Stagecoach Strike Action?

Over the coming days there will be a series of smaller posts as I try to catch up on some of the happenings that have happened or will happen.

Stagecoach Strike

Stagecoach South West bus drivers have voted 'overwhelmingly' for both strike action and action short of a strike over pay. More than 78 per cent of RMT members’ voted for strike action whilst nearly 90 per cent voted for action short of a strike.

Transport Union RMT members are angry that the company has tabled a pay and conditions package that 'doesn’t even keep pace with the Retail Price Index' and which 'would condemn a key group of transport staff who are already on low pay levels to a de facto pay cut.' They say today's inflation rise has rubbed yet more salt in the wound.

Bob Dennison, Managing Director of Stagecoach South West, said "We have received no notification of any strike action at this stage. Our door remains open for discussions and we will be doing everything possible to find a solution that avoids any impact on our customers.

Full story Devon Live

If this strike does go ahead then it wont affect Plymouth services as they are under a different union. Either way though, lets hope for all concerned that it doesn't get that far…

Supporting The Workers

A rare trip into town with my camera coincided with nice weather and a public sector strike to provide a little bit of interest...

Its always nice to see the old lady out and about. 358 was providing support for the strikers as they met outside of The Guildhall. (This was well before the main event started)

Then we also had the one day special service 31 operating every hour to Torpoint via Saltash.

415 is almost ready to leave with a small load of passengers.

You might like

Useless Information Sign Appears in Blackpool Given the existing difficulty of finding information on out-of-town services from Blackpool, The Man on the Lancaster Omnibus wonders whether the whole thing is actually part of an exercise in preventing anyone actually leaving Blackpool at all!

Continuing Consideration of Cornwall [7] Unravelling the mysteries of the services 46 and fbb's chosen 47 between Camborne and Redruth demands considerable mental acuity. It is not helped by several facts concerning the first edition of First's Cornwall timetable book.

Out & about in Northumbria - part 1 This week we're heading to Northumbria to take a look at something a little bit different for our latest Out & about feature, this guest post which will be spread across three parts has been kindly provided by our regular correspondent Philip Slynn. Potters Bar Bus Garage open day 2014 - part 2 For our second post today we continue our look at David Bell's visit to Potters Bar Bus Garage open day last Saturday with a further selection of photographs of some of the special vehicles running at the event..

WELSH BUS CUTS UPDATE Several companies, including Stagecoach, began proceedings in the High Court because the law obliges the government to ensure that bus companies are no worse off than they would be if the free travel were not available.

First Torpoint

If you read the last post about Plymouth Citybus putting arrangements in place for Thursdays strike and the expected cancellation of Torpoint Ferry services you might have wondered what First were planning as they also still operate into Torpoint. Well it took a while but they too have now offered us their arrangements:

REMINDER OF CHANGE TO SERVICE 81 TIMETABLE (FOR ONE DAY) TOMORROW

Due to the Local Authority Day of Action affecting Torpoint Ferry crossings on Thursday 10 July we have had to create a temporary alternative timetable for service 81 buses between Torpoint and Plymouth. Please see below for how this may/will affect your journey:

- Travelling within Torpoint

All service 81 trips between HMS Raleigh and the Torpoint Ferry will run as normal with no change.

- Travelling from Torpoint to Plymouth

For those needing to get from Torpoint to Plymouth we will run buses between the Torpoint Ferry Shop, Landrake, the Tamar Bridge and Plymouth City Centre at 0623 and 0713 and then approximately every two hours during the day. Some trips will require passengers to change on to service 1/1A in Saltash (this is stated on the timetable available via the link at the bottom of this page).

- Travelling from Plymouth to Torpoint

For those needing to get back to Torpoint from Plymouth there will be service 81 buses running every two hours between Saltash Fore Street, Landrake and the Torpoint Ferry Shop during the day (you'll need to catch our service 1 or 1A from stand 3 (by the Guildhall) on Royal Parade in Plymouth and change in Saltash). However at the peak early morning (0742 and 0842 from Royal Parade) and afternoon/evening times (1530, 1630, 1730 and 1830 from Royal Parade) the 81 will run between Plymouth, the Tamar Bridge, Landrake and Torpoint without the need to catch the 1 or 1A and change in Saltash. Anyone wishing to travel from Devonport to Plymouth City Centre should catch our service 3 which runs a 10 minute day time frequency. The nearest service 3 stop for the Devonport side of the Torpoint Ferry is at the top of Ferry Road on Park Avenue. To view the temporary service 81 timetable running on Thursday 10 July please click here

You can also pick up a copy from your service 81 driver or the Torpoint bus depot (on Trevol Road next to the shops) from this evening. For regular updates on the service 81 on the day of the strike please see our Twitter or Facebook feeds (@firstbus_devon on Twitter) (CJ)

As a few passengers have pointed out this is quite a bit less than Plymouth Citybus are offering but First have offered an explanation of why this is:
"from our experiences of previous industrial action a lot of people will just not bother to do social/shopping travel on the day due to uncertainties on travel arrangements and the increased time to do the journey. We have focussed on providing a core service to people traveling to work. We will do this inside our existing resources for the Torpoint operation. I'm sure there will be people who will think we should do more, but our own business will suffer from this industrial action equally and the additional resources to run hourly in manpower and fuel would not be covered by what could be expected to be carried on the day. The other operator maybe expecting things to be different.

You might like

‘Scene’ in Barnsley I was born and brought up in South Yorkshire and having a father who played cricket to a high standard, the towns and villages of what were then the South Yorkshire coalfield were well known to me through dads sporting activities.

Stagecoach September Changes Stagecoach have today registered variations to many services with VOSA, with effect from 1st September. I have noted selected other service numbers mentioned on the registrations; these may indicate a new service variation or they could be old service numbers for long cancelled services.

Potters Bar Bus Garage open day 2014 - part 1 Our regular correspondent David Bell attended Metroline's Potters Bar bus garage open day last Saturday, in this two part photo special he shares an interesting selection of photographs taken on the day - enjoy!

New Livery for Ipswich The latest vehicle to be repainted at First Ipswich is former Norwich based 69008, it returned yesterday evening to Foundation Street adorned in a new version of the current First livery with a Charcoal Grey front Vintage Transport Weekend ~ Sunday A report on the second day of the North Norfolk Railway's Vintage Transport Weekend

Hedge Enders: Four contenders? Wheelers have registered a new route to run between the city centre and Hedge End from 1st September. If this isn't an agreed handover from Velvet A, then it gives Hedge End residents a choice of no less than four bus operators to use to get to Southampton:

MAJOR ROUTEMASTER EVENT 12-13 July 2014 It is anticipated that the first four prototype Routemasters will be in attendance along with many others.

 

Transdev Plays a Blinder at the Tour de France Enormous crowds were expected in Harrogate and obviously driving there was out of the question. Buses and trains were expected to be extremely busy and buses would also have the difficulty of coping with road closures and diversions. But the buses played a blinder.

Wandering Woefully W(r)ound Wellingborough Well done all concerned. It makes Cornwall look positively superb; and, refreshed (?) by the Wretchedness of Wellingborough, we return to the far west tomorrow. Continuing Consideration of Cornwall [6] Of course, nowhere at Camborne bus station could you discover in any detail where the 42 went; all the list tells you is that it will get you to Redruth - BIG DEAL! Indeed the useless megalist gives no information about intermediate points for any departure.

Castle Point Transport Museum The museum resides in Eastern National's former Canvey garage, inherited through Westcliff-on-Sea from the Bridge family's Canvey and District Motor Transport Co. Ltd., whose name is now restored over the main doors

Exciting new service coming soon from Sanders New service X11 will operate approximately every hour between Stalham and Norwich, serving Wroxham and Sproswton Blue Boar en-route

Citybus Plans for Ferry Strike

Plymouth Citybus arrangements for the Torpoint Ferry Strike on Thursday…

As part of the general public sector day of industrial action taking place Thursday the 10th July 2014. We have been informed that the Torpoint chain ferry will be closed to all traffic except emergency vehicles from Midnight this Wednesday until Midnight on Thursday. This means that the Service 32/A which operates Plymouth to Torpoint via the chain ferry to Liskeard and the Rame Peninsula will not be able to do so. To adapt for this day of action, Plymouth Citybus has prepared a revised alternative timetable for the day. See our website for details it is the first item on the News page.

Service 32 Plymouth side will generally operate unchanged but with all services terminating at the Plymouth side of the Torpoint Ferry. See replacement Service 31

Service 32/A will operate as far as is practically possible the existing timetable between Torpoint Ferry Torpoint side to Liskeard (32A) and Cremyll (32).

To replace the service connecting Torpoint and Plymouth a Service 31 will be in place. (see our website for details) This replacement service is to operate hourly from the Torpoint Ferry Torpoint side to Plymouth City Centre, via Antony, Trerulefoot Tideford Saltash to Plymouth Royal Parade. Our intention or plan is to operate serving all bus stops between Torpoint and Sheviock. Then we will operate a non stop to St Budeaux square to enable customers to change for services 21/A for Devonport. Then the service will operate non stop to the City Centre. We are operating via Saltash new road to Plymouth but this is only to take advantage of the bus priority for Pemros Road the bus will not be stopping to board and alight passengers. Supporting the regular drivers on the day will be a mixture of driver trainees, admin staff, and managers, so we apologies in advance if the service is a bit below par on the day. We will endeavour to do our very best.

Should the Torpoint Ferry Service be running and available for buses, then we will revert back to our normal timetabled service. For the updates on the day we strongly recommend following our facebook page Please accept our sincere apologies for the travel disruption faced on the day.

Full emergency timetable HERE

©Jo & Paul - creative commons July 2007

You might like

ON THIS BUS: It works! (Or is it Guessing…?) Having waxed anything buy lyrical previously about the saga of the rarely-working “totem” (geek-speak for posh bus stop), I’ve just been munching over a coronation chicken sandwich in Pret-a-Manger in Colmore Row Brum using the National Express West Midlands app to see if it will correctly predict the arrival of the 140.

A Tale of a Tub [3] Whilst there will always be (heated?) debate about which system of managing and paying for public transport is the best, it is very clear that interurban and rural services in France tend to be inferior to the UK product. Urban services, particularly those in the smaller towns, appear, on the surface at least, to be better - and cheaper. But that hides the huge, huge levels of subsidy and much higher taxation.

TV documentary about Crossrail on BBC2 Broadcast on BBC2, the “Fifteen Billion Pound Railway” starts next Wednesday, 16th July at 9pm and follows the construction of the new train tunnels and stations under London. Crossrail provided access over a two year period to the film crews to make the film. Based on the reaction to the BBC2 series about the tube network, this should be a hugely popular TV series.

LEON DANIELS London Pride Last Saturday we were celebrating Pride London with many thousands marching through the West End. Nothing was going to dampen spirits, not even the rain.

109 New First Vehicles for Glasgow 2014 First Bus has announced an investment of £20M in 109 brand new vehicles which will carry customers for the first time at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

There may be trouble ahead…

Hundreds of bus workers in Devon and Cornwall have voted for industrial action in a dispute over pay. The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union said members were angry at First Group's failure to come up with a "serious pay offer". First employs about 500 people in Devon and Cornwall. Of the 300 who took part in the RMT ballot, 85% voted for strike action. The company said it would not comment on the ballot.

The RMT said 92% of members had voted for for action short of a strike and general secretary Bob Crow described it as a "massive mandate for action". Mr Crow said First's pay offer was "self-funding" - meaning it would have no cost impact on the company and ring-fences their profits. He said the company had already removed the final salary section of the pension scheme and was now trying to "bind up what's on the table with a whole load of strings".

"Today's massive mandate for action by RMT members on First Devon and Cornwall buses reflects their anger at the failure to come up with a serious pay offer," Mr Crow said. "Bus services and bus workers in the South West are under a series of attacks as the companies attempt to ramp up and protect profits at the expense of their staff and the travelling public. "Our ballot of groups of staff on First Devon and Cornwall buses draws a line in the sand as we fight to protect standards of living. He said the union would not be rushing in to strike action, but would seek a negotiated settlement. "We don't want to take action for the sake of it; we actually want the company to get a negotiated agreement without strike action."

BBC

Lets just hope it all gets sorted without any damaging industrial action.

Tanker Strike

PLYMOUTH’S petrol supplies could dry-up within hours if a tanker drivers’ strike goes ahead, said a city union boss. Scores of petrol stations across Plymouth could be closed and army military personnel might be called upon to supply gas as fuel tanker drivers voted overwhelmingly for strike action. It follows a dispute over terms and conditions and safety standards. Unite drivers supply fuel to 90 per cent of the UK’s forecourts and the union said a strike could close up to 7,900 petrol stations. Workers in seven major distribution companies were balloted for industrial action – Wincanton, DHL, Hoyer, BP, J W Suckling, Norbert Dentressangle and Turners. Unison said that more than 61.1 per cent of those voting across the seven companies voted for strike action.

This is Plymouth

So lets have a reminder of what we will be missing if they do strike

---

Elsewhere on the net

• Nottingham’s infamous bus war between Trent Barton and Premiere makes its way to East Midlands airport from today. Omnibuses
• Clifton and Westbury : Confused and Wondering. Public Transport Experience
• Curiouser and curiouser! Does it or doesn't it? Public Transport Experience
• this year sees the sixtieth anniversary of the closure of London's tramway system on July 5th 1952 and the fiftieth of the closure of its successor trolleybus network on May 8th 1962. Transport Illustrated
• Crossrail’s Canary Wharf station :As – in construction terms – a milestone has been achieved, it was a chance to go back inside and have a look at what has changed since I last saw the bottom of the station, which at the time looked a bit like this Ian Visits
• He told me there was no such thing as a Weekend First upgrade and, despite seeing my receipt from the previous week, retorted that I had never bought it because no such ticket was available. Public Transport Experience
• There’s a certain delicious irony, don’t you think, in the fact that the first bus to display a patriotic all-over queen’s diamond jubilee livery is operated by a subsidiary of a French State. Omnibuses
• In summary, you, the customer, have rights; but the Train Companies can take them away from you whenever they choose. Public Transport Experience
• Why doesn't the British Transport Police take a leaf from the aviation industry's book and enlist transport enthusiasts visiting railway stations as additional eyes and ears on the ground? A Transport of Delight
• Having lived in London for over two decades the city holds few attractions for me and a trip to Acton or Croydon is quite far enough now but a fascination for its transport history will always be strong. If only we could get into The Depot more often. Transport Illustrated
• Paul Bunting, blog reader and London resident, had a personal problem. He and the choir were singing at a special service in a Church at Hampstead Garden Suburb. Public Transport Experience
• Well, after the established industry had slapped itself on its collective back on Friday when the results of the bidding for the third round of the Green Bus Fund had been announced, everybody looked at the list of winners to see what their competitors had got. Omnibuses

Sorry for the gap in posting – far too much on at the moment!

Torpoint Ferry chaos?

Tomorrow ses a national strike by council workers. How much this effects you will depend on where you live and what council services you rely on. For people living in Torpoint it will have a major effect as the Torpoint Ferry service will not be running.
First Devon & Cornwall report the changes to their services as follows:

Between 0600 and 2200 First will only be operating limited journeys from Torpoint to Plymouth, these will be: Sycamore Drive to Plymouth (via Devonport & Stoke)Service 80 0610 journey Service 80 0700 journeyService 80 1517 journeyService 81 1618 (1616 Raleigh) journeyBretonside to Torpoint (via Devonport & Stoke)Service 80 0740 journeyService 80 0840 journeyService 80 1650 journeyService 80 1750 journeyAs a result of the above journeys operating, certain other journeys on service 80 and 81 may not operate during this time. All other advertised services which cross the Tamar using the Torpoint ferry will terminate or commence at the terminal on the Torpoint side.

This is Plymouth reports that the strike may affect public services tomorrow but makes no mention of the ferries. Nothing is mentioned either on Torpoint Ferry website.

Other minor news is that Torpoint bound Olympian C412HJN has now been noted in service - in Plymouth!

We assume it will soon take its place in Torpoint and see of another VRT.