Hulleys of Baslow

I attended an evening tour with Transpire, the Chesterfield Bus Society last night. Arrangements had been made with the manager of Hulleys and two of his drivers - all three of whom are Transpire members - for a visit to their Baslow depot to photograph their fleet plus a tour of the Peak District in one of their vehicles, with a 'refreshment' break at Bakewell.

Henry Hulley & Sons, trading as Hulleys of Baslow, can trace their roots back to 1914 when Henry Hulley purchased a 5-seater Ford T taxi, and expanded this one-man enterprise in 1920 when two more taxis were purchased, both Darracq cars; later in 1920, following the Road Traffic Act of that year, the name Hulleys was registered.

The following year saw the Hulleys business purchase their first bus - a one tonne T Ford with solid tyres and centred steering wheel. It operated on their first registered bus route between Bakewell-Baslow-Chesterfield, which still operates today as Service 170.

In 1922 a purpose-built house and corrugated iron shed were built to house the small fleet of vehicles, and over subsequent years additional vehicles were purchased, which meant the small corrugated shed had to be replaced by the end of the 1920s. During the 1930s the firm started running coach tours; purchased land opposite their depot where they installed petrol pumps and sold this to the public; and in 1938 became a limited company. In 1939 the business of Maurice Kenyon was purchased.

Today Hulleys operates a fleet of 19 vehicles, all but three are buses used on stage-carriage bus services based in and around the Peak District and Derbyshire Dales.

Photos from last night's evening tours can be seen by visiting my fotopic site where they've been uploaded.

UK's latest open-access rail operator starts running

The last direct train service between London-Wrexham ceased operation in 1967. As from yesterday this link was restored thanks to the UK's newest open-access rail operator, Wrexham, Shropshire & Marylebone Railway (WSMR) who now operate five direct end-to-end train journeys between the two points.

WSMR took the decision to start their new service early and to hire in trains until the ones they have earmarked have been thoroughly renovated and prepared for service, which the firm hopes will take place by the end of the summer at the very latest.

Passengers can book via the WSMR website and have the added option of having their tickets texted to their mobile phone - one of the first rail operators to offer this feature - as well as purchase their tickets on board the trains. Fares start at £22.

The website appears very easy to use and offers much information about the company. As we reported on 22 February, Virgin Trains has decided to extend one of its Chester services to/from Wrexham and will offer a significantly reduced journey time of 2:30 when compared to WSMR's 4 hours.

Stagecoach's record vehicle order

Yesterday Stagecoach Group announced its record-breaking order for 584 new buses and coaches worth £71million. The firm also announced that it is to invest in greener technology in order to meet new, more stringent, EU emission standards.

The first part of the £71million order will see nearly 500 vehicles with a total value of more than £60 million from manufacturers Alexander Dennis (ADL), Optare, MAN, Plaxton, Scania and Volvo. The remainder of the order will be confirmed later this year. Around 220 of these vehicles will meet the Euro5 emission standard at least 1 year before the new ruling coming into force (1 September 2009). The vehicles in this first order will start to be delivered from next month with completion due at the end of April 2009.

Former Grimsby-Cleethorpes Transport managing director, and now Stagecoach UK Bus managing director Les Warneford, said, "We believe there is huge potential to encourage more people to reduce car use, get back on board the bus and help address the challenge of climate change. By re-investing our profits in greener bus technology, we will make our own operations more sustainable and help reduce the carbon footprint of our customers."

Stagecoach estimate the number of passengers travelling on its bus services has risen year-on-year by approximately 3%.

Details of the initial orders are:

150 x ADL E400 (Cummins) chassis/Enviro 400 to Euro5 spec

56 x Scania 230UD Enviro 400 to Euro4 spec

38 x ADL Enviro 300 chassis (12m)/Enviro 300 to Euro 5 spec

120 x MAN 18.240 chassis (12m)/Enviro 300 to Euro4 spec

25 x ADL Enviro 200 chassis/Enviro 200 to Euro5 spec

32 x MAN 14.240 chassis/Enviro 200 to Euro 4 spec

9 x Optare Versa to Euro4 spec

4 x Optare Solo 9.5m to Euro4

50 x Optare Solo 8.5m to Euro 4 spec

7 x Volvo B12B (12.3m)/Plaxton Panther to Euro5 spec

4 x Volvo B12B (15m)/Plaxton Panther to Euro5 spec

TOTAL 495

All of the new vehicles will run on a blend of 5% biodiesel and 95% mineral diesel, which Stagecoach uses in conjunction with the fuel additive Envirox to achieve fuel efficiency savings and emissions reductions of around 5%.

All vehicles will be low-floor, one step access and all coaches will be equipped with wheelchair lifts as per the legal minimum requirement.

Accidental timing?

The leader on local radio station Lincs FM this morning concerned free concessionary bus travel in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire. Here the Liberal Democrat party has said that it would remove the 0930hrs restriction for concessionary free bus travel during May.

The ruling party's decision to announce this 2 days before polling begins has been criticised by the opposing Conservative party, a spokesman for which described it as "electoral fraud" as there had been no time to discussion the policy prior to the Lib Dems announcing their intention to introduce the scheme.

The Conservatives Party's line is that they would look in-depth at the possibility of relaxing the 0930hrs restriction but not commit to guaranteeing its removal so close to the election.

Should the Lib Dems be re-elected in West Lindsey it would then mean the council would offer a better deal for its concessionary pass holders than the other districts of Lincolnshire and with North East Lincolnshire Council planning to relax its 0930hrs restriction, there is likely to be much confusion!

Mind the bollards

With traffic congestion becoming ever worse and local councils becoming more and more concerned about their towns and cities becoming grid-locked, especially the centres, drastic measures have been taken in order to ban cars from certain areas. A growing number of cities have added - at some considerable cost - manoeuvrable bollards. They lower when a vehicle fitted with a transponder approaches, then raise after the vehicle has passed. They work. There can be no question about this as residents in Cambridge and Manchester will no doubt testify.

But there are catastrophic consequences to bus service operations when an unsuspecting motorist unwittingly follows a bus as it passes over the bollards, which then raise damaging the car and causing grid-lock these schemes were designed to stop, as this video shows.

1 year ahead of schedule

It's not commonplace that planned improvements to services in the rail industry are brought forward by a year, but that's exactly what National Express's East Coast rail franchise says is "very likely" for its planned direct London-Lincoln train service.

Forming part of NatEx's bid for the East Coast Main Line franchise last year, which they successfully won and commenced last December, they planned to operate direct train services to Harrogate and Lincoln to an hourly frequency from King's Cross, bifurcating at Newark with alternate journeys to each ultimate destination to a 2 hour frequency. This was to commence in December 2010, though NatEx now consider it very likely that this could commence from December 2009.

Trains will depart King's Cross at 04 minutes past each hour and plan to call at most stops between there and the point of divergence at Newark. Not only that but NatEx have proposed a daily extension beyond Lincoln to Grimsby and Cleethorpes to commence from 2015 at the very latest. There have never been so many proposed direct London train services between the two North-East Lincolnshire towns as in the past two weeks, with Grand Union claiming to be looking into something similar.

NatEx have outlined their plans to improve upon the timetable and frequencies they promised in their bid for the East Coast Main Line franchise in a letter to the Head of Track Access at the Office of Rail Regulation. It can be viewed by clicking here. The top of page 5 details the potential to operate services beyond Lincoln.

Brighton Coach Rally 2008

Last weekend saw the 54th UK Coach Rally based at Brighton. There had been some speculation following last year's event that support may not be sufficient to stage this year's, though happily a steady but ever-growing base of support saw it take place. Armed with the official programme by way of the CBW magazine an operator had kindly given to me (at an on-the-day saving of £2.50) I travelled south and braved the rain to attend my first ever coach rally.

Brighton is hard-core Best Impressions territory with the predominant operator, Go Ahead's Brighton & Hove subsidiary, having had a re-vamp in recent years and being immediately visible as having been "Best Impressioned". While I stood gathering my bearings my attention was immediately drawn to the age of the fleet operated by Brighton & Hove - not as young as its designed livery would suggest. Sure there were a few 56-reg deckers passing by but first generation Dennis Tridents were in a plentiful supply. It serves to show that whatever your thoughts on a livery, when applied correctly and in tandem with a willingness to keep vehicle exteriors tidy, it can invigorate a bus fleet and take years off decade-old SLFs.

There was no sign of any coaches though so after a brief look at one of the city centre maps I headed for Madeira Drive - the section of road used to house the display vehicles and corporate tents, plus the locality for the two different driving manoeuvres each entrant has to undergo. I was only able to stay until 1600hrs and with the rain becoming increasingly persistent and a brisk wind from the sea, was a little concerned the event would be a wash-out.

That was until I arrived. It became immediately clear that this was one outside event that didn't rely on members of the public attending. It could have snowed and still the 50+ vehicles that had been entered would have taken part. Madeira Drive has been closed for the weekend and the first section of the rally you came to was the line-up of new specification vehicles and the corporate tents. Volvo had their new B9R on display; MAN had their new EuroRider Cygnus (Coliseum Coaches); Flights & Rose Travel had a couple of Mercedes-Benz executive minibuses; Holmeswood brought their Marcopolo-bodied Cheshire Schoolbus-liveried coach as well as a tri-axled MAN/Aura; a couple of VDL Bovas were on display; and Redwing brought one of its new 08-reg Belarus EuroRider Cygnus coaches along.

Approximately the first 15 coaches had undergone the strict Driving Test and were being thoroughly cleaned inside and out after being parked-up facing the sea. There was an ever-growing number of coaches joining the queue at the end of Madeira Drive, each tagging on the end after arriving from their 70-mile driving test from Preston Park.

I decided to photograph thoroughly one coach undertaking the Driving Test and opted for TM Travel who had brought along a brand new Plaxton Paragon-bodied Volvo B12M equipped with 61 seats. Tim and Malcolm Watts - the firm's founders and directors were in attendance along with their Operations Manager. I really rate the TM Travel livery when applied to a coach and for me it provided the best livery for photographing the Driving Test in full.

The Driving Test is against the clock and sees each vehicle be driven forward from the start line, through a chicane of cones and to stop between two cones - the Garage - as far forward as each driver dares before hitting the cones. The vehicle is then reversed from this Garage into another Garage, which is far trickier as the driver is situated, in some cases, 15 meters at the other end and must stop without hitting the cones. The coach then needs to be driven out of the second Garage and a sharp right taken to the finish line. On every occasions measurements are taken to see how close the coach gets to the cones. The further away the more points deducted. Sunday's Driving Test seems even more complicated.

I'd not been there long when I witnessed the 2006 Coach Driver of the Year - crowned at this very rally - Chris Bibby - perform his Driving Test. He had obviously thought that a faster time would be more beneficial than taking a little longer to ensure he'd not hit anything as the entire crowd, assembled to the beach side of Madeira Drive, instinctively took two steps back. I've never seen a VDL/Van Hool go so fast in reverse before. From the comments made by my fellow spectators, neither had they! It must have worked as he regained his title as Coach Driver of the Year 2008 the day after.

I took photos of as many vehicles I could in the rain and some were continuing to arrive from their road test so some may have been missed, though the majority can be viewed by visiting my Fotopic site.

Those operators who took part have been listed below in alphabetical order:

Ashford Luxury Coaches, Banstead Coaches x2, Beestons, Bibby's of Ingleton, Blakes Coaches, Burtons Coaches, Cedar Coaches, Chalkwell Coaches, City Circle, Clarkes Coaches, Coliseum Coaches, Cozy Travel x2, Crawley Luxury, Crusader Holidays, Eavesway Travel, Edwards Coach Holidays, Flanagans Coaches, Flights Hallmark, Galloway European x2, Golden Boy Coaches, Greys of Ely, Homeward Bound, Kenzies Coaches x3, Langson VIP, Maynes Coaches, Motts Travel, Parrys International x2, Paul S Winston, Rambler Coaches, Reays Coaches, Regal Busways, Reptons Coaches, Roadliner, Royale European, Tellings Golden Miller, The Travellers Choice x2, York Pullman x2.

Below are a list of who won the most coveted awards over the weekend:

Coach Driver of the Year was awarded to Chris Bibby (Bibby's of Ingleton) Coach of the Year was awarded to Crusader Holidays (Seatra Comford Class) Best in all Classes was awarded to TM Travel (Volvo B12M/Plaxton Paragon) Top Team of the Year was awarded to Bibby's of Ingleton.

Below can be seen my snapshot of Tim Watts of TM Travel undergoing his Driving Test:



On Your Marks!

Malcolm Watts takes a shot of his vehicle at the start line. I probably feature accidentally in their publicity!










Get Set!

Drum-roll please.








GO!

After successfully driving into the first Garage, Tim Watts reverses his coach out and round into the second Garage.







Now in the second Garage and with no cones knocked over the coach needs to make a very sharp right-hand turn to head to the finish line where the clock will stop.






All photos will enlarge if clicked on.

At the sharp end

While one LEYTR editor was stood at Claypole videoing the loaned Class 86 on Saturday, the other (moi) was, quite by chance, stood on platform 3 at King's Cross photographing 86101 as it worked the 0934 Hull Trains service to Doncaster. Click on the image for a larger version.

Recent BUS/COACH developments, no 5

• Profitable Oxford cctv cameras. Bus gates in Oxford - signalling 'no entry' areas for motorists, have been earning Oxfordshire County Council a reported £123 an hour or £90 a day following the installation of cctv cameras at the gates. Generally 90 cars per day are caught entering the bus-only areas of the city.

• Passenger loses £7.4k claim against B&H. Pauline Ashley has lost her £7,400 claim against Brighton & Hove Bus Company in a court ruling last week. Mrs Ashley claims the "bus jerked" as it pulled away before she had chance to sit down in November 2003, injuring her knee. It was successfully argued by B&H that its driver was not obliged to inform passengers when he was going to pull away and that after the last passenger had boarded it was wise to assume the bus would pull away immediately.

• Optare MD leaves under much speculation. Optare's managing director Bob Coombes has left the company. He features prominently in the buy-out from North American Bus Industries in 2005. His departure seems to be the first casualty of Optare's recent acquisition by Jamesstan Investments, controlled by Roy Stanley, Darwen Group's chairman. Bob Coombes' departure also contradicts an Optare statement on 12 March which read, "Bob Coombes and the rest of the management team have committed themselves to remaining with Optare and providing full continuity for employers, customers and suppliers."

• Massive bus-priority investment in Sheffield. Over £10million is expected to be spent on bus priority measures in the Sheffield area over the coming months; three main roads are earmarked to receive the bus-friendly treatment: A57 Sheffield Parkway, A6178 Attercliffe Road/Attercliffe Common and A61 Penistone Road. The works on the A61 and the A6178 are thought to be in readiness for the Sheffield to Rotherham Bus Rapid Transit Scheme. The A61 Penistone Road is being upgraded in order to commence a new £10million quality bus corridor.

• Arriva purchase 80% of Eurobus. Arriva has purchased an 80% stake in Interbus Invest, who owns Eurobus Invest - Hungary's biggest private bus group, in a deal worth £25.4million. The deal comes with a net debt of £600,000 as at the end of last year. Eurobus operates 840 buses and employs 1,500 staff throughout Hungary and Slovakia; it means that Arriva now has a presence in 12 countries.

• NX driver faces custodial sentence. Leslie Darryl Weinberg, 35, the driver of the National Express Scania/Irizar PB coach that overturned at Newport Pagnel services on 3 September 2007, has admitted dangerous driving and being over the drink-drive limit. The judge told him to expect a custodial prison term when sentencing takes place.

• Arriva fined £41k by TC. Arriva Scotland West has been fined £41,250 by the Traffic Commissioner following attendance of its third Public Inquiry in 4 years. The latest Inquiry features both engineering and operational issues - the engineering issues started when a wheel fell off one of its vehicles in between Paisley and Largs. Operational issues were called into question after VOSA recorded a 12% non-compliance in the Paisley area. As a result of the operational deficiencies, the limit of O Licences to 275 (which had been imposed as a previous Inquiry) was maintained and that it would only be lifted when applied for by Arriva. The fine of £41,250 was calculated by fining the firm £150 per each of the 275 O Licences held.

• Darwen Group 'up' East Lancs' forunes by 50%. Two orders have been signed by the Darwen Group for 38 new buses to be built by the end of this financial year. Both contracts have a combined value of £5million and represent a 50% increase on orders compared to this time last year - prior to them purchasing the troubled East Lancs Coachbuilders.

• Runaway bus investigated. An investigation is underway by Arriva Leicester after one of its vehicles rolled down a hill while its driver was in a nearby shop. The bus, which was empty, crashed through a residential fence and ended up in someone's front garden. The driver has been suspended.

• PM visits COMS depot. Prime Minister Gordon Brown spent just short of an hour at Go Ahead's City of Oxford Motor Services' (COMS) relatively new Cowley House depot last week. The PM made specific reference to COMS's environmental record as "the greenest in the country", being the first operator to introduce vehicles conforming to Euro 5 emission standards.

• Arriva wins up to 3 RoSPA awards. Arriva has won three awards from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). They won gold in the 'Management of Health & Safety' and 'Management of Road Risk' categories and have been nominated for the 'Management of Occupational Road Risk' trophy.

• Deckers could be taken off contracts in Wales. School transport in Wales could be altered in such a way as to ban double deckers from operating school contract services. Deputy First Minister and Minister for Economy & Transport in Wales, Ieuan Wyn Jones said "I am discouraging the use of the three-for-two seating and of double deck buses for travel to and from school". He was speaking before the Welsh Assembly when outlining the draft of the Learner Travel (Wales) Measure 2008. The details within the draft was widely welcomed though potential cost problems were identified.

• Skills buy Motorvator. Skills Holidays of Nottingham has acquired the business of Colwick-based Motorvator in a deal with the administrator who had been called into take control of Motorvator. The deal will save 7 drivers' jobs and 14 coaches, all of which have been moved to Skills' Bulwell depot. The Motorvator brand name is to be retained.

• EasyBus launch new Gatwick route. As we mentioned when it broke on 26 January, a new service between central London and Gatwick Airport has been launched by eastBus. Given route number EB3 the route's launch was delayed from 18 March by just under a month. The service is operated by Arriva subsidiary New Enterprise Coaches of Tonbridge who operate Optare Sorocos on the route to a 20 min frequency. This totals three London-area airports easyBus provides transport to: Luton, Stansted and Gatwick; in all cases Arriva operate the services on easyBus's behalf. Service EB3 when added to the other two routes, is to increase easyBus departures in central London by 38%.

• Private security firm patrols the number 54. A test scheme is underway on Service 54 buses in Leicester which will see security guards travelling on the top deck of the deckers that operate the route. Operated by First, Service 54 runs between the city centre-Beaumont Leys and the additional security has been taken following assaults on drivers and passengers.

• Richardsons driver faces re-trial. A recent high-profile court case into the injuries of 22 children while traveling on a Richardsons Coaches vehicle was stopped this week due to legal reasons. The driver, Steven Sapsford, faces a re-trial before Hartlepool Magistrates' Court. He has always denied allegations of driving without due care and attention.

New Summer Railway Timetable

The new Summer edition of the National Railway Timetable (18 May - 13 December 2008) which covers all railway services in Great Britain, is now online, and may be downloaded (PDF file) free of charge from the Network Rail website here.

Bus Pass U-Turn

Following a meeting on 16 April, North East Lincolnshire Council have opted to lift the time restriction for those holding National Free Bus Passes.

Originally, those in the North East Lincolnshire unitary authority area travelling Mondays to Fridays were only able to use their free concession pass between 0930-2300, but following this decision, will be allowed to use them at any time of day.

Councillor Martin Vickers (a bus user himself) commented: "It is fair to say that we did not understand the value that local residents put on their early morning bus passes to access local services - particularly the hospital and their doctors. It will be reinstated for residents of North East Lincolnshire for travel within North East Lincolnshire."

It is estimated that the lifting of this restriction will cost an additional £100,000 although will not result in an increase in council tax or cuts in services, according to councillors.

South Holland District Council in Lincolnshire is also discussing lifting the time restriction, and their leader Gary Porter wants the council to put up the money, estimated at an extra £10,000 per year, to subsidise free travel before 0930. He commented: "I am in discussions with all the other leaders but if they are not prepared to go for a Lincolnshire scheme then we will look to introduce a South Holland-wide scheme. If we are going to do it then we should just bite the bullet and do it for real. This is not a council position yet, but I am confident that because it is a common sense thing members will take it on board. We have gone from being the best county in the country in the previous scheme to just being the same as everybody else. We have to aspire to be better than that."

Other councillors welcomed the proposal, which will now go forward to full council.

Duo finale

Today marked the end of Stagecoach in Lincolnshire's service 602 between Newark and Grantham (also service 635 between Sleaford and Cranwell) as, from Monday, this will be taken over by Centrebus's Grantham depot. The following photographs were taken today, the final day of operation. For a full size version, please click on the photos.

Seen on the right is MCW 15954 (POG 490Y) in the village of Claypole whilst working the 0930 service 602 from Grantham to Newark.






Mercedes/Optare Prisma 23952 (R201 YOR) is seen at Newark depot shortly before working the 1225 service 602 from Newark to Grantham.







The Hull Trains locomotive hauled service using 86101 also appears to be at an end. Drivers have been undergoing training on Adelante (Class 185) diesel multiple units, and for the following two weekends, 86101 is booked as a standby only. Seen below on its last booked working, is video footage today of 86101 at the rear of the 0934 King's Cross to Doncaster as it passes through Claypole.



To see this train depart King's Cross 90 minutes earlier, click here.

Grand Central loco-hauled

Due to the non-availability of one of its HST sets, Grand Central has hired a rake of coaching stock and two EWS class 67's to operate in lieu. It is understood that this may continue until next Friday.

Seen at Grantham this morning is 67020 leading (67026 at the rear) the 0757 King's Cross to Sunderland. For a full size version, please click on the photo.

Gwyneth Dunwoody dies

She was one of the most high-profile campaigners for improving public transport in the UK and it was this morning with great sadness that we learned of Gwyneth Dunwoody's death, aged 77.

Gwyneth Dunwoody was the longest-serving female MP in the Labour Party and was synonomous with Old Labour. She was chairperson of the Transport Select Committee (TSC) for over a decade and in this role scrutinised the government's transport policy. She was nicknamed "Vinegar Lil" for the fright she gave many of those who had to justify themselves in front of her committee, being able to see through much of the 'Sir Humphrey' procrastination that was on display from time-to-time.

During her tenure as chairperson of the TSC Gwyneth Dunwoody examined major developments in the UK's transport system and produced reports that were often very critical of government policy – including the public private partnership of the London Underground; drawn-out decision making for light rail networks and flaws in the London 2012 Olympics transport planning. The most recent announcement by the TSC was an investigation into the disaster that was the Terminal 5 opening at Heathrow Airport.

In 2001, as a result of her vocal criticism of her own party's transport policy, Labour whips tried in vain to appoint someone less, er, outspoken as a replacement chairperson of the TSC, which saw a Commons revolt - such was the respect for Gwyneth Dunwoody - that the government were made to make a retreat on the issue and to allow her to remain in situ.

Somehow we felt that absolutely no stone would be left unturned with Gwyneth at the helm of the TSC and that, if nothing else, the real effects of transport policy on the man-in-the-street would be made public even if the TSC had no powers to revert policy in its area.

Gwyneth Dunwoody was born in Fulham in 1930 and joined the Labour Party in 1946, serving as a town councilor in Totnes, Devon before entering Parliament as MP for Exeter in 1966. From 1967 she was a minister on the former Board of Trade, before losing her seat in 1970.

She returned to Parliament as MP for Crewe in 1974, (later Crewe and Nantwich in 1983). From 1974-1979 she was a member of the European Parliament when MEPs were nominated by national parliaments. In December 2007 she surpassed Barbara Castle's record for the longest unbroken service for a woman MP.

She died peacefully in her sleep last night and had undergone emergency heart surgery last week. She was described by Tony Ben today as “an independent-minded woman who always spoke her mind and will be badly missed”. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said she “was always her own person..... a great expert on transport”. He described her as representing politics at its best.

New Cleethorpes/Grimsby - Skegness service

On Sundays from May to September inclusive and also on Bank Holiday Mondays, Stagecoach will be providing a new service linking Cleethorpes and Grimsby with Skegness, numbered X51. To Skegness there are four through journeys, three running from Cleethorpes, and in the reverse direction are a similar number with two extended to Cleethorpes. This will allow passengers in Cleethorpes/Grimsby/Louth several hours at Skegness and vice versa. The service will operate non-stop on the Louth - Skegness section.

The X51 last ran in summer 2001 between Grimsby and Skegness with just one journey in each direction.

The timetable for the new service can be viewed here (PDF).

Through Cleethorpes to King's Cross train proposed

Grand Union Railway, sister company to Grand Central who currently operate a through service between Sunderland and King's Cross, is currently looking at the possibility of providing a through train service from Cleethorpes to London (King's Cross).

The company are already in the process of setting up a service from Bradford to Euston which they are hoping will commence in 2009. Other proposed through trains to London along with the Cleethorpes one, are from Huddersfield and from Scarborough.

The last of the daily through trains between Cleethorpes and King's Cross ran on 16 May 1993 and, despite objections in parliament and from the public, the service was withdrawn. Since then there have been many calls for its reinstatement and a number of proposals mooted, including one by Renaissance Trains (Humber Coast & City Railway), which would have operated via Lincoln and Newark.

The Grand Union service would call at Grimsby Town, Habrough, Scunthorpe, Thorne and Doncaster and thence operate via the East Coast Main Line. At present the proposals are in a very early stage and, should the company decide to progress with the plans, these could be submitted early in 2009 with a decision by the ORR (Office of the Rail Regulator) taken around 12 months later. It is hoped such a service could be in operation by 2012 although, as yet, no details are available on what type of rolling stock would be used.

Ian Yeowart, Grand Union's Managing Director commented, "The development of Grand Central's Sunderland services has shown what a boost new direct links are for towns and cities long removed from the inter-city network. We plan to use our knowledge and experience to bring these new additional services into operation, where we can make a good economic case, and look forward to working with the many stakeholders who would benefit from them. We have always had a knowledge of the area. There has been a lot of talk, but no one has taken the plunge. We are saying 'let's look at this in more detail'. By taking in Scunthorpe and Doncaster we think it can strengthen the economic case."

The proposal was also covered on the local BBC News, the feature can be seen by clicking here.

On 15 February 1987, 47566 is seen at Lincoln Central working the 1300 Cleethorpes to King's Cross. In this era the train was normally worked by an HST, but engineering work on this Sunday resulted in the change of motive power. Unlike previous proposals, Grand Union's planned service would operate via Doncaster instead of Lincoln and Newark.

London Mayor outlines bus upgrade plan

It's business as normal for London Mayor Ken Livingstone who has outlined plans for the next stage of upgrading the capital's bus network, which he says will be implemented if he is re-elected next month. Ongoing Mayoral campaigning is underway with the election taking place on 1 May to decide who will be London Mayor for the next four years.

Much has been made of one of his contender's plans to re-introduce a 21st century Routemaster to replace the "hated" articulated Citaros and the lack of consistency with his transport policy in general, not to mention independent transport consultants claiming Boris Johnson's figures simply don't add up. Ken could do well to attract votes in the transport sector by exposing Boris' errors as well as come up with some genuine policy of his own that is, by contrast, far more in-depth and "workable". And so it happened on his second day of campaigning on extending the reach of the transport system on 9 April that Ken Livingstone outlined his ambitious plans for London's bus services.

He started by reminding his potential voters on the progress made thus far in his 8 year tenure as Mayor: Londoners now benefit from the biggest city bus fleet in the world - all modern, low floor wheelchair and pram-accessible, and the convenience of Oyster card ticketing. Every bus has CCTV and nearly two million extra-journeys on buses are made every day with ridership increasing most rapidly among those with higher incomes. He said in real terms bus fares are lower now than in 2000.

Ken's main aim in his plans for London's buses is to match rising demand with new routes, to offer greater and better bus priority and more 24 hour-a-day services. He promised to move the Capital's bus fleet onto greener fuels, with a substantial proportion running on hybrid technology - up to 500 ethanol-powered buses by 2010 and by 2012 every new bus ordered for London would operate on hybrid technology.

Ken added, "No public service has improved more visibly than our buses, which enhance transport connections for Londoners across the city, including where the Tube and rail services are not available, and my commitment is to continue to improve and expand London's bus services, matching rising demand with new routes, more bus priority, and more services 24 hours a day. Every bus route in London has seen higher frequency or greater bus capacity.

"The greatest testament to the improvements made to London's bus services is that after years of decline and decay Londoners have gone back to using the buses in huge numbers. We will double the number of Countdown signs from 2,000 to 4,000, with a new state of the art GPS vehicle location system, giving passengers accurate second-by-second information at bus stops, on buses and to mobile phones."

Robin Hood Line goes 7 days

The Robin Hood Line, which operates between Nottingham-Mansfield-Worksop, is to see operation on Sundays from December. The route, which carries around 3,500 passengers a day, was granted the required funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) at the end of last week.

The campaign for additional funding was lead by Nottinghamshire County Council who managed to attract 10,000 names on a petition of passengers who pledged to support the new Sunday service. Until at least May 2009 the initial cost of operating the new service will be met by the county council and that if patronage is as high as that pledged - around 1,800 passengers per day by 2010 is a figure being quoted - permanent funding from the DfT is likely to be awarded.

The timetable on Sundays will see trains operate between 0930-1930 with 10 hourly departures between Nottingham-Mansfield Woodhouse with 4 journeys extending to/from Worksop. Mansfield was quoted by its local MP as "the largest town in the UK not to have a Sunday rail service" and hoped it would aid the regeneration of the town.


The Robin Hood Line is one of the most recent additions to the rail network in England, having been reopened in the mid 1990s as a result of a jointly funded scheme by Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire County Council and Nottingham City Council with assistance from the now defunct Strategic Rail Authority. The line is now operated on a commercial basis by East Midlands Trains and provides a link between Worksop in the north of the county and Nottingham in the south via Mansfield - acting as a vital commuter link into Nottingham from Mansfield.

Photo: Neil Harvey

DAFs to Skegness

Stagecoach will be transferring six DAFs to Skegness for the summer season to provide additional capacity on the busy coastal services. Illustrated on the right is 26121 (X851 HFE) at Skegness bus station on 14 April, which was there for driver familiarisation. Full details of these and other transfers will be included in the forthcoming issue of the LEYTR.

National Express at Butlins

From 11 April, the seasonal National Express services commenced operating to Butlins (Ingoldmells). They operate on Mondays and Fridays only until 3 November. Unusually, no reference is made in the timetable to them operating on peak summer Saturdays in 2008, as they have done in previous years. We are currently seeking verification on this.

Further to our previous report, the 663 (Newcastle - Butlins) is indeed running, although is back in the hands of Go North East (previously Rowell of Prudhoe).

Illustrated to the left is Go North East 7081 (Y781 MFT), a Volvo B10M-62/Plaxton Paragon, at Butlins in Ingoldmells prior to returning on service 663 to Newcastle today.





To the right and also taken today at the same location is John Shaw/Travellers Choice PO55 OWY, a Volvo B12B/Plaxton Panther initially purchased for the then solitary NX diagram they won from Stagecoach in November 2005 (Service 570), arrives operating service 664 from Preston. We believe that this is the first time a vehicle in National Express livery has been used on this service.

Photos will enlarge if clicked on.

EDIT 22.04.08: Unlike previous years, Butlins will not have a changeover day on a Saturday, consequently this has lead to the National Express routes not operating there on this day (other than the daily 449 Mablethorpe-London).

Mobile phones can be used in the air

The EU has approved the use of mobile phones on aircraft, which will enable passengers to make mobile phone calls after the plane reaches 3,000m or more. The decision follows a six-month consultation by the European Commission who claims the first services could be available before the end of the month.

Mobile phones are currently banned on EU aircraft, but will now be allowed in 27 European countries via Pico cells, or tiny base stations that can be installed on planes. These Pico cells can be switched off during take off and landing or during periods of turbulence, which will force those who flout the ruling to end their calls as the signal will be immediately lost. Viviane Reding, EU telecommunications commissioner, has stated that the EU will monitor the prices of calls and data transfer issues in order to ensure that price abuses do not occur.

Journey Planners

For the benefit of our readers, we've included a list of links to a number of journey planners, which give details of rail, bus and coach services within and beyond our area - well beyond it in fact, as using the DB (Deutsche Bahn) Planner it is possible to plan a journey by rail to as far away as Peking/Beijing! Leaving Cleethorpes on a Wednesday at 1528, one can be there on the Friday of the following week for 0531! The itinerary can be seen here.

Bus fire

They're mercifully rare in the UK, however bus fires can and do take place without regard for their location. Here in the LEYTR area, a lay-by on the A1 near Great Casterton was the scene of the final moments Volvo B10M/Jonckheere S460 BCE, as a freak electrical fire saw the vehicle burn itself out during August 2005.

What with the advent of mobile phones and these now coming with cameras as standard - cameras baring 5 million pixel resolutions and video mode - more and more is captured for posterity (whoever he is!) and one such example is below, thanks to YouTube which shows the final moments of an Arriva Volvo B6 (incorrectly named as a B10).

Recent RAIL developments, no 4

• ScotRail drivers' accept pay deal. First ScotRail drivers have agreed a two-year pay deal from 1 April seeing an initial rise of 5% with next year's increase being 3%.

• More engineering works planned for WCML. Network Rail has announced that more planned closures on the West Coast Main Line are planned otherwise an overrun in the line's long-awaited upgrade is to occur. Possessions would generally take place at weekends up to the end of the year, though weekday possessions during May, August and September; Network Rail argue that this option is likely to cost them less than if the plan overruns. The two main rail operators on the WCML - Virgin & EWS - prefer only weekend possessions and a delay in the completion by five months to May 2009.

• NYMR adds £18m to local economy. North Yorkshire Moors Railway has calculated that it brings £18 million to the local economy as a tourist attraction.

• Thameslink increase by 2015. Up to 32 trains an hour will run between London and the south coast along Thameslink routes by 2015, according to information contained within Network Rail's newly published South London Route Utilisation Strategy. The RUS shows what timetable enhancements passengers can expect to see from implementation of the £5.5bn Thameslink Programme, signed off by the government last summer. It promises new through-London services from towns including Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, East Grinstead and Horsham. However other places that were expected to gain Thameslink services under the Thameslink 2000 plans worked up by Network Rail's predecessor Railtrack, such as Dartford, Eastbourne, Littlehampton, Ashford and Guildford, will not be included on the new network. In order to reduce train crossovers, the current Wimbledon loop services will no longer run through London, instead terminating at Blackfriars.

• Tram-train for Blackpool? Blackpool is bidding for cash to investigate the viability of operating tram-trains between the resort and Preston. There are seen to be numerous obstacles preventing this ideal from coming to fruition not least its opposition by local rail users' group Blackpool & Fylde Rail Users Association who think that the tram-trains will delay main line services in the Preston area as they will operate at a slower speed.

• Southern remove ad after complaint. Southern trains has been asked, following a solitary complaint about a radio advert it is running, to remove the line "state-of-the-art trains" from its advert by the Advertising Standards Authority.

• SWT drivers' strike narrowly avoided. A strike by South West Trains drivers was suspended on 27 March a mere 4 days prior to the strike commencing. Rail union Aslef has agreed to entertain another pay offer by management and will be balloting its workforce on the revised offer - thought to be an improvement on that which almost caused the strike (4.5% grossing around £40k p/a on a 37 hour week).

• WMPTE asks for more carriages. West Yorkshire PTE has identified a need for 151 extra carriages for train services into Leeds - 135 for Northern Rail and 16 for TransPennine Express, numbers which are greater than the 60 or 90 carriages identified by the DfT to be added to train services by 2014. The PTE plans to work with local bodies and operators to ensure its needs are fully understood by the DfT and that they are met.

• Bombardier to overhaul XC's Voyagers. CrossCountry Voyager trains are to lose their trademark shops as train operator Arriva pushes ahead with refurbishment plans to increase the number of seats on board. Arriva has awarded Bombardier a contract to carry out the work which, starting in September, will add an extra 16 seats and 20% more luggage space to each of the 22 five-car Voyagers and 14 extra seats and 25% more luggage space to the 35 four-car trains - a total of 842 more seats across the fleet. The project will take about 12 months to complete. Space for additional seating is being created by modification of interior layouts and it has been possible to retain all of the existing toilets, fully accessible to customers with special needs. Increased luggage space will be achieved by introduction of new and improved luggage stacks throughout each train and use of some of the space created by removal of the on-board shop, which was specified by previous CrossCountry incumbent Virgin Trains when it introduced the new fleet. To replace the lost shops, passengers will be offered an at-seat service of food and drink throughout the train.

• Date announced for Borders Line. Scottish Transport Minister Stuart Stevenson announced that the new Edinburgh-Tweed Bank "Borders Line" will begin construction in 2011, with completion pencilled-in for 2013.

• Langrigg workers have bail extended. The three rail workers arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after the Virgin Pendolino derailment at Langrigg in February 2007 have had an extention added to their Police bail until June "pending further investigation".

• Service provider sought by DfT for Pendolino additions. The DfT has announced that Virgin will not have the automatic right to provide the additional carriages for its Pendolino trains when they are lengthened from 2010. Angel Trains, which currently owns Virgin's 52 Pendolino Class 390 sets, will see 35 sets increased in length by 2 carriages and build four new 9-carriage sets by 2012, increasing the total number of seats by 10,000. The DfT is seeking a service provider (sic), though stipulating that it must already be a train/freight provider, to oversee their construction and to trial before entering service. Virgin may well win the contract though will have to push the frontiers of technology as certain carriages of their trains will be almost a decade newer than others.

• Grand Central ask for additional paths. Recent newcomer to the rail network, Grand Central, is thought to be applying for two new paths for additional rail services between London and Sunderland: an additional southerly service from Sunderland at 0918 and a northbound departure from King's Cross at 1918. The firm have identified these as suitable timings and and claim that Network Rail should have them available.

• Alloa Line commissioning complete. Commissioning of the Alloa Line in central Scotland took place at the end of March and following driver training along the 21km stretch of route, the new section of line is expected to open to freight traffic on 19 May. When passenger services commence, an initial hourly First ScotRail service will operate between Glasgow Queen Street, Stirling and Alloa; these services will no longer require to cross to Forth rail bridge which will add capacity on that section of route for other commuter services into Edinburgh. Used on 2 April for driver familiarisation was First ScotRail's 158721, understood to be the first train to operate on the new route.

• More on TfL & Croydon Tramlink deal. More details on what we mentioned in the recent Bus/Coach developments entry is that TfL bid £98 million to acquire Tramtrack Croyden Ltd - a bid which was accepted on 17 March seeing the Croydon Tramlink fall under the control and operation of Transport for London, who intend to initially concentrate on improving services. Middle-term planned improvements include doubling the Elmers End-Beckenham service and to run additional trams on the New Addington-Wimbledon line.

• New East London Line bridge. A new 350 tonne bridge was lowered into position on 29 March, over Shoreditch High Street as part of the ongoing upgrade of the East London Line, which will become part of London's Overground network once completed and opened in early 2010.

• Brigg Line improvements. Here in the LEYTR area, the Brigg Line continues to be closed to its Saturday-only Northern Rail service while work is carried out to make the line fit for increased freight traffic. Network Rail is spending £10 million on re-building 1km of embankment between the Old and New Ancholme; the New Ancholme bridge is being strengthened.

• Crewe station to move? Network Rail is continuing to look into moving Crewe station to a new site at Basford Hall, a little south of the current locality. NR's Chief Executive Iain Coucher said that the locality is very popular with local authorities. No date for further exploratory talks has been set.

East Midlands Trains repaints

East Midlands Trains have commenced repainting their class 156 dmus, 156415 being the first was launched on 4 April. The work is being undertaken by Bombardier Transportation at Derby, and it is anticipated that all eleven 156s will be in fleet livery by early May 2008. Following this, the Meridian class 222s will be repainted.

Recently repainted 156405 is seen below at Skegness whilst working the 1610 to Nottingham on 11 April 2008.

Updates

We've added a fairly definitive list of bus and coach operators in the LEYTR area to the bottom of the side-bar. Links to the operator's official websites have been made where known. This is likely to be continually amended to reflect new-comers and those that cease trading plus errors and omissions. We also plan to add rail operators as time permits.

For those interested in memorabilia, my tie collection has been updated and I'm in the process of naming each tie rather than use its catalogued number.

We've both been out of the office this week so plan to next update the site on Sunday.

New bus watchdog

Ruth Kelly has announced the creation of the first official National Bus Passenger Champion to actively represent the millions of people who use buses in the towns, villages and cities across England. It has been awarded to Passenger Focus, who will widen its remit to take on the new role of bus passenger champion.

The decision comes after measures in the Local Transport Bill to give bus passengers an influential and unified national voice.

Ruth Kelly said: "Passenger Focus already does a great job representing rail passengers across the country. Now it will also champion the interests of bus users, making sure their voices are heard and influencing the way local bus services operate. Buses are an essential means of transport for many people, and are increasingly the transport of choice for many others. Two thirds of all public transport journeys are now made by bus, amounting to nearly five billion bus journeys every year. This follows the Government doubling its investment in buses, which now stands at £2.5bn, as well as strengthening the powers available to help councils improve local buses."

Passenger Focus has welcomed the decision to be awarded with its new Passenger Champion role, although Bus Users UK, the independent organisation working on behalf of bus passengers, had campaigned hard to be assigned the role of official watchdog. BUUK Chairman Gavin Booth said "The Department for Transport has today announced that the role of rail watchdog Passenger Focus is to be extended to include the role of statutory Bus Passengers' Champion for England (outside London). Bus Users UK, which has championed bus passenger interests for more than 20 years, is naturally disappointed not to have been selected as the Bus Passenger Champion".

Passenger Focus is best known in the railway industry with its evidence-lead research which has benefited rail passengers for many years through its successful fostering of relations between itself, train operating companies, infracos and the DfT.

But where now for Bus Users UK? Many assumed it would have been automatically given the Passenger Champion remit. Gavin Booth said that BUUK will gladly work alongside Passenger Focus to ensure the best deal is always done for passengers.

We are still waiting to hear exactly what remit Passenger Focus are likely to be granted by the DfT with their new role.

Happy Birthday

Today is this blog's first birthday. It was on 8 April 2007 that I (G) took the decision to start a transport blog. Many people in the transport industry have a blog and when my fellow joint editor (P) chose to join in it was obvious to name the blog after the transport publication we produce - one of the longest-running publications of its type in the UK, the Lincolnshire & East Yorkshire Transport Review (LEYTR). As we have an ever-growing membership base who pay a subscription, we were hardly going to duplicate information contained in the magazines, so chose to keep the LEYTR name relatively low-key initially, and opted for the title A Transport of Delight as the main blog name.

Taken from their 1957 album 'At the Drop of a Hat', the name comes from a song written and perfomed by the wonderfully tallented Flanders & Swann. Having grown up with a father who was practically obsessed by the duo, I'd become quite accustom to their way with words and musical talent, not to mention comic timing and wit. A Transport of Delight was a song about travelling by bus in London at the time the song was written, i.e. the late 1950s. Some lyrics have been reproduced below to give you a flavour:

When you are lost in London
And you don't know where you are,
You'll hear my voice a-calling:
'Pass further down the car!'
And very soon you'll find yourself
Inside the Terminus
In a London Transport
Diesel-engined
Ninety-seven horse-power
Omnibus!

Along the Queen's great highway
I drive my merry load
At twenty miles per hour
In the middle of the road;
We like to drive in convoys
We're most gregarious;
The big six-wheeler
Scarlet-painted
London Transport
Diesel-engined
Ninety-seven horse-power
Omnibus!

We don't ask much for wages,
We only want fair shares,
So cut down all the stages,
And stick up all the fares.
If tickets cost a pound apiece
Why should you make a fuss?
It's worth it just to ride inside
That thirty-foot-long by ten-foot-wide, Inside that monarch of the road,
Observer of the Highway Code,
That big six-wheeler
Scarlet-painted
London Transport
Diesel-engined
Ninety-seven horse-power
Omnibus!

Worthy of mention is the line in the above, last, verse where they claim "If tickets cost a pound apiece why should you make a fuss?" Today, travel by bus in London can cost double that for cash-paying passengers. I'm not sure Flanders & Swann would have been a big fan of the Oyster Card either - Oyster is such a difficult word to make rhyme! Both of us can heartily recommend a song Flanders & Swann wrote called Slow Train, in which they chose to mourn the passing of the closed railway lines c/o Dr. Beeching. A couple of defunct railway stations in the LEYTR get a mention!

Flanders & Swann are most remembered for their Hipapotamus Song - recited by many young children, even today, who mistakenly think its author was that very busy chap called Anon. "Follow me, follow, down to the hollow and there let us wallow in glorious mud."

We've tried to balance the LEYTR blog with a mixture of articles concentrating on specific national news stories and events as well as provide the fortnightly digest of national news - now split into two sections: rail and bus/coach. Mentioning the LEYTR magazine at numerous occasions on the blog has helped us acquire some new members and the blog's popularity - with around 4,000 hits per month - has benefitted from reciprocal mentions on the website and in the magazines. We also try to keep a local flavour to the blog, though not too much to the point that it may be of little interest to people who have never been to our area.

We hope to continue in the same vein for the forseeable future and hope to attract more returning visitors each month.