First is Excited...

First have now announced their new Plymouth network on their own web site:

First is excited to announce changes to its bus network which will lead to additional services for customers in the city. The new network will come into force on Sunday 6th April 2008. First will be launching a huge publicity campaign for all its customers in March to let them know about the changes. The changes are as a result of a year long exercise talking to customers, local stakeholders and user groups as well as an analysis of customer travel patterns across the city. First has also looked at best practice in the public transport world to make the new network of buses reflect modern social needs along with being really simple to understand.

More on the actual services here

First will be letting customers know about changes through a series of events in March. There will be extensive publicity (including further details on this website). Please look out for the following:
• Details of new timetables can be found on this website under the forthcoming timetables heading, within the timetables section.
• Customer information leaflets will be distributed towards the end of March
• The First Devon and Cornwall information bus will be on Royal Parade from Monday 31st March to Saturday 12th April, 2008. Come and talk to us for further information
• Details of our changes in the Herald and the Plymouth Extra

Even more impressive is that full timetables are already available for these services here so you can already plan for any changes.

They do mention that there is going to be a big publicity push which can only be a good thing. I am sure we will soon see news stories in the papers from people who loose their links etc but so far it looks good to me! Anything which increases the number of passengers travelling by bus has to be a good thing.

Interestingly there is no mention of 'Eugobus' so far? Maybe this is coming later!

Western National on Flickr

©Steve Thoroughgood

Western National is well represented on Flickr but this great shot caught my eye a few days ago so here it is! Steve has many other Western National shots mainly from North Devon and Taunton along with lots of other great photos. Click here for more of his photos!

Anger

©Piez

More than 150 angry residents packed a Plympton hall to hear why a Citybus route has been unexpectedly changed. The meeting at St Mary's church hall, arranged by Plympton Erle councillors Terri Beer and John Lock, often descended into shouts and accusations as Citybus commercial manager Peter Oliver attempted to defend his company's decision to re-route the number 22 service. Whilst insisting the service had not been cancelled, he had to repeatedly explain to the furious - and predominantly elderly residents - how parking issues along the Underwood Road route had caused the company to effectively give up on it. The larger-style buses had frequently become stuck in the narrow road after cars were found to either illegally park on double yellow lines or caused obstruction by parking on pavements, he said. He said: "All we've done is move from one road we were finding it difficult to go through to another - we've not stopped the service."

Bus managers must dread attending public meetings these days as any change seems to bring out crowds of people who are really angry at the changes to their bus service. Often more people protest than actually use the service in the first place. In this case its just a re-routing of the service due to traffic issues. The press too will make a lot more of any sections of bus route that gets cut back than they ever will of any additional services, or increased frequency on any section. Bad news is always good news as far as the media is concerned.

Expect more of the same when FDC route changes become more public knowledge!

Eugobus?

The latest copy of N&P from VOSA has some interesting entries:

FIRST DEVON & CORNWALL LTD, THE RIDE PLYMOUTH PL9 7JT

From: Plymouth Royal Parade To: Saltash Via: Milehouse, St Budeaux Saltash Fore St
Name or No: 1/1A
Service Type: Normal Stopping, Hail & Ride Effective Date: 06-Apr-2008
Other Details: Monday to Saturday Service 1 Every 20 mins/1A Every 20 mins and
every 60 mins on Evenings. Sunday and Public Holidays every 30 mins daytime and every 60mins evenings.

Seems to just replace the current 1 and 2 Service. Possibly a change of route in Saltash itself?

From: Plymouth Royal Parade To: Mount Batten Via: Plymstock Broadway
Name or No: 2 Service Type: Normal Stopping Effective Date: 06-Apr-2008
Other Details: Monday to Saturday Daytime High Frquency, Evenings Every 30
mins. Sunday and Bank Holiday Every 30 mins daytime and evenings every 60 mins.

Higher frequency replacement for the old 7 City to Plymstock end

From: Plymouth Royal Parade To: Barne Barton Via: Devonport & St Budeaux
Name or No: 3 Service Type: Normal Stopping Effective Date: 06-Apr-2008
Other Details: Monday to Saturday Daytime High Frequency evenings every 30
mins. Sunday and Bamk Holidays every 30 mins daytime evening every 60 mins.

Replaces the old 7A route from the City to Barne Barton. Increase in frequency

From: Plymouth Royal Parade To: Keyham Via: Milehouse
Name or No: 4
Service Type: Normal Stopping Effective Date: 06-Apr-2008
Other Details: Monday to Saturday daytime every 15 mins, Evenings Every 60
mins. Sunday and bank holidays every 30 mins day time, Evenings every 60 Mins.

Replaces the current 14 on the same frequency 

From: Plymouth Royal Parade To: Mount Gould Via: Lipson road
Name or No: 5 Service Type: Normal Stopping Effective Date: 06-Apr-2008
Other Details: Monday to Saturday daytime every 15 mins.

Replaces Mount Gould section of the old 15/A routes. Seems to be an increase in frequency

From: Plymouth Royal Parade To: Goodewell Via: Plymstock Broadway, Elburton & Staddiscombe Name or No: 6
Service Type: Normal Stopping Effective Date: 06-Apr-2008
Other Details: Monday to Saturday Daytime Every 15 mins, Evenings every 60
mins. Sunday and Bank Holidays every 30 mins, and every 60 mins Evenings.

Replaces routes 5 and 6 but no longer serving the railway station. Increased frequency on current 20 mins service

From: Plymouth Royal Parade To: Woolwell Via: Mutley Plain, Crownhill & Derriford Hospital Name or No: 7
Service Type: Normal Stopping Effective Date: 06-Apr-2008
Other Details: monday to Saturday daytime every 20 mins. Sunday and Bank holidays every 60 mins day.

Pretty much the same frequency as the existing 7 service from City to Derriford. Breaks the link with the Plymstock end of the route.

From: Elburton/Jennycliff To: Derriford Hospital Via: Plymstock, City Centre, Stoke, Ham
Name or No: 17/18 Service Type: Normal Stopping Effective Date: 06-Apr-2008
Other Details: Ser 18 Hourly Monday to Saturday Ser 17 Hourly Monday to Saturday
No services Sundays or Bank Holidays.

Seems to replace the 11 service through Beacon Park to Derriford. Interesting that it maintains the link through the City when other links are being broken.

From: Saltash To: Saltash Via:
Name or No: 33/33a Service Type: Norma  Stopping Effective Date: 06-Apr-2008
Other Details: Every 30 mins Monday to Friday daytime. No services sundays or bank holidays.

Not sure about this one as little detail is given. Looks like a feeder service within Saltash to the main 1, 1A buses.

It seems that there will be a big marketing push of their Plymouth services when these launch in April. They are being marketed under the brand name EUGOBUS!

It will be interesting to see the public reaction to all these changes once word gets out properly and the new timetables start to appear. There are bound to be loud noises from people who loose their current links and a lot less noise about the extra links and improvements that some passengers get. FDC have certainly put a lot of thought into this new setwork and not just tinkered around the edges.

There also does seem to be a slight increase in competition with Citybus on a few sections of route, mainly around Mount Gould and the Barne Barton sections. Citybus have their new buses due to hit the road within the next couple of months and have yet to announce what, if any, changes they are making to their network. It is shaping up to be an interesting time for City services!

To Catch a Bus (Part 3)

It is clear from the comments attracted by my last couple of posts that the Derriford hospital bus stop is very much a special case. Well, at least it should be. Apparently the second busiest bus stop outside of Royal Parade it is actually very well served by Citybus, First and Target and even DAC coaches seem to still have a service here. Add to this the new Northern Connect services due to start next month and you can really appreciate just how busy this bus stop is.

Bus stop congestion is a major issue here with buses often having to queue up to get through. Even without thoughtless cars and taxis stopping at the drop off zone at the entrance to the bus stop area it can be chaos here. Stand here at 4.30 on a weekday evening and be amazed at the activity! Severe traffic congestion in and out of the site must make this a nightmare for bus companies striving to ensure buses run close to timetable. FDC recently 'improved' their Tavistock services by reducing the number of buses coming into the hospital. By not coming into the hospital it can save at least 10 minutes at peak times.

So we know its not good for the bus companies so what about for the passengers. Well to be honest its a disaster! The bus stop shelters are not awful to say the least. There is one large shelter and another half baked shelter for the North and Eastbound routes. There are a few seats around so thats not a problem.

The big problem with the bus stops here is trying to work out which stop to use for your service. Most passengers wont appreciate the finer details of Eastbound, Northbound, South bound and Westbound routes. If you want a bus to town it could stop at any of the stops. When it gets really busy it is easy to miss your bus because it has stopped at a different stop to where you are waiting and you just dont see it. Many drivers still seem to struggle to know which stop to use (both companies) and because the stop flags are out of date its not much help looking at them either.

I have covered the issue of the timetables displayed here in the previous posts but I will mention again the large bus route map - from 2005 still on display!

The other big issue we have here is evident at the busier times of day. Once a driver has closed his doors and pulled away from the bus stop they are not allowed to let passengers on. This is a basic health and safety issue for obvious reasons. The problem at Derriford is the bus will pull out into the traffic and then stop in the queue to get out. Passengers will then hurl abuse at the driver for not letting them on! Of course some drivers give in and do let people on but this is risky because it will just take one accident and all hell will let loose!

Derriford is crying out for a big improvement in its bus stop area. It desperately needs Real Time Information displays at least. This one improvement alone will make a big difference. I know that there are big plans for the whole remodelling of the entrance area for Derriford Hospital and that this is probably the reason that there has been no investment here. These changes though wont take place for a few years yet. Can passengers and bus operators really wait that long before something gets sorted?

Part 4 follows later looking at the experience once you get onboard the bus...

To catch a bus (part 2)

The above photo shows bus stop 3 outside Derriford Hospital.

Where do I begin?

Its now wonder that passengers and drivers often have a job working out which bus stops where. The route numbers displayed on the flag are out of date and incomplete. 52 appears twice, 7 appears 3 times, the 10 and the 39 are now First rather than Citybus, and who is Western National? Anyone new to Plymouth would never have heard of them! I will come to the Derriford issues in another post later so will ignore the whole 'Northbound' and 'Eastbound' issue for now.

Now things are changing at last:

Back in January 2007 Plymouth City Council awarded a tender to a company called Trueform Engineering for the following:

supply of modular bus stop poles/flags/timetable cases and associated infrastructure; and/or removal/disposal and installation of new pole and flag infrastructure (including ground works); and/or sleeving of existing pole, disposal of existing infrastructure and installation of new modular system bus-stop posts.

And what are we getting?

Here is a new bus stop being modelled by my son!

Its certainly much neater than the older one above!

The useful addition of the text code for the next bus is noted. One of the problems I had at Derriford was not knowing the code to use. There is a timetable display panel (although in this case only First seem to serve the stop!) but its not as fancy as some in the Trueform portfolio. I just hope that as we see these spread across the City we do finally get them at Derriford and they will be kept accurate and not allowed to get to the state of the flag at the top of this posting.

Is the City Council starting to take bus passengers and public transport infrastructure seriously? Well the signs are good!

To catch a bus (part 1)

With my frequent visits to Derriford Hospital over the past few months, I have been spending a lot of time in the hospital bus stop shelter sat waiting for a bus home. Because of the nature of his illness the last few weeks saw quite a few late nights at the hospital, and even one or two really early mornings after spending the night at the bed side. So the first thing you want to know is how long to wait for the bus home.

This is the Plymouth Citybus timetable display.

Its not a brilliant shot and its not even the correct timetable panel as the other shots didn't come out at all, but its the same design as the one I had to use.

For each route served there is a list of times that the bus you want departs from that stop.

Now if you know where you are going, and you know the bus route you need, then this isn't a problem. The problem comes when you don't know these things. Does this bus go to St Budeaux? if so how long does it take? There are more direct buses to St Budeaux but late at night its often better to get the first indirect bus than wait for the quicker bus. There is a large route map (dated May 2005!) in one of the shelters which does help a bit but it does not make life easy for passenger. By its very nature, Derriford Hospital gets a lot of people each day who have never been there before so have no idea of what bus to catch. You can always ask a driver of course, but most will tell you they don't know and to look up the timetables at the bus stop.

So, what about First?

again, its not a good shot but its the best I got! At first glance its similar but there are a few important details...

The best bit, for me at least, is the display panel at the top which shows route diagrams for all services mentioned. It shows you key stops along the way and the time it takes to get to them. All these buses go to the City Centre in anything from 22 to 44 minutes so its good to know this before you get on the bus! The colour coding for the route numbers is also used to good effect in the departures section...

This is much easier to use as you only have to look in one place to see what choice of buses you have. The colour codes then allow you make a choice (if you have one) of which bus will get you home quickest.

I have been informed that the First display is produced using Omnitimes software. I dont know what Citybus use, but at my own bus stop on Keswick Cresent we have timetables like First use, albeit without the colour coding, complete with route diagrams and list of departures.

Of course neither of these timetable displays is brilliant. At best you only get details of one or two stops along the way. What happens if you want to get back to Derriford? What time is the last bus back? If I get a First bus out, is there a First bus back or will I have to get a Citybus and pay two singles?

This is not meant as a dig at either bus company as both are clearly trying to get the information across to passengers, many of whom just cant read simple timetables anymore. I would be interested in any comments about either of these displays.

You may have got the hint from the title of this post that there is more to come on this subject. I will be looking at the Derriford bus stop in particular as it has a unique set of problems which urgently need looking at. I will also be looking at some of the improvements which are being made across the City so there is hope!

Partnership

Plymouth is the main urban area within the operating area of First Devon and Cornwall and an area of vital importance to the ongoing success of the business. 2006 has been a landmark year in Plymouth City Council’s relations with First Devon and Cornwall following a number of successful joint  initiatives. Between November 2005 and November 2006, passengers in Plymouth have increased by 32 per cent, with 26 per cent a result of people taking advantage of the Government’s free travel scheme for the over 60s. This reveals ‘real’ passenger growth of 6.3 per cent.
Nine new double-decker buses have been introduced in partnership with Plymouth City Council on the city’s The George Park and Ride service. These buses are fitted with Euro IV engines, one of the cleanest diesel engines currently on the market. Not only is the Park and Ride helping to reduce the  number of cars entering the city centre, but the new engines are reducing CO2 emissions, helping to improve the local environment. The upgrade of the bus fleet in Plymouth has brought the average age of  the fleet down to 6.5 years, significantly below the Department for Transport’s target of eight years. 87 per cent of the bus fleet in Plymouth is now low floor, easy access. The working relationship between First and Plymouth City Council on a number of highly successful joint initiatives has contributed to boosting bus patronage, improving public satisfaction with public transport,and enhancing the image of buses and sustainable travel in Plymouth.

The above, rather glowing report comes from no less than the CPT (Confederation of Passenger transport) annual report on the state of the bus industry in this country.

The CPT has produced this document ‘On The Move’ to highlight the good work
in the UK bus industry and show what can be achieved through partnership between
local authorities and bus operators.

The full report which does make interesting reading can be found here (downloadable pdf file)

Omnibuses 2.0 has a post on the subject here which as usual is worth a quick read.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Two posts tonight as I wont be posting anything tomorrow as its my Dads funeral. Thanks to all the messages of support over the past week or so. Its been very helpful!

Local Lines

Refurbished FGW Class 150 No 150261 in "Local lines" livery made it's debut into Cornwall today making 2 return trips from Plymouth to Penzance. Last seen heading east this afternoon on 2P94 1450 Penzance to Plymouth. Diagram finishes at Laira tonight so may be around again tomorrow.

Reported by David King (SWRG Yahoo Group) a couple of days ago.

Click on the link above to see a fotopic page with 150261 in all its glory, or you could just make do with this great shot of a 158 class train in the same livery

©Onewayticket (Flickr Blog this)

UCO46L Leyland National

©Terry Clark

These two photos of former Plymouth Leyland National UCO46L were posted by Terry Clark - and are reproduced here with his permission. Plymouths Nationals were dispatched elsewhere early on in their working lives and were to be found all over the country with quite a few lasting really well. UCO46L became an Exhibition Unit and is pictured above at Southend Bus Rally date unknown - but after 1990 when Thamesway was formed.

©Richard Haughey

Richard then also posted this photo of the same bus still with Eastern National, also as an Exhibition Unit, looking very much an NBC product.

Thanks to both Terry and Richard for permission to use their photos

Got the Buzka

I have set up a new site under the Buzka service. Its nothing special really other than just a collection of useful web sites which cover local buses in someway. These include all the local bus operators and a couple of other sites. More will get added shortly.

Like I said its nothing special but it could be a handy way of finding useful related web sites all from one place

 

Plymouth Countrybus

©aecregent

In 1982, Western National sold six of its Bristol LHs to Plymouth Citybus. These were used on routes that went to areas outside of Plymouth and so were given the fleetname of Plymouth Countrybus. 16 stands in a car park near Milehouse whilst the depot was being rebuilt in1983

More paperwork tonight so thought I would highlight yet another of aecregents great photos

World of Leather

A short while ago it was reported that the forthcoming new Enviro 200's for Plymouth Citybus would feature leather seats among other luxuries and be fitted out to a high standard. It is all part of trying to get more passengers enticed back onto the buses.

Plymouth passengers have already had a taste of high spec interiors and decent leather seats with the Park and Ride fleet last year. These have proved very popular and are certainly the most comfortable buses in Plymouth these days. If the new Citybus fleet is as good as these - and they should be - then Plymothians are in for a treat!

It does seem that there is a trend developing across the country for leather seating and other luxuries. There are a few fleets that have introduced new buses into service this year that feature them. Blazefield Group (now Transdev) started using high spec leather seats a good few years ago. National Express West Midlands have just placed a fleet of Enviro double deckers with leather seating etc. New National Express coaches will also feature leather seats. Go Ahead group have placed leather seated coaches into service from Oxford. Arriva have used leather on some of their recent new services. Stagecoach are experimenting with gold service buses.

Leon Daniels from First Group answering a question about bus interiors had this to say about their plans:

"You will also see an increase in leather seats - on all coaches, vehicles used on longer distance services, on the new Green Line double-deckers (all in black), and on a batch of forthcoming standard double-deckers for Aberdeen (in purple). The Aberdeen vehicles will form a trial of leather seats on ordinary bus work."

So, it seems if you have a fetish for leather - its time to get back onto the bus!

First surprise?

 

There have been rumours for ages that Truronian were looking to sell up. Veolia were known to be interested and for a while it seemed that an expanding Stagecoach would almost certainly take control. Then a few weeks ago Omnibus blog reported an upsurge in searches for "First buy Truronian" - this is often a sign that things may becoming more than just rumour.

Then it happened! On the 12th February Truronian released a statement:

One of Cornwall's most successful public transport operators over the past two decades is set to change hands. First Devon and Cornwall Ltd, part of FirstGroup plc, the UK's largest bus and rail operator, has announced its intention to acquire Truronian Ltd.
Truronian operates a number of local bus services as well as coach holidays and coach hire and is being sold by its owners, Geoff Rumbles and David Rabey.
"Since launching Truronian Ltd in 1987 we have worked immensely hard to build a company that our passengers can respect and trust," said managing director Mr Rumbles.

"The opportunity to be part of the UK's largest surface transport company is definitely good news all round."

Marc Reddy, managing director of First Devon and Cornwall, commented: "This is a hugely exciting time for both First and Truronian and I see this acquisition as a good and natural fit for both businesses.

"Not only is this great news for the local economy but Truronian customers will soon have the UK's largest transport company alongside them on their every journey."
Truronian has some 70 vehicles, comprising around 50 buses and 20 coaches.
The company currently operates a number of high profile services, such as the Eden Project Park and Ride, as well as local bus services in Cornwall. It also undertakes National Express operations and offers executive coach hire as well as UK and European coach holidays. The transaction is subject to clearance from the Office of Fair Trading and completion of the due diligence process, after which the acquisition can take place.
Truronian has launched a number of innovative rural projects, all earning national recognition, and won a series of prestigious awards culminating in the "Public Transport Operator of the Year" accolade at the 2003 National Transport Awards.
Truronian's staff level has risen over the years to its present highest-ever number of around 200. Prior to Truronian, Mr Rumbles and Mr Rabey were the senior managers
of Western National before its privatisation.

This certainly caught out most people, even those who were expecting Truronian to sell out. It has also prompted a lot of comment from bus enthusiasts. The first reaction was one of amazement that First would even want to take back services, many of which First have given up in their general retreat from vast swathes of Cornwall over the last few years.

There were a few comments that local passengers would not be happy as FDC were rubbish and Truronian were a lot better. Many local enthusiasts though have pointed out that the FDC under Marc Reddy is a very different beast than the FDC of the few years ago. The appearance of the fleet has improved no end and they seem to be surviving the onslaught of competition from Stagecoach in North Devon - with Stagecoach still in North Devon but cutting back on many services at the end of last year.

The general opinion is that one of the overriding factors for FDC was not wanting Truronian to go to one of the other national groups. They certainly would not have wanted Stagecoach there!

The fleet of low floor Darts and Optare Solos will fit in well with FDC and there is also a nice smart fleet of coaches for FDC to play with. FDC will also join the small but growing band of First Group fleets with bendy buses with two Mercedes on the Eden Project contract. It will also bring in a fleet of elderly Olympians which I wouldn't expect to hang around too long once the acquisition is completed. They certainly present a very different image of Truronian than the nice shiny coaches above.

I along with many others will be watching Truro closely over the coming months. As Marc himself says

This is a hugely exciting time for both First and Truronian...

I think he means it!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

As always Omnibuses is worth reading on this subject click here

Incoming First Devon and Cornwall

Another Volvo / Wright single decker to join the fleet is T801RHW (48201) which I noted on Miller Way this afternoon (out of service). In standard Barbie livery I wouldnt have even noticed it if it wasnt off the normal beaten track for First.

It has been confirmed that it arrived on Tuesday from Bristol.

Life is now getting back to normal so full blogging will return tomorrow - just the funeral itself to worry about now. Thanks to all the kind comments received through the blogs and direct emails.

Dad

Terry Richardson

28 July 1938

to

8 February 2008

Rest In Peace

 

When I 'came out' as a bus spotter back in 1975 you never criticised or put me down or made fun. You always encouraged me to explore more and have encouraged me with this blog and all the other plans I have. Above all you taught me how to be a Dad. Both me and Zak thank you for that!

Thanks Dad.

Graham xx

Incoming Citybus

It was mentioned on this blog a while ago that Citybus were expecting some Enviros this year rather than Citaros. It has just been confirmed that they will be Enviro 200's with 35 full leather seats and other mod cons - quite a departure for Citybus!

11 are due in March/ April so should be 08 registrations. It will be interesting to see which route these are for. They will be in standard Citybus livery - hopefully without lots of contravision route branding over the windows!

Dot Com

You will have noticed a few changes here today which I hope will be an improvement on before. The big thing I guess is that I have now registered the blog as

www.plymothiantransit.com

I have been intending to do this for some time but had to make a few other changes first which I have now done. It will take a day or two to settle down so you may notice one or two links not working etc but otherwise the site should work as normal. The old blogspot address will automatically pick up the new address once its all ready. If you are reading this then its all working!

Apart from changing the header image, which I will do from time to time, the other big improvement is restricting the number of posts on the main page to the last 5. This will make it a lot quicker to load up as it was taking quite a while for me at least. Previous pages are always available under the archive menu on the right.

There will be other changes too but these are the big ones for now.

Northern Connect

We have just received details on the new Northern Connect service that is due to start in March. I think it starts the second Monday in March but i cant find it written down anywhere!

The route looks a good one - it will certainly be very useful to me when I move offices shortly as it will save me changing buses at Derriford. I am also very surprised at how frequent the service is.

I have uploaded the timetables we received which are Excel spreadsheet files. Click here and select northernconnect.xls

(There is also a timetable for service 52A which starts at the same time)

I have made a start on a route map for this service (as an experiment) which although far from complete does give an idea of the area served by the new service. There are still a few extra bits to be added and the bus stop details etc to be updated.

View Larger Map

I am sure I will have a lot more to say on this service later so just take this as an introduction for now!

Reminder of times gone by

It just goes to show how much things have changed: two or three years ago I wouldn't have batted an eye lid at the state of this bus. It was quite common for buses to run in previous operators livery, and even if in some version of Barbie livery, previous colours visible through the paint work and damaged and odd coloured panels were not unusual - in fact for the double deck fleet especially such poor presentation was the norm.

Today this turned up on the 86. Clear signs of previous incarnations of Badgerline livery can be seen around the lower deck windows. Typically for a photo taken at Derriford the passenger in the red jacket was too quick for me to get the whole bus in shot and I didn't get chance for a second attempt. Had she not been there you would have noticed the one smart section of bus. The rear engine cover has been repainted! presumably damage repair.

As I mentioned above, these days such a mess is rare for FDC, in Plymouth at least. Even the older double deckers are looking very smart in full Barbie livery. Plymouth Citybus has always had a very smart appearance, these days FDC can generally match them. I can only assume that this bus was placed into service in a hurry and will soon reappear in full Barbie livery looking very smart indeed!

Lynx

While things are up in the air with my Dad resulting in regular night visits to Derriford Hospital I am really just bringing some of the excellent photos that are appearing on Flickr to your attention.

aecregent never fails to provide some great shots and I have had this one on hold for a while.
201 E201BOD in April 1992.

There is another shot of sister 200 which illustrates the subtle livery differences which i had never noticed before.

The low point

Representing the low point in X38 vehicle allocation Devon General breadvan F741FDV sits at Bretonside ready to depart to Exeter. These buses really were awful for such a long journey but it was even worse if one of the bus seated breadvans were in use instead.
The one saving grace was that the service frequency was increased to every half an hour.
Photo from Terry Partridge

I almost forgot

Actually I did forget these bendy coaches being used on the X38. Thanks to those who reminded me. A quick search on Flickr brings up a few photos including this great shot by Terry Partridge (I should have known he would have one!)
I only ever managed one short trip on one of these - and that wasnt the full X38 - Cant recall what it was on so may have been some openday or something.
These two coaches went back up to Scotland and I am sure they are still there.

Your carriage awaits - or rather it doesnt

©Stevec77

The government have long promised extra carriages for trains as being the answer to over crowding. This week they announced where those extra carriages were going to be allocated. It wont come as a surprise to many that we wont be seeing many down here.

It has emerged that just 52 of the 1,300 extra carriages announced by Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly will go to the embattled train operator First Great Western, which runs services between the city and London. Most of the new rolling stock, 900, will go to London and the South East, while more than 300 of the new carriages will be used to meet the growth in demand in cities such as Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.

On my last train trip just before Christmas our journey from Exeter to Plymouth on a Virgin train was not too bad. The train was crowded and we couldn't all sit together - but there were seats. On arrival at Plymouth though things changed. The Virgin train ended at Plymouth and anyone wanting to go into Cornwall had to change trains. You had to feel sorry for the hundreds of passengers getting off the Virgin train and walking towards the two carriage train sitting on the platform which was already full to standing.

Even these extra carriages wont be around for some time yet:

A spokeswoman said that the first trains will enter service between 2009 and 2014, as set out in the White Paper.

Its going to be a long wait...