British Coach Tourism Awards shortlist

This might come as a bit of surprise to some of you…

Plymouth’s project to create better facilities for coach tours has led to the city being shortlisted as a coach friendly destination in the British Coach Tourism Awards.

The Council embarked a package of works designed to create a better welcome for coach passengers coming to Britain’s Ocean City with its new multi-million coach station in the West End. As part of the project, the team reviewed all the coach facilities across the city to take into account the expanding market. As well as the coach station the Council:

• Re-profiled Derry’s Cross Roundabout in the West End to provide two locations which cater for up to five coaches at any one time.
• Provided two high quality stainless steel and glass passenger waiting shelters with integrated tourist and coach driver information.
• Committed to redevelop existing coach facilities on the historic waterfront, the Barbican, to provide better use of space and greater capacity which will hopefully lead to more coach trips.

Councillor Patrick Nicholson, deputy leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Transport and Planning said: “Building a new coach station gave us the opportunity to look at what else we could do to make Plymouth as coach friendly as possible.  “As well as these new facilities we have been talking to National Express, the coach station operators who will be able to take holiday and visitor coaches on a pre-arranged basis. This is a market we want to see grow here in Plymouth and we are doing what we can to support it.”

The project team collected data over 18 months and worked closely with a number of stakeholders including the Confederation of Passenger Transport and Destination Plymouth. It looked at making sure there were adequate waiting facilities for passengers, good access, convenient locations, safety particularly in the evenings was also taken into account and access to visitor information to other facilities. It looked at making sure there were adequate waiting facilities for passengers, convenient locations, safety was also taken into account and access to other facilities.

The team also negotiated better facilities provided commercially by the city’s two main bus companies, Plymouth Citybus and Stagecoach, at their depots. At Bretonside driver facilities only included parking. Now, the new facilities offer minor repairs, washing services, toilet drops and complimentary bus passes to allow travel back to the City Centre. As well as facilities the project included an extensive information strategy to make sure the changes were communicated to both the industry and passengers. Maps, highways signs and were also updated as well as websites.

Amanda Lumley, Chief Executive of Destination Plymouth said: “We get lots of visitors who travel by coach particularly from places such as Germany. “Coach tourism will play a part in boosting our tourist figures which will help bring money into the local economy. Having better drop-off and lay over facilities close to key tourist attractions and amenities all helps create a better experience for visitor.

“Getting recognition from the trade through these awards all helps keep us in the spotlight.”

The winners will be announced on Wednesday 22 March at the National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham

Plymouth City Council 3 Feb 2017

Judging by previous comments here. I seem to be in a minority when it comes to assessing how the council have done with replacing Bretonside. The new coach station may not be the best, but it seems to be kept clean and appears to be operating well enough from what I have seen so far. Bretonside may have been a great place to go and see and more importantly for some, photograph visiting coaches but it was a real dump and presented a very poor first impression of the city to visitors.

Thanks to Richard Smith for the photos

Mayflower Coach Station

Catching up on the new chapter for coach travel in Plymouth with the final closure of Bretonside and the opening of the new Mayflower Coach Station:

Plymouth's new coach station was officially opened today with National Express and Stagecoach present as the main users of the new transport hub. The Plymouth City Transport Preservation Group were asked to have a presence and mark the event with a departure from Bretonside Bus & Coach Station and arrival at Mayflower Coach Station using preserved AEC Harrington, 100 VRL. Providing a contrast in customer comfort. A photo shoot was held with local dignitaries, operators and involved parties. Ralph Delbridge, Group Chairman said, it's important to maintain relationships with local Operators and to be asked to support this event and the new era of transportation in Plymouth is testament of the relationship. Our thanks to member Roger Thomas for bringing his superb vehicle for all to enjoy

Thanks to Jason Beverley for the photos. More information, new and photos from Bretonside and Mayflower to follow tomorrow…

There have been teething troubles!

Ian Harris Photo Set - Bretonside 16th July

Another in the series of posts looking back at the weekend of 16/17 July, this time with a collection of photographs from Ian Harris all from Bretonside on the 16th.

Contrasting VRTs

Contrasting Atlanteans

And an Olympian that's still in service with Jacketts

Old and New

Even older and New

Thanks Ian for the photos!

Richards View of Bretonside

Another set of photos sent in from the weekend, this time from Richard Smith. All of these were from Saturday at Bretonside

Spot the imposter

Bretonside Variety

Wallace Arnold

Making a very welcome return to Bretonside, this smart Wallace Arnold Leyland Leopard. Superb!

Work In Progress

Perfect Weather for the Beach Bus

Thanks to Richard as ever for the excellent photos. More photos from the weekend during the week ahead

Peters Snaps from the weekend

The first set of pictures sent in by others to share on Plymothian Transit

You might like to use some of my snapshots from Saturday. I say Snaps, as they were generally taken to capture a moment, not photographs, which are normally composed with care. So, whilst their photographic qualities might not win any prizes, I do think that they captured the essence of the run over from Exeter that you sadly missed.

I would also like to record my appreciation of everybody who gave up their time over this busy weekend to make it such fun for everybody. This includes the bus and coach owners, their drivers and the many volunteers who gave up their time freely to help both the Devon General Omnibus Trust and the Plymouth City Transport Preservation Group. It was a great weekend guys, and girls, enjoyed by many.

Peter Murnaghan

Also the view on Laira Bridge, which you will be familiar with. After causing much traffic congestion, which attracted the attention of the Devon & Cornwall Police, the recovery truck arrived after about an hour and towed 162 back to depot.  I don't think that the Conductor was blameworthy for this failure!

A letter box view, which reminded me of Del Trotter's Reliant, which was lettered up for Trotters Independent Trading New York, Paris, Peckham.  My view captures European cities mixed with more mundane places like Bridport and Guildford.

Thanks again to Peter for the excellent shots especially from the Exeter to Plymouth run.

More shots over the coming days from others who have sent them in. (feel free if you still want to send some in !)

A Flavour of a Busy Weekend

It has been a great weekend with fantastic weather. For me it was too hot and I am now suffering with sun burn (my own fault!) but it was great for the bus events that were happening.
I didnt get to Exeter but did make it to Bretonside which had a great showing of buses and coaches and drew large crowds of people. I also got the the Sunday event at The George which was equally brilliant. As I am still looking through my own photographs I present just a few pictures of my own below as a hint of the flavour of the weekend.
One of the highlights of these events was the chance to get to meet up with old friends and also the chance to put faces to names for the first time.
As usual I would like to continue posting photos of all the weekend events over the coming week, so if you have any photos you would like to share here please send them in (dbg@plymothiantransit.com) It would be nise to see some from Exeter and the calvacade if possible and also on some of the many trips that were on offer over both days. The more the merrier!

A small gathering of buses a while before the cavalcade arrived



Seeing a variety of coaches entering a packed Bretonside Coach Station, brought back memories a what seems like so long ago now



The colours of Citybus!
This last photo is especially poignant as for some time in the afternoon it was not possible to get this photos as the area was cordoned off by police after a very nasty accident when a car ran into the back of the Blue Flash Volvo see at the far end here. I wont go into any details but it was very lucky that no one was killed (although the driver had to be cut free from the car) . I am sure it will be in the local news on Monday. Our thoughts and prayers are for the people involved, that they make a full recovery.
Special thanks to all the organisers of all the weekend events and the many volunteers to helped with conducting, piloting, and general marshalling around the sites. Especially as the events on Sunday unfolded and tours were suspended for a while they maintained their cool and their professionalism.
Special thanks have to go to the Emergency Services who responded in some numbers to the emergency and those who were first at the scene of the accident including Martyn a coach driver who just happens to be fully trained by the Ambulance Service and is exactly the sort of person you would want there. 

Celebration Weekend

Two bus stations closing this summer

Devon General Omnibus Trust working together with Plymouth City Transport Preservation Group

The bus and coach stations at Paris Street in Exeter and Bretonside in Plymouth are both due to close this summer.  To celebrate the heyday of coaching, the Devon General Omnibus Trust has organised a cavalcade of historic coaches between the two sites.

On Saturday 16th July, up to twenty old buses and coaches will leave Exeter coach station at 1030, bound for Bretonside in Plymouth.  They will travel along the traditional route that was used before the A38 South Devon Expressway was opened in 1975.  They will pass through the Devon countryside and remind passengers and bystanders of a bygone era when luxury coach travel took place at a more sedate pace, when people weren't in such a hurry.

The coaches will leave Exeter via Countess Wear and Matford to join the A38 for the climb up Haldon Hill.  They will turn off to follow the old road through Chudleigh (around 1100) and Bickington, through Ashburton (around 1120) and Buckfastleigh, and through South Brent (around 1140) and Ivybridge.

At Smithaleigh, they will pause to regroup into a convoy for the final leg into Plymouth, where they will be met by a Civic party at Bretonside at around 1230.

Chairman of the Devon General Omnibus Trust, Peter Murnaghan said “ It is a very sad day to be saying goodbye to not just one long established bus and coach station in the South West, but two in the same year.  We recognise that travel patterns change over time and these two sites need to be replaced, but they hold happy memories for many thousands of holidaymakers and local travellers over the years, who have caught coaches from Exeter and Plymouth.  We thought that we must mark this unique moment in our history with a run of heritage coaches between the two cities”.

The coaches are privately owned and restored, but members of the public may buy a programme at Exeter before departure and ask permission of the drivers to travel on the cavalcade.  Many of the coaches will be staying in Plymouth for a rally the next day, so it will not be possible to return on the historic coaches.  Any passengers would need to make their own way back to Exeter on normal bus or train services.

In Plymouth, a number of heritage bus services will be running on routes around the city on Saturday afternoon and a major transport rally, organised by the Plymouth City Transport Preservation Group will be taking place at The George park & ride car park on the following day, Sunday 17th July.

The Devon General Omnibus Trust would welcome readers' photographs of the old coaches passing through the Devon villages during the morning run.  See their website www.dgot.co.uk for contact details.

Thanks to Peter Murnaghan for supplying photos, of just a few of the buses and coaches that should be attending these events.

Date Set for new Coach Station

Plymouth’s new coach station will open on Thursday 8 September

Contractor SWH Civils is making good progress on the construction project off Mayflower Street which will replace the old 1950s coach station at Bretonside. SWH Civils has released the latest time lapse video from May and June to show how much progress has been made.

 

The key features, the giant canopies that provide cover for passengers getting on and off coaches, are now up on the eastern end of the site. Through another contract SWH Build, also part of SWH Group, is converting the former Lloyds Bank building into a ticket office. Granite stones are being laid in what will become an outside waiting area and creating the chequered board look that will feature across the coach station.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Transport, Housing and Planning, Councillor Patrick Nicholson said: “It’s good to see this new coach station taking shape and the opening date means the end of the build is in sight.

“For a long time people have felt that Bretonside did not give the welcome a modern city should give visitors. This new coach station will change that. We hope it will also mean more people spend money in and around this part of the city centre. Moving the coach services out of Bretonside will allow a £42 million investment get underway, which is great news for the city centre and great news for Plymouth.

National Express service delivery director Kevin Gale said: “National Express is getting in gear to move into the new coach station and it’s fantastic to see it taking shape.

“This is a really exciting new development, not just for us as a business, but also for the city as a whole, and will provide our customers with a really modern and welcoming experience. We will continue to work closely with the council throughout the latter stages of the build and as we transition over to the new site.”

Over the summer the Council will work with National Express to make sure that passengers know where the new coach station will be.

Signs will be going up in Bretonside and around the city centre. Other coach operators are being made aware of changes to give people plenty of notice about new arrangements.

The new coach station will be operated by National Express which will operate direct daily services to towns and cities across the UK.

New arrangements are being made for tour operators and visitor coaches to be dropped off and picked up at the bottom of Royal Parade and on the Barbican as part of the Council’s plans to improve coach services for the city.

An area around the pavements at Derry’s Cross is being altered to provide two dedicated locations for coaches to drop off day visitors. There will also be a shelter built. Later in the year an area at the junction of Lambhay Hill and Commercial Road on the Barbican will be re-engineered to enable coaches to turn into it from Lambhay Hill to reduce the number of coaches driving along the narrow Southside Street.

The Council has been working with the trade representative body, the Confederation of Passenger Transport, to make sure both passengers and the coach companies are catered for.

Bretonside In Focus

If you can cope with all the adverts and annoying pop ups on The Herald web site there is a nice little feature with some excellent photos of Bretonside Bus Station over the years, with a few I havent seen before.

Over the last few months there has been a lot of news about the investments being made in redeveloping Plymouth, writes Cate Vaughton, volunteer archive assistant at South West Image Bank. One of the areas of focus is Brentonside Bus Station, with plans to move the bus station to the city centre and turn the Brentonside site into a leisure centre. The bus station has been a hub not only for those making journeys both locally and further afield, but has also had an eclectic array of shops, cafes and nightclubs situated within its underground location over the years.

Alas, the bus station has in recent years become slightly unkempt but, despite this, many will have fond memories of the White Rabbit and the Last Shop Standing. Soon these will become just stories about Plymouth told nostalgically to younger generations.

Read more: http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/pictures/Bretonside-Bus-Station-new-Day/pictures-26185582-detail/pictures.html#ixzz4BPIjhjW2
Follow us: @heraldnewslive on Twitter | theplymouthherald on Facebook

Celebrating Exeter & Plymouth Bus Stations

From the PCTPG:

As promised the big announcement today is....there will be a cavalcade of buses and coaches leaving Exeter bus station to arrive at Bretonside in time for the closure event there..this event is being run in association with our friends at the Devon General Omnibus trust.

This promises to be a great weekend!

Facebook Page for the event

Plymouth City Transport Preservation Group

Devon General Omnibus Trust

Double Event for your Calendar

 

We are pleased to advise that we are holding two bus events in Plymouth this July. A special event to mark the  Bretonside closure and Annual Running day & Classic vehicle rally will be going ahead as follows....
Saturday July 16th Bretonside Bus Station closure, Plymouth
1300-1800 - Heritage Bus running day with preserved buses and coaches operating over routes (FREE) around the City including the waterfront and Hoe
Sunday July 17th Plymouth Classic Bus & Coach running day and classic vehicle rally, George Junction Park & Ride, Plymouth
1000-1600 - Preserved and service buses running FREE routes into the City and across the Moors and classic vehicles on display
Family entertainment / Trade and enthusiast stalls / Model displays / Food incl Ice cream / Plenty of FREE parking and FREE City link Bus and more........

Please visit our website at www.plymouthcitytransport.co.uk
For further information.

© Jos Van Hemeert July 1987

Mayflower Coach Station

Bretonside is Dead.

Construction work on its new site is stating up this week:

Work starts this week on the new coach station in Plymouth’s West End as the city centre gears up for a year of significant change.

SWH Civils, the appointed contractor, will be breaking ground at the site in Mayflower Street to herald the start of the project.

The new station replaces facilities for scheduled long distance coaches from Bretonside which will be transformed into a new leisure destination for Plymouth with the British Land development, which is due to start in the summer.

Kevin Gale, Service Delivery Director National Express UK Coach said: “We are delighted to see work start on this new facility which will be a much more welcoming and pleasant experience for passengers.

“We have worked closely with the Council and their contractors from the outset and throughout the development of the scheme to deliver the best possible outcome for our customers.

“Coach travel is an important part of the public transport offer and Plymouth is a key location for National Express. It’s great to see a city invest in facilities that will meet current demand and support a growing coach market.”

Council Leader Tudor Evans said: “This project will enable a £42 million investment to happen, that will not only vastly improve Plymouth’s Bretonside, but will also lead to more visitors, which in turn creates jobs for local people.

“We are working flat out to improve the city, create more opportunities for residents and make it more welcoming. This new coach station is a significant part of this plan.”

Councillor Mark Lowry, Cabinet member for Finance and Assets and city centre champion said: “Lots of incredibly exciting projects get underway this year which will keep pulling visitors into our city centre to spend their money, which is good for business and good for the city.

“First on the city centre to-do list is the new coach station. We’re getting more and more visitors coming to Britain’s Ocean City and we want to give them a better welcome when they arrive.”

The new coach station will have seven coach stands to serve National Express and Megabus. Features include real time passenger information systems, blue badge holder drop-off bay, customer help points, ticket machines, toilets, cycle stands, CCTV and ornamental lighting.

The old Lloyds Bank building in Armada Way will be transformed into an indoor ticket office and waiting room, with toilets, comfortable seating, ‘real time’ information screens, ticket office and a food and drink concession. There will also be a car park with blue badge holder bays and drop off and pick up taxi/private hire bays.

Audra Hampton, Landlady of the Newmarket Tavern, which overlooks the site said: “We are upbeat about it. We see the new coach station as a business opportunity and have plans to make the back of the pub more appealing.

“We will be the first sign of life for people getting on and off the coaches early in the morning and want to open up for breakfast. It could be a massive opportunity.”

Lorraine Ventor of Mex Locos, 134 Cornwall Street, which sells burritos and tacos, added: “We hope having the new coach station here will be good for business. We need more people to visit this part of town and hope that people want to come down and pop in for a bite of a burrito before they go on a long trip!”

Jon Walton, City Centre Manager said: “We appreciate there will be some disruption, but with the prospect of a further 200,000 people arriving right in the heart of the West End, once the scheme is open, we believe it will be worth it.

More people in this part of the city centre should lead to more trade for its shops. With the new landscaping around the scheme, it is also going to look a whole lot better!”

SWH Civils has been in touch with businesses around the site to discuss logistics about access and bin collections. They will also be opening a site office at 107 to 109 Mayflower Street, so that people can see the plans in detail and talk to the contractors.

Adrian Perry, Project Manager at SWH Civils added: “It is a city centre site and we are keen to minimise inconvenience and disruption to our neighbours – both business and residents – while we carry out the work.”

Signs have been displayed at Western Approach and Mayflower Street giving drivers notice that access will be restricted.

The first phase of the project involves removing the remaining elements of the old multi -storey car park with the rubble being reused as fill material in the new scheme – reducing vehicle movements to and from site and minimising the need for importing quarried stone. Once the old concrete walls have been removed, new walls for the coach station will be built and an upgraded drainage system.

The coach station area will then be filled to create a level area that forms the footprint for the new coach station and car park.

I am planning on doing a few Bretonside Photos Specials over the coming weeks (once all the current new bus deliveries settle down!). If you have any interesting phtos you would like to share of anything particuarly unusal you have caught on camera there, then please feel free to send them in! (full credit copyright noted naturally).

Meanwhile…

Our first glimpse of the new Park & Ride livery as brand new 26034 was caught on delivery by Dave Growns…

© Dave Growns

I think I will wait on the final product before I rusah to judgement - and see what it looks like on the new double deckers.

The Last day of First

As promised a bumper selection of photos from myself and others that have been sent in all taken on the last day of First in Plymouth. I hope this conveys the flavour of what was an excellent and affectionate send off. Thanks to all who supplied the photos.

A very proud owner! My favourite ride of the day

I will miss these, just a little bit anyway

Dwarfed by the majestic bridges at Saltash Passage. The 6 and 7 routes were the ones I grew up with and went to school on. It was the Bristol FLFs and then the nice new VRs which led to me becoming a bus spotter.

A faithful friend… and a dog

Not always the best of friends but Plymouth Citybus and First / Western National did manage to get on for most of the time.

Classic bus in a classic bus station – soon to be no more.

The last two generation's of Ferry bus

Southern imposter, but very welcome anyway

Thats me in the front window!

Torpoint wont be the same

Line up of First (plus one!)

 

Somehow the ugobus brand managed to survive right till the end. A brand launched with so much promise but then left to wither away.

A time to reflect on what was and what could have been

There wont be that many photos of First buses and Yellow Flash together as they were only overlapping for one week. Plymouth certainly has colourful buses. It remains to be seen if Stagecoach bring quite as much colour as First did.

Lovely line up for the last ever First run to Torpoint

THE END.