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More and more operators are introducing non-geographical telephone numbers which their customers are encouraged to call for information and enquiries. The trouble is that these non-geographical numbers (0845/0870/0844 et al) do not form part of inclusive minutes on mobile phone contracts. BT offer a package for your home landline that permits free calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers only, but what about those not with BT (or, indeed, BT customers not on that tariff)?

The latest organisation within the transport industry to change their phone number is Transport for London. Its 0207 222 1234 timetable and travel information line has been replaced with the following: 0843 222 1234. Now 0843 numbers aren't considered 'premium' as they only cost between 3-5p per minute to call, so there's no huge hike in price provided you call from a landline in the middle of the day. Calls between 020 numbers (i.e. residents of Greater London to the former TfL timetable line) are free for many landline packages; calling 0843 is never free.

Mobile phone calls to 0843 (or indeed any other 08xx) number cost more than 5p/min. The cost largely depends on your network provider. Calls to FreeFone numbers also cost when using a mobile phone.

That's why we use the excellent SayNoTo0870.com website. The site requests a company name or an existing 08xx number be typed in and then a search can be done to find alternate numbers. For TfL's 0843 222 1234 number, an alternative is the main TfL switchboard (0207 222 5600) from where you can be directed to the timetable information department. It's a little long-winded but the call is being made to a geographical number and thus conforms to many call packages for both landlines and mobiles.

The railway industry's timetable information line - 08457 48 49 50 charges callers a similar rate to TfL's 0843. Typing this number into saynoto0870.com provides a number of alternatives; the one that appears most likely is 0207 068 0503. We've not called this number so cannot say how accurate it is.

There may be some reading this that are outraged by attempts made by operators to charge more for making calls to them. While it's true that some phone numbers do generate nice revenue streams (easyJet was recently chastised on BBC's Watchdog for keeping a passenger on the line to their premium 090x number for so long that the call almost cost as much as the flight she was calling to amend), but very little if any is generated from 0870/0845 numbers. Often companies do it to show they are more national than local, which can instill a little more confidence in callers' eyes. Others do it to enable them to introduce a memorable number.

Whatever your opinion, saynoto0870.com seems to us to be the only way around this for the time being. It's a must to be bookmarked - especially in these financially challenging times. Why pay 5p/min for a call when you could make it for nothing?

49-1 = 50

Or x-1 = x+1 if you prefer.

This is the calculation National Express tried to press on us when it was detailing the improvements to its second generation of Caetano Levante-bodied coaches. Specifically, the new lot have 48 seats, not 49, with the loss of a seat on the back row. It makes sense as when there are three seats here, the person sat by the toilet is continually disturbed by visiting lavatorians.

Photo: Malcolm Crowe

However, the spin NX placed on their vehicles having one seat less was nothing short of fantastic. It shows that, with the right words, you really can make 49-1 = 50.

Essentially, NX chose detail say that their new Levantes are one seat lighter than the first generation. Goodness knows why since no one's bothered. In so doing, they claimed that not only does this make no difference to the coaches' capacity, it, moreover, has seen an increase in a seat by 1. Why? Well apparently, on coaches crewed by two drivers, the one undertaking a rest period used to occupy the front double seat, thus reducing the capacity from 49 to 47. Now, with a crew seat fitted to the Levante (1st gens didn't have them) no driver-occupied seats exist so a further seat has magically been added.

I guarantee no passenger without a passing interest in the industry will have spotted that this means very little indeed. Even with a crew seat-less 1st gen Levante, 48 seats were still allocated and the driver was not afforded both seats in a double. So the calculation actually is 48-0 = 48.

In practice drivers still occupy a double seat behind them, be they alone or not. Travelling back from Scotland last year, m'colleague and I were informed our hand luggage was too large and ordered it be place in the boot. I protested and snuck it on as the guy didn't follow through on his order. My hand luggage comfortable fitted in the overhead locker. No sooner had we boarded the coach, we were met with this image:

It would appear that Park's of Hamilton drivers on the 534 (single-manned) have special dispensation. Even worse was that our driver's bag was twice the size of mine

NX does not allow this. They haven't done for a very long time. Many coach drivers have grown to expect at least the first offside double seat as theirs. For the public to be told that a 48-seated coach actually sees a seat freed up as a result of the inclusion of a crew seat is fanciful to say the least. However, it was a very cleverly worded sentence in the press release and we both give a ridiculously illustrious bowler tip to the company for including it.

'All nighter' quashed

Some may be surprised to learn that there currently is not a 24-hour train service between Scotland's two largest cities. The main railway line linking Glasgow and Edinburgh is predominantly served by First ScotRail and a handful of East Coast expresses to/from London. ScotRail had made a number of requests to Network Rail for trains to operate beyond the current final service at 2330hrs. In its most recent request, backing came from a number of organisations that were not transport orientated who were able to see the benefits such a service offered them.

The director of the Edinburgh International Festival was one of the most recent exponents of the merits of a 24/7 service linking both cities. Naturally he had his own reasons why and they would have waned considerably after the Festival had ended.

Daytime services between Glasgow and Edinburgh operate to a 15-minute frequency for the most part, with competition from Scottish Citylink coaches, who provide 15m-long Plaxton Panther-bodied Volvo B12BTs and operated by Park's of Hamilton and Stagecoach. The ComfortDelGro-owned Citylink coach service provides a round-the-clock timetable of sorts over Fri/Sat and Sat/Sun for those willing to travel by road and naturally the train operator, who also happens to be one of Stagecoach's rivals, wants to get in on the act.

First ScotRail's plan was to provide trains to a clockface hourly frequency from both ends between 2300-0600. Citylink operate coaches at 0000, 0130, 0300, 0630(Sa), 0730(Su) from either end, which isn't as easy to remember when you've had a few 'drams' as, say, on-the-hour, every hour, but acts as a frequency the operator is willing to provide based on loadings. And this is something Network Rail will have looked at before denying ScotRail the paths it requested.

Network Rail's main concern was financial viability. It claims an average 59,000 passengers would need to use the overnight trains each year, which equates to between 31-35 per train. Ambitious? ScotRail doesn't think so, citing patronage on the recently opened Alloa line as being much higher than predicted. Of course, this is daytime patronage.

LEYTR Comment: Where a bus or coach service can commence operation at any time of day linking any settlements, trains have far more regulation to successfully negotiate. It seems bizarre Network Rail can have the final say based on what it believes to be likely patronage when this isn't it's 'bag' at all. It's like the Traffic Commissioner's office turning down an application to operate a bus service between Leeds and York because it doesn't believe sufficient numbers will use it. Admittedly, costs for a number of companies are higher on the railways, not just the train operator. But this is one of the busiest lines in Scotland, linking the two largest cities.

We're both aware of the friendly rivalry Glasgow and Edinburgh have for each other, but if a 24/7 service, with the overnight timings at an hourly clockface interval, cannot flourish, what hope is there for this service level being introduced elsewhere in the future? Will this be seen as an attempt by Network Rail to continue dominating the agenda as it sees fit or ScotRail wrongly believing such a cosmopolitan frequency should exist in the Lowlands?

Artic D-Day

Faced with the prospect of not withdrawing all articulated buses from the streets of London before the end of his first term, London Mayor Boris Johnson has instructed TfL to move forward the re-tendering date for the remaining two bus routes operated by articulated Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses. Routes 436 and 453/N453 have been taken out of the 2012/3 Tendering Programme and placed into that of 2011/2.

The Mayor made quite a noise about ridding London's streets of bendy buses during the electoral campaign. This was something the incumbent mayor fiercely fought. Had Ken Livingstone won the mayoral contest, you can be assured the artics would be operating virtually unchanged from 3 years ago. We know it was Ken who said of the Routemasters: "Only some ghastly dehumanised moron would want to get rid of the Routemaster", but that was said in 2001 and since then many additional pressures were brought to bare - the possibility of making London the first capital city in the world to operate 100% low-floor buses being just one.

Services 436 & 453/N453 will be replaced by double-deckers and this will have taken place before the next mayoral election campaign, due to start in early-2012. Ken Livingstone is expected to reapply for the position, as the Labour candidate, though if all artics have been removed from London's streets by then, the decision to reintroduce them will be made all the more difficult and costly.

So far, four routes that had been worked by articulated buses have been converted to rigid operation. Services 507/521 were converted on 9 July 2009; Service 38 went rigid on 14 November the same year and the day before this announcement was made, Service 149 reverted to 'decker operation. Most amusing was the TfL press release, which claimed £1.5mil is to be saved by replacing the bendies with double-deckers.

How can this be? The 149 is using 8 more vehicles now it is bendiless than it did with the Citaros. That's 8 more vehicles on London's roads at any one time; eight more vehicles to fill with diesel each night and house. The answer soon presents itself, though. TfL has analysed passenger numbers (fewer than it assumed) and has reflected this in the contract (told Arriva they have to do it for less than they had anticipated). They've also factored in £550k saved from fare evasion, something the very same press office claimed wasn't an issue when defending the artics under Red Ken's tenure.

Oxford Street regularly sees wall-to-wall buses causing gridlock. Ken Livingstone introduced articulated buses which, while individually longer, required fewer to operate most services. Their removal will unquestionaby see more scenes like that above

TfL claims fare evasion on the last route to be converted, Service 38 (Victoria-Clapton), has seen a reduction from 8.13% to 1.76% - that's still nearly 2 in 100 passengers getting a free ride, despite having to pass the driver to gain access.

Remaining bendy bus routes & their contract expiry dates:

Service 207 - 09/04/2010 (extended for good performance)
Service 18 – 23/08/2010 (extended for good performance)
Service 29 – 14/01/2011
Service 73 – 01/05/2011
Service 25 – 26/06/2011
Service 12 – 31/07/2011
Service 436 – early-2012
Service 453 – early-2012

Alliance Rail's Plan

This is both a genuine look at what is headlined to be a genuine act of entrepreneurial flair that is just what the Coalition government is looking for to ensure the country's fortunes improve as fast as possible and also a tireless plug for our LEYTR magazine.

Saturday's Grimsby Evening Telegraph ran a story in which it detailed how a new generation of 140mph trains could soon link the town and neighbouring Cleethorpes with London in 2:40. Trains would travel between Cleethorpes and London calling only at Grimsby Town, Habrough, Scunthorpe and Doncaster.

The 'new' venture is by Alliance Rail, headed by Ian Yeowart and originally backed (so surreptitiously it was seen as a secret!) by Arriva, though now Deutsche Bahn. There's no secrecy about the company's financial backers anymore. The company will operate using the GNER name as this was abandoned when Sea Containers - the parent company of the original Great North Eastern Railway - went into liquidation and surrendered its flagship GNER company, which then passed to National Express and now into public ownership.

Purchased by Alliance Rail is the name Great North Western Railway, as the Cleethorpes-London plan is but one of a host of new routes under consideration - six in total.


North East Lincolnshire inhabitants will have been rightly encouraged by the proposals, as they do have restricted transport links owing to the area's locality, nestled in the arm pit of the Humber. Regrettably, though, we detail below a number of sticking points to which the 'Telegraph' article did not air:

• Trains will not operate at 140mph. Nothing like it in fact. Between Cleethorpes-Doncaster, the maximum line speed is 60mph (80mph between Doncaster-Hatfield & Stainforth) Even on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) the maximum line speed is 125mph
• The ECML is full. Or at least Network Rail claim it will be from May 2011, when its new Eureka! timetable is implemented
  
• Alliance Rail's boss could face legal action over the sensitive information his former employer, Renaissance Trains, claims he has used now he's heading up Alliance Rail. They allege the plans are very similar to those on which they were working - some were turned down, others amended, which saw Renaissance Trains - then headed by Yeowart - opt for the route Alliance Rail is proposing today
  
• The proposed new service mirrors the existing route taken by Grimsby/Cleethorpes residents, which is not the quickest available. Cleethorpes-Lincoln-Newark and then ECML is the fastest, though fewer settlements are passed. Renaissance Trains had planned to operate via Lincoln, where more people live than Scunthorpe - the trade-off Alliance Trains has made
• The claim that the average Cleethorpes-London journey time is 3:40 is false. Taking today as an example, there are 18 journeys bookable between Cleethorpes and London. The fastest takes 2:57 and the slowest 3:43. The 16 in between average a duration of 3:20 - and this is with a change of train at Doncaster, remember
• If at all possible, residents ought to consider travelling to London via Newark as, even today, this tends to be quicker than via Doncaster, though EMT do not offer seat reservations and all but two of their trains start at Grimsby, not Cleethorpes. The fastest end-to-end journey used to be by travelling on the Saturday-only Northern service from Cleethorpes at 1113 and changing at Retford, though today's timetable must see an increased connection time here as this takes now 3:14.
• Even less than 24 hours before departure, East Coast's website (from where all train journeys between North East Lincolnshire and London should be booked, offering the greatest discounts) fares at £32.50 are offered - lower than the headline £39 promoted by Alliance Rail. Further in advance, fares are cheaper - some 50% less than £39
  
• Not Alliance Rail's fault, but the 'Telegraph' claims the last direct Cleethorpes-London trains operated in the late-80s. Not true - 16 May 1993. The train's withdrawal was even discussed in Parliament

We're not poo-pooing the plan to operate direct trains between North East Lincolnshire and London, just shining the cold, harsh light of day on what has been published so far. Local residents ought to be better informed.

Readers will also be a little shocked to see news from the LEYTR area being discussed on the blog (we normally avoid this to ensure our LEYTR magazines continue to offer unrivalled local information). Those who receive the LEYTR magazines, however, have already read this information - we detailed it on Page 138 of the November/December 2009 edition.

Grimsby Evening Telegraph Article

Additional information thanks to contributing writer 'DB'

CSOG?

Did I dream it? A call to m'colleague assured me that I had been taking notice. Coach Service Operators Grant (CSOG) is to reduce, following the details of the Comprehensive Spending Review being made known on Wednesday. We were both pretty sure operators providing a scheduled coach service claim Bus Service Operators Grant - BSOG - identically to how an urban bus operator would. A swift search online proved fruitless. Even typing 'CSOG' in the search box on the DfT's website threw up nothing obvious.

Perhaps, then, it's a new term used to describe the new, slightly lower fuel duty rebate coach operators, whose services are part-registered as local stopping, are to receive. Since the loophole surrounding free concessionary travel was tightened last year, many in the bus industry have felt that companies such as National Express have been receiving the best of both worlds: claiming BSOG for their registered sections of route while at the same time having no obligation to accept free concessionary bus passes.

All other operators have to accept those entitled to concessionary travel aboard their services for free provided they claim BSOG. There have been a few cases when operators have deliberately chosen not to register a route as a local stopping service, to then not claim BSOG and then legitimately charge those over 60 to travel. Precious few examples exist as, despite the protestations of operators up and down the land, BSOG is the subsidy that matters most and easily offsets any drop in revenue felt from the introduction of free travel.

BSOG also helps to ensure *all* passengers receive travel as cheaply as possible, with operators receiving a rebate on all but 20% of the duty they pay on their diesel and reflecting this saving in all fare categories. BSOG is to change from the financial year commencing April 2012 with a further 20% reduction on the amount of duty claimable but importantly will remain unchanged for a further three years, offering some level of certainty for bus companies. This is BSOG, of course, not CSOG; claimants of which are to be less protected.

*UPDATE* From anonymous: National Express Limited, the name of the company operating their coach services around the UK, claimed £3.5mil in BSOG in the year ending December 2009. If your article is correct, amounts like this will be much reduced next year.

Underground Film Map

There have literally been dozens of different Tube Map designs over the years. The work of Harry Beck has yet to be beaten though. Occasionally, those cartographers who understand that perfection cannot be improved upon, choose to modify the names of the stations instead of a total reinvention. I remember one map produced that rearranged the letters in each and every station name - some of the results providing much mirth!

The latest to be modified in this manner shows the location of movies that have been shot either at or in the vicinity of each Tube station, with each station name being altered to reflect this. It has been produced jointly by Transport for London, Film London and the BMI London Film Festival. Where locations have had no films made, British TV programme names have been used.

Click to enlarge

Unlike the other versions produced by die-hard Tube fans, this one - with it's 'official' production credentials, has a price tag. The TfL online shop is currently selling 100cm x 70cm posters at £9.95. Its production coincides with the BFI London Film Festival, which runs between 13-28 October. An interesting fact is that on average, each day 35 film and TV crews use London as a location to film in.

Stagecoach boss makes surprise purchase

It shocked many. It really did. Who would have thought that the boss of transport giant Stagecoach would stray into a market at which many consider him to be at odds? I was shocked. As too was m'colleague. The LEYTR Stig's centrally-placed eye didn't see it coming either. We are, as you've probably gathered by now, referring to the purchase of a Perth hotel for the homeless by Stagecoach's founders, Brian Souter and Ann Gloag.


The Waverley Hotel in Perth is one of the oldest in the city and has becom a home to vulnerable members of society under social service referrals. Equipped with 40 rooms, the hotel was part of a chain of 20 others, owned by the McKever Group, which went into receivership last year, owing £70 million.

Souter said that he intends to continue operating the hotel as a B&B for the city's homeless people "for the foreseeable future" and that he and sister Gloag aim to further enhance and improve the hotel.

It's quite a 'feel good' story, actually, and one that will naturally receive virtually no coverage south of Scotland. A number of jobs have been retained as a result of the Souter/Gloag purchase and considerable amount of money has been saved for Perth & Kinross Council who, had the Waverley Hotel closed, would have had to spend money setting up a new facility elsewhere. Souter's acquisition of a sizable chunk of the failing TransBus International business (which became Alexander Dennis Limited) in 2004 also saved many thousands of jobs (while also guaranteeing him an excellent return on his investment owing to the increased number of vehicles Stagecoach purchases from ADL).

Souter's purchase of the Hotel is likely to have been made not for the bricks and mortar but more for the role the establishment plays in society, with charitable donations being something Souter takes seriously. The Souter Charitable Trust has given out over £20million in donations over the past half-decade. Souter is also a prominent member of Perth's Trinity Church.

Cynics would argue that if Souter is to personally intervene to save something, he should consider their evening buses or the knife-edge Sunday frequencies that have been teetering on the brink in many neighbourhoods. Others would argue that, similar to his controversial campaign to have Section 28 left untouched, this is simply the bare actions of a businessman using his position to save what he believes in.

In a lesser news story, it would appear that after being in his own Wilderness Years, Brian Souter has recently seen the light and found faith in London once more, too.

Headlights

From 2012, all new buses and coaches will have to legally be driven during the daytime with their headlights turned on. This is the result of legislation passed in the European Parliament in 2008. All new cars and vans built from early 2011 will be similarly affected. The move, it is claimed, will save lives as headlights, even in the daytime, still enable a vehicle to be seen more clearly.

There are large sections of society who, while not disagreeing completely with the above reasoning, feel that it puts others in more danger and has an impact on the environment. Perhaps understandably, motorcyclists - who already are legally bound to drive with their headlights on at all times - feel it will make them less noticeable to other road users and pedestrians. Friends of the Earth rightly point out that headlights draw additional power from vehicles' alternators which in turn make the engines work harder, for which more fuel is needed.

The ruling stems from Scandinavia, where daylight hours can be very scarce indeed during the winter months. Since 1977 it has been a legal requirement here to drive by road with headlights on at all times there and this has been the main driving force behind an EU-wide scheme. This is the reason Volvo cars, irrespective of country of sale, have their headlights turned on at all times.

Back in 2008, the LibDem transport spokesman described the ruling as "dangerous" and "unnecessary". Two years later and the same person is now in office - Norman Baker. Not that he can overturn an agreed directive, but it will be interesting to hear what comments he has on the matter today.

In Germany, a study was undertaken that showed driving with dipped headlights on at all times increased fuel consumption by up to 3%, though to countenance this and other claims likely to be made by other Member States, the EU said that its evidence suggested 'day headlamp' introduction could reduce the number of deaths on the roads of its constituent countries by between 3-5%, or up to 2,000 fatalities annually.

Applying this to the bus and coach industries, not much noticeable difference will take place. Many local authorities and bus operators already have 'best practice' schemes in place which see dipped headlights applied in designated areas, such as bus stations or travelling through dense pedestrian areas. Coach operators undertaking traditional tour work see less headlight usage, though scheduled coach services, as buses, tend to pass through areas where dipped headlights need to be turned on.

Hull City Centre, for example, is one such are where dipped headlights need to be operated. We're not sure whether non-compliance could result in a fixed penalty notice or not, but it's something both major operators in the city comply with. Drivers there can pass through the city centre on numerous occasions in a 4-hour driving stint, so simply leave their headlights on at all times - save forgetting! Can you blame them? It would be interesting to learn whether motorcyclist fatalities are greater in areas which enforce dipped headlight use compared to elsewhere in the UK.

I was once told that buses operating for TfL in London have their headlights forced on at all times, or at least their side lights and that turning the headlight switch to 'off' had no effect on the bulbs. It could be argued that buses and coaches have long been conforming to this scheme in areas with greatest risk of injury and that once again they've been leading the way.

Fotopic offline

As of yesterday, Fotopic went offline.... again. I hope my not renewing my £45 has not inadvertantly caused a cash-flow problem. Perhaps if they dealt with their cash-paying subscribers who have genuine and legitimate concerns regarding their account, more would be willing to renew their subscriptions.

On a more genuine note, Fotopic is still an excellent site to browse. I would much rather it be here than not.

Another railway record

As if the prospect of London-Frankfurt trains is not enough, nor the arrival on Tuesday of the first-ever passenger train from Germany, First Great Western has flown the Union Jack by recording the fastest-ever journey time between Plymouth and London Paddington on Wednesday afternoon. The record smashed the previous time by 17 minutes.

The journey was made in 2:43, though booked for 2:41. Official figures show the train departed Plymouth five seconds early at 12:49:55 and that it arrived in Paddington two minutes and 18 seconds late at 15:33:18, which (to the second) as a recorded journey time of 2:43:23. The specific record-breaking attempt was undertaken by FGW to promote its new morning service between London and Exeter, connecting there for Plymouth.

Taken during last year's Top 'n' Tail jaunt, a FGW HST heads east from Saltash to cross the Prince Albert Bridge en route to Plymouth

As you'd expect, all train journeys are recorded and logged but for this to be done by-the-second is very impressive indeed. Although we do not know for certain, this level of accuracy is likely to be employed by the aviation industry. Buses and coaches, as any timetable shows, do not record operate to or record journeys to-the-second - for very good reason! While a signaller or late-running train can slow another down, the very nature of the UK's road network provides such uncertainty that even to-the-minute timings for long-distance coach and bus services is too risky, so rounding up to the nearest five (or even 10 minutes) is commonplace.

A nice shot of the livery adorning FGW's HSTs today. Photo: FoxyCoxy

As if a 2:43 Plymouth-London journey time is not impressive enough, the journey was made by a pair of InterCity 125s, or HST Class 43s (with one engine working harder than the other). These stalwarts are in their mid-30s now and with the InterCity Express Programme looking very shaky indeed, a decision will soon need making regarding exactly what the fate of these machines is to be. The last overhauls TOCs made to the '43s' are coming to an end and further work is required to ensure they continue to provide the sterling service they have for the past three decades. Loco-hauled trains are being considered, which, while spelling the end of InterCity 125s, would provide a cheaper alternative to the IEP.

They were originally Class 265s and here is an early shot of two HSTs in London Paddington wearing the first livery - that of BR's InterCity 125. Photo: OlympusOM1

The first '43' appeared in 1976, in a year when P- and R-registered road vehicles were being delivered. You see precious few of these on the roads today. In 1976 the Leyland Fleetline and National were still being produced; Margaret Thatcher was still Leader of the Opposition; and the LEYTR magazine was an adolescent 13 years of age.

Lord Adonis announced during the final months of the last government that the Great Western Main Line, along which First Great Western's HSTs rule the roost, would be electrified. Could an electric locomotive improve on the time set by one of British Rail's diesel workhorses?

The Germans are coming

Next Tuesday will be a momentous day in the history of British Railways, for then the first ever German train will pull into London St. Pancras International station, having travelled from Germany via the Channel Tunnel while undertaking test runs for a proposed Anglo-German train service by 2013.

Built by German-based Siemens, the ICE-3 train, is the latest design to leave the manufacturer's HQ and is also the first non-French built train to operate through the Channel Tunnel. Eurostar's Class 373s being of French manufacture (Alstrom) and along HS1, Southeastern's Class 395 Javelins having a Japanese origin (Hitatchi).

However, the ICE-3's journey, operated by DB Schenker, commenced last Wednesday. Then, the train operated through Belgium and France where it entered the Channel Tunnel at 18mph, while mechanics and other technical officials monitored the train's progress. Once inside the tunnel, the train stopped and reversed back into France after a reported 10 minutes.

The ICE train enters the Channel Tunnel from France on Wednesday

One of the sticking points encountered and hopefully to be overcome, is the length of the train (200m) being about half that of a standard Eurostar set (400m). The problem concerns the nearest emergency exit within the Tunnel in case of evacuation. With Eurostar's '373s' being so lengthy, at either end of the train evacuees will not need to walk more than a few yards to reach an exit. With the ICE-3 being half the length of a '373' the walking distance increases considerably.

This is likely to be put to the test over Saturday night when we understand the Tunnel will be used to test evacuation processes and other safety procedures that are a mandatory requirement when under the English Channel. The train is expected to be hauled to London St. Pancras on Tuesday, where an invited audience will be able to witness its arrival. We believe the train will be stabled there overnight to attract as much publicity as possible, before returning to Germany the following day (20 October).

The ICE-3 test is two-fold: the Alstrom-built Eurostar '373s' are due to be replaced soon. These stalwarts, based on the French TGV model, are past their best and the condition of the exteriors does the ambiance within no favours at all!! Siemens hopes that in addition to DB Schenker purchasing similar examples for planned Frankfurt trains by 2013, it will receive an order from Eurostar to replace its '373s' using two ICEs coupled together, which would rival the total length of today's '373s' operated by Eurostar (400m) and thus overcome the length issue.

DB Schenker, who would operate any trains operating an Anglo-German route, has additionally expressed an interest in operating services to/from the London Olympics, although we've since heard that if this was to occur, services would not call at Stratford International as the station has been deemed too small for all but Southeastern's dedicated shuttle service.

It is a fascinating time. For too long one company has had the sole right to operate along HS1 and through the Channel Tunnel. Opening the route within the UK to Southeastern did not affect Eurostar since journeys within England are not permitted on its services. While DB Schenker has shown no appetite to operate competing trains to/from Paris, it does intend to serve Germany, its own country of origin, and with more destinations from which to choose, Paris and Brussels may proportionately lose out.

London-Frankfurt is one such journey being considered by DB Schenker, which it hopes to operate by 2013. With German efficiency being as it is, could an earlier start date be considered? The bureaucracy concerning passage through the Channel Tunnel has made the news lately, being cited as a major hurdle. Many believe this to be the French simply stalling. Undoubtedly, the whole process would be far simpler if the Channel Tunnel linked England with Belgium.

*UPDATE* From Justin: The ICE4 Class 407 will be the train DB Schenker will operate through the Channel Tunnel. The timetable for services to Germany will be revealed on 19th October when the ICE3 arrives at St. Pancras.

*UPDATE* From Fred: The Eurotunnel shuttle locomotives and the Class 92 freight locos were built in the UK by Brush. The Class 373s are not being replaced yet, indeed Eurostar has just announced a refurbishment valued at around EUR100m. The recently-announced Eurostar Velaros (ICE is a DB brand) will be in addition to the 373s.

LEYTR Update: It seems that Brush-built Class 319s have indeed passed through the Channel Tunnel. The following from Wikipedia:

Units 319008 and 319009 are notable for two reasons:

• On 10 December 1993 they travelled through the Channel Tunnel to Calais-Fréthun and back with a party of invited guests, after the construction consortium TransManche Link (who were responsible for the construction of the Tunnel) had transferred responsibility for operations and management over to Eurotunnel. Their pantographs were modified at Chart Leacon depot in Ashford beforehand. For the subsequent "Folkestone 1994" event, which saw the first paying members of the public taken into the tunnel by train, units 319008 and 319009 were named "Cheriton" and "Coquelles" respectively, and plaques adorned with the Union Flag and Tricolor were installed on their motor carriages.

Boris Bikes

A total of 90,000 have signed up to become members of the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme in London, which is the brain child of the pro-cycling Mayor, Boris Johnson. The scheme is owned and promoted by Transport for London, though operated under contract by Serco.

Having seen press cuttings during late-July detailing the new Barclays-sponsored cycle hire scheme, I'd paid very little interest. During The LEYTR Jolly Boys' Outing last month an obvious addition to London were a plentiful supply of bike racks, or cycle docking stations to use more modern prose.

Did former Mayor Livingstone appear in cartoon form on any of TfL's publicity?

But how does it work and can anyone just walk up and rent a bike for a few hours? Sadly, to answer the last point first, no they can't; well, not at the moment, anyway.

Initially, membership needs to be made and a credit/debit card linked to each account. A key needs to be paid for and an access fee needs to be selected and paid for: 24 hours, weekly, annually. The key is then posted out and is inserted into the machine located at each docking station by the user, where a daily charge is selected and charged to the account. The daily charges range from 30 minutes up to a maximum of 24 hours.


A little long-winded, but understandably necessary considering the nature of the scheme. Charges are made when a bike is damaged, returned late or not returned at all. The maximum charge is pitched slightly higher than the cost of a bike, £300. The daily charges seem to differ violently, from free for a 30-minute period to £50 for a full 24 hours.

To say that the scheme has been very successful would be an understatement. Within a month-and-a-half, the one millionth journey has been made or, more importantly for TfL, paid for. This must bring considerable relief to Mayor Johnson, whose personal championing of the pedal cycle
has been inextricably entwined with his entire career. I'd argue that Boris would consider the very public termination of the new Routemaster more of a valid sacrifice than that of his cycling scheme.

Someone ought to inform the lady pictured that her attire is ill-suited to riding a bike

The scheme has been given more than its fair share of publicity, though. DJ Edith Bowman and The X Factor 'referee' Dermot O' Leary have been signed up to star in a short film showing how straightforward the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme is. When is the last time a C-list celebrity lent their name to promoting the bus industry? Would one, for example, give the New Bus for London a helping hand on its way?

To be fair, the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme is one of the first of its kind here in the UK and accordingly an especially large push was needed to try and imprint it in as many people's minds as possible. Casual users (non-members) cannot make use of the scheme without first registering, which would appear to restrict the scheme's popularity somewhat. That said, it's best that teething troubles are ironed out before the free-for-all ensues. There have been teething troubles, too. The biggest problem fellow bloggers have reported is the non-availability of bikes where they are needed and the excessive numbers at docking stations - so many that cyclists are having to travel well beyond their intended destinations to find a docking station at which to leave their bike.

A nice touch is the ID number of each bike being in the standard TfL font displayed on buses and Tube trains, New Johnston

While TfL and Serco have identified the likely hotspots around peak periods, the scheme's success appears to have exasperated matters. More bikes are being constructed every month, initially in preparation for the scheme's expansion for non-members, but more recently they've been used to satisfy demand. Serco has been inundated with requests for bikes at docking stations and has found positioning them accordingly a full-time job.

While TfL is keeping details of thefts and damage under wraps for the time being, the docking stations that we encountered last month seemed in good repair and a few bikes were available in each. With one million journeys being recorded in such a short space of time, genuine modal shift may well be taking place. Trouble is, though, how many are leaving the buses, trains and Tube rather than their cars? So few people travel by car into central London, that a real concern for TfL here must be that a noticeable drop in peak travel figures may be recorded very soon indeed. On the buses at least, this may help justify service cuts to meet the very stringent demands of its reduced budget.

i How the Scheme works (video)
i Barclays Cycle Hire homepage (TfL)

Stagecoach of the Skies

I think it's fair to say that Ryanair today receives the same kind of press that bus operator Stagecoach did during the late-90s. Back then, many newspapers jumped on the anti-Stagecoach bandwagon. There was even a special World in Action programme made, which highlighted the company's predatory tactics. Today, things have settled down, as the bus industry has matured somewhat, but the media do enjoy a story when it involves a company which can stir up and divide public option, much as Stagecoach used to (still does?).

Ryainair, the no-frills, low-cost airline very much ticks this box. They've been probed by Panorama which, while less negative than the World in Action piece on Stagecoach, nevertheless permits them to join this contentious elite. Neither of us has flown with the company, though we've undertaken trips by similar airlines to have a pretty good idea what to expect. Ryainair's publicity is so flagrant on account of the company's founder and chief executive, Michael O' Leary - someone not afraid to speak his mind and squeeze every last penny out of his company's business model.


Yesterday, the newspapers reported on an incident on board a Ryanair plane in which a passenger was given tea and biscuits following a suspected heart attack and then charged for the items. The Marseilles-Edinburgh flight saw the 50-year old become ill about an hour in. He was attended to by a couple of passengers with medial backgrounds. For a brief moment, the ill man fell unconscious, though was revived and his diagnosis was deemed less serious to that originally suspected - a heart attack. His wife was then charged for the food and drink used to settle him.

The sad thing is that Ryanair broke no laws. The minimum standards laid down in aviation law in Europe for medical equipment to be carried are just that - very minimal indeed. Blankets and defibrillators are not a requirement. Charges for food and drink receive no regulation whatsoever, and as a consequence, at no point did Ryanair staff break any laws, rules or regulations.

Passenger care and comfort are a top priority for all public transport providers and it is here where Ryanair failed spectacularly. Goodness knows to what level they train their stewards because very few people could look the wife of a sick man in the face and demand money for food likely to prevent his illness from worsening. I remember being in a Virgin XC buffet car on a Voyager during the 2005 LEYTR Railrover and witnessing the chap serving asking a mother, who requested a cup filling with hot water for her baby's bottle, to pay £1.50. Apparently he had to sign for his cups and they all carried a chargeable fee.

The lady had a choice of course. A hungry baby will not usually turn down cold milk. The wife of the ill airline passenger also had a choice, but how many of us, when faced with a request from someone with a medical background to get your loved one a drink and some biscuits, would refuse to on the basis of having to pay?

Importantly, however, the wife of the ill man hasn't been quoted in the media. Eyewitness accounts appear to be the basis on which the story is based. The man and his wife may both have felt the fee very worthwhile under the circumstances.

This type of story makes me feel very uncomfortable, even though no rules etc have been broken. Similar stories in which bus drivers make the papers for refusing to assist passengers in a reasonable manner or train guards enforcing ridiculous restrictions to Off-peak Day Returns, as Arriva introduced for XC last year. It's all in the training, of course, and no criticism has been levied upon Ryanair staff for the manner in which they conducted themselves.

With Ryanair looking at ways in which it can generate additional revenue from charging for toilet use or installing seats in which travellers squat, rather than sit, there are precious few freebies to be had. To quote Michael O' Leary: "At the moment the ice is free, but if we could find a way of targeting a price on it, we would.”

It should be noticed that in 2008, Ryanair was the 7th most admired transport sector company in the UK, beating British Airways.

Bus Stops that Time Forgot - Gosberton

We've been running a somewhat latent Bus Stops that Time Forgot feature over the past few months, where we display up-to-date photos of bus stop flags that are either ancient and bare the name of an operator of yesteryear or simply do not see any service call there now. Today, while meandering along the leafy lanes of Lincolnshire, I managed to 'bag' the flag attached to a streetlight located on the periphery of Gosberton.

'Gosberton, Methodist Church' was the National Express timing point for this stop, well, up to 12 years ago. Thereafter no service has ever called here

It pre-dates that of Ingoldmells and certainly that of Oxford Street, Grimsby. This was one of the flags used by the National Bus Company for its National Express services before coach deregulation in 1980. Of note is that the flag pre-dates the National Express fleet name design and double-N logo that accompanied each other until they were replaced with the arrow-linking circles from 2002.

The original wording, slightly visible from the other side, stated NATIONAL EXPRESS on one line, all in red and no logos. We suspect this dates back to the late-1970s.

National Express Service 049 was the last to call here pre-1998, when loadings for Gosberton and neighbouring Sutterton became so low, the service was routed via the main A16 which had recently opened along the trackbed of the former Great Northern Railway. The service was re-numbered 449 from 1998, too, though its route remains identical to that of today: Mablethorpe-Peterborough-London.

Gosberton did not lose its only direct service to London when NX pulled out. TransLinc's one-a-day service to London called here, operating into the village centre. This, sadly, was withdrawn on 4 September 2007

The flag has never been taken down. The one at Sutterton (opposite the water tower) was still in situ up to a few years ago, though it is no longer there. We've been told there's one at Glentham, just off the Roman road, Ermine Street - a location, incidentally, where the forthcoming LEYTR Committee Meeting is to take place.

Changing subject slightly, though keeping with the yesteryear theme, there aren't many vehicles that first entered service in April 1975 which still performing regular services today. Lincolnshire has long boasted one such vehicle, and it was while passing through the hamlet of Haltham, just south of Horncastle on the A153 yesterday, that I finally caught up with a 35-year old Leyland Leopard, new to British Airtours of Horley.

Sadly, the sun was shining into the lens and the photo's needed a fair amount of 'titivation' to bring it to this level. It was C46D from new, though the centre door has long since been removed

Coopers of Killamarsh have an operation in Grimsby, which has a small outstation in the same farm yard used by the Haltham Taxi company. Usually two vehicles are based here and on passing, one was none other than HVD 732N, a Leyland Leopard/Willowbrook in full Coopers livery. Chances are the pupils this stalwart conveys to/from school each day have no idea of the vehicle's history and significance.

Javelin losses

There can be few people who argue that the population of Kent is not high enough. This, however, is the view taken by Go-Ahead Group's chief executive Keith Ludeman, when commenting on how his Southeastern train company's flagship Javelin high-speed service made a loss of £17 million last year, despite generating £33 million in revenue for the first half of this year.

Taken during the LEYTR cab ride. Power is drawn from overhead wires, though once off HS1, the Javelins are powered by a third rail

Go-Ahead's rail commitments here in the UK are operated under the Govia name, in which they are joined by Keolis, the coaching arm of French state-owned railway company, SNCF. Factored into Govia's bid for the Southeastern franchise - with the plans for running domestic services along the under-used High Speed 1 line already well advanced - was a huge housing development in the Thames Gateway, which too was looking fruitful back in 2005, but which hasn't materialised.

The 'cap-and-collar' payments Southeastern is receiving from the DfT is clearly not as high as the company would like, which means "the company’s incentives were heavily skewed towards making cost reductions rather than growing revenue and the marketing budget for the new [HS1] services would be among the areas cut." The South East has been one of the worst-hit areas in the UK for rail commuter travel following the recession that started globally in the autumn of 2008.

The Javelins just aren't busy enough. There are insufficient commuters using them - the view taken by Southeastern, rather than the central London terminus being further away from where most Kent commuters want to be. For someone working in Oxford Street and having to travel by Tube to St. Pancras (in order to catch the 140mph Javelins), the time savings become far less obvious when compared to the same journey by domestic train from Charing Cross or Victoria.

They do travel very fast indeed but for the City commuter, the St. Pancras terminus erodes any time savings as a 20-minute Tube journey is now needed to reach the office

Costs for the high-speed service after subsidy were £50 million, which drowned the £33 million generated through ticket sales. And this is purely for the Javelins along HS1.

The figure is very disappointing and one which has been the main contributor to the operating profit of Go-Ahead's entire rail operation fall by £24 million. The company's two other franchises, Southern and London Midland, have performed in marked contrast from each other, with Southern effectively holding the trio of TOCs together, registering far greater passengers numbers than had been forecast last year when the South Central franchise was being negotiated.

It seems perverse that Southeastern's revenues have fallen so low that it is to choose not to promote travel along HS1 in order to keep costs down. It's like starting a new coach service linking to very popular locations that have a slow, laborious train service that takes twice the time and then not advertising it. Word of mouth only goes so far. Simply hoping for more housing is only part of the solution. Even if this is realised, it seems a little risky to rely on new residents choosing to travel on HS1 simply because they're intrigued by these bullet-like trains that pass near by.

The Javelins run using bi-mode technology. Here the EMU is operating the third-rail power system in Kent, with its pantograph lowered. Photo: Rail Images

It goes to show how tight budgets are for companies running train franchises. Even the big'uns are having a bad time of it. Advertising will always suffer as a result of cost-cutting but it's very unusual to see it removed altogether - especially for a new service with much to give.

LEYTR exclusive Javelin cab ride

FlightChecker

We've been looking this week at the cost of travel here in the UK. From £2.80 for a single bus fare covering 16 miles to travelling from Edinburgh to Penzance for £55 return, there is a plethora of types and variances to be had. Yesterday's Splitfare entry looked at making the cost of travelling by train cheaper by exposing the ridiculous manner fares are calculated. Today, airlines.

In the latest edition of industry mag routeone, the "usual massive rip-off fees for everything else" was highlighted in a rare moment of candidness, under the veil of The Whisperer column. There's no need to whisper about the add-ons charged by airlines, we're all too aware of how a cheap flight can double in cost one payment is made!

To be frank, there's absolutely nothing one can do about the charges made by Ryanair, Flybe, easyJet et al. And they know it. Their fares (especially Ryanair and easyjet) are so low, many are more than happy to pay an additional £8 when processing the fee with a credit card. Often it's £20 per suitcase and some airlines automatically add insurance and you have to remember to un-check the box, else have another cost incurred. If you've taken out comprehensive travel insurance, no further insurance is needed - be it through easyJet for a flight to Norway or National Express for a London-Bristol trip by coach.

MoneySavingExpert.com is the website of choice that we both use when planning a low-cost flight within Europe. The brain child of financial journalist Martin Lewis, MSE is THE most powerful consumer website in existence. It has stayed true to its 'no ad' roots and delivers genuine, consumer-focused advice on all areas of expenditure in life. Transport has a very large section and air travel appears to be one of the areas where the greatest potential savings can be made.

While ways consumers can save on bus and train tickets covers many of the bases readers of this blog will already be accustom with, the MSE website has itself developed an application for finding the cheapest air fare. Called FlightChecker, the app is effectively a number-cruncher that is heads and shoulders above the rest due to the parameters you can set.


Where else in the transport industry can you use a journey planner and not have to give a destination? You can't. In the rail industry, it is impossible to use a journey planner for free that covers the whole country and state which TOCs you do and do not wish to travel with. Local Traveline websites permit this for all operators, but they do not cover the entire country.

Mindful that people aren't too bothered about their destinations, but limited by price, FlightChecker will allow you to tick the 'I'll go anywhere' box and then state a maximum price you're willing to pay. A little misleadingly, FlightChecker states that the prices it returns includes all charges and taxes. This does not mean "the usual massive rip-off fees for everything else" though, as the app does not ask for luggage requirements or how you plan on paying for the flights.

If you've got a weekend with nothing to do in, say, February, FlightChecker is the place to visit. Right now, for example, you can fly out on 25 February for a long weekend in Berlin for just £42.11. Travel without any hold luggage and provided you pay with a debit card of some description, the final price ought not to exceed £46.

FlightChecker is not a splitfare for the airways, but more a chance for consumers to make the most of the low prices budget airlines charge, and in their own small way, feel less aggrieved at the add-ons. Ironically, though, the cheaper the fare purchased, the greater the percentage the add-ons become!

FlightChecker

Comeback Kid

Remember Splitfare? The revolutionary website devoted to unraveling the complexities surrounding the pricing policy of our railway network? Well the website has since had a new lease of life and a very encouraging "New App Coming Soon" is printed where there was once a paragraph on how the excellent search engine was being withdrawn after ATOC increased its prices for the company to use the fares data.

When the new app will be up and running is not made known, though a regular return to the site is on the cards for us.

Splitfare aims to show how money can be saved by legitimately purchasing two tickets for the same train journey, even on a direct service. The example given is a Leeds-London return fare of £100 can be reduced to just £62 for travel on the same train, provided two tickets are purchased: Leeds-Doncaster and Doncaster-London. We didn't get chance to use the site to the full the first time round, so cannot say just how comprehensive its search results are.

The tabe shows how Leeds-Doncaster costs £14, while Doncaster-London costs £48. Add the two together and £62 return is the cheapest. A split at Wakefield provides a £17 saving. That at Peterborough provides no saving at all

The site's potential rejuvenation has come with support from The Trainline, it would seem, in which we believe Virgin has a financial stake. After the cheapest fare has been shown, it can be purchased through thetrainline.com - which then reduces your saving by charging you a processing fee. There is nothing to stop you making a note of the tickets and fares quoted and then visiting the TOC(s) in question and purchasing from them directly.

A word of warning though. We've done split fares of our own before and with Advance tickets a seat reservation is usually made whether you want one or not. Consequently, at the point in the journey where the second ticket comes into play, you will almost certainly have to move seats.

*UPDATE* From Virgin Trains - Virgin's interests in The Trainline were sold several years ago.

Fotopic: A Warning

One year ago today, I renewed my subscription to use the personal gallery service provided by Fotopic.net. When renewing last year, I didn't reacquaint myself with the different types of gallery offered; I assumed I had the Plus Gallery, which is one of three different galleries offered:

Free Gallery - as its name suggests, it costs you nowt to sign up for this, but the amount of storage space allotted is very small indeed

Plus Gallery - for a fee, offers you a total of 5 galleries, basic copyright protection and more allotted storage space. £20 p/a

Premium Gallery - for a fee, offers 3000Mb on top of that given with the Plus Gallery, watermark copyright protection, direct linking, more themes, colours etc., and password protection for galleries. £45 p/a

As it turns out, I must have paid more than £20 p/a as this didn't offer the things I'd grown accustom to. No problem though, since a handy box was displayed that said: "Upgrade to the Premium Gallery from Plus and only pay an additional £25" (i.e. the difference in price between Plus and Premium). This I did.

But, importantly, Fotopic said they'd still take £45 but credit me the £20 difference. There was no other option available, so I went ahead and sanctioned it. I have never received the £20 credit. Ever.

And this is not for the want of trying. Those with issues regarding their Fotopic account are given a specific reference to quote in the subject line in all correspondence with the company. Naturally, having left it a week, I queried where my £20 credit was and did not receive a response. Thereafter, every Monday from mid-October until the end of the year, I emailed Fotopic with the same query in the very format they asked for..... and received nothing.

In February, I wrote to Fotopic's parent company, Snappy Designs, at their 17 Hertford Avenue, London, SW14 8EF address using Royal Mail's 'sign for' service. The letter was signed for, yet I have received neither a response nor a £20 credit.

Normally this blog's readership - all interested in public transport, many of whom being photographers - averages at anything between 2,500-3,500 per day, but on one occasion last week, eight thousand unique visits were recorded, so what better way to inform fellow hobbyist photographers about the manner in which Fotopic has conducted itself, than to post a warning here. I am not going to renew my now-expired subscription, but to consider moving my albums to its competitor, Flikr. Had I received a response in any form and, naturally, my £20, this would not have happened.

The cynic in me would liken the unwillingness of the company to part with £20 to the likely state of its finances. It wasn't long ago Fotopic was taken down amidst rumours that the company had gone into liquidation. This is another thought process going through my mind.

Apologies for the rant. I do not want any other hobbyist photographer to suffer the same treatment as me. Normal posts resume in the morning.

First's Club 55

It simply is not possible to travel by public transport from John o' Groats to Lands End for free. There was a well-publicised case soon after England joined Wales and Scotland in offering free concessionary local bus travel, though special dispensation was given to the intrepid English traveller as under normal circumstances his pass would not be valid outside England.

However, Barry Doe brought news last month of a special deal being offered by train operating companies run by First here in the UK, that allow you to almost do what we did last year for just £55. First's Club 55 offer permits travel on all First TOCs except Scotrail, but Arriva Trains Wales is included. Club 55 is available to anyone aged 55 or over and travellers do not need to be in possession of a Railcard of any description to qualify.

Essentially, First has divided the country into six huge zones. Travel within one zone is £15 return and an add-on of £10 return for each additional zone travelled in/through thereafter. Rather than John o' Groats as the most northerly start point, Edinburgh is the new location. Travel from here to Penzance can legitimately cost £55 return. The fare is calculated as £15 for the first zone (A) and then £10 each for the remaining 4 zones needed to pass through in order to reach Penzance (B, D, E, F).

The scheme runs into trouble in a number of ways. Firstly, the number of ticket clerks who know of its existence is incredibly low, judging by comments made. Passengers have many time restrictions with which to acquaint themselves. And travel is only possible by participating First TOCs and Arriva Trains Wales. As Barry points out, Doncaster-Edinburgh is possible BUT not with East Coast along the ECML, but with First TransPennine Express via Manchester and the WCML.

Barry suggests an Edinburgh-Penzance journey travelling via Manchester, Newport and Exeter, which takes around 14 hours. By contrast, during last year's LEYTR Top 'n' Tail, we traversed the country from Edinburgh to Penzance direct on the meandering National Express coach Service 336 (now a shadow of its former self) in a minuscule 17:30.

Have a look at these restrictions:

Normal Monday-Friday time restrictions are enforced, except arrival in London, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield or York, where this may not take place before 1010 or depart between 1600-1900. First Hull Trains further restricts arrival in London to not be permitted before 1100 or departure between 1605-1719. On Fridays only, Club 55 tickets are not valid from London Paddington at 1406 and 1506; 1432, 1532, 1632, 1731 from Reading and 1748 from Newbury.

Lots of useful trains to avoid then. But perhaps the best deal is the ability to travel for just £15 within one zone. Travelling further afield, despite the financial saving/incentive an extra tenner is, becomes just too complex for many to attempt. Those that do are likely to come a cropper with staff manning ticket barriers. We all know that the excess fare policies by TOCs are eye-wateringly, headline-grabbingly high.

This scheme both highlights the massive savings that can be had for train travel and the complexity of the fare structure. How long has it been since a return from Edinburgh to Penzance has been possible - even for the holder of a Railcard - for £55? Off-peak, the journey via London today costs around the £700 mark, for example. But the standard Monday-Friday restrictions in addition to the new ones imposed will serve only to cause confusion, frustration and bewilderment.

The scheme runs until 30 November, thereafter expect the following links to no longer work.

Club 55 Zonal Map
Club 55 Description

£0.99

Just a quicky today.

Much has been written on the decision by Wellglade to introduce a bus route between Cotgrave and Nottingham, operated by their low-cost Midland General subsidiary, where both the fare and route number are the same - 99p. But what has yet to be commented on is the far-reaching implications of the new timetable.

For it appears to be the first time that a publication has been released by Wellglade in the area dominated by its award-winning Trent Barton subsidiary that has seen the 24-hour clock used.


Has anyone told Barry Doe?

99p Bus

Expense

A bus driver writes...

Driving the late shift at work on Friday, a number of people forced upon me their view of the fare they were charged for a one-way trip into the nearest city centre on my bus. I did 4 round trips on the route in question and the distance in each direction is 16 miles. The single fare is £2.80.

The end-to-end journey time is 40 minutes, resulting in an average speed of 24mph. I think this is reasonably fast for a village-small town-village-city centre route, which is very linear, too. Some of the passengers felt the same way as well. A number on the first and second trips asked for singles to the city centre and had a handful of coins ready for their fare. Noticeable was the number who commented on how reasonable £2.80 was.

On the final two trips this had been replaced by how expensive "nearly three bloody quid!" was for the same journey. These people didn't appear intoxicated, though were clearly hoping to become so in the city they were travelling to. I don't usually argue with them as often they want to evoke a response from the driver. But when I sense a reply from me will be taken on board, I liken the trip they're about to undertake to that provided by a taxi.

A group of 4 travelling 16 miles in a taxi at 10pm on a Friday night can expect to be charged around £40. Or a tenner each. I would assume they would return from the city centre by taxi as we do not run past 11pm and everyone purchased singles. So £2.80 single seemed expensive while £10 to return was presumably not be commented on.

LEYTR Comment: It's the old, old story. One man's good value is another's extortion. Our contributing writer also emailed that, worryingly, those believing £2.80 for 40 mins on a bus, covering 16 miles at an average speed of 24mph, were infrequent users. These are the ones bus operators target in the hope of modal shift. Perhaps the fare is expensive? We don't think so. Admittedly, it's not 99p, as a certain bus company is trialing, but what would the cost of an equivalent journey by private car - especially when the add-ons such as parking are included? It cost £63.12 to fill the LEYTR Wagon up with diesel last night. There are some people who will justify their car because the bus is too expensive, or begrudge using it when there's no alternative. But how many would happily hand over £5 to gain entry to a club or £2.80 for a double Vodka and coke in Flares? I bet they don't moan to the bar worker or doorman!

Bus Lane Scrapped

With news that a new 13-mile busway has been given the go ahead, following scrutiny over its likely cost, Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond has given the green light to a bus lane along the M4 motorway being scrapped. If you've ever watched any episode of Top Gear, ever, you'll have heard Clarkson witter on about this infringement of his civil liberties.

Measuring in at 3.5 miles long, the stretch of pink tarmac in the outside lane of the M4 motorway saw buses and coaches given the opportunity to overtake all the expensive cars that had long passed them, while heading London-bound. It was the brain child of former Deputy PM John Prescott. The Tories do not see it as a useful and efficient tool for ensuring the safest mode of surface transport reach its destinations as quickly as possible, but that it is a good example of Labour's 'war on the motorist'.

Look! A bus. Someone ought to contact Mr. Clarkson!

The Transport Secretary will officially announce the bus lane's suspension from Christmas Eve at the Conservative Party Conference next week. Only during the 2012 Olympic Games will it become 'live', before being scrapped permanently.

Which goes to prove that the Tories DO admit the bus lane works, else why re-instigate it for the Olympics? If, as Jeremy Clarkson would have us all believe, that "stupid pinko bus lane" is a complete waste of time ("you never see anything in it"), re-instigation would be a complete waste of time and money.

Aptly named 'Petrol-head Hammond' will say in his speech to delegates next week: "Nothing is more symbolic of Labour's war on the motorist than the M4 bus lane.... It was John Prescott's idea and I think that says it all. I can announce today that from the end of December until the Olympics the M4 bus lane will be suspended. And once the Olympics are over, my intention is to scrap it permanently."

Such arrogance against a stretch of road does not bode well for bus and coach operators, for it is Hammond who has the final say on how the potentially already-agreed DfT budget will be divvied up.

Leigh Guided Busway

It's been in the planning stages since 1996 and has been halted on numerous occasions for both newts and aggrieved local councillors, but in 2008, as part of the £1.5 billion Greater Manchester Transport Fund, a new section of Busway in Manchester was signed off.

Costing £76 million and linking Wigan and Leigh with Salford and Manchester, the total length of the new, segregated concrete Busway is 13 miles, of which just four will physically guide buses along the route. However, this approximate one-third total length was enough to sufficiently worry members of the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA) that they visited the world's (delayed) longest guided busway in Cambridge to assess the likely problems and - more importantly - the potential cost of an overrun.

Back in Greater Manchester however, local councillors who collectively signed the Busway off as part of the GM Transport Fund, have been incensed at GMITA's interference. They saw the decision for a review into the cost of the Busway as the transport authority simply meddling, with a view to try and reduce the scheme or cancel it altogether. Common sense prevailed, when the review showed that the problems faced with the Cambridgeshire scheme - now 18 months late and almost £58 million over budget - are very local to that scheme and fundamentally resultant on the landscape of the Fenlands.

GMITA is the body who needs to ensure the £1.5bn package costs just that and so have been naturally cautious about their very own Busway, mindful that they don't want a 'Cambridgeshire' on their hands, so it is understandable that they'd want to delve a little deeper. One would hope that the Leigh area doesn't throw up its own problems, particular to that area that are as severe as persistent surface water and flooding are in Fenstanton.

The scheme first ran into trouble during the late-90s when the proposed route of the Busway was to pass through the breeding grounds of the Greater Crested Newt, which is a protected species. Local Salford councillors then caused a stink about the Busway a few years ago, claiming it was unnecessary and the millions of pounds needed to construct it would be better off providing additional bus services along the route. A view also exists that the Busway is merely a 'sop' to Wigan and Leigh residents whose towns are not included in the Metrolink extension.

However, it is very pleasing to see that the Cambridgeshire debacle isn't putting off new Busway schemes. There are a number in the pipeline elsewhere in the UK. Should they survive the Spending Review later this month, it will be interesting to see whether their local authorities will have the conviction to go ahead.

Leigh Busway Project (pdf)
Cambridgeshire Guided Busway (brief details & map)