06 January 2010

A bit of a day of it

Could you offer the driver a hot cup of tea please? I'm sure they would be grateful and so would we!


There is only really one story at the moment - and that is the weather! Although here in Plymouth we have probably had the least amount of snow of anywhere in the west country it is still enough to cause major problems. As I type this we are slowly seeing all the buses coming off the road (we lost our service at 7pm). So for this post I will leave it to the bus companies themselves to tell the story of the day, as it happened - live on Twitter and Facebook.
I am sure neither company expected Twitter and Facebook to be so useful so quickly!

http://twitter.com/FirstBus_Devon

http://twitter.com/PlymouthCitybus

It is good to see both companies attracting followers so quickly with both having over 120 followers now.

First on Twitter 5 Jan 2010
06:32 Adverse weather update - Tuesday morning at 0630. All Services in North Devon and Bude area suspended due to snow.

07:41 Adverse weather update - at 0745 all Services in South Devon including Torpoint, Callington and Tavistock are operational

07:43 Adverse weather update - at 0745 all Services in North Devon and Bude area are suspended due to snow.

07:44 Adverse weather update - at 0745 all Services in Cornwall except services 994/997 from the Wadebridge to Truro College are operational 09:32 PLYMOUTH/TORPOINT/CALLINGTON Update - services all operational as of 0900

09:34 Adverse weather update - Service 84 not serving Whitchurch due to snow.

09:35 Adverse weather update - Service 87 not serving Bere Ferrers due to snow. Service 89 not serving Courtlands due to snow.

09:46 TAVISTOCK: Service 84 won't serve Whitchurch. Service 87 won't serve Bere Ferrers. Service 89 won't serve Courtlands. All due to snow.

11:45 NORTH DEVON: services still currently not operating: 1/2, 1A/1B/1C, 3, 4, 5, X7, X9, 30, 31, 32, 128 plus services for North Devon College.

13:14 TAVISTOCK We're advised that weather conditions are deteriorating and there is now 3 inches of snow. Updates on affected services to follow.

13:15 TAVISTOCK: Service 87 has been suspended from 13.00 due to increased snow fall.

13:16 TAVISTOCK: Service 89 will only serve the Town Centre, Morrisons and Somerfield from 12.30 due to the increased snow fall.

13:21 TAVISTOCK/YELVERTON An accident has completely blocked the road from Tavistock to Yelverton, so services 83/84/86, 87 & 89 may be delayed.

13:27 PLYMOUTH/SOUTH DEVON: services in Plymouth, Torpoint, Torbay, South Hams & Callington operating as normal.

13:39 TAVISTOCK: Services 83/84/86, 87 & 89 unable to serve bus station & will stop on main road. Due to accident at Tavistock Hospital

19:24 Adverse weather update - Services in North Devon are now suspended for the rest of the evening due to heavy snow.

19:27 Adverse weather update - Services in North Devon will be severely affected by snow during Wednesday. We apologise for the inconvenience.

19:29 Adverse weather update - Services in South Devon will be severely affected by snow during Wednesday. We apologise for the inconvenience.

19:31 Adverse weather update - Service 86 to Tavistock will be subject to significant delays this evening due to snow on Dartmoor.

21:30 Adverse weather update - Service 86 between Plymouth, Mutley, Woolwell & Tavistock is suspended this evening due to heavy snow.
Citybus on Twitter / Facebook 5 Jan 2010
07:10 It's another very cold morning out there. As at 0710 all our services are operating as normal. If we experience any problems they will be announced here, on Twitter and through our friends at Radio Devon.

07:23 We have just been advised that Plymbridge Road is closed due to a burst water main and the resultant ice. Fortunately this will only concern a few of our industrial services which will divert via Miller Way

08:22 Plymbridge Road now open

08:53 Sorry but we have had to pull the service 22 out of Merafield for the time being due to slippery roads. Hopefully some grit will arrive and allow us to resume the full route

10:09 We have had to withdraw the service 26 from Yellowtor Road in Saltash due to ice. The rest of the route is currently open to us. We have a bus stuck at the junction of Yellowtor Road and Fairmead Road which we are trying to recover at this moment! (In case you are wondering the bus was recovered safely and after a brief warm up in the garage was sent out to do some work).

13:00 We are operating services 127, 128 and 129 at 1330 from the school. This is to give pupils from Yelverton and Tavistock a change to get home. We are also hoping to run the 124 and PC3 at the same times from the schools

13:09 The 124 will also operate at 1330 but will almost certainly be limited to the main road only as far as Yelverton

14:59 Service 42 has been withdrawn from Leatfield Drive due to ice.

15:34 Services 58 and 59 are not serving Wotter village Buses will stay on the bypass due to ice.

18:10 Various roads are now becoming icy Austin crescent and holly park

19:00 Things are already getting quite bad out there. Off limits are Yellowtor Road, Amados Drive, Leatfield Drive, Blandford Road, Manifold Gardens, Austin Crescent. More service disruption is expected as the evening goes on. Stay with us on Facebook and Twitter to be kept up to date.

19:20 Further problems We are out of Keswick Crescent, Holmwood Avenue, Deer Park, Lower Compton, Whitleigh Green. Ernesettle is now passable with care following a visit by the gritters. We really would advise you staying indoors tonight unless you really must go out.

19:28 No services to Pike Road, Efford Lane. Services 8 and 9 operating to Laira Roundabout and back. We have two buses stuck across roads in Efford and Compton with no idea when the gritters will get to them! Can you see one from your window? Could you offer the driver a hot cup of tea please? I'm sure they would be grateful and so would we!

21:00 The bus stuck at Lower Compton has got itself out. We have a further two buses stuck on Pike Road with no sign at all of the gritters. One driver should have finished two hours ago! We are now out of Cattedown, and the Wilburt Road end of Leigham.

21:0 TOMORROW! We will start posting any known problems, road closures, and diversions, on here and on Twitter from about 0700 tomorrow morning. It does look like there will be some disruption to services. Don't forget updates will also be given out on BBC Radio Devon - during Gordon Sparks show.

 

 

 

 

 


PlymTransit on Twitter

1 comment:

  1. Well done to First who at least tried to keep services running through the snow in Plymouth this morning. We live on a main road and the only services that turned up were First. Citybus usual shambles after a bit of snow, no services for 3 hours even though thet were coming from the same places as FDC. At least we have got one company in the city that doesn't panic and disappear as soon as a bit of snow arrives.

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