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suzyscottdotcomA range of topics that I mentioned before.
National Express Neoplan Skyliners On the night of Tuesday 2nd January into , the overnight National Express 592 (London – Dundee/Aberdeen) service was in a fatal crash, at the junction of the M4 and the M25 (see here). Subsequently, all the Neoplan Skyliner coaches ran by Parks/Trathens for National Express, were taken off the road. These coaches were a brand new batch at the end of 2006, and two still had not got on the road at the time of the smash. Subsequently, white Volvo/Jonckheere single deck coaches were used, with duplicates as necessary.
On the night of Sunday 20th May into Monday 21st May, Service 592 from London to Dundee/Aberdeen was being worked by a Volvo/ Jonckheere single deck coach of Trathens (HSK 656), with Bruce’s Bova Futura V20 NAT doing a duplicate as far as Glasgow (as had been par for the course since January). Having said that, when I got to Glasgow, we were all bus changed off, to be replaced by... Neoplan Skyliner LSK 821! When we left Glasgow, the driver did a bit more than usual, by advising us words to the effect of (and remember it was 0715 on a Monday morning...) "This coach meets all uk and international safety standards, and is fitted with a strict speed limiter, at 100kmph." This perhaps was something to do with the expose a former Parks/Trathens driver did in the Sunday Mail newspaper at the time. He then explained seatbelts, emergency exits etc. Later that day, I received a text from Bobby, who was working in Hamilton that day, and he said that the 538 northbound towards Aberdeen got changed from a single decker to a Neoplan Skyliner today at Hamilton Bus Station... Oh, and the vehicle in the smash has returned to service too – with a new registration number.
Russell Reid’s GMC Enquiry Back last November I mentioned this case.reiko_j, zoeimogen and auntysarah were all at the verdict announcement on Friday 25th May, and Sarah explanined it better than I could with this post. For the benefit of any Gruniard readers here, I quote; “David Batty of the Guardian, who has shown such a keen interest in tabloid-style reporting on this case, apparently couldn't be bothered to turn up.” Didn’t stop him writing about it though.
Surgery I don’t have a date yet – largely because I now find I need to lose a few kilos. “It wouldn’t be the end of the world if you didn’t” kind of lead the two of us to believe that I didn’t need to. Having checked weight and stuff, and trying to make a few changes, I lost two kilos since the initial weigh-in, and have lost another two more recently. Another five or so to go, and I should be into double figures. Then, we can proceed.
Transport for London Saver tickets Lots of red bus “Saver” tickets remain in circulation, but they are no longer for sale. The last day of acceptance on buses is Saturday 30th June. TfL initially (see previous story) said there would be no exchange of old “red” tickets for new “blue” ones. The design change came about when a huge level of fraud was uncovered, and it later turned out that some corner shops were actually buying them from the fraudsters, rather than TfL. But now, TfL are saying “After 30 June any old red designs will have to be checked by TfL fraud investigators, so requests for blue ticket replacements could take some weeks to process” – does that mean we might be able to get exchanges after all?
Travel Dundee bus hits house Optare Solo 201 ran aground in Ardler (see here and here), while operating daily works Service 93 on Tuesday 22nd January. The bus has now been repaired (with a new LED destination screen too!) and returned to service. No further news on what happened, though, and I won’t speculate here. Oh yes, and it’s now numbered 7201 in the new sequence (see here)
National Express Neoplan Skyliners On the night of Tuesday 2nd January into , the overnight National Express 592 (London – Dundee/Aberdeen) service was in a fatal crash, at the junction of the M4 and the M25 (see here). Subsequently, all the Neoplan Skyliner coaches ran by Parks/Trathens for National Express, were taken off the road. These coaches were a brand new batch at the end of 2006, and two still had not got on the road at the time of the smash. Subsequently, white Volvo/Jonckheere single deck coaches were used, with duplicates as necessary.
On the night of Sunday 20th May into Monday 21st May, Service 592 from London to Dundee/Aberdeen was being worked by a Volvo/ Jonckheere single deck coach of Trathens (HSK 656), with Bruce’s Bova Futura V20 NAT doing a duplicate as far as Glasgow (as had been par for the course since January). Having said that, when I got to Glasgow, we were all bus changed off, to be replaced by... Neoplan Skyliner LSK 821! When we left Glasgow, the driver did a bit more than usual, by advising us words to the effect of (and remember it was 0715 on a Monday morning...) "This coach meets all uk and international safety standards, and is fitted with a strict speed limiter, at 100kmph." This perhaps was something to do with the expose a former Parks/Trathens driver did in the Sunday Mail newspaper at the time. He then explained seatbelts, emergency exits etc. Later that day, I received a text from Bobby, who was working in Hamilton that day, and he said that the 538 northbound towards Aberdeen got changed from a single decker to a Neoplan Skyliner today at Hamilton Bus Station... Oh, and the vehicle in the smash has returned to service too – with a new registration number.
Russell Reid’s GMC Enquiry Back last November I mentioned this case.
reiko_j, zoeimogen and auntysarah were all at the verdict announcement on Friday 25th May, and Sarah explanined it better than I could with this post. For the benefit of any Gruniard readers here, I quote; “David Batty of the Guardian, who has shown such a keen interest in tabloid-style reporting on this case, apparently couldn't be bothered to turn up.” Didn’t stop him writing about it though.Surgery I don’t have a date yet – largely because I now find I need to lose a few kilos. “It wouldn’t be the end of the world if you didn’t” kind of lead the two of us to believe that I didn’t need to. Having checked weight and stuff, and trying to make a few changes, I lost two kilos since the initial weigh-in, and have lost another two more recently. Another five or so to go, and I should be into double figures. Then, we can proceed.
Transport for London Saver tickets Lots of red bus “Saver” tickets remain in circulation, but they are no longer for sale. The last day of acceptance on buses is Saturday 30th June. TfL initially (see previous story) said there would be no exchange of old “red” tickets for new “blue” ones. The design change came about when a huge level of fraud was uncovered, and it later turned out that some corner shops were actually buying them from the fraudsters, rather than TfL. But now, TfL are saying “After 30 June any old red designs will have to be checked by TfL fraud investigators, so requests for blue ticket replacements could take some weeks to process” – does that mean we might be able to get exchanges after all?
Travel Dundee bus hits house Optare Solo 201 ran aground in Ardler (see here and here), while operating daily works Service 93 on Tuesday 22nd January. The bus has now been repaired (with a new LED destination screen too!) and returned to service. No further news on what happened, though, and I won’t speculate here. Oh yes, and it’s now numbered 7201 in the new sequence (see here)
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no subject
Date: 2007-06-15 10:18 pm (UTC)Didn't know about the London tickets though...
no subject
Date: 2007-06-17 10:47 am (UTC)I've got 13 of them in my handbag at the moment... hence might be an idea if I can get a swap for at least some of those!
no subject
Date: 2007-06-17 01:26 pm (UTC)Are there any "general" website equivalents out there for national things? You know me, I'm not too bothered about fleet news/ vehicle numbers, but if there's any site about developments (especially route stuff) I'd be interested to know (rather than being a member of three thousand "local" Yahoo groups etc.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-17 02:29 pm (UTC)