tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post5810447821154877037..comments2024-03-18T21:18:19.020+00:00Comments on Steve's Bus & Train Page: Sunday PostSteve Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06852377706742868978noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-19586411473838472772016-03-14T18:20:37.911+00:002016-03-14T18:20:37.911+00:00Yep I fondly remember the 727; and commuting when ...Yep I fondly remember the 727; and commuting when I was studying, on the 707/717, when they all made some desperate attempts to be competitive, against all the odds. Some fantastic driving feats in the 70s/early 80s! Vitually the last one, the 724 struggles on as a glorified bus service, with I think First's 701/2 , Arriva's 738?, and the ghostly remnant of the 797. The ancient 714 which I grew up on is resurrected as a plain old bus service, steering well clear of London, let alone anything south of the Thames. A far cry from its Reigate days. The old Eastern Counties tried to extend the model into East Anglia, in its dying days. It never took off. I think they had another attempt in the Labour days, with the same result. Like in the LT days of the old green County buses, it had absolutely nothing to entice the punters!!smurfukhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04812247601237248526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-52265237194987418172016-03-14T13:42:17.654+00:002016-03-14T13:42:17.654+00:00Point taken about the original Green Line network ...Point taken about the original Green Line network . . . . been there, done that!! What really killed Green Line was the unpredictable traffic delays through Central London that made timetable adherence impossible; although lengthening the running time made journey times unpopular as well.<br /><br />I've many stories of being over an hour late due to traffic chaos in the 1980's . . . . my worst was to arrive at Luton Airport over 2 hours late to find my four colleagues (on an hourly service) also there (the worst one was over 5 hours late!). No mobile phones then, so we worked out what to do between ourselves and set off for home with 15 minutes between us (Reigate Garage was over 50 miles away, so we had to keep going!). Mind you . . . the overtime was fabulous!!greenline727https://www.blogger.com/profile/03033268278026535109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-79671552522242877622016-03-14T12:11:31.872+00:002016-03-14T12:11:31.872+00:00First of all to answer Greenline's question ab...First of all to answer Greenline's question about BB's school work - it is a privaet arrangement between the school and BB. The school approached Andrew Pursey to design a network of school buses as demand for places at the school was growing rapidly - it's a very popular school. If you go onto Borderbus's website you'll see from an initial 2 buses thee are now 8. Originally these were paid for by the school, however so popular were they that they became a victim of their own success, and so last year parents were told they would have to contribute to the cost of the buses. The doom mongers forecast that would be it but no. An outstanding school and reliable, safe transport to and from is every parent's dream. The council are not involved as BB bring kids to the school from areas the council wouldn't as tere are more local schools the kids could attend.<br /><br />Also I'm well aware of route splitting - the X1 and indeed 146 already to it but it confuses passengers who generally read the main destination and not the small print. If you are a stranger to the area, and let's face it East Anglia is tourist reliant, then confusing destinations and "guaranteed connection - stay on the bus" isn't going to be conducive to a relaxing holiday!<br /><br />Now Smurf you are free to write a guest report for me on the 72 - you know I've wanted an Essex correspondent for ages. Next time I see Chris I'll put your suggestion to him. I like it very much....Steve Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06852377706742868978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-42406728888382993042016-03-14T11:07:33.504+00:002016-03-14T11:07:33.504+00:00Demand is a fickle thing though. Look at the decli...Demand is a fickle thing though. Look at the decline of the original Green Line! Cross Suffolk services have been tried and as far as I know, fizzled out. Now the remnants are subsidised. Co-ordination, yes; but still few people want to spend all day on a bus.<br /><br />I wonder too how far you can generalise? To me there seem to be some areas with significant off-peak usage, and some where the use is almost all peak, even both in the same commuting area. Borderbus have clearly paid great attention to detail in tailoring their services to the local market. I suppose the easy explanation is that it's easier (perhaps only possible) for a small operator, though I think middling size firms like Stephensons also seem to manage it to some extent.<br /><br />I was going to do a mock-Steve report after the first 6 months of First's new "commercial" 72 service in Essex, along the lines of this one on the 146. But it was just too damn depressing. I put "commercial" in inverted commas since I'm not sure that's the right word for regularly a single passenger (or less) on the daytime half-hourly service (never any more than half a dozen), before as an afterthought they introduced a couple of short run peak services which, at least, doubled the number of passengers per bus! Gives the spare buses and drivers something to do during the day, I suppose. All I can say is that the drivers and passengers seem about as confused as each other! I'm not sure that taking the OAP's to the school (and making them change for the shops) during the day helps. Do the kids get taken to the shops?<br /><br />As an afterthought Steve, perhaps you could encourage Chris to go down and nick a few, as they seem to have these spares? Judging by the regular trespass cases reported, they seem to let them out with anybody! Restore your local cuts, after all even the 64/5 couldn't manage to do any worse, could it?smurfukhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04812247601237248526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-60276045361937018642016-03-14T07:51:23.372+00:002016-03-14T07:51:23.372+00:00Interesting that the school work is in the gift of...Interesting that the school work is in the gift of the school . . . are they required to openly tender for suppliers? That might be a real danger to Route 146 if the school runs are lost to another operator.<br />Concerning those "daft" regulations . . . whilst they do exist, it is very possible to circumvent them if tried . . . check out the Stagecoach network of routes in NE Scotland, where through routes are split into four or more chunks with the same route number. X29 Fakenham for Norwich is quite acceptable for the passenger to see; the alternative is X29 Norwich via Fakenham . . . not much different!<br />I believe that, given time (and the will of the industry to argue for it), that we will see through routes (say Norwich - Diss - Bury - Ipswich) operated by two or three operators with a common registration, farescale and timetable; thereby providing lots of journey opportunities both short and long distance. The Competition Commission and its predecessors have a lot to answer for, but perhaps the industry didn't protest enough?!<br />Hopefully I'll still be around to see it . . . . greenline727https://www.blogger.com/profile/03033268278026535109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-49150256694079306952016-03-13T17:03:36.181+00:002016-03-13T17:03:36.181+00:00You are totally correct. Borderbus have been allow...You are totally correct. Borderbus have been allowed to give the 146 time to develop because of their successful school work - which in the main comes direct from the school not the council. It isn't the buses that are required for school work but the drivers, who swap vehicles for school deckers.<br /><br />However this is to my memory the fourth expansion of the 146 which originally ran 0930 - 1500 and was deliberately targeted at the concession pass holders. Success in that mission allowed probes into the peak market which have slowly but surely seen gradual increases, with this time gaps in the afternoon plugged and new early morning journeys. There is still room for further expansion, and who knows a Summer Sunday service at least might be worth a try. <br /><br />I have also said for ages that "dead end" routes are no longer sustainable and routes now need to go A to C via B, with A and C being major towns. It's only common sense after all. Unfortunately daft regulations have seen it more difficult to operate longer distance routes which has see those routes split up. Steve Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06852377706742868978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-7420308309990155022016-03-13T16:42:12.872+00:002016-03-13T16:42:12.872+00:00Whilst not denigrating the efforts of Border Bus, ...Whilst not denigrating the efforts of Border Bus, it is interesting to note that this timetable majors on providing the service 0900-1500, with a very limited AM peak service and only an hourly PM peak service.<br />I assume that, with the service breaking down to hourly at around 1430, some of the buses cover school services and then finish.<br />Could this overall level of service survive without the support of school buses? This does seem to be the way of the world now . . . . peak hour buses simply aren't important any more, and we now see that the only real numbers of passengers are in the off-peak times on weekdays (not necessarily on Saturdays). And no Sunday/BH service either.<br />As I've said for some time now . . . . without OAP free passes (and the ever reducing reimbursement), there simply won't be buses outside urban areas . . . rural buses cannot survive much longer unless there's a good sized town at both ends (and preferably something in the middle) which can support a service at least hourly. Good drivers and team spirit can only work magic with the right timetable!!greenline727https://www.blogger.com/profile/03033268278026535109noreply@blogger.com