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suzyscottdotcomTime for another transport ten-pointer? Well, actually, more than ten points…
1. The trip that I did last Thursday… you can see all the pictures, but basically it was a fun day. Started at 0910 with Richmond’s Coaches Solo YJ05XMZ on Service ‘386J’ from Royston Bus Station to Bishop’s Stortford, I got off at Bridge Street. This route was extended in January to start in Royston on Thursdays, to allow passengers from Royston to still travel to Bishop’s Stortford on market day (despite the intended withdrawal of Service 26, which was subsequently partly rescued by Essex County Council). Anyway, continued via Stansted Transit Enviro200 1010 (KX57FMV) on Service VL5 from BS Interchange to Hatfield Heath, but I got off one stop too early, so some cross-field walking! As he was late, I assumed I’d missed my next bus, so I started walking towards the shelter in the opposite direction, only to have to run back when I spotted Arriva Solo 2459 on the 59 to Chelmsford! After just over an hour there (and spotting this former Yorkshire Traction Dart, in full livery!), I continued back to Hatfield Heath & Harlow on the next 59, this time 2454. After some spotting & shopping in Harlow, took Dart 3356 on the 500 (unusually – should be a low floor bus). The driver arrived sharpish, and then left before loading fares. So, while we waited for the bus, my phone rang… and that’s when I got the call about the assessment on Tuesday! Took that 500 to Epping High Street, then Regal Busways silver Dart or similar 611 on the 213 to Waltham Cross (filled with loud schoolkids going back to Upshire and Waltham Abbey), then Arriva Trident 5425 on Service 311 to Ware College. Crossed over the road to the bus shelter at Ware level crossing (with a hole in the roof right now!) and got the 331 back to Royston – unusually a screeching Dart SLF, 3440. All that for £7.00… :) so that takes care of those areas, for another few months. (Other bit of useless trivia – when in the loos at Chelmsford, the zip came away from my skirt… making it rather… interesting… all the way home… thank goodness for long coats, that’s all I can say…)
2. It was announced to the staff on Friday that Rennie’s of Dunfermline have been acquired by Stagecoach. Perhaps not a surprise, since Stagecoach were able to lease quite a few vehicles to Rennies.
3. Centrebus St Albans sale went off as planned, and a handful of services now appear on the Uno website under the name of ‘uno Centrebus’ – 304, 320, 359, PB1, S1-S9. Confirmed though that the ‘new’ 90/91 will operate from one of the depots not sold, so defiantly under the Centrebus banner. St Albans is another one of these depots that no-one wants, but uno have plans to realise the potential of the operation, and try to reduce congestion in St Albans city centre.
4. Speaking of congestion, next month, Green Line (Arriva The Shires) 724 (Harlow-Heathrow) is to be rerouted away from St Peter Street (main through shopping street in St Albans), in a bid to improve reliability of the route. I know… every other bus service goes this way…
5. Long distance services include many National Express coach routes. They have announced that the A4 size coach guide has been discontinued from sale, and in future, public information will be limited to the individual route (or town/city) leaflets, and the website. Another one bites the dust! My copy of the last edition turned out to be very well used…
6. Following previous comments about the 590, I see (from the new 2008 timetable leaflet) that this route now has additional running time, presumably to cope with changes to drivers hours regulations last year (I mentioned this in a letter to the company as an aside, after this event). Start at Aberdeen 0720 (unchanged), Dundee 0850 (unchanged), Perth 0925 (was 0920), Glasgow 1040/1100 (was 1035/1100), Hamilton 1125 (unchanged), Carlisle 1300 (unchanged), Milton Keynes Coachway 1840 Monday-Thursday or 1855 Fridays (was 1815), Golders Green 1940 Monday-Thursday or 1955 Fridays (was 1915), and London Victoria Coach Station 2020 Monday-Thursday or 2035 Friday (was 1945). While this does mean Fridays are likely to miss the 2030 Cambridge 010 coach (next one still 2200), connections (at MK) to the X5 are now a little bit easier (going towards Cambridge, assuming bus is now on time) at 1910, 2005, or 2055.
7. Further developments with the redevelopment of passenger facilities in Milton Keynes (some NatEx services mention relocation) should be happening next month. That is all I currently know.
8. Changes in Herts have been mentioned already, but Intachange edition 51 is now on the web, so have a look there for all the news, including some bits not previously mentioned (or understood by me!) here.
9. Speaking of Intalink (Herts CC), new Hertford, Lea Valley & Cuffley guides (green – Area 6) are now available, and some copies of the Bishop’s Stortford, Buntingford & Royston (blue – Area 7) are currently in the post to me. My copy of the latter is extremely well-thumbed, after an entire year of reference!
10. Huge changes in Dundee coming up, partly based on the previously-mentioned council cuts, but also because the operators wanted to make the changes at the same time. Travel Dundee, I’ve not seen the lot, but I believe what is known so far is that the 9x/10x (Forthill – Technology Park) will see the recently-introduced 20 minute evening service change to every 30 minutes, but also run cross-city – as far as Perth Road/Step Row only thought, not all the way through! Some morning buses on the 14 (Ethiebeaton Park/Dobbies – Ninewells Hospital) will now run up to 10 minutes early (see previous issues re reliability of this route). Three new hourly services will run on Sundays – 24 to Woodside, and 25/26 via the west end & Lochee. I’ve not seen all the details of these changes yet.
11. Stagecoach East Scotland changes are interesting. Firstly, a batch of 18 new MAN/Enviro300 single deck buses are currently being delivered. Four will be going to Stagecoach Perth, with the remainder for Stagecoach Strathtay. Four of latter are being used to convert the single deck workings on 20/22 (Kirriemuir-Dundee) to low-floor (alongside previously mentioned Tridents – note that the improved timetable is not going ahead, following BRDG plans not being continued). The remainder are being allocated to Dundee depot. to convert Service 13 from Optare Solo’s, and also on the Dundee working of Service 20. The remainder (including the Perth four) are earmarked for improvements in the Carse of Gowrie (which again was a BRDG plan, but the company have decided to go it commercial, with low floor buses).
11. Speaking of Dundee depot, the premises behind the bus station has been sold, and Stagecoach Strathtay will soon be moving to refurbishd premises at Wester Gourdie industrial estate.
12. Stagecoach Services 54/54A/54X service journeys between Dundee and Perth will be withdrawn, but merged into Service 16 (and new 16A, 16B) to provide two buses an hour (stopping services) between Dundee and Perth. One bus an hour will serve Ninewells Hospital and the Technology Park, Kingoodie, Bullionfield, Errol, Grange, Glendoick, The Horn, and Perth Royal Infirmary, with half-hourly services to Longforgan, Inchure, and St Madoes. This will be topped by new Service 333, which will run limited stop hourly (two hourly on Saturdays and Sundays) between Ninewells Hospital, Carseview Centre, The Horn, Perth City Centre, and PRI. The latter will have buses in a dedicated livery, and is being partly funded by NHS Tayside (and had been previously tendered to start early in 2007, but was not awarded). Some short 39’s between Dundee and Kingoodie will be withdrawn at the same time, but covered by the changes to the 16 group.
13. Fife services are changing at the same time. Main changes include the withdrawal of off-peak services on Service X50 (Inverkething – Ocean Terminal) but does see enhancements elsewhere. AirDirect Service 747 (Inverkething – Edinburgh Airport) is to be increased from every 30 minutes Mon-Sat daytime to every 20 minutes. The Sunday service is also increased to every 30 minutes. Service X40 (Inverkething – Heriot Watt Uni Riccarton Campus) is to be merged into the 747, with one 747 an hour (Monday to Friday daytimes) continuing to RBS Gogarburn, Gyle, Sighthill, Hermiston P&R, and Riccarton. Frequency enhancements are being added to many Dunfermline local services (as an example Abbeyview circulars D5/D6 will also increse from every 30 to every 20 minutes during the day), but Service D9 (Parkneuk – Birrell Drive) will be withdrawn (and covered by other routes). Daytime 76 (Izatt Avenue – Crombie) will now end in central Dunfermline. The Izatt Avenue section of D9 and 76 will be covered by a new Service 80/80A, which will then continue beyond Hospital Hill to serve Fordell and Dalgety Bay hourly, replacing one of the Service D7 hourly strands, which will divert to the Fife Leisure Park instead. Service 78 (Dunfermline – High Valleyfield/Stirling) will divert to Falkirk instead, with new Service 73 running bi-hourly from Dunfermline via Cairneyhill, Blairhall, Gartarry and Alloa to Stirling. Additionally, some peak workings on the 74 will continue to Stirling (instead of Falkirk). There will be many other changes to services in west Fife around the same time, mostly to do with the opening of the new Dunfermline bus station.
14. An annual fare increase has just hit Stagecoach Strathtay, Stagecoach Perth (city services only) and some MegaRider tickets from Stagecoach Fife – but no change to single fares with the latter this time.
15. Following this post, I’ve since received word that the Beith transport museum open weekend (planned for next weekend) has been cancelled, following a problem with local authority regulation changes. Keep watching their website for further details and developments.
16. Finally, more interesting tales from The Ticket Collector. Seems as if National Express East Coast do not have their troubles to seek… but were not assisted by an apparent ‘head in the sand’ over an incident on the tracks, which at least First Capital Connect had the decency to inform their passengers and staff pagers the previous evening. Not so NatEx, who didn’t get round to a delay notification until after the morning peak. At the same time, NatEx are announcing 95 job cuts at head office, and similar levels have been heard of in other parts of the NatEx group, while money is spent on rebranding the organisations to one name.
1. The trip that I did last Thursday… you can see all the pictures, but basically it was a fun day. Started at 0910 with Richmond’s Coaches Solo YJ05XMZ on Service ‘386J’ from Royston Bus Station to Bishop’s Stortford, I got off at Bridge Street. This route was extended in January to start in Royston on Thursdays, to allow passengers from Royston to still travel to Bishop’s Stortford on market day (despite the intended withdrawal of Service 26, which was subsequently partly rescued by Essex County Council). Anyway, continued via Stansted Transit Enviro200 1010 (KX57FMV) on Service VL5 from BS Interchange to Hatfield Heath, but I got off one stop too early, so some cross-field walking! As he was late, I assumed I’d missed my next bus, so I started walking towards the shelter in the opposite direction, only to have to run back when I spotted Arriva Solo 2459 on the 59 to Chelmsford! After just over an hour there (and spotting this former Yorkshire Traction Dart, in full livery!), I continued back to Hatfield Heath & Harlow on the next 59, this time 2454. After some spotting & shopping in Harlow, took Dart 3356 on the 500 (unusually – should be a low floor bus). The driver arrived sharpish, and then left before loading fares. So, while we waited for the bus, my phone rang… and that’s when I got the call about the assessment on Tuesday! Took that 500 to Epping High Street, then Regal Busways silver Dart or similar 611 on the 213 to Waltham Cross (filled with loud schoolkids going back to Upshire and Waltham Abbey), then Arriva Trident 5425 on Service 311 to Ware College. Crossed over the road to the bus shelter at Ware level crossing (with a hole in the roof right now!) and got the 331 back to Royston – unusually a screeching Dart SLF, 3440. All that for £7.00… :) so that takes care of those areas, for another few months. (Other bit of useless trivia – when in the loos at Chelmsford, the zip came away from my skirt… making it rather… interesting… all the way home… thank goodness for long coats, that’s all I can say…)
2. It was announced to the staff on Friday that Rennie’s of Dunfermline have been acquired by Stagecoach. Perhaps not a surprise, since Stagecoach were able to lease quite a few vehicles to Rennies.
3. Centrebus St Albans sale went off as planned, and a handful of services now appear on the Uno website under the name of ‘uno Centrebus’ – 304, 320, 359, PB1, S1-S9. Confirmed though that the ‘new’ 90/91 will operate from one of the depots not sold, so defiantly under the Centrebus banner. St Albans is another one of these depots that no-one wants, but uno have plans to realise the potential of the operation, and try to reduce congestion in St Albans city centre.
4. Speaking of congestion, next month, Green Line (Arriva The Shires) 724 (Harlow-Heathrow) is to be rerouted away from St Peter Street (main through shopping street in St Albans), in a bid to improve reliability of the route. I know… every other bus service goes this way…
5. Long distance services include many National Express coach routes. They have announced that the A4 size coach guide has been discontinued from sale, and in future, public information will be limited to the individual route (or town/city) leaflets, and the website. Another one bites the dust! My copy of the last edition turned out to be very well used…
6. Following previous comments about the 590, I see (from the new 2008 timetable leaflet) that this route now has additional running time, presumably to cope with changes to drivers hours regulations last year (I mentioned this in a letter to the company as an aside, after this event). Start at Aberdeen 0720 (unchanged), Dundee 0850 (unchanged), Perth 0925 (was 0920), Glasgow 1040/1100 (was 1035/1100), Hamilton 1125 (unchanged), Carlisle 1300 (unchanged), Milton Keynes Coachway 1840 Monday-Thursday or 1855 Fridays (was 1815), Golders Green 1940 Monday-Thursday or 1955 Fridays (was 1915), and London Victoria Coach Station 2020 Monday-Thursday or 2035 Friday (was 1945). While this does mean Fridays are likely to miss the 2030 Cambridge 010 coach (next one still 2200), connections (at MK) to the X5 are now a little bit easier (going towards Cambridge, assuming bus is now on time) at 1910, 2005, or 2055.
7. Further developments with the redevelopment of passenger facilities in Milton Keynes (some NatEx services mention relocation) should be happening next month. That is all I currently know.
8. Changes in Herts have been mentioned already, but Intachange edition 51 is now on the web, so have a look there for all the news, including some bits not previously mentioned (or understood by me!) here.
9. Speaking of Intalink (Herts CC), new Hertford, Lea Valley & Cuffley guides (green – Area 6) are now available, and some copies of the Bishop’s Stortford, Buntingford & Royston (blue – Area 7) are currently in the post to me. My copy of the latter is extremely well-thumbed, after an entire year of reference!
10. Huge changes in Dundee coming up, partly based on the previously-mentioned council cuts, but also because the operators wanted to make the changes at the same time. Travel Dundee, I’ve not seen the lot, but I believe what is known so far is that the 9x/10x (Forthill – Technology Park) will see the recently-introduced 20 minute evening service change to every 30 minutes, but also run cross-city – as far as Perth Road/Step Row only thought, not all the way through! Some morning buses on the 14 (Ethiebeaton Park/Dobbies – Ninewells Hospital) will now run up to 10 minutes early (see previous issues re reliability of this route). Three new hourly services will run on Sundays – 24 to Woodside, and 25/26 via the west end & Lochee. I’ve not seen all the details of these changes yet.
11. Stagecoach East Scotland changes are interesting. Firstly, a batch of 18 new MAN/Enviro300 single deck buses are currently being delivered. Four will be going to Stagecoach Perth, with the remainder for Stagecoach Strathtay. Four of latter are being used to convert the single deck workings on 20/22 (Kirriemuir-Dundee) to low-floor (alongside previously mentioned Tridents – note that the improved timetable is not going ahead, following BRDG plans not being continued). The remainder are being allocated to Dundee depot. to convert Service 13 from Optare Solo’s, and also on the Dundee working of Service 20. The remainder (including the Perth four) are earmarked for improvements in the Carse of Gowrie (which again was a BRDG plan, but the company have decided to go it commercial, with low floor buses).
11. Speaking of Dundee depot, the premises behind the bus station has been sold, and Stagecoach Strathtay will soon be moving to refurbishd premises at Wester Gourdie industrial estate.
12. Stagecoach Services 54/54A/54X service journeys between Dundee and Perth will be withdrawn, but merged into Service 16 (and new 16A, 16B) to provide two buses an hour (stopping services) between Dundee and Perth. One bus an hour will serve Ninewells Hospital and the Technology Park, Kingoodie, Bullionfield, Errol, Grange, Glendoick, The Horn, and Perth Royal Infirmary, with half-hourly services to Longforgan, Inchure, and St Madoes. This will be topped by new Service 333, which will run limited stop hourly (two hourly on Saturdays and Sundays) between Ninewells Hospital, Carseview Centre, The Horn, Perth City Centre, and PRI. The latter will have buses in a dedicated livery, and is being partly funded by NHS Tayside (and had been previously tendered to start early in 2007, but was not awarded). Some short 39’s between Dundee and Kingoodie will be withdrawn at the same time, but covered by the changes to the 16 group.
13. Fife services are changing at the same time. Main changes include the withdrawal of off-peak services on Service X50 (Inverkething – Ocean Terminal) but does see enhancements elsewhere. AirDirect Service 747 (Inverkething – Edinburgh Airport) is to be increased from every 30 minutes Mon-Sat daytime to every 20 minutes. The Sunday service is also increased to every 30 minutes. Service X40 (Inverkething – Heriot Watt Uni Riccarton Campus) is to be merged into the 747, with one 747 an hour (Monday to Friday daytimes) continuing to RBS Gogarburn, Gyle, Sighthill, Hermiston P&R, and Riccarton. Frequency enhancements are being added to many Dunfermline local services (as an example Abbeyview circulars D5/D6 will also increse from every 30 to every 20 minutes during the day), but Service D9 (Parkneuk – Birrell Drive) will be withdrawn (and covered by other routes). Daytime 76 (Izatt Avenue – Crombie) will now end in central Dunfermline. The Izatt Avenue section of D9 and 76 will be covered by a new Service 80/80A, which will then continue beyond Hospital Hill to serve Fordell and Dalgety Bay hourly, replacing one of the Service D7 hourly strands, which will divert to the Fife Leisure Park instead. Service 78 (Dunfermline – High Valleyfield/Stirling) will divert to Falkirk instead, with new Service 73 running bi-hourly from Dunfermline via Cairneyhill, Blairhall, Gartarry and Alloa to Stirling. Additionally, some peak workings on the 74 will continue to Stirling (instead of Falkirk). There will be many other changes to services in west Fife around the same time, mostly to do with the opening of the new Dunfermline bus station.
14. An annual fare increase has just hit Stagecoach Strathtay, Stagecoach Perth (city services only) and some MegaRider tickets from Stagecoach Fife – but no change to single fares with the latter this time.
15. Following this post, I’ve since received word that the Beith transport museum open weekend (planned for next weekend) has been cancelled, following a problem with local authority regulation changes. Keep watching their website for further details and developments.
16. Finally, more interesting tales from The Ticket Collector. Seems as if National Express East Coast do not have their troubles to seek… but were not assisted by an apparent ‘head in the sand’ over an incident on the tracks, which at least First Capital Connect had the decency to inform their passengers and staff pagers the previous evening. Not so NatEx, who didn’t get round to a delay notification until after the morning peak. At the same time, NatEx are announcing 95 job cuts at head office, and similar levels have been heard of in other parts of the NatEx group, while money is spent on rebranding the organisations to one name.
