What Now For Anglian?

There have been rumours circulating for well over a year now that Anglian Bus were in trouble. routes have been cut, tenders taken away, more routes cut, and last week the announcement that the 61 was being withdrawn between Kessingland and Southwold, and the 7 absorbed into the Norwich Park & Ride network.

However one of the silver linings around that cloud was the revelation that Anglian had retained, to everyone's surprise, the tender for the 80/81 between Yarmouth - Beccles - Diss. Was that a sign that the cancer that has been destroying Anglian for the last three years had finally been cut back to the bone and new healthy flesh was starting to grow? Had the corner that needed turning finally been  located?

No.

I received information today that Anglian have told Norfolk County Council that they no longer want the 80/81 tender, and have returned the route. As such, the next preferred bidder, Simonds will be operating the route from September. Full details have to be ascertained - as soon as I know I'll let you know.

Obviously this raises a humongous question mark over the future of Anglian. Firms with a future do not hand back tenders. I only hope something can be done, but with Go-Ahead already shutting the lovely Tollesbury depot in Essex and cancelling all routes in the area, I can't see them throwing anymore money at Anglian. I'm not writing obituaries yet, but if they do have to be written it will make uncomfortable reading for some.

And speaking of uncomfortable reading my predictions about the future of Demand Responsive Transport in Suffolk are coming true. I attempted to book the new all singing all dancing all "good news" Connecting Communities service today for NEXT Wednesday, to take me to Saxmunsham, to connect with the 64, which is the whole purpose of the Connecting Communities initiative. Sorry we have nothing before 3.30, I was told, which since my appointment in Woodbridge is 11:20 isn't much use. Other areas still haven't worked out their routes or even if they are going to accept Concessionary Passes. One driver told me today the new bus he's meant to be driving next week hasn't been delivered yet so what he'll have to drive with the wrong sign writing is anyone's guess.

The blame lies firmly and squarely with Suffolk County Council. At no time were passengers consulted, or if they were it was clearly ignored. 3 busy areas have been merged into two areas and many people affected by not being served by areas in the future. The organisation has been farcical, and is yet another nail in the coffin of rural transport. As a result I am now stuck in my village for the next 5 days, unable to get out. Way to go SCC. Someone commented yesterday that what SCC  knew about transport you could put on a fleas behind. Somehow I think that might be vastly too much space.

Finally I travelled in service on the Optare Metrodecker today, I'll do a full post on my findings in a day or so, but this news rather superceded it.

A Steam Bus? Oh Yes It Is & Ipswich P&R Update

There are some things you just don't expect - Leicester City winning the Premiership, a train running on time, Anglian to expand services, you know the sort of thing. When I left home today I didn't expect to see a steam bus, but that is precisely what I saw in Wickham Market.

Allow me to introduce you to the Stanley Model 812 Mountain Wagon "King of the Mountains", designed to take visitors the 34 miles uphill from the railway station in Loveland, Colorado, into Estes Park, in the heart of the Colorado Rockies, where the Stanley hotel remains to this day.

This particular vehicle was built in 1914, would have cost around £300 new, and has amazing pulling power, far more than any internal combustion engined car of the time. It will do 60mph, and pulling away sounds identical to a steam train. There are 8 seats including the driver, although 3 children could easily fit in a row.

The Stanley Steam Wagon pulls away

It's amazing to think that old girl, or boy if it's a King, is over 100 years old, produces little harmful emissions (gets through 90 gallons of water every 50 miles though) and yet it is still a struggle to build engines with low emissions - isn't it VW!

I got my information on the Steam Wagon, which is on a tour of East Anglia, from a very informative article at steamcar.net. I urge you to read the full article, which you can by clicking here.

Still thinks it's in US driving on the right!

Moving on if you cast your minds to February I exclusively broke the news that Ipswich Park & Ride was set to close.This led to panic by the council who denied it.  I also suggested, together with regular commentator Smurf, that the car parks would be kept open but service buses would take over from the dedicated service. It'll never happen a lot of people said. Well according to the Ipswich Star last night it most definitely IS happening, with Copdock P&R being absorbed into Ipswich Buses' 13, and Martlesham into First Ipswich's 66. It is suggested the 13 will be increased from 5 buses an hour to 9. The details for the 66 are yet to be finalised..

Now guys listen to me - there is an obvious solution to this which will benefit everyone, and I'm talking mainly to Ipswich Buses here as First know my ideas on this. Run the 13 as a circular service so after Chantry and Tesco it runs direct back to the town via the current P&R route, thus maintaining the direct link. Passengers from Tesco will like this too. The 13A can run the opposite way round to bring people back from town then it can return back via Chantry. That way you will also avoid having P&R loads and Chantry loads on the same bus. 5 buses an hour now often bunch - what will 9 do? Common sense.

The same can be applied to the 66, although I think the Martlesham terminus may well see more than the 66 in there - we will see on that one. My thanks to Brain and Andrew for alerting me to the Ipswich Star article, which you can read in full here. Rather good to be right over three months in advance!

First BorderBus Gemini Arrives

I am grateful to Andrew Pursey at Borderbus for alerting me to the news that he picked up today the first of two ex Arriva London Gemini bodied Volvo B7tl's VLW113 LJ03MJU It is intended the Gemini will operate the same diagram as the Metrodecker will be next week (0915 from Southwold etc). However due to vinyls needing applying and pre-service checks the Gemini is unlikely to be out in service until June 13th. My thanks to Andrew for the news, and the pic which remains his copyright.

The new resident at Borderbus Volvo B7tl LJ03MJU     pic (c) Andrew Pursey

Here she is in her London days

VLW 113 in her Essex days.  pic (c) RM1422

You may also notice there is a new addition to the links in the side bar. I met Steven Carty on Railcam, and it soon transpired that Steven, like myself has been suffering from acute depression. However, unlike me, Steven has not been suffering in silence and has blogged about his fight with this very difficult illness. He is a rail enthusiast par excellence, not to mention a really nice bloke. If you know anyone struggling with depression, or have suffered yourself I implore you to read Steven's blog. It gives a rare and valuable insight into how depression can affect thoughts and decisions, and I can only commend Steven for his honesty and openness. Not sure I could do the same. Thanks, Steven for letting me publicise your blog, and I'm proud to know you buddy.

Optare Metrodecker Arrives & Review

They say all good things come to those who wait. On this occasion it's true. I was all set yesterday to venture over to Beccles to welcome the Optare Metrodecker demonstrator to Borderbus when I received an email informing me it had been put back 24 hours. Clearly Optare had heard the news from Anglian and didn't want to get in the way on that post!

So today I walked up from where the soon to be slashed Beccles Town Service 82 had dropped me, and on entering Borderbus's yard a bright orange thing appeared. No not the much absent sun, but a rather impressive looking bus.

Optare Metrodecker YJ65 EPU

I say demonstrator but that technically wrong, as it's more of a prototype. Only 4 are in existence and as yet a production model is to be built. Three of the prototypes are being lent to operators for appraisal and feedback. One of those is in London for whom another is currently in build. I was privileged to be invited on the test drive this afternoon so I can give my own feedback. Regular readers will know I've been pretty scathing about the most recent new vehicles, but once again I boarded with a sense of optimism that this time I would be pleasantly surprised, despite the Metrocity single decker not impressing many last year.

The first impression when you board the Metrodecker is there is a lot of blue plastic around. An awful lot of blue plastic. The rear seating downstairs looked rather uninviting, but at the same time there was a feeling of airiness and space.

Rear lower deck

Those seats are deceptively comfortable, and the engine noise unobtrusive compared to other double deckers. There are 32 seats downstairs, which is extremely favourable these days.

The upper deck has been very well designed, with a curved front that is almost Borismaster like, and a large rear window giving extra light. There are 51 seats upstairs but nowhere is legroom cramped, and I found it an extremely pleasant environment. I should also add there are no huge pillars at the front obstructing views like the Streetdecks do.

The front top deck

And the rear

The Metrodecker also has something none of us had seen before - the emergency exit is on the nearside of the bus, not the usual offside. How this would impact on a double door version I have no idea, but I assume it could be easily relocated to the other side.

The nearside located emergency door

And so off we went, and immediately there was a feeling of solidity. The acceleration isn't obvious but it is smooth and consistent. A smooth gearbox ensures no-one will get thrown up the bus. The brakes are just as brakes should be - no screaming retarders, no jerkiness, just smooth effective braking. Upstairs it is extremely quiet, and a ride the quality of which I haven't had on a bus for a very long time. The top speed was impressive, showing that the Metrodecker could handle longer routes such as the X1 with ease. You will also have noticed that I haven't mentioned rattles. No need to -there weren't any.

A nearside view

So let's do the scoring as I did for the BYD Electric Bus the other week.

Exterior Appearance: 9 - Nothing wrong with it, would get a 10 with a bit more wow factor
Interior Design & Comfort: 10 - a lot of thought has gone into it, and even hard looking seatts are good.
Ride Quality: 10 - can't fault it. Smooth and comfortable in every way
Acceleration: 8 - perfect for a bus but not mind blowing
Brakes: 9 - didn't notice them which says it all.
Soundtrack: 9 - quiet and unobtrusive
Build Quality: 8 - too much plastic but no rattles!
Feel Good Factor: 9 - couldn't stop grinning, loved it..

That gives an average of  9, which I feel could be hard to beat. I'd recommend a ride on this lovely bus while it's here, and it is without doubt the best bus Optare has ever produced.

I have informed by Borderbus that the Metrodecker may be out Saturday but that is to be confirmed. However from Monday it is expected to be on the following journeys, although these are subject to change. Keep an eye on Borderbus's Twitter account.

0915 Southwold - Norwich.
1050 Norwich - Kessingland
1228 Kessingland - Norwich
1340 Norwich - Kessingland

At other times it will be on school work.

Borderbus ae also experimenting with a new electronic display for their fleet of Presidents. The first one has been fitted to 206 X652LLX and looks pretty good.

The new display on 206

There is still no date for the delivery of the two Geminis, and as soon as I hear something I'll post it. As usual my thanks to Dave, Colin and Eric at Borderbus for inviting and letting me have a preview of the Metrodecker.

Major Changes For Anglian & Konect

The blog is back. I can't guarantee how regular posts will be as due to circumstances beyond my control I'm not getting out as much right now. That should all change mid July, so please bear with me between now and then. In the meantime thanks to all those who got in touch while the blog was down - your concern means a great deal.

I have today received quite extraordinary news regarding the restructuring of services operated by Anglian and Konect effective July 25th. I will go through the changes as sinply as possible, but to be honest it's not all that simple!

Konect

Services 1/11/12  These routes will now operate on a commercial basis. The Swaffham - Kings Lynn section of the route will be withdrawn. Service 12 will have a revised timetable but the same number of journeys. Connections at Watton with the 3 from Norwich will be improved.

Service 71  An additional peak journey will operate between Wroxham and Great Yarmouth, returning in the afternoon

Park and Ride 501: Timetable revisions. A 15 mins frequency will operate between the Airport and Thickthorn throughout the day.with additional short journeys between City Centre and Thickthorn in the peaks

Park and Ride 503: This service is being extended to Great Yarmouth and will replace the current Anglian 7 service. Two buses an hour will extend from Postwick to Great Yarmouth matching the current Anglian 7 frequency. Peak journeys will extend into Caister. From Postwick into the City alternate journeys will operate via County Hall and Yarmouth Rd/Rail Station

Anglian

Service 7/7A: Service 7 is withdrawn and replaced by the extended Park and Ride service 503. Service 7A will continue to operate on College days

Services 60H/60S: A revised timetable with fewer journeys on the 60H

Service 61: There are major route changes to the 61. After leaving JPH heading to Yarmouth the 61 will serve Magdalen Estate, Gorleston High Street, Market Gates and continue to Barrack Estate.  The section of the route between Kessingland and Southwold is WITHDRAWN due to "the level of competition reducing the viability of this route".

Service 82: The Beccles Town Service will now only operate on Fridays

Service 83/84: The tender has been extended for a further two years. Timetable changes to even out the journeys will be made, but due to poor patronage the 83 will no longer operate on Saturdays

Service 87/88/X88/88A: All journeys on departure from Bus Station will operate via St Stephen's St due to the success of the Grey Charcoal Line. Some cuts to the 88A between Southwold and Halesworth but basic hourly off peak frequency maintained

School buses 90. BH272 and 5 (Framingham Earl) will also be withdrawn.

Comment

Wow! This is serious stuff. The main headline has got to be the withdrawal of the Southwold - Kessingland section of the 61 - a huge victory for Borderbus. However it will also mean no Sunday service to Southwold so expect First to make a move - maybe even extending the X1 to Southwold to maintain the popular cross Lowestoft link. I emphasise that is just my speculation and no decisions have been made. The P&R extension is rather pleasing personally - I told Go-Ahead management last year that the only way to compete with the X1 was to put deckers on, and match comfort and WiFi. Job done there but how successful it will be remains to be seen. I like the Caister extension too, but why not all day, giving Caister a direct link with Norwich? Also how will ticketing work? Will Postwick be the only place Concessionary Passes are not accepted? The details when published will be interesting.

Rural routes hit again, with Watton - Kings Lynn the most significant cut. I guess that's par for the course these days. Surprised about the 83 on a Saturday. That won't encourage independence for the next generation either.

All in all quite a surprise, and gas buses running around Barrack Estate will be a sight too. What this means for the Anglian fleet remains to be seen - hopefully some older Omnilinks will disappear which will be good news for posteriors! More updates as and when I get them