Official: Stagecoach is cheapest

Independent transport consultants TAS has revealed that Stagecoach is the cheapest bus company in Britain for weekly travel. The headline-grabbing figure quoted is that on average the company is 17.5% cheaper than other operators, meaning those who buy Stagecoach's weekly Megarider tickets save an average of £150 each year.

A recent radio advert on Lincs FM would suggest HQ in Perth has given permission for this data to be given as much publicity as possible. And why not? Stagecoach's average weekly Megarider (or local equivalent) is £13.27; the average of all the others surveyed was £16.09. That's a marked reduction, in the range of 20%.

Yes, I know we could all give a number of fares charged by Stagecoach that are particularly expensive, but that is for another day. Stagecoach is patting itself on the back for offering the cheapest weekly tickets - and by a not inconsiderable amount, it would seem. My only observation is that Stagecoach is often the only operator to provide such an unlimited weekly ticket in a particular area/along a certain flow and so what other operators' ticket options do you compare it to, if one isn't offered?

But, it is these weekly tickets that have the greatest potential to entice motorists from their cars. Offering a ticket with as few strings as possible makes travelling by bus that little bit more straightforward. Coupled with a decent frequency and buses running when potential newcomers want them to, the cost of the weekly Megarider needs to be not slightly cheaper than a week's petrol, but considerably more, in order for the conversion to be seen as an almost 'no brainer'.

Stagecoach was compared against its contemporaries, including smaller groups such as Veolia Transdev, a host of independents and a number of municipals.

Where I would argue with the report is when it states: "Stagecoach consistently has the lowest weekly ticket price and gives the highest discount compared to single fares." The two ought not to be compared. No one - not even the bus novice - buys ten singles every week. Single fares are also jacked up artificially high in order to maximise the average adult fare paid on a route. Keep the singles higher than they would otherwise be and your average fare will be higher than it would otherwise be and that sees a higher concessionary bus pass reimbursement rate than you would otherwise receive.

I know I said I'd save it for another day, but while I'm flowing along this vein, single fares on a number of large operators' services can be extortionate - often due to the margins on the unlimited weeklies being so low. I recently travelled precisely 4.8 miles in an urban environment on a Stagecoach citi service and paid what I believed to be an expensive sum of £2.90. Ten of these (i.e. there and back, five times a day) is £29, so the £13.50 weekly Megarider ticket being sold by that depot is almost 60% cheaper.

Best compare like with like, not against singles.

Stagecoach won the accolade that last time TAS undertook their survey in 2009. Theoretically, the larger the company, the greater the benefit from efficiencies of scale and so the cheaper the day-to-day running costs. Provided this is passed onto the passenger, headline-grabbing awards such as this can be won.

Worrying!

Occasionally I'll read something that concerns me. This is usually because the author knows his subject matter and outlines diligently a major flaw in a subject or highlights continued ignorance of the part of people who should know better. On this occasion Passenger Transport dedicated 5 pages for Go North East's former managing director Peter Huntley to write at length about the Competition Commission's Inquiry into the competitiveness of the bus industry.

If you follow the bus industry, it won't have escaped your attention that there's been a row brewing for over a year now as, in the midst of recession, the Office of Fair Trading said it was referring the industry to the Competition Commission as it believed there could be a case of the industry no longer operating in the competitive manner that was envisaged in the early 1980s.

Bus companies are of the opinion that the CC simply does not understand the industry. They point out that no official recognition has been made by the CC that the main competitor to the bus is the private car. Plenty of busmen have detailed their misgivings of the inquiry (LEYTR chairman Paul Hill is no exception) but in my opinion, none more so than Peter Huntley in his Passenger Transport piece.

His article centres on his two-day experience being grilled by the CC Inquiry. It is littered with phrases like "... I, once again, struggled to move us back from economic theory to reality"; "Go North East was apparently damned for competing but was equally damned for withdrawing from competition where this proved not to be profitable."

Free of the corporate shackles, Huntley is able to offer us an insight into the process from someone at MD level. Watered down theories such as: "Frustrated by past inability to actually identify collusion there was a determination to explore every contact made with anyone else in the bus industry over a full five-year period" are stated, questioning the Inquiry's raison d'etre.

Huntley's article set about answering seven hypothetical questions. The first of which gave a flavour to the article: 1. The Competition Commission had already decided that it was going to find 'evidence of collusion' before it started this project and was simply looking for the easiest background to 'sex up' the 'evidence' of this. Second was: Despite the evidence of substantial and growing direct and indirect competition between operators, the commission decided to ignore any evidence that did not accord with its predetermined view of collusion.

Huntley's Go North East had done a 'route swap' of sorts in the Tyne Valley (the official term is a 'back to back' parallel purchase) with neighbouring competitor Arriva, in a deal fully endorsed by the OFT who was satisfied that 90% of the competition between the operators would continue as a result. So unlike other bus company MDs, Huntley and his Arriva counterpart were quizzed more vigorously by the CC as two supposedly competing companies had sat down and orchestrated who would have what route.

This is not lost on Huntley who sets about wording his seventh and final question: The fear and concern of the North Tyneside Quality Partnership proposals that the commission expresses is in direct contrast with the similar initiative to co-ordinate and improve overall service to the public in Oxford, which has been praised by our public transport minister, Norman Baker.

That someone who held a position of managing director can be left with such an impression of the CC's inquiry genuinely worries me. Huntley left Go North East officially on New Year's Eve so is able to write without being parochial to his former employer. Yes, this is one man's view but it is not only representative of the industry as a whole, it goes beyond the misgivings bus companies have whom I've spoken to. I am genuinely concerned that we have a Competition Commission that does not adequately know what competition is.

The final word to Huntley: "An independent evaluation commissioned by Stagecoach, Nexus and ourselves showed that Nexus [Tyne & Wear PTE] could save money, the public could have better services and longer term sustainability could be delivered. But my colleagues at Stagecoach, who have more than enough experience of the Competition Commission, wisely assessed the risk as too great".

The CC is so impenetrable that trend-setting maverick Stagecoach is running scared!

Passenger Transport website

Handed on a plate

They'd never admit it publicly, but the closure of the A4 Hammersmith Flyover immediately before the Christmas was an early present for First Great Western and London Underground. Commuters will only sit in effective gridlock for so long before they feel no alternative other than to leave the car at home and get the train. With the prospect of the Flyover being closed for much of January, long-term contingencies will have been forced upon regular travellers.


Forcing a die-hard petrol head to leave his/her motor vehicle at home and being forced to consider an alternative is the holy grail for the Department for Transport and transport operators - especially when public transport is the only real alternative (no point car sharing when road gridlock is the issue). Under any other circumstance, the car user's civil liberties would be infringed, under the Hammersmith situation this isn't an issue.

The M4/A4 route into London runs parallel with the Great Western Main Line and considerably higher than normal loadings have been recorded into/out of Paddington. First, who operates the Great Western franchise, already operates most of the country's top 10 most overcrowded trains, so the prospect of many thousand more to convey in the peak periods must be literally incomprehensible.

A Class 166 Turbo Express approaches London Paddington. Photo: AndrewHA

Although the Flyover is open to light vehicles today, just one lane presents itself in either direction and the area is still reportedly very busy indeed. It will be interesting to learn the retention levels seen by FGW and London Underground in the area when the route is open in full.

There may be some who are pleasantly surprised at the relative convenience of the train/Tube to the car, though I reckon you'd have to be someone working flexi-time in order to avoid the arm pit-to-nose conditions at the most popular time of the day. Others may see how much money they've saved by leaving the car at home and buying a season ticket of some description. We hear lots of complaints when regulated fares rose by 6%, but more often than not the fare paid is significantly cheaper than using a car to make an equivalent commute.

If only additional capacity had been in place to make the morning peak less barbaric on commuters, the retention levels will almost certainly be higher than they're likely to be. Almost 1,000 days had passed before the DfT made the announcement of an additional order for more carriages on Southern services.

The departure from London Paddington out west hasn't changed since the line was built in 1838. In his Bradshaws Guide of 1866, George Bradshaw wrote:

On departure of the train, it threads the sinuosities of the station at an easy rate, and we have time to notice the metamorphosis that has taken place in the environs of the line; walls have become green embankments, embankments diminished into hedges, and hedges have grown into avenues of trees, waving a leafy adieu as we are carried past. The increasing velocity of the train now conveys us rapidly into the suburbs of the metropolis - past Kensal Green Cemetery on the right, Wormwood Scrubs on the left, and a transient glimpse is obtained of the London and North-Western Railway winding its course towards the midland counties.

The route at first lies through the Thames Valley, then, after passing the elevated plains to the north of Marborough Downs, it gradually descends down into the fertile and picturesque valley of the Avon. Emerging from a slight excavation, we come to an embankment crossing Old Oak Common so named form its having been the site of a thick forest of oaks. The village of Acton, which lies to the left, is linked to the metropolis by one almost uninterrupted line of houses, through which the North-Western Junction Railway passes, connecting the North-Western Railway with those of the South-Western.

A very different view is seen from the carriage of a District Line train, of course!

Correct Change

It's not really an issue on the trains as most tickets are purchased in advance and on occasions when guards do sell a ticket, they accept payment by card, but in the bus industry there still is an issue surrounding correct change.

Perhaps it's not as bad nowadays as it was. Bus operators now rather cheekily charge fares rounded to the nearest 5p or 10p and increase by this amount even when this is way in excess of inflation. There is now a sizeable proportion of travellers who do not pay at all to travel, though often it was those over-60s who kept a bus driver in a good supply of small change. The mass uptake of great value all-day tickets within urban areas, that can be purchased from the driver, has limited per person cash transactions each day. There are a few operators who've always opted for an exact fare system, offering no change. These operators haven't increased in number though.

The reason I've been pondering the whole 'giving change' thing came following a trip within the LEYTR area that a friend and I undertook. We caught a bus service where the fare was £1.85. We were only to make one journey on that operator's service that day so an adult single was all that we needed. I boarded first and gave the driver two £1 coins as I didn't have £1.85 exactly. The driver asked if I had the 5p - I did - and duly handed it over, to then receive a 20p coin as my change.

Unbeknown to me, when my friend boarded next, he too offered two £1 coins. Like myself, the driver asked him if he had the 5p. Sadly, he didn't, so the driver said he was unable to give him all his change and presented him with a 10p coin. My friend was unaware that seconds earlier I'd given this driver a 5p coin, as requested, and the driver chose not to give this back out.

I made my friend aware of this and he wasn't too bothered that he'd paid £1.90. I wouldn't have been too bothered either, had the fare been advertised as £1.90 (or £1.80!). We were both aware that no operator has any legal obligation to offer change, but virtually all do so in order to attract patronage, rather than turn it away - something Nottingham City Transport, Lothian Buses et al must surely do to some extent by no offering change.

So the driver was 5p in the black. He may have dutifully paid in that amount over at the end of his shift, but I bet he didn't. It was also pretty obvious that my friend and I were travelling together. The driver just didn't care that we would work out what he'd done: needlessly keeping the 5p.

This is a relatively minor story and while only 5p is involved here, there are occasions where 8 kids all want to buy £2.60 returns and each present the driver with a £10 note. If the driver doesn't have any £5 notes, a total of 48 coins need giving out in this batch of transactions. That's why the way forward is something I've only recently come across: the No Change Voucher.

Municipal Grimsby-Cleethorpes Transport never had anything like this when I was growing up, neither did NBC-operated RoadCar; that was until the latter acquired the Almex A90. A No Change ticket could then be issued to a passenger where the driver could not offer sufficient change. This ticket would then effectively be worth cash to any RoadCar driver and the passenger had the confidence that he/she wasn't 'being done' or had to make their way to the company's HQ with a hand-written IOU from the driver. The irony here is that sometimes this would mean paying to travel on one of the operator's buses.

That's not to say these vouchers don't have their pitfalls. I once caught the Oxford Tube at Marble Arch and every single one of the 6 passengers in front of me were given a No Change Voucher as they boarded. They were all headed to Oxford and the driver told them to approach any Stagecoach in Oxfordshire driver there for the change. This wouldn't have worked if they were London-bound, unless another Oxford Tube driver was able to oblige. That's assuming there was one there.

In a non-aggressive manner, the No Change Voucher does reinforce to passengers the onus they have of providing the correct change whenever possible. Like Peter Kay's Brian Potter (Phoenix Nights) said about garlic bread, "I've seen it. It's the future!"

Proverb

Buses run for those who wait
They do not wait for those who run

Anon.

Brand Value

An interesting point in one of the railway magazines was made recently, on the subject of why, perhaps, the government shouldn't let European state-owned railway companies operate UK rail franchises simply because they offer the best financial bid.

They have no real brand identity outside their own company and so have nothing to lose if things don't go as well as they'd hoped or as well as their predecessor had operated the franchise. The powerful flip-side is that with SNCF or Deutsche Bahn operating a UK franchise, their subsidiary is effectively guaranteed by the French/German state, so defaults such as those that have occurred with the East Coast franchise would be unthinkable.

Keolis is a French transport company in which SNCF (the state railway company) has a majority share. Keolis has a minority share in the Trans-Pennine franchise with First holding the majority share. Photo: GodsFavouriteAngel

Virgin Trains is making the case for retaining its West Coast franchise. Although an extension was awarded, it is fourth in line to be re-tendered and obviously Mr. Branson would like to retain his sole UK rail franchise (in which Mr Souter's company has a 49% stake). The Virgin brand means something to many UK rail travellers, whereas whatever name Abellio or Keolis or DB call the West Coast franchise should they win it will be meaningless at first.

The Chinese and the German states hold the concession to operate London Overground. MTR Corp (Hong Kong) and DB Regio (Germany). Initially, it was a venture between MTR and British firm Laing Rail, but Laing's parent (Irish) company chose to sell to the German state railway company at the end of 2007. Photo: Darlo2009

The desire and will to continually improve and innovate, some would argue, would be lower in the mindset of a parent company thousands of miles away, with no brand image to protect and improve upon. Virgin has a very strong brand indeed, a global super brand no less, that it wants to both protect and improve upon. This is a view its shareholders will agree with. There is no merit in allowing the Virgin brand to just stand still or stagnate. This translates into poor financial performance in a number of ways.

At the end of 2011, the decision to award the short Greater Anglia franchise to the Netherlands state railway, Abellio, was made by the DfT. Abellio Greater Anglia will commence operation from February. Ironically, Abellio's operation has a name that reflects the franchise better than the current operator chose a number of years ago, when National Express chose to name operations 'One'. Photo: SouthWesternRailways

Abellio or SNCF, for example, have no shareholders and some would argue they would simply operate the West Coast franchise as a box-ticking project, doing everything asked of it and nothing more. Branson argues that Virgin Trains (as a direct consequence of the Virgin brand) will do far more than the bare minimum and points to past successes as proof (they said they wanted to introduce tilting trains and followed through with the Pendolino; they said they wanted to run a 20-minute frequency to Manchester and Birmingham from London and this was introduced at the end of 2008).

Would Abellio et al go that extra mile to improve and enhance their image in a country where they are not known? Would they fight their corner as much when in discussions with the DfT, as Virgin, Stagecoach, First, Go-Ahead and National Express have done? It is an interesting question that I'd hitherto not considered. You could also ask whether Virgin Trains would be as vociferous had they another rail franchise to fall back on if they were to lose West Cost.

Northern Rail is a joint venture between UK-based Serco and the Netherlands state railway, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, or Abellio. Northern has seen considerable success, winning the 2007 Public Transport Operator of the Year Award, so perhaps allowing a European state-run transport company the opportunity to run a UK rail franchise could result in futher awards? Photo: Bubblin40

I think most people would agree that the best financial bid is not always the best overall bid. Value-added elements need taking into account. Home-grown brands are good examples of this. There is absolutely no merit in any British company devaluing its image through a lacklustre performance.

All free in Gibraltar

28 May 2011 saw all bus services operated wholly by government-run Gibraltar City Buses cease charging passengers to travel. At the same time the network was redesigned different parts of the colony were linked. To coincide with this came the visible sight of virtually all bus stops in Gibraltar having a personalised flag, shelter and decent height kerb. Timetable information is now evident at all stops - something that had been woefully inadequate on previous trips.

There are numerous cities in the UK that don't conform to this level of provision and the buses operating there want to charge you to travel.

Is this one-in-the-eye for privatisation? After all, the only bus service in Gibraltar that is operated by a private company is the only route that charges a fare. A very low fare, admittedly. City Buses also operate on this route as well and charge the same low fares. It's no coincidence, though, that this is the route that links the airport with the centre. The main reason for the introduction of the free bus network is an attempt to improve traffic flow in the city and the reduce the number of car journeys being made. Gibraltar is rumoured to have more cars than there is space on its entire road network, and congestion is a serious issue - evident immediately upon leaving the airport!

Destination displays have deteriorated somewhat since I last visited. To the point that boards are needed to be put in the window.

Curiously, for every passenger that boards, a ticket needs to be issued. The 'pass' button is not pressed, as would probably be the case here. Consequently, there is a continual stream of tickets that leads from the Wayfarer TGX machine to a plastic bin in the driver's cab. Sadly, passengers are not given the ticket.

Another route where passengers aren't given a ticket is the plethora of bookable minibus tours 'up the rock'. The coach park is the place where the fleet of over 50 of these Toyota minibuses are parked overnight. They're owned and operated by Blands Travel - the parent company to Calypso Travel. A number of smaller people carriers are privately owned and operated on tours to the top of the rock and double up as taxis in the evenings.

In November of last year, akin with other tourist hot spots here in the UK, 'winter' timetables were introduced that saw a slight reduction in frequencies, but they are nonetheless favourable. It was during November that I made yet another trip to the city, this time with some friends, totally oblivious that we would have free rides throughout our stay.

There are four of these Mercedes-Benz/Unvi minibuses for use on Service 1 to Moorish Castle Estate and Willis's Road. They have wheelchair access to the rear. At one point the road is so bad that the back of the bus grounds on the tarmac.

No additional vehicles have been purchased, and the restructuring of routes last May saw shorter journeys, so higher frequencies could be introduced on the most popular ones. Owing to the narrow streets, low arches and tight bends, only midibuses can be used on the vast majority of routes. These take the form of 18 Dennis Darts with Caetano Nimbus bodies, seating 27 (new in April 2004). A smaller batch of 3 Mercedes-Benz/Unvi minibuses, seating 14, are used on the 'uphill' Moorish Castle services (new in 2010) . They're all impeccably well turned out, considering the terrain.

Tight, very tight. Hence why nothing larger than a midibus can be used on the vast majority of services in Gibraltar.

On Service 5 - the only route that charges a fare - Calypso Travel operates alternate departures in between City Buses' throughout the day. This runs from the Spanish border (Gibraltar Airport) to the city centre (Market Place) and then onto Reclamation Road. Additional 'shorts' operate between the Airport and Market Place. Fares on this route are a bargain - £1 single, £1.50 all-day ticket for the route and £6 for a ten-trip ticket that must be used within 7 days. No other service operates to/from the Airport so you can't cheat the system.

City Buses operates this nearly-new crew vehicle. The Toyota seems to be the most popular choice for the people carrier in Gibraltar.

To coincide with the revised network, a hitherto lesser-used couple of bus stops in the old Market Place have been revitalised, with five bays constructed and an information office. This now acts as the city centre bus station. Strangely, it is neither referred to as a 'bus station' or the 'market place' but 'West Place of Arms' in all the literature.

I do believe that this bus is something of a rarity - it once operated in Baghdad! Sadly it wasn't in service when we visited in November, but does see regular use during the summer months.

It'll take quite some time to 'bag' all the Darts, though. Even longer to bash all the 'deckers used by Calypso - they're the only 'deckers used in service. City Buses has a pair of 'deckers used for school contracts and a coach, that passed me before I could get my camera out, being driven by a driver under instruction.

Operation of services, while running to the frequencies advertised, only have one timing point - that of the start location. Even cross-city services do not have a departure time from the West Place of Arms (bus station). You just turn up and wait. Luckily never too long and, let's face it, getting a free ride means you're not going to be too put out having waited 30 mins.

A trip to Gilbratar will not disappoint anyone with an interest in buses and coaches. Provided you can get a cheap flight (meaning a requirement to book many months in advance) I can heartily recommend The Bristol Hotel (the city's longest established). We did flights, petrol to Gatwick, airport parking and three nights B&B for £180 each. You probably wouldn't want any longer than three nights there. A trip to Charlie's Steakhouse is also a must. Order a chocolate dessert and see why!

The scourge of modern society

Interesting to read Barry Doe's column in the latest RAIL magazine, in which the Fare Dealer is clearly struggling to supply fare deals as he wrote almost solely about something very close to my heart: the problem with mobile phones ruining journeys on public transport.

While Barry's experiences covered trains (and were far less unpleasant than those I've experienced on the top decks of buses), I agree completely with his sentiment of the phone taking over the user's life. Loud conversations were the subject of Barry's ire; for me it is people - usually teens - choosing to play their music out loud. Those who've travelled by bus, regularly sitting in the upper saloon, will know what I mean.

I can cope with those who have headphones in but have the volume cranked up to damaging levels as at least they've bothered to consider others and plug them in. Where I intervene and usually cop a mouthful back for my trouble is when people think it acceptable to blurt out their playlist for all to hear, seemingly without regard for their fellow travellers.

I always politely ask them to plug some headphones in, rather than a blanket: "Can you turn that off please?" as it seems less harsh. Often you're greeted with a silent glare but they conform. They know it's unacceptable, that's why. Very occasionally they're apologetic - these are the minority who think that just because it is a double decker the sound gets lost somehow - and can immediately see this is not the case. Mostly, though, you get cocky remarks, but usually silence prevails.

Obviously I never say it to a gang, nor do I impose my wish on people who've been on the bus longer than I have.

On trains, I like Barry never travel in the Quiet Coach as I do not trust my fellow travellers to abide by the rules. And the guards understandably want a quiet life (if you'll pardon the pun) so loathe enforcing the rule. I once travelled from St. Pancras to Derby with Midland Mainline and a chav sat in the Quiet Coach and played his music out loud. He was politely asked, by myself, to put the music on headphones, and although the music was turned off, he opted to stare at me from Leicester onwards, eyes burning with hatred and rage.

I fear that in urban areas by bus, the battle is lost. Ideally the playing of music out loud on buses needed nipping in the bud 5 years ago, when music players became commonplace on mobile phones. Rural journeys fair better. It is a very brazen individual who dares play his/her music out loud on a single decker. There's also no way of knowing which journeys are likely to have these mobile disco lovers on board. As an example, three weeks ago myself and a LEYTR subscriber travelled to Hull and back using Stagecoach in Lincolnshire/Grimsby-Cleethorpes. We travelled on a 6 buses and not once did it happen. Yet last May I made one journey on the Stagecoach X3 from Newark-Lincoln direct (immediately prior to its withdrawal) and parents allowed their kids to have their music playing out loud.

While music blurring out loud may be a low point of travelling on public transport, an undisputed high is crossing the Forth Bridge by train. I've done it countless times, which made the same edition of RAIL a fascinating read as editor Nigel Harris captured a number of very rare shots from the bridge that can be viewed on the magazine's website. I'm very envious indeed!

Click to enlarge. For a further 29 images, click here.

D-Day = Deltic Day

It suddenly occurred to me this afternoon that Monday marked a momentous occasion in the UK's transport calendar, for it was on 2 January 1981 that British Railways ran its last Deltic-hauled passenger train. It would be 15 years before a Deltic hauled another passenger train, through from this point on, charter services only.

The Deltics were ostensibly replaced by the High Speed Train, or InterCity 125, which while being record breakers themselves, haven't always found favour with rail enthusiasts. A friend of mine, for example, refuses to travel on them, referring to them as 'trams', while another (as I recently discovered) refuses to take a photo of one as "they replaced the Deltics!"

Just imagine!

In homage to the Deltic, below is a video I shot during August 2010, as 55022 Royal Scots Grey hauls a charter train north along the East Coast Main Line through Essendine, Rutland.

New York's High Line

One of my favourite transport stories over the past few months is of the re-opening of a former freight railway line along the West Side of Manhattan. Just over a decade ago, the elevated line was pencilled in for demolition, but this was fought by the Friends of the High Line, who were formed in 1999.


If you're familiar with Manhattan, the High Line runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking district, through to West 34th Street (between 10/11 Avenues). It offers a fascinating view from above as it snakes through the high-rise buildings in New York's most famous borough.


Demolition was planned primarily to remove the eyesore of rusty struts and bridges from view, though with the nature of the route being as it is, replacing the structure with housing or retail outlets was always going to be problematic as they too would need to be elevated. I suspect very little persuasion was needed to twist the City of New York's arm to consider an alternative to its destruction.

There has been a long tradition in the UK of converting former track bed to cycle paths. It is relatively cheap to do and has the added benefit of allowing the track bed to once again carry trains in the future - something that those campaigning for the Oxford-Cambridge line (that received money for a partial re-opening last month) wish had occurred towards the Cambridge end of the route, where the track bed has been built on and so the partial re-opening is from Oxford to Bedford only. The Woodhead Line is another former (electrified!!) line that was closed but has remained untouched, save for one tunnel bore, could re-open to alleviate trans-Pennine congestion.


Back Stateside and the High Line would be considered a very new line by British standards, being constructed as late as the 1930s. Freight trains operated until 1980 and by 2002 the local authority officially offered its support. The entire route has been fully landscaped and offers a tranquil park setting where visitors can walk, cycle or just lay out on grass and catch the sun. The whole 13-mile High Line structure has been converted and is fully wheelchair accessible.


Construction on restoring the High Line began in 2006, with the first (southern) section opening in 2009. It wasn't until 2011 when all sections were open. Current estimates show that around 3 million people are expected to visit the High Line during 2012. For me, what it offers, while no longer being anything vaguely railway-like, is the area of calm amidst one of the world's most bustling metropolises.

We're back!

I say 'we're back', it should say 'I'm back'. There has been a change to the composition of the LEYTR committee, which will be evident from the next magazine (due out at the start of February).

There have been many transport stories that I'd loved to have commented on since the last blog entry on 21 November, but sadly other issues have taken preference. Twitter is a very useful stop gap, which I've been making more use of recently. If you have recently converted to twitter, @LEYTR is our address.

British Aiways take-off at Gibraltar

There are a number of different videos online that show the rather unusual arrangements at Gibraltar, with planes taking off across the main road into/out of the overseas territory. On our recent visit, we managed to locate another vantage point, less used to record take-offs. What is most impressive is the proximity of the canoist to the Airbus A320 as it fired off down the runway at 180mph.

Cardiff-London record

Today a new record was broken by rail. First Great Western operated a 5-carriage HST between Cardiff and London in 1:36. While this was an improvement of just 1 minute on the current record, it was done to demonstrate the advantages that electrification would bring to Wales, as a similar end-to-end journey time would become the norm.

The train departed Cardiff Central at 1221 and arrived in London Paddington at 1357.

This is not the first record-breaking run that First Great Western has undertaken recently. A Plymouth-London record was broken a year ago.

Once again, another record was broken by a stalwart of Britain's railways, the High Speed Train, known to many outside the industry as the InterCity 125. These workhorses really have proved their worth, operating many years beyond their intended use. Some are being considered for their second mid-life refurbishments.

It is likely that once electrification comes to the Great Western Main Line, they will be all but retired, with new bi-modal trains considered as their replacement.

I've read reports that some may be retained for Penzance/Plymouth-London services.

The Class 43 High Speed Train should be congratulated in equal measure with the people at First Great Western and Network Rail for today's record run.

Both Sides of the Story

I've not blogged for a while, so thought my long overdue contribution ought to be something very impressive. Well, to me, anyway. I suspect this may well be my favourite piece of journalism of the year.

In issue 673, railway magazine RAIL lead with a new service introduced by Chiltern Railways. It forms part of their Evergreen 3 project, to upgrade the main line between London Marylebone and Birmingham Snow Hill for it to enable running at 100mph, as well as seeing extensive remodelling at three main junctions.

As a consequence of the line speed increase, Chiltern is now able to operate certain London-Birmingham trains with an end-to-end journey time of 90 minutes. This rivals Virgin Trains' journey time between London Euston and Birmingham New Street. Chiltern's fares are significantly cheaper, too.

In addition to the upgrade, the increased line speed and the faster journey times, Chiltern has also re-branded everything on the route 'Mainline'. Most trains are the Class 168 Clubman units that have plied their trade along the route with Chiltern for many years. On top of this, there is now the Mainline Silver from which to choose. These trains are generally loco-hauled rakes of Mk3 coaches, which offer more legroom as standard than Virgin offers in any of its trains. The Mainline Silver trains additionally offer a special business class ('Premium Economy') section, which Chiltern goes out of its way to say is not 'first class' but a kind of business class area where travellers can get on with their work and for a fraction of the cost of upgrading to first class with Virgin. Chiltern does not currently offer any First Class travel.

£20 is the supplement for Premium Economy, for which travellers receive a larger seat, a table and at-seat, non-complimentary refreshments.

RAIL's article certainly wasn't gushing in praise, but did cover two pages, detailing the improvements, with quotes from all parties, including Virgin, who now charges £20 more for an equivalent business class anytime return between London-Birmingham than Chiltern (although Virgin's substantial menu in first class is all free - and this includes alcohol).

The new Mainline and Mainline Silver services certainly seem like a step in the right direction, offering choice to passengers who've otherwise only considered another train operating company for 'fast' travel between England's two largest cities. One operator's price is now less than the other's an a 'third way' is offered for those who want to travel in the ambiance afforded in First Class but who do not want to pay the (sometimes) eye-watering prices.

Then, in the following edition of RAIL, I read Barry Doe's thoughts on Chiltern's new Mainline and Mainline Silver services. He didn't pull any punches - even the headline stated: "Casual... vague... probably the worst rail timetable I have ever seen..."And, let's be fair, he has seen quite a few.

Hats off to RAIL for allowing one of their regular columnists to show both sides of the story - especially when the 'other' side is portrayed in such a negative light.

You're probably thinking that Barry's criticism centred around the new services' timetable: it's design, its layout and some small areas of ambiguity that could be straightened out at the next reprint. Sadly not. A summary of criticisms are below:

- The timetable is now in two books, which completely omit a number of train journeys altogether
- The standard Mainline trains offer only a catering trolley until 1437 ex London and until 1155 ex Birmingham
- The Mainline Silver timetable is "ambiguous - indeed contradictory as to whether the kitchen is open or not" for the at-seat, non-complimentary food served in Premium Economy
- Chiltern's website states "On morning trains we will serve freshly cooked... bacon rolls" - the implication that this is for all services (even the Class 168s)
- Business class is officially known as 'Premium Economy', Barry claims this is simply First Class, despite Chiltern's protestations: "You pay extra, have a First Class seat and First Class inter-available tickets and rovers are accepted"
- Upgrade to Premium Economy is £20, yet on two journeys it is only £10 and on two others it is free
- The 0005 Friday-only departure, shown in the timetable, is for a train that actually departs at 0005 on Saturday mornings

While you can easily criticise Barry's views on a number of railway (and bus/coach) related issues, when it comes to tickets, validity and timetables, you simply cannot. In the latest RAIL, Adrian Shooter, Chiltern's chairman, has written to the magazine to address Barry's claims. He addressed but two satisfactorily. One timetable book will replace the current two and the 0005 'FO' train is shown with Friday's late-night departures as passengers still consider this departure as a Friday night journey.

A cracking piece of journalism when you look at both pieces together; RAIL's first piece (by business editor Philip Haigh) was extensive and detailed the main improvements, which the second piece (by Barry Doe) highlighted the problems passengers are likely to encounter. The only disappointment is that both pieces were in one, much larger, article.

Crash Map

My father now surfs the web on a mobile device and has been forwarding me anything vaguely transport related that he comes across on his virtual travels. He has yet to discover this blog! The most interesting to date is Crash Map. A fascinating, if slightly macarbre, interractive map that plots all road traffic collisions on Britain's roads.

It categorises road traffic collisions into Slight, Serious and Fatal and covers the period between 2005-10, with users able to highlight a particular or multiple year(s).

If it doesn't belittle the devastation that accompanies fatal road accidents, the map is fascinating. I think we all know the areas locally where bad accidents have occurred. Some involved buses and coaches, though mercifully few.

Click to enlarge.
This shows the picturesque Lincolnshire market town of Horncastle, virtually oblitterated by accident markers. Only 1 fatal, but there have been 183 collisions in this area since 2005.

The Lincolnshire Fens make for particularly grim viewing. Lincolnshire suffers from very high road collisions and fatalities, with motorists becoming too familiar with the county's relatively empty roads. The lack of motorways also means all motorists have to negotiate meandering minor roads to get from A to B. We have some very linear dual-carriageways and former Roman roads that make getting from, say, Stamford to Cleethorpes not as arduous as you'd think.

Crash Map

Showbus, Duxford 2011

Despite the weather forecast to the contrary, a very warm and sun-filled day was had by all at this year's Showbus bus and coach rally, at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford. It is the only rally I've been to other than the Easter Sunday gathering at the Road Transport Museum near Lincoln. I feel rather guilty that I've not attended more, but life is like that some times.

Midweek, the weather forecast was for prolonged rain, but by Saturday evening this had been moderated to heavy showers. As it happened, it stayed dry throughout my stay. A massive improvement on the washout that was last year. It was also a bumper year for additions to my tie collection, though that is another story.

As with other years' visits to Showbus, I have uploaded a selection of photos that took my fancy. Many of them are of operators local to the LEYTR area who attended. A full round up of all vehicles in attendance from our area will appear in the next edition (due out at the end of the first week in October).

The Dunn Family's Yourbus company has recently purchased some new Mercedes-Benz Citaros, one of which was in attendance, looking resplendent in its revised livery.

Uno is the rebranded UniversityBus operation, based around Hatfield. One of their Scania OmniCity single deckers was entered, with ties adorned from the windscreen wiper.

Completed just in time for Showbus, though having first meandered into the LEYTR area on 3 September on an enthusiast jaunt, is one of the original Megadekka-branded Leyland Olympians that Stagecoach pioneered in 1989. Wearing its original branding, the buses carried Stagecoach Holdings Ltd branding.

Normally an 05-reg Optare Solo wouldn't command pride of place at Showbus, but then this Solo, operating with Stagecoach in Lincolnshire, has recently undergone conversion to operate using biomethane gas.

This Bedford OB with Duple coachwork is based in Lincolnshire and entered by Stuart Jones, of Bus & Coach Buyer notoriety.

I made a pledge to myself not to get too hung up photographing RMs and RTs, so this is as close as I got to them: two RMs frame three RTs.

I've never photographed any bus in the Reading Buses fleet - something the LEYTR Stagecoach correspondent will grimace at. To make amends, here is my first attempt. Has Ray Stenning been let loose with their branding? It looks very striking.

Crowds galore. Most people were equipped with at least one camera. It is heartening to see so many people photographing buses. The recently preserved Megadekka was parked alongside a standard-length Leyland Olympian and branded for Hampshire Bus.

Quite a selection of vehicles were parked together. Areas of hitherto used runway were out of bounds this year, so vehicles were crammed together in other areas, though not too close to cause problems with photography.

A rear photo of the Megadekka-branded Leyland Olympian. It was new to Magicbus and operated at East Midland's Mansfield depot before ending up at Bedford - where it lost its branding.

I mused on Twitter that perhaps the most-travelled vehicle was one of Stagecoach in Caithness' Plaxton-bodied Volvo B9Rs, branded for Service X99 (Inverness-Thurso), but moments later I spotted this Leyland 420 all the way from Malta.

Someone has stolen/removed the Leyland badge from this ECW-bodied Olympian in Arriva livery.

Lawton's of Stickney entered this ex Lochs & Glens tri-axle Volvo/Jonckheere, which has been modified to accommodate wheelchairs.

Side-by-side, under common ownership, is Kimes' entrant and one of Centrebus' trio of vehicles (all Grantham based). Recently the 'an employee owned company' lettering has been removed from Kimes vehicles.

A large number of vehicles from the Maidstone & District fleet were grouped together. Of interest was this Invictaway-branded Leyland Olympian/ECW 'decker, dating back to 1983. Invictaway was the name given to commuter services between Kent and London.

Fowler's Travel of Holbeach Drove are regular entrants to Showbus. This year saw one of their ex Lochs & Glens tri-axle Volvo coaches with Jonckheere bodies attend.

EYMS send a vehicle every year. This time a standard Volvo/Wrightbus vehicle was entered. I'd have preferred to see one of their new hybrid Enviro400s.

Talking of Enviro400-bodied vehicles, many were grouped together, facing south, providing some excellent photo opportunities. The liveries of our privatised bus industry certainly can't be described as dull.

I've always been fond of the ex London DMS. Grimsby-Cleethorpes Transport purchased a number and I have vivid recollections of travelling on them in what I now feel able to refer to as 'back in the day'. This example dates back to 1973, when the LEYTR was a fledgling 10 years old.

Delaine Buses entered their oldest vehicle that they've owned from new and their newest. A staggering 51 years separates these two vehicles. Both won awards today, too.

Stagecoach is now introducing the Plaxton Elite to its own services, the first examples going to operate Service X7 between Aberdeen and Dundee, branded as Coast Rider. The branding font looks like Trent Barton's to me - Neuropolitical it's called.

There is plenty of every vehicle type at Showbus. Coaches galore this year, as with others. Many were parked facing south, capturing the sun for the best part of the day.

Given a more prominent position this year is one of Go-Ahead's Mercedes-Benz articulated Citaro buses, new to their London operation in 2002. The company has moved a number to its Brighton & Hove subsidiary. Many bendy buses struggle to find homes after becoming life-expired in London.

A&P Travel of Sleaford attend Showbus every year, providing a private hire for their regular travellers. This year they brought with them a new addition to their fleet - a tri-axle coach (right). Full details of which were contained in a recent LEYTR.

A different kind of Tornado

On this blog, when we refer to a Tornado, we mean the world's newest steam engine, built from scratch using original plans for the Peppercorn Class A1 that saw their heyday in the 1960s. A wonder to behold (though neither of us has yet to catch up with her - when we do, the video will be uploaded to our YouTube stream).

Elsewhere, a reference to a Tornado means something very different. The following video shows how a goods train in the USA is affected as it passes through one of these destructive winds. Keep with the video, though, as the action doesn't get going until after 1:05, but the fall-out is truly astonishing.

We are fortunate that we seldom suffer from winds of this strength here in the UK.

Keywords

We've recently installed Google Analytics to the blog and have just been looking through its interface (sorry!) compared to the others we use (Statcounter and Site Meter). Interesting to note are the varied most used keywords that direct users to our blog:

10 - Citylink Gold
9 - TM Travel
8 - Derbyshire Wayfarer price rise
7 - LEYTR Blog
6 - Your Bus Nottingham
5 - Inside a Citylink Gold coach
4 - Ryanair logo
3 - Greater London
2 - A Transport of Delight
1 - LEYTR

Not one is railway related. We are linked very highly on a number of railway websites and one blog in particular. We also get a lot of 'railway' traffic from links posted on forums (some of which we can't view as we're not memebers!). And when we cover rail issues, we don't delve as deep into traction types as we do vehicle types in the bus industry.

Perhaps the most surprising finding is that each web counter suggests different keyword analysis in their own top 10. Even during the same period selected. I'm personally shocked by the level of Citylink Gold enquiries. Perhaps we should book a trip to Glasgow to satisfy more of the readers? Until then, this is the best we can do:

CSOG withdrawal

Announced last year, following the Coalition Government's Comprehensive Spending Review, was that Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) would be reduced by 20% from April 2012, while at the same time CSOG would be abolished altogether. We mused as to what CSOG was, and unusually, didn't receive any response from our readership.

Things were made a little clearer last week, when we were sent two emails, both written by National Express. The first has been sent to anyone who has a registered email address with them and who is aged 60 or over; the second has been sent to its third party operators. The subject matter is identical, though appropriately worded in each case.

Seen in Victoria Coach Station Arrivals is a Transdev Levante from Bournemouth. NX Service 035 sees around 22 miles of its 113-mile London-Poole timetable registered as a local bus service (Poole-Ringwood & Hammersmith-Victoria)

Coach Service Operators Grant (CSOG) will be completely withdrawn from the end of October. Unlike BSOG, this offers coach operators recompense through providing a concessionary travel scheme, where 50% off the adult fare is offered. £17.5 million was awarded all qualifying operators during the last financial year, £15 million of it being claimed by National Express. The Oxford Tube (Stagecoach), Oxford Espress (Oxford City/Go Ahead), Bakers Dolphin and Berrys Coaches were the other recipients.

National Express suggests its passengers should lobby their MPs so that they write a letter to the Transport Minister in charge of this subsidy. But Theresa Villiers sounded resolute: "The coach industry may wish to continue this offer on a commercial basis, but the Government has decided that the limited funds the taxpayers can afford should be used to support schemes such as the statutory national concession [free bus pass]."

Turn the clock back a decade and the 50% reduction in coach travel for over-60s didn't exist. Taking National Express as an example, the company offered its Advantage 50 scheme, which paralleled that of a Senior Railcard on the railway. A one-off annual fee is paid and anyone aged 50 or over could receive a reduction of 33% in coach travel. Its complete removal in 2004 caused anger to those aged 50-59 who then received no reduction in travel at all.

While patronage for coach travel isn't rising to the tune of 6% being seen on the trains, growth is still there and clearly National Express is concerned this could cause stagnation or even decline. Be clear - OAPs account for a very sizeable proportion of its passenger base.

However, what neither NX's public nor in-house emails detail was the angle printed in this week's routeone magazine. Rather than CSOG be withdrawn with no alternative offer from the DfT, what is actually happening is that government is planning to withdraw *all* BSOG payments to coach operators who participate in the CSOG scheme.

NX Service 025 operates between Brighton and London and every single one of its 56 miles is registered as a local bus service, with 80% of the fuel duty reclaimed (64% from April 2012).

National Express et al are allowing their CSOG revenue to be withdrawn so that they can hang onto the greater subsidy - that of claiming 64% of the duty back on all the diesel they use to fuel their coaches from next April (80% today). The company registers all the sections it can that fall into the local bus service category (coach stopping points that are up to 15 miles apart see that section qualify as a 'local bus' and BSOG can be paid). Initially they also had to accept the free bus passes, but that was removed when the loophole was closed in 2008.

LEYTR Comment: The removal of half-fare coach travel is a blow and will see fewer journeys by coach. Not too many though. Over-60s have a fair amount of disposable income and many swear blind by coach travel. And let's not forget just how affordable coach travel is - never more so than when compared to the train!

To suggest it will offer nothing when its CSOG payments cease at the end of October is rather churlish, though NX will be hoping for some form of last-minute concession from the DfT if it can get those who will suffer financially to lobby effectively. It was discussed on Wednesday's Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2! We're not at all sure NX will get its own way, if Ms Villiers' comments are anything to go by. The wording in this week's routeone implies that all NX has to do is forgo its BSOG payments and it can continue to receive £15 million towards the half-fare scheme it offers over-60s.

But it won't do that - the awkward truth being that it values its duty rebate more than it does offering a reduction to over-60s. The company will rightly argue that BSOG helps it keep its fares at the level they are and by removing this element in favour of retaining half-fare for the over-60s would see everyone affected with fares increases across the board.

A very fast train!

My father sent me one of those multi-cc'd emails recently, which showed a video claiming to present the world's fastest train. A quick search online, shows it was undertaken in 2007, in a joint venture between French state railway SNCF and train builder Alstom. Sadly, the person who uploaded the video did not authorise it to be embedded elsewhere, so you will have to click on the link below to view it.

Click here.

The video lasts a little over 2:30 and shows a very speedy train indeed, reaching 357mph at its fastest.

But residents whose back gardens will look onto the proposed High Speed 2 line need not worry. Being British, our high-speed electric trains won't travel at anything like 357mph, so the additional noise generated won't affect residents as much, though they will take a little longer to pass.

Catalyst for Conversation

So often travelling on London's Underground network is described as 'emotionless'. Today, people have so much to say (and social media such as this help make this possible) yet when you're in a packed train, deep beneath the streets of one of the world's largest cities, it is very rare for spontaneous acts of conversation. Perhaps people would simply rather not be travelling or with such a multi-cultural society using the Tube, the language barrier is sometimes an issue.

We both enjoy light-hearted ways in which situations like this can be overcome and one such 'solution' has been designed by Chloe Lee Carson. Based on a free badge that was designer by Transport for London for pregnant women to wear (scroll to bottom of link page), a number of spoof designs have been produced. None, in our consideration, are offensive to other travellers; moreover they might just be the catalyst for conversation.

Reasonably priced at £1.50, they are what Duncan Bannatyne would describe as 'a punt'.