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Post by N230UD on Aug 31, 2021 20:43:36 GMT
Abus of Keynsham, Bristol have ceased trading, apparently after the 28th August, and had a special running day on the last day.
They operated an elderly fleet of Optare Spectras on their route 349 from Keynsham into central Bristol. Apparently, they had the first ever low floor double decker in service in the UK, which was a Spectra.
I’m glad I sampled the 349 earlier this year! The only time I’ve been on a Spectra
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Post by N230UD on Aug 28, 2021 9:21:55 GMT
His sitcom 15 Storeys High has now been put on BBC iPlayer.
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Post by N230UD on Aug 19, 2021 9:43:21 GMT
He was genuinely my favourite comedian. There’s a lot of great comedians I like, but not any I found as funny as Sean. I liked his style of humour, mostly surreal and cynical, and in my opinion he was the best at it. I’ve seen him live, and it’s the only time I’ve physically ached from so much laughter.
I’d really recommend his sitcom 15 Storeys High (well it’s not a typical sitcom) - there are two series which aired about 20 years ago. Mostly filmed around inner south London. I think you can still see full episodes on YouTube.
I also have a bus related story about him (sort of). I was running about trying to get good bus photos at Aldwych a few years ago, and there he was standing staring at me with a confused grin. I wish I spoke to him now.
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Post by N230UD on Aug 17, 2021 21:27:30 GMT
Noticed a frustrating oddity with bus stop D at Aldwych.
Routes 11, 15 etc stop at Stop D which just a flag with no shelter, but quite a distance before there is a shelter without a flag, with separate ‘bus stop’ marking on the road surface. This is where buses seem to stop most of the time, and not at the flag. The Stop D flag is actually closer to the shelter for Stop E!!
This was frustrating because I was waiting at the flag, and I hailed a bus, but it didn’t stop because it had already picked up passengers from the shelter. So, I waited for the next bus at the shelter, and guess what…. It sailed past and stopped at the flag, and had gone by the time I got there! I gave up in the end and walked. It wasn’t that far as I was going to City Thameslink.
Not good practice really. At least have a notice explaining whatever it is that is going on there.
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Post by N230UD on Jul 12, 2021 13:26:28 GMT
Former Stagecoach TA406 / 17406 (Y517NHK), which was latterly with Southern Transit, can now be found at the Wealden Forest Park, a business park by the Wildwood Animal Park near Canterbury. Not sure who owns it or what it is used for.
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Post by N230UD on Jul 4, 2021 14:42:38 GMT
Has anyone seen any updates about the 505? Is this withdrawal of the Waltham Abbey to Chingford section now permanent?
Usually there would be official announcements about such things, and a reasoning as to why it’s been withdrawn, but there hasn’t been anything from either Trustybus who operate it or Essex County Council who tender the contract..
Route 505 e-tiles and timetables were still seen in Chingford a few weeks ago.
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Post by N230UD on Jul 3, 2021 8:36:03 GMT
Just looking at the picture after it was extinguished, I assumed it was a single decker judging by how much was left! It’s a double-decker President.
I hope this doesn’t affect the operator badly, especially in these difficult times.
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Post by N230UD on Jun 29, 2021 16:45:55 GMT
Also a notice of Registration of New Service from East Kent for the 638 Whitstable - Faversham from the 1st August 2021. [/div][/quote] Just in case anyone here is unaware, the 638 is an existing route which is a Kent County Council contract, which Stagecoach have won from Regent Coaches. Although Stagecoach have operated it in the past. Incidentally, it’s a route I’d recommend for its scenery. It goes through various villages between the towns, with narrow and windy country lanes. I’ve often been the only passenger!
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Post by N230UD on Jun 27, 2021 17:24:14 GMT
With Arriva only having the 334 left on Sheppey from later next month, the route is set to have some competition on the Sittingbourne to Maidstone section!
Stagecoach East Kent, who already have filled the gap from Arriva between Faversham and Sittingbourne, are extending their 3-group of services from Sittingbourne to Maidstone, meaning a direct bus route from Canterbury to Maidstone, through Faversham and Sittingbourne. It has been a very long time since the traditional 333 operated this route (although there was also a Sunday 335 from Canterbury-Maidstone until relatively recently).
There will be the X3 (via the Bysing Wood area of Faversham) and the X4 (via Ospringe, which is the route the Arriva 333 used). Both routes are hourly, meaning a half hourly service on Mon-Sat with no Sunday service. Starting on Mon 2nd August 2021
Interesting to see East Kent further encroaching into the former Maidstone & District territory.
Although Stagecoach have made no announcement about this yet, the information is publicly available on bustimes.org
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Post by N230UD on May 24, 2021 16:18:04 GMT
Confirmed that the 367 Sheerness to Warden Point council tendered route will also be taken on by Chalkwell, as well as the previously announced routes above. chalkwell.co.uk/367-bus-service/Good news for Chalkwell. They did operate the 367 until fairly recently (about 2 years ago?) until Arriva won the contract. While Chalkwell haven’t published timetables on their website yet, you can see the times for the 360, 361 and 362 (the 361 appears to have been split into 361 and 362) at bustimes.org/operators/chalkwell-garage-coach-hire . It also appears there will be no Sunday service now, which is a bit of a step backwards, but I’m sure Chalkwell wouldn’t want to operate it unless they got funding from KCC. However, it’s still a while until the services start so this might not be definite yet.
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Post by N230UD on May 22, 2021 15:09:11 GMT
Is the X80 a good service to travel on? Certainly, yes. Sometimes not very reliable, despite the excellent efforts of award winning Ensign, due to the awful traffic of the M25. I once spent almost 2 hours stuck in traffic on that route. However, most journeys have been trouble free. Great views too, if you travel on a southbound journey over the bridge. Certainly in my Top 10 of interesting routes in the London and surrounding areas. It’s also been very useful in a few long bus trips, such as when I travelled from Romford to Canterbury entirely by bus, or when I went from Barking to Dartford. You can also do a cross-river circuit including the X80, Fastrack to Gravesend, Tilbury Ferry (which accepts concessionary passes), Ensign 99, then Ensign 73 back to Lakeside. That includes the only 2 public transport links across the Thames east of London (although there is also the High Speed line which cross the Thames near the Dartford Crossing).
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Post by N230UD on Apr 26, 2021 17:00:47 GMT
Chalkwell Coaches have announced they will be taking over the 360 and 361 routes from Monday 12th July after Arriva cease operating those routes on the 11th July (note it’s no longer June). The 360 is the main route between Sheerness and the east of the island at Leysdown. Generally hourly with a infrequent Sunday service. The 361 is a local service around the west of the island centred on Sheerness, generally hourly with no Sunday service. Here is their announcement: chalkwell.co.uk/chalkwell-to-take-over-360-361-bus-service/It is still unclear what will happen to the rest of the routes. These are the 347 and 349 Sittingbourne locals, likely to be kept by Arriva, the KCC contract route 347 on Sheppey (to the obscure Warden Point terminus), as well as school routes S341 and S647.
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Post by N230UD on Apr 22, 2021 15:42:44 GMT
You will seen in the kentonline article it is reported that "Meanwhile, in January this year, the bus firm abandoned using printed timetables. It meant passengers on Sheppey must now either call a number or use a mobile phone to find out when the next bus is due." If this is a permanent abandonment of issuing printed timetables there will be even less passengers on their buses. Passengers are not going to call or use their useless, unhelpful website to find the next bus. Nothing has been said about Sittingbourne's town routes which (I think) are also operated from Sheerness depot. Those Sittingbourne locals are indeed operated from Sheerness. I have read a couple of times now on Facebook groups that these routes will transfer to Gillingham or Maidstone, but I think this is pure speculation at this stage. I believe only 3 vehicles are needed in total for these routes (2 for the 347, 1 for the 349). This would be a lot of dead mileage for a small local network.
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Post by N230UD on Apr 21, 2021 16:07:39 GMT
Bus And Train User (aka Roger French) recently sampled the Sheppey network, and can be seen on his blog here busandtrainuser.com/2021/04/09/get-down-sheppey/He sums up the state of their operations very well! I’m not particularly surprised about this decision, as Arriva don’t really seem that enthusiastic about running buses. They will continue a presence on the Island, with the trunk Maidstone to Sheerness 334 route. I’d imagine Chalkwell and Travelmasters will replace some of the other routes (probably via Kent County Council). In my opinion, Arriva have got to be the worst ‘big group’ operator around, and First have certainly upped their game, an operator heavily criticised in the past. I recently travelled on Arriva’s 12 service in Kent from Maidstone to Tenterden. An impressive 30 minute frequency for that route, but no timetables at any bus stops (because of Covid apparently, but timetables have reverted to normal), the buses were in a terrible state (particularly their ‘04 reg B7TLs which they still have a large fleet of), and full of stickers everywhere. An incredibly grumpy driver too (although I do find most of them really good). This contrasts greatly to Stagecoach’s operations in the east of Kent. I won’t get started about their awful new website...
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Post by N230UD on Apr 10, 2021 21:56:45 GMT
TrustyBus 505 doesn't go inside the LEZ despite going into Greater London at Chingford. According to the map on the TfL site, the bus turning area at Chingford is actually within the LEZ. But I doubt it could be enforced there given that there are no road signs to indicate that you're entering the zone. It is unclear if this is down the the LEZ, but the 505 has suddenly stopped operating between Waltham Abbey and Chingford. The timetables have been updated on bustimes.org and the Trustybus website. The times are still the same though meaning large layover at Waltham Abbey, which suggests this change is very sudden. There has been no notice about this change as far as I’m aware. It last ran to Chingford on 3rd April, and today it terminated at Waltham Abbey.
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