Weekly Transport Update 6

• ADL's hybrid trials. Alexander-Dennis plans to trial ten hybrid based buses on equal numbers of its Enviro200 single decker buses and Enviro400 double decker buses for operation in London during the spring of 2008.
• Brum partnership agreed. A voluntary partnership between Centro (WMPTA) and Travel West Midlands was signed on 23 August, which Centro hopes will see an increase in passenger numbers of 10% within 1 year. The deal with transform six routes in Birmingham, Walsall and West Bromwich to give passengers faster, cleaner and more frequent buses. The services affected are routes 1 (Acocks Green-Five Ways); 377 (Walsall-Sutton Coldfield); 451 (Sutton Coldfield-West Bromwich); 934 (City-Doe Bank); 993 (City-Streetly); and 997 (City-Walsall). Routes 934/993/997 will be branded 'Premier Line' and come fitted with leather seats, air conditioning and tinted windows.
• Top with Horrible Histories. Edinburgh Bus Tours' Horrible Histories open-top services have come 18th in The Telegraph's "Top 20 summer days out". Covering the darker side of Edinburgh a family ticker costs around £20.
• The Kings Ferry happy with i4. The very first Scania Irizar i4 coach inspected by a UK operator took place last week with The Kings Ferry. With its aircraft-like interior and its exterior 'wow-factor' the vehicle fits in well with the firm's 78 other vehicles and will primarily be operating commuter services.
• Surrey re-brand for NEG. Travel London is re-branding its 47 low-floor, single-deck fleet of buses operating from the firm's Byfleet depot from 1 September 2007. Branded as Travel Surrey, the new-look vehicles will operate Services 426/446, which the company took over from Surrey Connect earlier this year. The new identity will be unveiled at Thorpe Park on 4 September 2007.
• NX straps them in. Forthcoming legislation for under-14s wearing seatbelts aboard coaches is looming and National Express Ltd has announced its ambitious plans to conform to the new law by introducing 'Child Friendly Zones' to all of its coaches: ages 0-18months must be sat on a rear-facing seat; ages 18-36months must sit on a forward-facing seat; ages 4-7years must sit on a booster seat with a comfort-fit belt (provided by National Express); and ages 8+years must sit on a booster seat with a comfort-fir belt (provided by NX). Parents may decline to use booster seats, resulting in them travelling at their own risk.
• NX clear them out. The fleet of 20 tri-axle Scania Levante coaches recently allocated to Services A4/A6 (Golders Green/Victoria-Stansted Airport) that National Express have placed into service have state-of-the-art onboard toilets, designed by NX's Head of Engineering, Gerry Price (I've actually met him). They are far more spacious with LED mood lighting and a window. A special air replacement system allows far less air from within the confines of the toilet area to sneak into the saloon. They also feature a mirror, automatic taps and soap dispenser, rounded corners with a minimalist feel and easy-to-clean modern layout.
• Arriva Darlington acquisition completed. The sale of Stagecoach's Darlington business, including all its vehicles and 78 members of staff, are now part of Arriva North East following the OFT's decision to clear Arriva's purchase of the business "lock, stock and barrel".
• Mayor to help those on benefits. Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has launched a scheme that will allow up to 250,000 Londoners on Income Support to travel on TfL's bus and tram network for half-price fares. This follows an agreement between the Mayor and the state-owned Venezuelan oil company, reducing the price of its diesel by 20%.
• Free travel for Scots kids put on hold. In an attempt to reduce the 'school run', the Scottish National Party has drawn up plans to allow free travel for Edinburgh's school children; however this has been put on hold. The SNP claims this is because of the Scottish Executive's plans to press ahead with the city's tram project despite this being against the SNP's wishes.
• Stagecoach Rail profits up. Twice as much profit has been made by Stagecoach Group plc's Rail Division than its bus division during the first half of the year, according to figures released by the group this week. With the Group's AGM looming a figure of 7.6% was released. Stagecoach's shares have reached a recent high of 223p, though in recent days reduced to around 209p.
• More loos please. Bus drivers in London plan to strike unless proper toilet facilities were provided along the routes they drive and at their workplaces in general. Specifically unblocking obstacles and faster action is seen as a way to improve matters TfL have not declined in principle. Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, has written to the Unite trades union informing them he has given TfL sufficient funds to allow them to speed things up.
• Notts fines bus lane abusers. Nottingham City Council has spent £100,000 installing cctv equipment to catch motorists illegally using bus lanes in and around the city. Motorists breaking the law will receive a fine of £60 through the post.
• Cardiff spitter jailed. Astonishingly, a Cardiff male, who spat at a bus driver in the city for not allowing him travel for queue jumping has been jailed following a trace through the Police's DNA database providing a positive match to the offending 20yr old male.
• Swans selling NX's first Levantes. Swans Travel are selling their two Volvo B12Bs with Caetano Levante C49FTL bodies that were the first of their type to enter service on National Express diagrams between Liverpool-Manchester-Leeds on Service 060. Haytons now operate the 5 return journeys using their own vehicles after Swans surprisingly ceased operation of the route (as mentioned in Weekly Transport Update 4). They are being sold for £189,995+VAT.

Weekly Transport Update 5

• First tickets for Chester. From 27 August the city of Chester will be incorporated into First's full range of fare options covering the entire city and the Wirral area. The move is the first step to integrate the ChesterBus operation it so publicly acquired from Chester City Council in June 2007.
• NEG acquisition referred to OFT. The Office of Fair Trading is to investigate the government's awarding of the East Coast Main Line rail franchise to National Express Group. The OFT played down the significance of the referral claiming the deal was of sufficient size to prompt a 'fairly routine' investigation.
• York bus partnership re-launched. 20 August saw the York Quality Bus Partnership re-launched as part of a joint commitment to develop the partnerships between the city's bus operators and the council.
• Leeds ftr live. Following two months of service familiarisation, the UK's second 'ftr' scheme was launched on 15 August 2007 in Leeds by the UK's largest transport operator, First. One ftr 'streetcar' was named "Spirit of Leeds" at the ceremony. The first ftr (text-speak for 'future') was launched 2 years ago in York and First's Chief Executive Moir Lockhead said the company had learned from its ftr pilot in York. Swansea is next to receive ftr vehicle, which already in Leeds has seen a 10% increase in patronage.
• Denis Wormwell returns. The Chief Executive of the National Express Coach division from 2002-2006, Denis Wormwell, returned to the coaching industry five days ago with the announcement from WA Shearings that he has been appointed as their CE from 3 September 2007. Denis is the person credited for National Express' re-branding, resulting in a 18% increase in patronage and profit increases of 77%.
• Stagecoach's South Yorkshire deadlock. Stagecoach Yorkshire is increasing its fares as a direct result of increased departure charges imposed by SYPTE for all services using the PTE's award-winning Interchanges throughout the county. SYPTE's level of concessionary reimbursement fell at the start of the 'free local bus travel' scheme that commenced in April 2006 and Stagecoach successfully won in court when it appealed against this. A SYPTE spokesperson stated, "This year we have not been able to reach agreement with Stagecoach [over concessionary fare reimbursement rates] and therefore, have decided to impose departure charges on them. Stagecoach claim the additional charges will be around £500,000 a year and plan to add at least 10p per adult single fare for services using SYPTE Interchange facilities. Where journeys use more than one Interchange the increase will be higher.
• PlusBus doubles. Sales of PlusBus tickets (as mentioned in last week's Weekly Transport Update 4) have seen a 100% increase year-on-year. Almost 10,000 tickets were sold and more than 65,000 train journeys were made by people with PlusBus add-ons.
• Cardiff Car Ban works. A controversial car ban on St Mary Street in Cardiff City Centre has cut bus journey times by 80%.
• Three Yorkshire operators banned. The three in question had links to banned operator Gurpal Singh, who had run Easi Rider Bus Co based in Huddersfield, following complaints from the head teacher of Savile Park Primary School about a journey undertaken by Paul's Travel (owned by one of the banned three).
• Reading's first MAN/East Lancs Kinetic Plus enters service. The only one to be built so far, as shown at the 2006 Euro Bus Expo, was purchased by Reading Buses and only entered service last week and is allocated to Service 9 to Caversham Heights.

Weekly Transport Update 4

• Continuing TWM crackdown. Travel West Midlands'crackdown on fare dodgers continues this week with official figures released showing that during June 2007 more than 7,000 buses were stopped and 126,511 Travel Cards checked; 3,273 passengers were noticed travelling with incorrect tickets/Travel Cards and of these 664 had their Travel Cards withdrawn, with pending prosecutions totalling £37,000.
• New MD for Stagecoach East. James Freeman, the former Managing Director of Stagecoach East, recently departed for Reading Buses as their Chief Executive Officer, has been replaced by Tony Cox, previously Stagecoach's Regional Director South, in a full-time position until a suitable candidate has been sought. It is widely understood that James Freeman gave a too generous pay deal to Northampton depot and this acted as a spring-board to him furthering his career outside the Stagecoach group.
• Cantabrica application withdrawn. Club Cantabrica Coach Holidays Ltd, who operate European coach holidays from the UK, have withdrawn their application for an O-licence, which was due to be heard at a Public Inquiry on 9 August. Associated firm Len Wright Band Services whose disciplinary hearing was to take place at the same time has been deferred until 20 September.
• Alan Vincer of Safeguard Coaches retires. At 78 years of age and 46 continuous years working for Guildford-based Safeguard Coaches, Alan Vincer retired on 13 August. Alan started with the firm on 29 July 1961 as a bus driver aged 32 and progressed to driving the firm's coaches.
• Bucking the trend. Buckinghamshire has increased the number of bus journeys taken by 15% to more than 1 million additional journeys to a total of over 9 million within the last year. Much of the rise is considered down to free local travel for concessions.
• National Express win East Coast and boost shares. Reported on this blog as the news broke, National Express were awarded the East Coast Main Line franchise though hitherto mentioned was that the Company's share price rose by 17p as the news broke to 1164p, bucking the trend on a morning when much of the FTSE 100 fell.
• Money due to Dublin passengers. Over £1.3million (1.9million Euros) in change vouchers are unclaimed every year on Dublin's bus network according to figures released by bus operator Dublin Bus last week. Dublin Bus operates a 'no change' system, their ticket acting as a receipt for the amount they have overpaid which would then be given in cash back to the passenger at the firm's head office. Since 2002 when Dublin Bus made figures available, only 25% of all those entitled to the overpaid fare collected it.
• TWM trial ethanol Scania decker in Brum. Birmingham is the locality chosen for 'in service' trials of Scania's right-hand drive ethanol-fuel OmniCity double decker demonstrator with Travel West Midlands "within the next five months". The bus is currently loaned to Transdev (London United) operating on behalf of TfL. It is expected to operate on the streets of Birmingham for around 3 months, the news coming in the week when National Express announced it had decided to adandon its own six-month trial of bio-diesel in 45 TWM vehicles.
• Hampshire use ring-fence loophole to cut bus subsidy. Hampshire County Council have become the latest in a slowly growing trend of Councils cutting their bus subsidy budget - £6million in Hants case - by £500,000 from April 2008 following an overspend in its Social Care budget to the tune of £21million.
• Megabus move to London VCS. As reported earlier today, Megabus have announced they plan to leave their Green Line terminal in central London for Victoria Coach Station.
• Traveline Tim. Wales launched a new public transport mascot this week called Traveline Tim, an animated character, launched at the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea, and is primarily designed to promote the new Traveline Cymru phone number.
• Driverless Daventry. Daventry District Council is to showcase driverless vehicles such as Cybercars between 24 September and 5 October 2007 forming part of the 'Daventry Transport Conference 2007' on 26 September.
• Alexander Dennis Limited adds another range to school bus market. ADL has now added its Enviro200-bodied Dart to its range of school buses, already comprising the Enviro300. The Enviro200 buses will range from 8.9m or 12.5m in length and have seating capacities from 29 to 60.
• Vandals in Surrey arrested. Police raided numerous addresses in Croydon, Surrey, of those suspected to be involved in ongoing criminal damage to buses as part of Operation BusTag. Two 19-year old women and a 16-year old school boy were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. An increase in vandalism in the Croydon area started at the same time as free Oyster travel to those aged 16 & 17 commenced.
• Plusbus boost through more ads. As revealed in a recent LEYTR, the Plusbus scheme where passengers purchasing a rail ticket may pay a nominal add-on fee to a locality in the area of their destination but not on the rail network, is to be widely advertised over the coming months with details printed on the back of over 20 million train tickets. The scheme is administered by the Journey Solutions partnership, funded by Arriva, Transdev/Blazefield, First, Go-Ahead, Stagecoach and National Express and supported by the CPT.
• Bobbies on the bus. Solent Blue Line (a Go-Ahead company) has announced it plans to allow free travel to Police officers who are on duty in order to act as a deterrent to would-be vandals and those planning irresponsible behaviour on their services. Free travel is not being allowed on all services, initially confined to their Blue Star and Red Rocket routes.
• First bus stop ASBO issued. A prolific 21-year old drug dealer has been given an anti-social behaviour order prohibiting him from loitering at any bus stop in Lambeth. He was also pictured in a local paper.
• Highest ever entries in BDoY. The 2007 Bus Driver of the Year competition has attracted the highest ever number of entries. This year's national final will take place, as ever, at Blackpool, where a record-breaking 131 drivers are due to take part on 9 September.
• First Scania Olympuses enter service. Reading Buses have taken delivery of the first 6 Olympus-bodied Scania OmniCity double deckers in a special livery for their Loddon Park & Ride service; a further 33 have been ordered by Metroline for TfL route 7 (Russel Square-East Acton); a further 9 have been bought by Transdev-owned London United for TfL route 148 (Shepherd's Bush Green-Camberwell Green).
• Swans leave 060. It us understood that Swans Coaches have unexpectedly ceased operation of National Express Service 060 (Liverpool-Leeds). Swans' MD, a former Selwyns employee, was at the forefront of winning the bid to run the service 2 years ago and the firm were one of the very first to place into operation the Caetano Levante body. The vehicles are understood to have passed to Haytons who are now running the service. Selwyns' diagrams on the same route are not affected.

Megabus to move to VCS

From 1 October 2007, Stagecoach's low-cost inter city express coach operation, Megabus.com, will move from its central London terminus at Green Line in Bullied Way to the Victoria Coach Station opposite. Bullied Way is a dark and dismal locality and a sure fire way to put passengers off. In addition, Megabus will have their own bays at VCS and tickets for their services will be available from the Booking Hall up to 10 minutes before departure - the first ever relaxation of the concept of a totally internet-based coach service.

Minor expansion to the Megabus network is also to take place from that date with Chester and Newport added as destinatrions and a new service linking Portsmouth, Southampton, Bournemouth and Winchester in the south of England with Oxford, Leamington Spa, Coventry and Birmingham in the Midlands. There will also be a new link between Birmingham and Preston, Glasgow and other locations in Scotland, as well as a later departure from London in the evening and an earlier departure to London in the morning. Passengers will also be able to travel on three additional daily journeys between Cardiff and London, one additional daily journey between Bristol and London and two additional daily journeys between Preston and London.

It wasn't so long ago that scaling down of Megabus services took place as few were doing much more than breaking even with the exception of the cross-border journeys to/from Scotland. All this is likely to anger National Express, who have a monopoly on departures at Victoria Coach Station, all fully paid for an legitimate; many of Megabus's planned expansions will operate head-to-head with identical National Express services, some departures are identical, too.

As someone who drives coaches to/from London Victoria Coach Station, it worries me about the logistics involved in physically fitting in all their services. National Express will still be the dominant operator there and even now there is very little space for layovers while drivers receive their minimum rest periods before operating another service out.

Megabus has a London Outstation which sees a number of vehicles parked in Victoria Coach Station overnight and a number of ex Leyton depot drivers operate to/from their each day, so seeing Megabus vehicles in VCS in the early mornings is not uncommon.

To Scotland for the SVBM Open Weekend

M'colleague and I had planned to visit the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum's (SVBM) Open Weekend at Lathalmond, 2 miles north of Dunfermline, at the back of the M90 Commerce Park. We left on Friday and stayed overnight in Stockport, resuming our journey on Saturday morning where we travelled up the west coast of England to Glasgow, then across to Edinburgh where our accommodation was - the Heriot-Watt University campus (part of Edinburgh University). Sunday was spent at the SVBM travelling there via Edinburgh city centre then the train to Dunfermline Town station, and I returned home yesterday from Edinburgh to Hull. The following, rather lengthy blog, details the journeys travelling over the past 3 days.

Friday 17 August 2007: Home-Stockport
via Louth, Horncastle, Skegness & Manchester

Here is the actual itinerary (with actual departure times in brackets):

Service 51 (Stagecoach in Lincolnshire)

0950 (0958) Grimsby, bus station

1050 (1054) Louth, bus station

Service 6C (TransLinc 'CallConnect')

1055 (1059) Louth, bus station

1145 (1137) Horncastle, market place

Service 6 (Stagecoach in Lincolnshire)

1150 (1150) Horncastle, market place

1245 (1254) Skegness, bus station

Service 5 (Stagecoach in Lincolnshire)

1328 (1336) Skegness, bus station

1343 (1350) Butlins, main entrance

Service 664 (National Express Travellers Choice)

1440 (1440) Butlins, south car park

1845 (1917) Manchester Central, coach station

Service 192 (Stagecoach in Manchester)

1943 (1943) Piccadilly, Pacton Street Ep

2027 (2027) Davenport Park Hotel, Buxton Road

0950 was the departure time of my first service to Louth, and there was no sign of the bus. I knew from past experiences - it even got a mentioned in an article I wrote for the LEYTR, that Louth depot drivers operating Service 51 regularly leave Grimsby late as considerable slack is given to Holton le Clay. At 0954 Volvo B7TL/East Lancs Vyking, 16905 (FT02 FFB) arrived. The driver seemed to take an eternity loading the handful of passengers and we left 8 minutes late. We weren't back on time by Holton le Clay, instead 3 mins late. This bus was scheduled to arrive into Louth at 1050, a suitable time for elderly passengers to travel for visiting the shops, so I wasn't massively shocked to see us call at every stop for concessions to board. At Louth Hospital we passed my next bus also headed to the bus station.

It was a very tight connection. I did want to get a photo of the bus I'd been travelling on but with 1 minute to spare I didn't want to miss my Service 6C to Horncastle as the next was 2 hours later. Optare Solo YS06 YSN operated this CallConnect service and I paid my £2.40 single fare to Horncastle, which I thought was pretty reasonable. There was 1 elderly gentleman already on the bus and he alighted in Horncastle with me. Also joining us at Tetford was a chap in his late-20s for Horncastle and in the tiny hamlet of Fulletby an elderly lady with what seemed to be a multi-journey ticket the driver punched. All four of us alighted in Horncastle and I managed to take some shots of the branding on the bus.

Next, with a perfect departure time, i.e. as advertised, was Stagecoach in Lincolnshire's 16944 (FX06 AOF), a Volvo B7TL with Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini bodywork; in fact it arrived a little before 1150. All was well through Spilsby and Burgh le Marsh, then we came to a stop. Temporary lights at the junction of the new Burgh by-pass to the east of the village was causing pretty bad congestion. It does make you wonder why they had to restrict the traffic flow on the A158, the busiest road in Lincolnshire on a Friday for traffic heading to Skegness for the weekend. Isn't there anything else they could have done instead on this incredibly busy day? Worse was yet to come for turning right within Skegness onto Roman Bank was a nightmare. During the early hours a complex of pubs and a nightclub had burnt down and a large section of the seafront had been closed off, forcing all traffic along Roman Bank. For quite some time the traffic lights at the junction merely changed colour and nothing else happened.

I got off at the first stop on Roman Bank and chose to walk the remainder of the way into the town centre, quite a few people opted to do the same. Luckily, I was going to pass the top of m'colleague's road and he was en route to meet me so I met him as I walked into town. With such awful congestion in an already badly congested town centre, we weren't too sure what time the next departure up the coast would leave. Luckily, 16394 (N394 LPN), a Stagecoach-standard Volvo Olympian/Alexander RL (ex Hampshire Bus) turned up a mere 8 minutes late to operate the seasonal Service 5 into Butlins. M'colleague and I were the only ones sat upstairs as we negotiated the congested streets out towards Ingoldmells and turned into Butlins. Also evident in Butlins was the one vehicle working Service 4 between here and Ingoldmells, and being used was ex London Dennis Dart, 34185 (W185 DNO).

Next was out lengthiest journey of the day: Butlins-Manchester aboard a vehicle belonging to Travellers Choice (John Shaw), Carnforth. The company does operate other more regular journeys for National Express (333 Bournemouth-Blackpool; 341 Burnley-Birmingham/Paignton; 570 London-Blackpool) though this journey between Butlins-Preston via Oldham and Manchester is not classed as frequent so vehicles in their own livery can be used. Not wanting to disappoint, they had allocated a Volvo B7R/Plaxton Profile, PN06 KLJ to work the return journey, what I didn't realise until I boarded was that it was C70F, with 3+2 seating, no toilet or reclining seats or arm rests. As luck would have it we were only half-full so having to physically fit onto an individual seat squab wasn't an issue - thankfully. It was obviously a type of vehicle that the firm had purchased to operate school journeys; it wasn't very suitable for travelling the entire width of the country with people over 5 feet tall on board.

The traffic was awful as we fought out way back into Skegness and then back out again, coming to another halt back at Burgh le Marsh. It took us 45 minutes to travel what can be done easily in 20. Thankfully buy 1530 we were clear of the Lincolnshire Coast and now using the A16 and A18 to head north to the motorway. Annoyingly we passed the A46/A18 intersection at Laceby, a mere 6 miles from home but no coach stop. I fell asleep at this point so missed us pass Humberside Airport and much of the journey along the M180, M18 and the start of the M62. The National Express Guide says a break of 30 mins is taken at Hartshead Moor services and we arrived there at 1741, leaving at 1800. It seemed a little odd having a break at this service area when we were so close to Oldham, our first stop in the north west. No sooner had we rejoined the M62 when we left it again at the summit (322m or 1,221ft) and pulled up just before the junction with the adjacent A road while we awaited a driver. He arrived after 10 minutes or so in a pool car, they swapped over and we were away again, back on the M62. We dropped a handful off in Oldham and then into Manchester Central coach station 32 minutes late.

I was glad to get off the coach. Everything about the seating was reduced from the depth of the seats to the legroom. I wondered if National Express were aware Travellers Choice had allocated this vehicle onto the working? M'colleague and I were booked into the Davenport Park Hotel in Stockport, on the main Stockport-Buxton road, so Service 192, once dubbed "the most frequent bus service in Europe" was the obvious choice. There were no signs of other operators running, just Stagecoach. Much news had been made earlier in the year when UK North buses were forced to cease trading after "ridiculous" competition along the route with Stagecoach and Finglands lead to too many buses to fit onto the city centre stops. According to the Stagecoach website there was a major section of route closed in the Stockport area while bridge repairs took place and an emergency timetable in place. The 192 timetable is impressive: a journey at 0430 is shown and then "at least every 10 mins until" 2330. I'm a pit of a pedant and like to see individual journeys shown, though was suitably bowled over with the 10 minute frequency from 0430 onwards!

One of the first-ever ADL Trident 2s with Alexander-Dennis' Enviro400 body design ordered by Stagecoach arrived at 1939 in the form of 19002 (MX06 XAA), though this filled to standing within seconds so we waited the next arrival which was minutes later in the form of the next in line, 19003 (MX06 XAB). We left almost immediately at 1943 and flew through Levenshulme to Stockport where there was a driver change. It was starting to get dark now and passenger numbers were much reduced. I'd printed off a location map of the hotel and using the side roads worked out when to alight - right outside the front of the place as it turns out. Very handy.

Saturday 18 August 2007: Stockport-Edinburgh
via Manchester & Glasgow

Service 199 (Trent Barton 'Skyline')

0710 (0711) Davenport Park Hotel, Buxton Road

0740 (0733) Manchester Airport, The Station

Service 538 (National Express Trathens)

0805 (0807) Manchester Airport, The Station

1355 (1502) Glasgow, Buchanan bus station

Service 900 (CityLink Park's of Hamilton)

1600 (1602) Glasgow, Buchanan bus station

1718 (1722) Edinburgh, St. Andrews bus station

Service 25 (Lothian Buses)

1816 (1819) Edinburgh, Princes Street/Waverley Steps

1850 (1903) Riccarton, Heriot Watt University

Trent Barton (or 'trentbarton' as they now prefer) were to operate the first service of the day. It was the first time I'd ever boarded one of their vehicles in Greater Manchester and seemed a little odd. Punctual and fairly well loaded for an early start on a Saturday, Optare Excel 263 (Y263 DRC) in its Skyline199 livery made its way through Stockport bus station and onto the motorway, arriving into Manchester Airport early, at 0733. A fair number of people boarded at Stockport bus station for the airport, good to see the airport workers making use of the service.

The National Express Guide for the first time ever this year denotes which journeys are "normally operated by a double decker coach" and the 0805 Service 538 from Manchester Airport-Aberdeen via Carlisle, Glasgow and Dundee was one such journey. With time to spare, LSK 815 a Neoplan (Auwerter) Skyliner CH59/20Ct arrived and our female driver greeted us with a cheery smile and we both managed to acquire the two front seats in the top deck. Travel into central Manchester was unhindered and we arrived into the coach station there at 0831, leaving at 0900.

The M6 isn't the quietest of motorways at any time and we soon ran into congestion as we passed through Lancashire. This put us late into Carlisle and our driver announced our arrival into Hamilton as being 1345 - 10 mins before we should have arrived into Glasgow. From Caslisle northwards we weren't really hindered by traffic at all until the outskirts of Glasgow where we diverted via parallel back streets - no mean task in a 15m decker! We ended up arriving into Glasgow just over an hour late, in pouring rain. I was most impressed by the upper saloon fron window wiper that was used once as we approached Tebay Services.

If you go into Stagecoach's website and type in travel between Glasgow-Edinburgh a number of timetables are produced. At the top, thus best fitting the requirements specified, were two Motorvator timetables: Services M8 & 900. Clicking on the link for Service M8 produced a version of the Motorvator 900 timetable with an end-to-end journey time taking 1:08; clicking on the 900 link showed another Motorvator 900 timetable, with additional stops, an improved frequency and a greater end-to-end time of 1:18. A little odd.

Stranger still when at Glasgow you soon realise both timetables are defunct and have been since August last year!!! The operation now covering regular services between Glasgow-Edinburgh using the Service 900 number is Citylink, of which Stagecoach and Park's of Hamilton are the main providers of vehicles, most of which are the extended 15m Volvo B12BT/Plaxton Panthers with 57 seats. We left the 1545 departure in the form of 54034 (SF07 AOA) depart as it was packed, the next departure was a Park's vehicle, LSK 879, identical to the vehicles Stagecoach provide for the service - they even have Stagecoach interior trim. £4.60 was charged for a single fare.

Stagecoach's Glasgow depot appear to have 54028-34 (SF07 AMV/X/NP/R/U/V/X/OA) allocated for their contribution to the CityLink 900 service. The vehicles do look very attractive indeed in their Scottish Citylink livery, irrespective of the provider.

Now in Edinburgh it became clear just how busier the capital was as a result of the Edinburgh Festival! Within seconds of emerging onto Princes Street we noticed numerous coaches belonging to all manner of operators throughout Scotland, England and Wales. After a rather expensive pint we decided to wait for our bus to the Heriot-Watt University campus at Riccarton on the south-west outskirts of the city. Lothian's Service 25 provides the most direct service, operating to a 10 minute frequency.

Lothian's buses, similar to Nottingham City Transport, do not give change though offer a handy and attractive £1 single fare anywhere within the city. A day ticket at £2.50 is also available and very attractively priced. So many buses use Princes Street in the centre of Edinburgh that the queue for individual bus stops becomes worse than anything I've witnessed before and not just passengers: the 1816 bus we were awaiting at Waverley Steps was one of 5 in a queue for the stop occupied by single decker, the driver in convesration with a passenger about the best stop for him to alight.

To say progress was slow as we fought our way out of the city is an understatement, aboard Lothian Buses Dennis Trident/Plaxton President H47/24D, 586 (X586 USC). Similar to the timings on National Express's Service 538 between Carlisle-Glasgow, the 25's timetable is theoretical at best. Our timetabled arrival at the university campus of 1850 was in fact reached at 1903 - 13 minutes late on buses that offer exact fare only in order to speed up journey times. Lothian's buses were advertising for drivers claiming that "average earnings over £24,000", which seemed impressive, though if they are short of drivers, plenty of overtime will be worked and I suspect the average is based on the current average of drivers working 6 or 7 days a week. Nevertheless their hourly rate, assuming drivers work an average of 43 hours a week, their hourly rate of pay would need to be £10.73.

Sunday 19 August 2007: Edinburgh-Lathalmond
via Dunfermline.

Service 25 (Lothian Buses)

0858 (0858) Riccarton, Heriot Watt University

0923 (0930) Edinburgh, Princes Street/Waverley Steps

"Fife Loop" Service (First ScotRail)

0955 (0955) Edinburgh Waverley

1030 (1030) Dunfermline Town

"Fife Loop" Service (First ScotRail)

1827 (1827) Dunfermline Town

2000 (1954) Edinburgh Waverley

Service 25 (Lothian Buses)

2223 (2223) Edinburgh, Princes Street western end

2247 (2257) Riccarton, Heriot-Watt University

After a very substantial breakfast, m'colleague and I boarded the 0858 Service 25 in the form of 635 (SK52 OGT) a Lothian Buses Dennis Trident/Plaxton from Heriot-Watt University to Edinburgh city centre. Again, the timings were not met - this on a relatively quiet Sunday morning. Our 0923 arrival at Princes Street/Waverley Steps was met at 0930. We descended to the rail station and bought our £4.80 cheap day return tickets to Dunfermline Town. Awaiting us for its 0955 departure was First ScotRail's Turbostar 170461. Unlike the vast majority of bus/coach services we'd caught so far, this left exactly at 0955 and arrived at Dunfermline precisely as timetabled at 1030.

It was a fair uphill walk to the city centre, where we had to seek advice from a very friendly taxi driver for the location of the fire station. A year last June we'd visited the SVBM though on this occasion the buses were picking up from the bus station, which is now closed.

M'colleague managed to catch a vintage vehicle to the SVBM while I headed to a cash point. I was a little luckier as my vintage vehicle was a Northern Bluebird-liveried coach! Very nice.

The locality of the SVBM has to be seen to be believed. It is incredibly picturesque, quiet and serene. Vehicles are parked specifically to give the best possible shot for photographers and the range and variety of vehicles offering tours is pretty unique as some vehicles will not physically make it to rallies in the south of england.

My only criticism is a result of the open day being so successful that some vehicles were parked two-deep or diagonally too close to the ones next to them so a full shot was very difficult.

Some very old lorries and vans were also in attendance, in a move that is the norm at the Lincolnshire Vintage Vehicle Society's open days, though when vehicles started to leave problems began as some had sunk deep into the sodden grass as a result of the day before (Saturday) being a near wash-out. David Urquart's brand new 07-reg VDL/Bova needed assistance as too did Rapson's Scania/East Lancs in Inverness Airport livery. Not wanting to be left out a modern fire engine also needed help, though once freed itself then towed its sister vehicles to the tarmac.

I purchased 7 ties in total - one being an interesting 25th anniversary of the ticket machine maker Almex! I also bought 5 models, all local to the LEYTR area, and all bar one at superb prices.

I managed to buy the National Express-liveried VDL/Van Hool Alizee T9 coach on Service 440 to Leicester, owned by Arriva Fox County for £10 in immaculate condition. I was most impressed.

We stayed longer than planned and were in a pub in Dunfermline city centre when the 1737 train back to Edinburgh departed so caught the 1827 train, though this operates via the Fife Loop (my term for it), operating north from Dunfermline to Cardenden and Kirkcaldy, where it then joins the main Aberdeen-Dundee-Edinburgh line back to Edinburgh clinging to the Fife coastline and back across the Forth Rail Bridge to Edinburgh. Our train was a Strathclyde Passenger Transport (red/cream) liveried Turbostar that was ex Hull Trains, 170478, even retaining the Hull Trains interior seat upholstery. We arrived into Edinburgh at 1954 - 6 mins early.

We walked the full length of Princes Street and ended up in the Hilton Hotel where we made use of the public bar and lounge that once stood next to Edinburgh's other city centre station - Princes Street Station. A pint of Tenants lager and a Vodka and coke cost £9.05, though the complimentary nibbles were very nice. Our return trip to the university was again Service 25 at 2223 in the form of Lothian's 635 (SK52 OGT), the vehicle we'd started out on this morning!

Monday 20 August 2007: Edinburgh-home

Service 25 (Lothian Buses)

0952 (0952) Riccarton, Heriot Watt University

1026 (1027) Edinburgh, Princes Street/Waverley Steps

Service 534 (National Express Park's of Hamilton)

1050 (1052) Edinburgh, St. Andrews bus station

1810 (1800) Hull, city centre, George Street

Lothian's Dennis Trident/Plaxton President, 588 (X588 USC) was waiting time at the university as I boarded and we left punctually. This journey was the be the most punctual of the 4 I'd taken, arriving 1 minute adrift. The interior of all the Lothian buses I'd travelled on was good. A nice smell, no whif of stale cigarettes or noticeable graffiti.

My National Express coach was on Stance G as I entered St. Andrews bus station. I was to have two drivers, though I knew I would as we mentioned in the LEYTR around 2 years ago that the 534 was no double-manned throughout. Park's of Hamilton had allocated HSK 644, a C49Ft Volvo B12B/Jonckheere to the service.

Progress was excellent as we travelled down the A1 towards Newcastle. Here we took a 20 minute break (1330-1400) and were all asked to leave the coach. There's nothing to do at the relatively new St. James Boulevard coach station, you even have to pay 20p to use the toilet. It looks clean and well operated and also parked there was the northbound Service 534, again with two drivers, with a near identical vehicle, HSK 642. We were soon on our way again, calling at Sunderland, Middlesborough, Thirsk and York. As we entered York I could hardly believe my eyes as we (in a 12ft tall coach) headed towards an 11ft 3ins bridge. The driver lowered the ferry lift as a token gesture and we literally bobbed under it.

I've managed to locate the bridge in question as it is situated just before the National Railway Museum. This link should take you to it. The bridge can be seen between a road called Garfield Terrace and Leeman Road - the rail line actually passes over the road, not under it as the map suggests. How was anyone daring enough to attempt that bridge? We're not talking an inch or two less than the vehicle height, we're talking 9 inchest lower than the coach's height!!

Traffic into York was fairly heavy so we left 12 mins late. Traffic leaving was equally bad. We travelled the length of the A1079 to Beverley where the EYMS 80th anniversary liveried decker was parked, and then headed to Hull. We were scheduled to call via Hull Docks before terminating in the city, though we called the other way round, arriving 10 mins early.

Brought to justice

As reported, 20 June saw a devastating fire at the former yard of Enterprise & Silver Dawn, Waddington, Lincoln in which numerous preserved Lincolnshire Road Car buses were destroyed. The BBC East Midlands website has a comforting development:

VINTAGE BUS FIRE TREATED AS ARSON

A 16 year old Lincolnshire boy has been charged with arson following a fire at a depot housing historic buses.

The fire on 20 June in Waddington, Lincolnshire, severely damaged seven vintage buses, as well as affecting the depot's structure.

No one was hurt in the incident, which closed part of the nearby A607, but the owner said the vehicles were unique.

The teenager, who cannot be named, is due to appear at Lincoln District Youth Court on 23rd June.

New East Midlands Trains website

Following the decision last month that Stagecoach had won the East Midlands rail franchise, the company has wasted no time at all in producing a website. It can be found by visiting http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/, taking a very familiar format to that of South West Trains.

Travelling to Scotland

This weekend sees the annual summer gathering of vehicles at the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum at Lathalmond near Dunfermline. Both Peter and I are attending on Sunday. We're both planning to travel there using National Express coach services. Specifically we plan to catch Service 538 from Manchester Airport to Glasgow on Saturday morning as it's worked by a Trathens Neoplan, one of the batch taken out of service following the crash on the M4/M25 on 3 January 2007. We're staying overnight on Friday in a hotel in Stockport and over the weekend are using Edinburgh University as a base, with excellent accommodation fees.

I'm returning from Edinburgh to Hull on Monday, using Park's of Hamilton's Service 534, which is a route I've never done before. A full report will be posted when we return.

Weekly Transport Update 3

• Wife of Alec Head Coaches operator applies for O Licence. Anthea Head, wife of Tony Head {Alec Head coaches}, trading as Decker Bus based at the former yard of Alec Head, has applied to the Eastern Area Traffic Commissioner for a 10-vehicle O licence. Her husband, Tony, was disqualified from holding an Operators Licence along with his two partners earlier in the year.
• MASS to close Finningley depot. MASS Transit, which once attempted to make inroads into Grantham, Lincolnshire, is closing its depot at Finningley, Doncaster, passing its three commercial bus routes to First. Routes 191 Doncaster-Finningley, 195 Doncaster-Warmsworth and 196 Doncaster-Hexthorpe require two vehicles and signal MASS's departure from commercial bus operation from 3 September. The Finningley depot was home to Leon Motors (est. 1922) and vehicles based there operating school contracts will transfer to MASS's South Anston depot.
• Megabus expansion in USA. Megabus announced the expansion of its USA network with a new West Coast hub in and around Los Angeles, taking in such places as Las Vegas, Oakland, Phoenix/Tempe, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose. Since operations in the US began in April last year, over 450,000 passengers have used services linking 13 Mid-West cities with Chicago.
• Showbus celebrates Plaxton. This year's Showbus International event, taking place at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, on 16 September hopes to attract over 100 Plaxton vehicles to commemorate the body builder's centenary.
• Lothian Buses results 'up'. Turnover at Lothian Buses increased by 18.3% in the year ending 31 December 2006, compared to the year earlier; margins increased slightly from 5.2% to 5.6% over the same period. Pre-tax profit fell dramatically from £16.3m to £7.3m, though in 2005 the company received £12m from the sale of property it owned. Its Chief Executive, Neil Renilson, received a £9,000 pay rise, taking his salary to £227,000.
• Stevensons of Uttoxeter's 80th anniversary. To celebrate Burton-upon-Trent's longest-running bus operator, more than 70 former members of staff joined locals and enthusiasts to ride around the town in a dozen or so vehicles that have been preserved in the company's destinctive yellow and white livery. The business was established in 1926 by John Stevenson, a farmer, and passed to Arriva at the start of the decade.
• First saves £43,000 thanks to cctv. A number of people claimed they were injured when a First Manchester vehicle hit a car in the city. Inspection of cctv proved the number of people claiming injury was different to the number inside the vehicle and other discrepancies in the claimants stories. As a result a combined claim of £43,000 was thrown out by the Crown Court.
• Low PCV registrations for July. ADL's July registrations are down 10.1% from last year, 27.5% for Mercedes-Benz, 7.2% for Optare, 21.2% for Scania and 29.5% for Volvo.
• Transdev buys Northern Blue. Transdev's Blazefield Holdings subsidiary has purchased Travelspeed Ltd, trading as Northern Blue buses of Burnley; Oswaldtwistle-based Lancashire County Transport, trading as Accrdington Transport; and Blackburn with Darwen Transport Ltd, based in Darwen, for an undisclosed sum. The total acquisition comprises 62 O licences and 75 members of staff.
• Stagecoach East increases fares as a result of concessions. Due to reductions in the reimbursement payments to bus operators by Northampton Borough Council from April this year, Stagecoach East has announced additional fare increases to cover costs. In the last financial year, Northants gave operators 73.6p in the pound though this lowered to 44.3p from April.
• First Devon & Cornwall's losses hit £6.1m. The financial position of First Devon and Cornwall dramatically worsened to the end of the last financial year, leaving a £6.1m loss after taxation. Turnover rose by 3% and fares by 15% though a bitter four-month driver dispute in 2005 took its toll.
• Stagecoach Yorkshire's SupertramLink-bus. A small fleet of Optare Solo buses have been painted in the same style of Stagecoach corporate livery as applied to the Supertram units and connect with the trams at the northern termini.
• Preston competition monitored. North-Western Traffic Commissioner Beverley Bell has introduced a Traffic Regulation Condition to the streets of the city to limit the number of new vehicles and services Stagecoach can introduce in such a short space of time. PrestonBus, whose traditional 'patch' Stagecoach are encroaching, have withdrawn two sparsely used bus services in the city to move their resources onto the competing services.
• Rochdale Interchange receives £800,000. GMPTA has agreed to spend £800k on Rochdale's planned £11.5m interchange, replacing the existing town centre bus station on Smith Street.
• Last two Caetanos go to Jersey. The last two of an order for 13 Caetano Nimbus-bodied Dennis Darts have been delivered to Connex Jersey. This marks the end of body assembly by the Portuguese manufacturer at its SC Coachbuilders Waterlooville factory.

NEG win East Coast franchise

It was announced this morning that National Express Group have been awarded the East Coast franchise:

National Express has triumphed in the battle to run the main London-to-Scotland rail route after promising to boost capacity, cut delays and lower fuel consumption. The company fought off competition from Arriva, First Group and Virgin Trains to operate the east coast mainline. The contract, which runs from December 9 this year to March 31 2015, was awarded by the Department for Transport this morning. It was put out for tender after GNER, the current operator, admitted it could not afford to run the franchise.

National Express's winning bid is worth £1.4bn - £100m more than GNER had previously agreed to pay. Adam Walker, the company's finance director, insisted this morning that National Express could afford to make those payments to the government and still make a profit on the route. He also tried to reassure passengers that fares would not rise sharply, although some fares will rise by up to 18% above the RPI measure of inflation over the life of the contract. "Our policy is to stimulate demand on the rail network. If you raise fares substantially you'll still sell tickets in the short term, but that's not the right way to run the business in the long term," Mr Walker said.

National Express plans to raise unregulated fares, such as off-peak tickets, by an average of 2.1% more than the rate of inflation each year. Regulated fares, such as commuters' season tickets, will rise by an average of 1% above inflation each year. It will spend £24m on new rolling stock, letting it run an extra 25 services a day from December 2010. It has also promised to cut delays by 29% by the end of the franchise. Mr Walker said National Express would appoint an environmental officer for the route to help it hit a target of cutting fuel consumption per passenger kilometre by 28%.

It has promised refunds for any customers who book a seat only to find they have to stand throughout the journey. It will also offer free wireless internet access to all passengers - currently only first class passengers are not charged for Wi-Fi.

Shares in National Express rose by 17p to £11.65 following the announcement, an increase of almost 1.5%, but later fell back 2p to £11.45. They gained more than 8% yesterday amid speculation that the company would win the franchise. National Express had previously failed to win the Cross Country, London-Midland and east Midlands rail franchises, which were all awarded earlier this year.
Text: The Guardian online

TransLinc axe London Express

From 4 September, Lincolnshire's largest privately-owned transport operator, TransLinc, is curtailing their Boston - Peterborough - London daily express service. During September the route will operate between Boston - Peterborough only and from the start of October the service will be no more.

The service started with the privatisation of the coach industry in 1985 when local operator Elseys of Gosberton ran a new Boston - London service. At the same time so too did fellow local operator, Hogg of Bennington, also between Boston - London. Both services operated in competition in the true spirit of privatisation. In the late 80s Hogg extended their service to start/end in Skegness and at the same time Elseys, rather than run dead from their depot in Gosberton, ran it in service between there and Boston.

Brylaine of Boston took over the Hogg operation in the mid-90s and continued to operate the London service (ex Skegness); though withdrew the service around 2001 when TransLinc took over Elseys following a mutual agreement whereby Brylaine would operate local bus services exclusively between Boston - Spalding, something Elseys had hitherto done.

And so a coach service, born as a direct result of the privatisation of the coach industry, has come to an end. The reason? TransLinc claim profitability as a key factor, though this in itself is specifically as a result of their recent buy-out they bought-in, as featured in the latest LEYTR, which has seen the founders of the firm sell their shares to private equity firm, RJD Partners.

Meanwhile, National Express continue to operate a daily service between Mablethorpe - Skegness - Boston - Spalding - Peterborough - London.

Photo: Chris Maxfield

The Chrysler Minibus

Delivered to Stagecoach's Peterborough depot on Friday 3 August were two black Chrysler Grand Voyager Executive people carriers for use on the GNER Taxibus service the company operate for train firm GNER. With seven leather seats and climate control they are far superior to the 12-seater Transits they are temporarily replacing to allow them to undergo their MOTs. The Chrysler Grand Voyager registrations are KR07 CEJ/N.

Very nice they are too.

Weekly Transport Update 2

• Plaxton launch their new 'Cheetah' body based on the Mercedes-Benz Vario chassis. Following sales in excess of 1000 the Cheetah design has evolved. Launched at Whipsnade Wild Animal Park the new design remains 8.5m in length though is 1cm wider now (2.4m) and slightly lower at 2.86m (previously 2.94m). The midi coach sector is fiercely fought over with no shortage of competition offering quality alternatives.
• Thames Gateway Bridge deferred. Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has deferred the decision on the proposed Thames Gateway Bridge following concerns over the benefit of the scheme. This is the second Public Inquiry into the scheme.
• Peterborough Bus Wins Race. Four commuters: one on foot, one on a bike, one on a bus and one in a car, staged a race from residential Peterborough to the city centre leaving at 0800hrs. The bus won taking 14 mins, followed by the bike at 15 mins, the car driver took 21 mins and the walker 59 mins.
• Wembley Parking explained. Dedicated coach parking at Wembley Statium is both expensive and scarce. Parking must be pre-ordered and can only be arranged for coaches bringing parties to Wembley Stadium; coaches must not arrive more than 3 hours before the event start time; operators unable to park at the Stadium should drop-off there as normal and will be directed to alternative parking locations; setting-down of passengers should only take place in designated areas not on nearby streets.
• National Express's 61-seaters take to the road. Six tri-axle Caetano Levante-bodied Scania K340 have entered service on National Express's busy Stansted Airport-London services. The first day was 27 July. A batch of 20 have been ordered, totalling £8.6million. Services A4/A6 provide 152 journeys a day between Golders Green/central London-Stansted Airport 24/7 and frequencies are as often as every 15 minutes. The additional 12 seats per journey will add up to 2,000 extra seats, daily, in conjunction with the other vehicles used on the routes.
• Arriva trials biofuel. Arriva's Blyth depot in Northumbria is trialing B20 bio-diesel in its 75 vehicles.
• National Express HQs merge. Up to 100 jobs are to go at its three HQs in Birmingham, currently overseeing the Company's rail, bus and coach divisions. A new, centralised HQ will take control of all aspects of the business, headed by Ray O'Toole, currently NX's Chief Operating Officer.
• Southampton Uni trial Wi-Fi technology. A double decker operated by Accord plc has been fitted with Wi-Fi for a 20-day trial period to test passenger reaction. Operating on Service U1 between Southampton Airport Parkway-city centre, the bus will allow passengers to check their emails, download music and access the Internet while on the move.
• "Major success" - Stagecoach Hovercraft. The two-week, £300,000 trial of the cross-Forth hovercraft Stagecoach implemented to coincide to major roadworks on the Forth Road Bridge has been hailed a "major success". More than 32,000 people used the two-craft Kirkcaldy-Portobello service; Stagecoach estimate annual operation of the service would cost £2million.
• New DfT Signs book. The DfT has published a new "Know Your Traffic Signs" book. It explains all traffic signs and road markings within its 144 pages and is priced at £4.99.
• Truro P&R approved. Truro's trial Park & Ride over the past summers has again been approved for operation between Threemileston-city centre. Parking for 1,200 cars is available.
• Manchester's bus operators get behind TIF. GMPTA's £3billion Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) is being backed by all Manchester's bus operators as it was submitted to the DfT on 31 July. Approval of the funding wont be announced until Christmas. Forming a 5-year plan, the grant would see a "step-change" in all public transport plus minor congestion charging, to be completed by 2012.
• Volvo results up, just. Volvo saw its sales increase by 5% to £5.24billion though a drop in operating income by 6% (£0.45million) and a decrease in income of 14% (£0.3million).
• New Commuter Coach. 30 July saw the first day of operation of National Express's new commuter coach service MK1 between Milton Keynes-Canary Wharf. Aimed at commuters the departure from Milton Keynes Coachway is 0600 then calling Milton Keynes car parks at Atterbury, Childs Way and Kingston District Centre and dropping off in six key locations within central London including Angel station, Islington and Archway station. MK Metro (part of Arriva) operate the service, with higher-spec features including free Wi-Fi and daily newspapers. The vehicle used is FJ07 TKA, with Caetano Levante bodywork. A 'Commuter Pass' is available at £1,600 p/a, compared to £4,040 for an annual season ticket using the train.
• Enviro200 to Scarborough. Alexander-Dennis Limited has revealed it plans to move production of its Enviro200 body from its Falkirk plant to Scarborough, in so doing additional capacity at Falkirk will allow speedier production of its Enviro400 body. Scarborough will continue to produce the Centro body.
• TC shock over PCV/HGV test certificated. North Western Traffic Commissioner, Beverley Bell has "slated VOSA" for not including mileages on MOT test certificates. Ms Bell said that, as a regulator, she found it astonishing that unlike private cars, mileages were not entered on PCV/HGV test certificates.
• Fake O Licences cost operator dear. Manchester-based minibus operator John Coleman, trading as Coleman's Travel, Stretford, was found guilty of two offences of using PCS O Licence discs with intent to deceive. A total fine of £2,000 was imposed.

Cleethorpes Seafront Specials

For the summer 2007 season, Stagecoach have added a new-look livery to one of their two open top buses operating along the Cleethorpes seafront. To compliment the one Stagecoach-liveried open top Leyland Olympian/Northern Counties, 14667 (H667 BNL), a MCW Metrobus, formerly of the RoadCar fleet, 15972 (POG 542Y) has been added to Service 17, which operates between Cleethorpes Pier and the Thorpe Park Holiday Centre at the southern end of the resort, travelling along the tourist areas of the seaside town en route.

The livery, designed by Stagecoach East Midlands' Commercial Manager (North), John Donnely, based in Hull, is branded as "Coastal Cruiser" in the font style Tahoma, with further branding of places served along the way. Substituting the standard Stagecoach corporate fleet colours with those more indicative of the seaside, and replacing the rear orange 'swoop' with a palm tree, gives a very striking end product. Six indentical vehicles at nearby Skegness depot have all received the same treatment, all too being ex RoadCar stock.

All operational MCW Metrobuses within Stagecoach in Lincolnshire and Grimsby-Cleethorpes operating units were new to West Midlands Travel, passing to RoadCar between 2001 and 2004. Many of the Skegness vehicles wear cherished registrations.

Over the past four years the frequency of open toppers along Cleethorpes seafront has increased, with local coach operator Coopers running a Leyland Olympian between Cleethorpes Pier and Pleasure Island Theme Park. This year, however, they are operating into the Thorpe Park Holiday Centre, following Stagecoach's service 17 route fully, though to a frequency 50% less than that Stagecoach offer.

Stagecoach's publicity for the Cleethorpes Coastal Cruiser makes no mention that only half of all departures will be made by the specially liveried bus and that the other half will be operated by an open topper in standard colours. Each vehicle misses service for 90 minutes while the driver returns to the depot for his break, keeping the bus with him; the gap-filler is usually a Dennis Dominator (closed top). There is an outrageous error in the timetable too, with the summary of daytime journeys being wrong: shows departures as being 00/30 from Cleethorpes Pier when in reality they are 10/40 and timings throughout are all 10 minutes later than advertised. This may have cost the firm dear as Coopers timetable for their hourly service 18 is accurate and attached to all the stops within Thorpe Park that I noticed today.

Despite the faux pas in the timetable 2007 sees the most simplistic Stagecoach timetable for the route: from 25 May to 9 September inclusive a 30 min frequency will operate with no exceptions. In the past years two timetables would exist: a 'low season' and 'high season'. Low season saw hourly departures (1 bus). Around 1998/9 a third frequency was in operation, seeing 5 journeys per day towards the end of September, journeys subsidised by North-East Lincolnshire Council. So many frequencies made the timetable very difficult to understand plus the vast majority of patronage are families on holiday from South Yorkshire who do not want to spend hours understanding a timetable. It is much better for a single, simplistic timetable that holidaymakers here for a week can grasp in a matter of seconds.

There continues to be no late service and a round trip fare is not advertised. As someone who regularly drove this service (when two Daimler Fleetlines with no power steering and centre doors were the mainstay) I was regularly asked if such a fare existed as families who were visiting the town for the day by car just fancied a ride round on the top deck. Briefly a fare did become available though this has never been advertised and without contacting Stagecoach directly I simply don't know if it is available this year. One other slight criticism of recent years is that too much time is given within Thorpe Park. 10 minutes stand time is timetabled for all journeys this year. Again, from past experience, holidaymakers want to get back to their caravan as soon as possible; as the route in Thorpe Park is a one-way loop, those staying to the west of the park have to endure a 10 minute stop for seemingly no reason. Coopers do not have any stand-time on Thorpe Park, they take it at the Pier where their vehicle acts as an advertisement for the service and additional patronage is gained from being parked at the busiest area in the town.

However, in recent years only one open topper was used by Stagecoach and the addition of this Coastal Cruiser vehicle can only be good news. Skegness did have 4 vehicles, though this was increased to 6 for their operation of Service 3 between Skegness bus station and Ingoldmells via Butlins this year.

Photos: Peter Wombwell