|
Post by N230UD on Aug 1, 2017 16:20:45 GMT
I've been to Krakow and it was incredible. Beautiful city.
The municipal transport company of Krakow has a very modern bus fleet, including electric buses. They mostly had Solaris vehicles. I thankfully went snap crazy with the trams though - they do have a lot of modern low-floor trams, but still have a huge fleet of elderly step-entrance trams, including communist-era Polish-built Konstals, some ex-Vienna trams, some ex-Dusseldorf Duwags, and some ex-Nuremburg MANs. There were a lot of white minibuses, seemingly from independent / one-man-band operators which go outside of Krakow - I even saw a Plaxton Beaver 2-bodied Mercedes. In terms of trains, some very modern trains (particularly on the Airport - Krakow - Wieliczka train), but I did spot some of the elderly EN25 commuter trains - beautiful in my eyes!
I would happily visit Poland again - beautiful cities and countryside. Hopefully it will be Warsaw or Wroclaw next.
Most of Western Europe no longer has any step-entrance buses or trams, so Eastern Europe is the place to go! Its all changing very quickly though. Although, my recent trip to Belgium, I saw some vintage low-floor Van Hool buses, and some 1970s commuter trains covered in graffiti.
I've also been to Bulgaria, where some of the active fleet of transport includes buses from the 1960s, and I believe they've over the last few years they've only just ended steam-operated trains in normal public service.
|
|
|
Post by N230UD on Aug 1, 2017 16:06:52 GMT
I remember the 333 Maidstone to Canterbury from NBC days. Interesting idea about the 3X, as you say trains into Canterbury can get very busy and presumably the bus will be cheaper? A single train ticket is £8.80 without a railcard, so yes it is slightly cheaper. Season tickets would presumably also be cheaper. Sittingbourne will also be part of Stagecoach's expanding Swale ticket zone, which includes Faversham and other villages. The changes have now been registered from 17th September, so hopefully a timetable will be seen on Traveline by this Thursday (Traveline's usual upload date for the area).
|
|
|
Post by N230UD on Jul 28, 2017 0:11:28 GMT
After Arriva Kent & Surrey discontinued the historical route 402 (well, except Dunton Green - T. Wells), it looks like the historic 333 route is set to be altered in September. A traditional Maidstone & District route.
The 333 runs between Maidstone, Sittingbourne and Faversham. The 333 at one point ran beyond Faversham to Canterbury (now replaced by Stagecoach's successful 3/3B/3X routes), in NBC days. It is a generally hourly Mon-Sat service, and in recent years has gained a Sunday service. When I have used the route, its not been particularly busy on the Faversham section. Stagecoach will be extending their 3-group services to Sittingbourne. My guess would be that they will extend the 3X express to Sittingbourne to possibly compete against the train. Apparently there has been requests for a direct bus, and I can imagine it will be popular with the many college students who go to Canterbury (the train service gets very busy into Canterbury from Sittingbourne, from my observations).
This will be the first time (sort of!) that Stagecoach (and its predecessor East Kent) has had a regular service into Sittingbourne. Well, if you ignore the joint East Kent/ M&D operation on the 333 decades ago, or Stagecoach's long schoolday route which ran a return journey from Sheppey to Canterbury, or the Sunday route 335 which Stagecoach ran under contract to Kent County Council.
Stagecoach will already start replacing part of the route in a few days. This is the Oare section of the route (a small village just outside Faversham). Arriva have withdrawn from the village already, and Stagecoach are replacing it with new route 3C (Faversham-Oare), and is a Kent County Council contract (yet another route KCC have had to fund because a commercial service has been withdrawn).
|
|
|
Post by N230UD on Jul 25, 2017 17:09:58 GMT
I had a day off work today, so off it was to Sevenoaks for the 431 for me. I caught the 11.30 departure from Sevenoaks Bus Station. I was also surprised to get a vintage Dart/Marshall S519KFL. Darts of that vintage are getting increasingly rare, especially entering London!
5 passengers (including me!) boarded at Sevenoaks Bus Station, with all (except one who got off at Dunton Green) going all the way to Orpington High Street. No passengers boarded for the rest of the journey until Orpington, when 3 Freedom Pass holders boarded a few stops before Orpington (only because the driver stopped at the stop and asked if they wanted Orpington - good customer service!). The driver was really friendly and was promoting the service.
This was my first experience of Go-Coach, and they appear to be a really good company with decent drivers, and vehicles in good condition. The travel office they manage at Sevenoaks Bus Station was really good, and the timetable leaflet provided for the 431 was of top quality, complete with FWT route map and fare information.
One thing I didn't realise until using the 431, was that it diverts into Polhill Garden Centre. The garden centre appears to be building a huge bus shelter - they might be being a bit hopeful for the numbers of people using the bus there!
|
|
|
Post by N230UD on Jul 21, 2017 19:30:37 GMT
Today, I had a ride on ex-Stagecoach London 17920 (LX03 OSU), on the shuttle bus from Canterbury Bus Station to Merton Farm for the Kent Beer Festival. The vehicle is operated by historic independent Poynter's Coaches, based in Wye, who seem to operate the shuttle every year. I managed to get a photo of it, amongst the hay bails, tractors and cows. A far cry from its urban London Days!
Its had its centre door removed, and a digital destination display added, but is still in London red and retains TfL adverts. There is nothing to say that its a Poynter's vehicle, unless you look at the legal lettering. The offside front window on the upper deck is all cracked (presumably got a bit too close to a tree branch), and fixed together with duck tape. Poynter's have a few of these (I think 3 examples), and are usually used on school services to Homewood School in Tenterden. The Kent Beer Festival shuttle seems to be the only time the general public can ride them (well, technically the Homewood School services are public services, but I can't imagine the bus stopping for the public somehow).
Its not unusual to see ex-Stagecoach Tridents in the area. Stagecoach East Kent have a few examples, and I think 2 are with YMS Travel of Canterbury.
|
|
|
Post by N230UD on Jul 21, 2017 10:33:39 GMT
I wonder if there will be any route branding on the 431s? I think it is needed. Yes it probably is needed (the more advertising the better probably), but I doubt there will be for a Kent County Council contract. KCC are unlikely to pay for it, so will be all up to Go-Coach. Go-Coach tend to produce their own timetable leaflets though, including for KCC routes, rather than KCCs own timetable leaflets (which they don't seem to produce copies of anymore).
|
|
|
Post by N230UD on Jul 20, 2017 21:37:47 GMT
Still no announcement from Stagecoach, but the timetables registered are now available to view on Traveline (Thursday is the Traveline upload day, I believe).
I haven't had a chance to look at all the timetables, but it appears a lot of the proposed changes are going ahead.
I also noticed in the consultation, the villages which were losing the Route 14, were still going to have schools services and 'shoppers services'. Well, having a look at the villages of Staple and Great Mongeham, for example, they are only going to have one return schooldays journey, which obviously are not ideal for 'shoppers'. Most shoppers wont want to spend all day in town. However, its still early days yet, and other routes may still be registered at short notice. We shall see.
|
|
|
Post by N230UD on Jul 18, 2017 21:32:40 GMT
I had a day off work today, so I made my last journey on the Bromley 402.
A few of the passengers were talking about the withdrawal, and they are understandably frustrated, worried and angry about it. Some might dismiss them as just complainers, but for many people, bus services are a lifeline. In this car-centric society, we don't hear such a loud voice from bus users. Now, many of the users will have to plan their lives more carefully around a infrequent replacement 431 service, or spend more money on taxis, or rely on friends and family to take them places. This reduces freedom and wellbeing. Obviously, they are lucky to have a replacement at all, seeing as many communities across the UK are being left without a bus service at all, but from going to an hourly Mon-Sat service to something much less frequent, and only on Mon-Fri, is a big change. Many of the passengers knew the friendly driver, and he knew some of their names too. I was impressed that he was letting people know about the 431 replacement, sometimes without people asking - I think thats really good customer service. The passengers were also really criticising Arriva. I think its easy to just blame them, particularly if you don't know exactly how the bus industry works (and if you have no interest - why would you?). But, I'm not really sure people can blame Arriva. It is a commercial service after all, and if they are losing money from it, then what can they do? It should be up to the council / government to make sure communities get an adequate bus service.
I caught the 11.04 from Bromley North Station, an Optare Versa 4218 (KX61 LFS). Throughout my entire journey to Tonbridge, I believe there was only one fare-paying passenger, the rest being concessionary pass holders. Which leads me to think, does Arriva get re-imbursement from Concessionary Passes if used within Greater London? And what about Freedom Passes? The journey was quite well used, with many different journeys made. I managed to write down some of the passengers down, which you can have a look at if you're interested: Bromley North 3 passengers on; Bromley South 5 got on; Southlands Rd 2 got on; Hastings Rd 1 got off; Princess Royal Hospital 2 off and 2 on; Farnborough 1 off and 2 on (including a fare-paying passenger); Green Street Green 1 got on; some stops before Halstead 3 got off. Then only one got on before Sevenoaks. At Sevenoaks Weald, another part of the route which will be withdrawn without replacement, 5 got off and 1 got on.
I then got off at Tonbridge for a break, then got on an ex-London Volvo/Wright on the 'local' 402 for the rest of the route to Tunbridge Wells.
|
|
|
Post by N230UD on Jul 17, 2017 21:04:06 GMT
Hope you get something interesting on it - when I did it end to end a couple of months ago, I had an allocated Versa which was good but was hoping for something a bit different. I hope so too. As long as its not an Enviro200 for the full journey
|
|
|
Post by N230UD on Jul 17, 2017 16:26:55 GMT
So the last week of the historic route 402 has begun!
I shall be using the full route on my day off work this week. I presume passenger numbers might be higher than normal this week, as locals make the most of it, and enthusiasts travel on it for the final time.
|
|
|
Post by N230UD on Jul 17, 2017 9:08:45 GMT
Looking at the latest Notices and Proceedings for London & the South East published today, many of the new routes and route changes proposed have been registered.
|
|
|
Post by N230UD on Jul 16, 2017 21:18:21 GMT
I wonder if them extending the 3 group of services into Sittingbourne will be a step for them to start up services in the Arriva territory to provide completion Will be interesting to see if that does happen, but I doubt it will. Especially seeing as Stagecoach appear to be concentrating on making their network more efficient, such as with the Dover-area proposals. I wouldn't be surprised if Arriva are thinking of withdrawing the Faversham - Sittingbourne section of the 333 (not well used from my observations), and have told Stagecoach about this, who would perhaps have more success from giving Sittingbourne a direct bus to Canterbury. Obviously, its pure speculation, so we shall have to wait and see!
|
|
|
Post by N230UD on Jul 15, 2017 23:02:50 GMT
I done the whole triangle route one day, with a break at Herne Bay, and it was busy throughout. Seemed rather strange such a frequent and well used service on some fairly rural roads. There are some oddities as well with some buses going via Greenhill and some into the University but it all seems to work very well and the service seems to be quite reliable despite the potential for delay, not least of all the level crossings.
Canterbury bus station does seem to be well kept, I noticed National Express have been moved out of bay 1 and now stop the other side of the travel office, I don't know if this is connected in any way to Stagecoach losing the contract?
The Triangle is certainly one of their 'flagship' routes. I think one of the reasons its popular is that there is no direct rail competition between Whitstable / Herne Bay and Canterbury. It is possible to use the train, but it is certainly not a direct route between city and coast. Also, the stations in Whitstable / Herne Bay are quite a distance from the town centres / sea, making it more convenient to get the bus. Yes the bus station is well kept, and benefits from being right by the Whitefriars shopping centre. I also like how you have the old city walls and a line of trees at the bus station - far better than being in a concrete cave, i.e. Great Yarmouth bus station. Yes I noticed that as well with National Express. That bay was often used by Poynter's Coaches buses laying over - i've now seen them just laying over amongst the Stagecoach buses now. I have no idea if it is connected, but I do know that the bus station has capacity issues, and that is probably a reason why. I often saw Stagecoach buses in bay A1 as there was no where else for them to go, blocking the way for the National Express coaches. No news yet on the outcome of the consultation, but i imagine it will take a while to go through some of the replies, and also tweak timetables etc. In other news, on the Stagecoach website, they have announced they will be extending the 3-group services from Faversham to Sittingbourne, taking themselves into Arriva territory. This will compete with Arriva's historic 333 route, so its quite surprising. In my knowledge, there has never been competition between the two companies in this area.
|
|
|
Post by N230UD on Jul 14, 2017 16:10:12 GMT
It seems a lot different from about 10 years or so ago, when I traveled around as a teenager. I remember busy bus journeys around the South-West Essex area. I rarely visit the area now, but when I do, many of the buses are lightly loaded. I agree, the competition that existed then was probably massively damaging. Competition is not as bad as it used to be in the area, mainly because operators don't want to take the risk, and also that bizarre Olympian / SM Coaches / Roadrunner operation is no longer around.
EOS London seem to be a quality operator, although their timetables change fairly frequently. Soon after I created this thread, they announced they were taking over the 213 (Epping - Waltham Cross), and renumbering it 13. It is unclear so far if they will operate it commercially, or it will still be contracted, and if it will remain hourly. They are definitely now the dominant operator in Waltham Abbey.
Ensignbus would be brilliant for the area, but as you say it would be incredibly hard work for them, and very risky for their business. Their very slow and steady expansion is probably the best way to do it, and they seem to focus on improving the routes the already have rather than quick expansion. Mentioning EOS again, they are taking over the Essex CC contract route 61 from Ensignbus.
Things do not look bright for buses in the UK, especially as you mention Stagecoach have made cut backs in the North East - surely prime bus territory! Something similar appears to be happening in East Kent as well, as mentioned in the other thread.
|
|
|
Post by N230UD on Jul 10, 2017 22:47:09 GMT
My first memory of a London bus journey, is when I was a child in about 1999 i'm guessing. I travelled up to London with my grandparents (both sadly passed on many years ago, but I have really fond memories of them), on the Chingford-Liv. St. line. The Chingford line is certainly etched into my memory, including the lovely sounds of the Class 315. I remember being awestruck when the train arrived into Liverpool Street Station after going through the dingy cutting. We went to the London Transport Museum, and travelled on the 11 when it was still Routemaster operated. I remember sitting on the lower deck front seats where you get a view of the drivers cab. I was fascinated with watching what the driver was doing, and I remember it was a lady driver.
I do miss travelling on Routemasters in 'normal' service. Obviously there is the great 15H service, but its just not the same.
|
|