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Post by N230UD on Dec 15, 2017 23:34:40 GMT
Not particularly surprised after reading the relatively recent Buses magazine article. One of the main points in the article was the lack of passengers.
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Post by N230UD on Dec 3, 2017 22:54:48 GMT
Thanks, am I right in saying they can't use the Green-line brand either? As it is owned and licensed by Arriva then that will be a commercial matter for Reading Buses and Arriva. I guess we will have to wait and see. According to a Yahoo group, Reading Buses have announced that one double decker will be painted in a 'modernised experimental version of the Greenline livery'.
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Post by N230UD on Dec 3, 2017 22:20:27 GMT
A surprise for me today, as I observed Citaro MEC14 parked in the station forecourt at Canterbury West, on standby for rail replacement duties while the Ramsgate-Ashford International line was closed for engineering works today (3/12/17). I am not sure if it did run in service, or was just on standby. Go-Ahead vehicles are not uncommon on rail replacement in Kent, from a base in Sittingbourne, but it did seem bizarre to one of their Citaros in deep Kent, as I am used to seeing them previously on the 'Red Arrow' routes and currently on the 108. It still has the original interior and exterior from its previous Red Arrow life. Here is a picture I took on my phone: www.flickr.com/photos/loughtonkid/23951769317/in/dateposted/For those interested, other companies working the rail replacement today were Stagecoach South East, Bayliss, Lehane Travel, YMS Travel.
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Post by N230UD on Nov 28, 2017 23:16:46 GMT
This wants to make me fume... absolutely disgraceful. Neither KCC or any other council and the government are making any effort to reduce car usage, instead it's the same old retric 'buses are dirty polluting giants'. But not the cars, ohhh noooo..... All this phaff about making buses cleaner and not a thing is done about car usage. If you can't pay for it, increase the taxes. The reality is that many of these services are very poorly used, particularly in the evening. Many of the services on the Kent County Council "cull list" are well used. For example, the 541/2/4 group of services in the Dover/Sandwich area are well used. These are market day services, operating one journey one day a week. They are one of the most expensive KCC routes. They are well used, but pretty much everyone is a concessionary pass holder. They serve villages which have lost all their shops, pubs and any community buildings. The bus is often the only place they get to talk to people, and their lives would be badly affected by the withdrawal. Its not just 'nice' to have a bus service, but is neccessary in my opinion. Without a bus service, they would rely on family or taxis to transport them, which might not be possible for everyone. Many would then stay indoors, getting less exercise and less mental stimulation - which could affect health, and in turn cost more for healthcare. Thats just an example. Any saving from cutting bus services, could see an increase in costs elsewhere. In some of the items i've read, KCC say many journeys may instead be run commercially by operators. Well, Stagecoach have done that previously (for example, the evening service on the Canterbury-Sandwich-Deal route is commercial now). But, this is a period when Stagecoach East Kent have cut routes, would they really want to take on more risk?. Other independents are unlikely to operate commercially. For example, Regent Coaches operate a large number of routes in east Kent, but none of them commercially, and I don't think they have ever operated commercially in their 30+ year history. Why would they now? This does make me very angry. Kent is seeing huge amounts of development, mostly thanks to London overspill, across the county, so we shouldn't be losing bus services. If bus services are unattractive, people will just stay in their cars (if they are lucky enough to be able to use a car, that is). The thing that makes me most angry, is how badly the bus cuts across the UK are, but few people seem to be noticing or caring. Few politicians care, as most of their voters are car users, and they don't have a clue about buses anyway.
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Post by N230UD on Nov 21, 2017 23:02:48 GMT
Those Versas have been appearing on other routes, such as the 1 to Canterbury, 666 to Faversham, 10X to Maidstone, so another use might be found for them at Ashford, or elsewhere in Kent. The two Versa's have moved to Thanet. Yes, it'll be interesting to see which routes they end up on. I suspect the 9 from Ramsgate to Canterbury.
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Post by N230UD on Nov 20, 2017 20:19:54 GMT
But back to Harlow - Arriva appear to be making more of an effort now, and perhaps are now in a better position to try and get a monopoly back. But it still seems a very strange move to me in the current climate. I can see the 'network benefits' of Arriva extending their routes, but it will probably be hard work to get the Epping corridor back from Trustybus. Also, if the Arriva extention to Epping negatively affects the 419, this will have a knock on effect with route 420 which continues after Epping to Ongar. Will Arriva be willing to extend to Ongar if they "win" the war? I partly doubt it, and Essex CC will be very unlikely to step in to fill the gap. I can think of one operator who runs from Brentwood to Ongar who might be tempted to reach Epping if there is no other competition. Didn't think about that! Perhaps there is a silver lining in all this.
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Post by N230UD on Nov 19, 2017 16:32:16 GMT
From December, Regal Busways will just be left with the 10/10A in Chelmsford, the 104/6 in Basildon, and the 900 Freeport shuttle in Billericay. But as tony4387 says, they have also deregistered the 10 now as well.
My experience of Regal is very much of a 'cowboy' operator. I've often had buses not turning up, and when they do, they are often battered filty buses, with paper in the windscreen with the route number (if at all), and drivers with poor communication. They have also repeatedly de-reoofed buses under the notorious railway bridge at Chelmsford Station. Despite that though, there have been rare occasions when drivers have been very professional with uniform and good customer service.
Trustybus are probably a lot better than Regal. Their buses are (generally) smarter, and i've found them to be far more reliable than Regal. Some good drivers. But they are a mixed bag, and they seem to be making a lot of cutbacks.
EOS seem to be the only decent operator in the area. They try really hard with customer service, as can be seen with their Twitter feed. Good website too, and they make an effort with paper timetables. Drivers generally really good. Buses are a mixed bag, with some smart vehicles but some not. Most buses seem to have either digital destination displays, or roller blinds, but they still can be seen with the traditional Harlow-style A4-paper in windscreen. They have managed to make a moderate success in an area where others have failed.
I doubt EOS or Trustybus will be in a hurry to replace Regal's routes. Their routes are quite a distance from their bases, and they're not great bus territory. Although, EOS do manage to operate a route in Brentwood so anythings possible.
But back to Harlow - Arriva appear to be making more of an effort now, and perhaps are now in a better position to try and get a monopoly back. But it still seems a very strange move to me in the current climate. I can see the 'network benefits' of Arriva extending their routes, but it will probably be hard work to get the Epping corridor back from Trustybus. Also, if the Arriva extention to Epping negatively affects the 419, this will have a knock on effect with route 420 which continues after Epping to Ongar. Will Arriva be willing to extend to Ongar if they "win" the war? I partly doubt it, and Essex CC will be very unlikely to step in to fill the gap.
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Post by N230UD on Nov 19, 2017 0:10:30 GMT
More competition is planned for Harlow.
Arriva are extending their Harlow local route 9 to Epping Station, so competing against the Trustybus service 419/420. Some of you may remember Arriva withdrew from the Harlow-Epping corridor a good few years back after facing competition from SM Coaches.
Trustybus have retaliated by registering a route 40 in Harlow, competing against Arriva's 10 to the Church Langley estate.
This isn't the 1990s, this is 2017 when even successful operators such as Stagecoach are making cutbacks. And south-west Essex isn't exactly good bus territory, thanks to relentless levels of competion from dodgy operators a good few years back .
I don't think any operator will have success out of this. Surely Arriva should be concentrating on improving their existing services, rather than wasting resources on this.
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Post by N230UD on Nov 12, 2017 0:05:07 GMT
Just been informed that there are changes including the complete withdrawal of the 702 from 24th December. I've trawled N&Ps but can't find anything..... A few months ago I went on a return trip from London to Windsor on the 702, and in both directions it was very lightly loaded - not good considering its hourly. A complete contrast to the Oxford Tube!
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Post by N230UD on Nov 6, 2017 17:06:22 GMT
More OmniCities are on the way to replace most, if not all OmniDekkas bar 938/939. Seen a picture on Facebook of 6982 (YP09HWO) in the paint shop in Conway Street. Could've waited a bit so they could use the redundant D8 OmniCities rather than the Brighton ones I'd rather a the Brighton ones rather than anything ex-London!
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Post by N230UD on Oct 27, 2017 14:07:07 GMT
A bit more detail - evening frequencies for the B and C will drop to every 20 minutes - fairly unsurprising as Ashford doesn't have much of a night life - although people still work in the evenings, and people still travel back from London on the high speed. So, a bit disappointing but 20-mins is still a good evening frequency outside of major cities! From November they will also be using the same minibuses on the E and G routes, but with no frequency increase. So, on those routes, I wonder if they will be branded just 'Little' rather than 'Little & Often' Indeed most of the night time economy is out of town and I get the impression that most of the evening custom on L&O is commuters from the station. I've always thought route G would be ideal for minibuses, some tights corners on the South Willesbrough section and it's restricted to single decker anyway by the low bridge in Newton Road. A bit disappointing that there is no frequency increase though. Another use will have to be found for the Versa's, unless they are being disposed of as they are somewhat non standard for Stagecoach, they were originally supplied by KCC for route G if memory serves correctly? Those Versas have been appearing on other routes, such as the 1 to Canterbury, 666 to Faversham, 10X to Maidstone, so another use might be found for them at Ashford, or elsewhere in Kent.
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Post by N230UD on Oct 23, 2017 10:17:50 GMT
A bit more detail - evening frequencies for the B and C will drop to every 20 minutes - fairly unsurprising as Ashford doesn't have much of a night life - although people still work in the evenings, and people still travel back from London on the high speed. So, a bit disappointing but 20-mins is still a good evening frequency outside of major cities! From November they will also be using the same minibuses on the E and G routes, but with no frequency increase. So, on those routes, I wonder if they will be branded just 'Little' rather than 'Little & Often'
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Post by N230UD on Oct 21, 2017 15:28:59 GMT
Good to see some investment in transport.
But i'm not to keen on those vehicles being buses made to look like trams. Just seems fake to me, just like those failed 'ftr' vehicles. Reminds me a bit of those land-trains you see in touristy places.
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Post by N230UD on Oct 18, 2017 22:45:36 GMT
Is that a retender of the work by Heathrow Airport or have they bought out National Express's work? I confess I don't understand how those services work. Given Hallmark have been struggling with their SCC work let's hope they do better with the Hotel Hoppas or else there'll be a lot of complaints. Amazing that it costs £4.50 single though if web purchase, £5 single on the bus! Slightly OT, but when I stayed in a Premier Inn on the Bath Road before catching a flight, it was cheaper and easier to catch the TfL bus outside the hotel, rather than the Hotel Hoppa.
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Post by N230UD on Oct 15, 2017 19:14:43 GMT
The new timetables for the upcoming changes are available on Traveline.
You can see reductions on both the 'Little&Often' routes, which seem to become about every 8-10 minutes. Which is still pretty good, and there are still late evening journeys.
There are also changes to some of the other local routes.
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