Plymothian Olympic Dreams

Local involvement in the Olympics is very much in the news at the moment.

Not going

A SHOCK decision to deny Plymouth diver Tonia Couch a chance to dive for individual gold in the Olympics has been condemned as a slap in the face.

One school has 4 pupils taking part

Yet for one Plymouth school, four students will be taking part in the ultimate test for any sportsperson.

Shuttles

We know that the new Enviros First are running on the Park & Ride service are intended to be used at the Olympics. As far as I know Plymouth is the only places where these buses have been placed into service ahead of the games. Everyone else has to wait for theirs after the games. What many people have questioned was if the buses were then coming back to Plymouth after the games. It seems that up to a point this question has been answered…

A spokeswoman said yesterday: "First replaced the vehicles operating on the Plymouth Park and Ride in April this year.

"The brand new vehicles were always intended to be used during the Olympics in the summer. However, the intention is to bring these vehicles back to Plymouth once the Games are over.

"For the duration of the Olympics, First will use different vehicles on the Plymouth Park and Ride but the service will operate as normal with no impact on timetable or the capacity of the service.Customers should not notice any significant differences."

This is Plymouth

I must admit I have always thought that the buses would return to Plymouth. If we were going to be fobbed off with older buses we would have had them in the first place. It is good to see that it is still the intention to bring them back. Of course plans can change…

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Elsewhere on the net

• With one slight exception, every approach to Ventnor involves steep downhill routes; try, for example, the aptly named Zigzag Road! But public transport facilities have definitely gone down hill. Public Transport Experience
• The event has become infamous in the past for marking the death for quite a number of interesting or rare buses, including various Leylands, AECs etc PTOTPA
• England’s most significant partners seem to have fallen out a little in Brighton, over space for buses outside Brighton railway station. Omnibuses

Just passing through

I like to try and bring photos of what to see on the road s of Plymouth, and where possible what is coming up. Today we get a preview of something quite different to just about anything else you will see on the road, but it wont be here for long…

Presenting Partner of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, has unveiled its unique, highly sustainable fleet of hybrid support vehicles that will lead over 8,000 Olympic Torchbearers along their momentous 70 day journey around the UK. Setting out from Land’s End on May 19 the five-strong fleet will travel between thirty minutes and eight hours ahead of the Olympic Flame. The Beat Fleet and Coca-Cola team will whip up excitement, handing out special edition, commemorative Coke bottles and memorabilia, and encourage  hordes of cheering crowds to line the Relay route in celebration of their local Future Flames—inspirational young people who have been given the once in a lifetime opportunity to run with the Olympic Flame thanks to Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola’s ‘Beat Box’ and ‘Beat Bus’ have each been converted to diesel-electric hybrid power which is estimated to save 1.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the course of the Relay and ‘Recycle Beat,’ a cutting-edge mobile recycling unit, is fitted with an advanced exhaust cleanup system and low emission auxiliary generator to dramatically reduce air pollution. ‘Recycle Beat’ will follow in close pursuit behind the Olympic Torch Relay, sweeping the route and surrounding areas to ensure all waste is collected for recycling.

The torch will arrive in Plymouth on the 19th May and then depart on day two of its trip around the UK on the 20th.

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Elsewhere on the net

• How does travel on the "Eclipse" busway service match up to the promises on its website? Public Transport Experience
• people look back on the regulated 1970s with rose tinted specs or even perhaps rosé tinted glasses : ) But taking those specs off, what was it *really* like on the buses? The answer is “difficult”—but the industry got through. Omnibuses
• The line is completely automatic with no drivers or other staff on the train. Despite the comments quoted in yesterday's blog, there has been no significant outpouring of fear and panic because of the lack of a "conducteur". Public Transport Experience