent info (e.g. Metrobus) whereas others are extremely vague. Again I would like to try one out but the risk of running into a driver who does not recognise the ticket is a concern. Oh and the Intalink Explorer is now £8.50. Interestingly an Explorer sold by Arriva in Milton Keynes is apparently the Intalink Explorer but is also valid on local buses. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2012 12:51:48 GMT
Is this the same Explorer that you can (Or did it get rid off?) get in Essex/Hertfordshire that covered Arriva and If I remember right everyone apart from First for £8? Brilliant value for money them tickets are! Yes thats the Intalink Explorer, and thats still around for £8, and it does cover some Essex services (such as Arriva's 59, which doesn't even enter Hertfordshire). There is also the Essex Saver for £8 which can be used on all buses, although i've tried to buy it twice and the drivers didn't know what it was. In reply to Jay38a's comment, the Stagecoach East Kent & Sussex Explorer is now £6 (still a good price considering all the different places you can go). It does say it can be used by 'most other operators', but in my experience other operators only use it when parralleling Stagecoach's services, and there arn't many other operators in East Kent! So, a slightly misleading thing for them to say. Some great routes down in East Kent, I rode the 18 from Hythe to Canterbury recently on a Volvo Olympian and some of the narrow lanes it goes down are barely any wider than the bus. Quite a few scenic rural routes, great fun on double deckers banging the tree branches as they go How the drivers remember these routes, especially the ones with deviations, I don't know especially if they only do them now and again. Yes, thats a great route! I was going to go down to Southend during one of the summer weekends but was gonna get the Inner Area Zone which costs £6 for the day with unlimited travel. Erm the ticket covers Basildon, Grays, Southend, Rayleigh, Wickword & Pitsea. Think I've missed something else out as well. But I don't think it would be accepted on Arriva Service 5 just First Essex services. Sure smdave would back me up on this one. |
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Post by jay38a on Jun 30, 2012 13:13:19 GMT
Yes thats the Intalink Explorer, and thats still around for £8, and it does cover some Essex services (such as Arriva's 59, which doesn't even enter Hertfordshire). There is also the Essex Saver for £8 which can be used on all buses, although i've tried to buy it twice and the drivers didn't know what it was. In reply to Jay38a's comment, the Stagecoach East Kent & Sussex Explorer is now £6 (still a good price considering all the different places you can go). It does say it can be used by 'most other operators', but in my experience other operators only use it when parralleling Stagecoach's services, and there arn't many other operators in East Kent! So, a slightly misleading thing for them to say. The situation with Explorer tickets south of the Thames is a real mess. Some operators offer excellent info (e.g. Metrobus) whereas others are extremely vague. Again I would like to try one out but the risk of running into a driver who does not recognise the ticket is a concern. If you stay in Kent/Surrey/Sussex your normally alright, all the big companies accept each others (so Arriva, Stagecoach, Metrobus, Brighton and Hove), its when you get across into Hampshire the drivers can give you funny looks and some of the smaller companies. Oh plus the explorers by the above companies plus also Bluestar are also valid on ALL Kent CC subsided routes, i have an email saying this if anyone wants it. Arriva produce this good leaflet which is from 2 years ago but suppose theres no point in updating it if the price hasnt changed: www.medwaymainline.co.uk/contentControl/documentControl/LeafletExplorerKent(2010).pdfJust an idea for admins, as this has gone way off topic, is it possible to move the posts to another thread maybe in "Bus Operations in the UK", just an idea please dont shoot me. |
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Post by snoggle on Jun 30, 2012 13:37:14 GMT
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had to wait another hour for one to turn up 22 late but he actually did the full route and arrived at lakeside only 8 late (was a very fun journey)
(as it does list them as an acceptee on the Metrobus site). 
How the drivers remember these routes, especially the ones with deviations, I don't know especially if they only do them now and again.
