| UK Greyhound routes announced |
[Aug. 19th, 2009|09:48 am] |
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First have announced the initial routes for the new Greyhound service to be launched on September 14. An hourly service will run from London to Portsmouth and London to Southampton. Fares will start at £1 plus £0.50 booking fee. Wi-fi will be available on all vehicles. |
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| Casper the feline star of the 3 |
[Aug. 11th, 2009|05:11 am] |
This is Plymouth
A bit late with this story as it's only just been brought to my attention but a cat named Casper has been making use of First Devon & Cornwall's route 3 in Plymouth. Casper joins the route at Barne Barton and travels into the City Centre and back. There are even plans for a giant photo of the cat on the side of the bus. |
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| Not very integrated transport |
[Jul. 22nd, 2009|03:27 am] |
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Last week I had to go to Digby & Sowton station. This is a suburban station in Exeter that was opened in 1994 to serve the Sowton industrial estate and Digby residential area. The station has a ramp leading to street level where there is a bridge over the line to a small car park with a bus stop. As I alighted from the train there was a bus waiting only for it to pull away when I was half way up the ramp. This is an example of how transport is not very well integrated. The bus runs to a set timetable and despite it serving the train station, train times are not taken into account. I believe the bus was almost empty when it departed. |
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| Govia win South Central |
[Jun. 9th, 2009|09:02 am] |
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The DfT have announced this morning that Govia have retained the fracnhise, so we have at least another 5 years of Southern. The new franchise starts on September 20 and requires that longer trains be introduced on suburban routes at peak times and that more trains run on key routes in the evenings and on weekends. Other improvements include more staffed stations at night and CCTV on all trains. |
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| Plymouth Citybus could be sold |
[May. 23rd, 2009|10:38 am] |
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Thanks to Tom Pearce for brining this to my attention via the Devon & Cornwall Bus Forum. Plymouth City council are considering the sale of same or all of the Plymouth Citybus shares. Plymouth CityBus is one of the remaining council owned bus services and First have shown an interest in acquiring the company. I don't think this is a good idea as it would give the a Bristol style near monopoly. |
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| Ride Cornwall Ranger |
[May. 22nd, 2009|06:41 am] |
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Railcard discounts are now available on this ticket. For £10 you get unlimited off peak travel in Cornwall and to and from Plymouth on rail and bus services operated by First and Western Greyhound. The ranger is also valid for rail journeys from Plymouth to Gunnislake. The rail only Cornwall Day Ranger has now be withdrawn, it cost the same price as the Ride Cornwall ranger and has no reason to exist now railcard discounts are available on Ride Cornwall. |
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| Management contract for NXEC |
[May. 3rd, 2009|05:16 pm] |
National Express East Coast are to run the East Coast Intercity franchise on a management contract after the government rejected requests to renegotiate the franchise. There is also the possibility of re-letting the franchise to another operator at a later date. |
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| Goodbye Truronian |
[Apr. 25th, 2009|12:46 pm] |
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First have announced that former Truronian routes are to be integrated into the main First Devon & Cornwall network so this will mark the end of an era with the T prefixed routes disappearing. Truronian was sold to First in 2008 by owners Geoff Rumbles and David Rabey, former managers of Western National. Another former manager of Western National (then under Badgerline ownership) Mark Howarth however continues to own the Conrish independent Western Greyhound. |
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| 50p bus days in Plymouth |
[Mar. 26th, 2009|07:07 am] |
Plymgo
For the next 2 Saturdays 28 March and 4 April, you can have unlimited travel on all services operated by Plymouth Citybus, First or Target Travel for 50p. The offer is operator specific so if you want to travel on both Plymouth CityBus and First you will need to buy a ticket from both operators when you board the bus. |
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| No more circles |
[Mar. 6th, 2009|02:05 am] |
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It has been rumored for some time but now tfl have confirmed that the Circle line as we know it will end in December this year. The tfl story does report it as "Circle line to be extended to Hammersmith" but the days of the trains running round and round are over. Trains will start from Hammersmith to Edgware Road and then do a full loop of the outer rail before reversing at Edgware road and doing a loop on the inner rail then running back to Hammersmith. This plan is roughly the same as described in 2003 on District Dave's site with the exception the the Met will no longer be going to Barking and that Hammersmith & City will continue to run from Hammersmith to Barking. |
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| Free bus travel for 14 - 19 year olds |
[Feb. 19th, 2009|01:30 pm] |
This is Devon
South Hams council policy development group have backed a move for the concessionary fare scheme to be extended to 14 - 19 year olds in full time education. This would like the over 60s passes be funded by the government. This does sound like a good idea on paper but at least in London it does get taken advantage of by people using buses to go one stop for an easily walkable journey. |
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| Route changes |
[Jan. 23rd, 2009|10:34 am] |
Not many changes in the immediate area this January but 2 of note:
Stagecoach route 2 from Exeter to Newton Abbot via Teignmouth and Dawlish has been diverted away from the narrow bridge at Cockwood and will now run to Dawlish Warren via the A379. The result of this change is that after serving Dawlish Warren the buses will have do double back via Mount Pleasant Road and Warren Road to the A379.
The other change is quite relevant to me, I can see a bus stop from outside my window but to due living in a cul-de-sac it's signifcantly longer walk. However I recently went to the end of the cul-de-sac and noticed this:
This is a result of the Country Bus 75 extension to serve the Newton Abbot hospital, it also gives me a direct bus to the railway station. 2 new Enviro 200s are used on the route. Here is one outside Newton Abbot hospital:
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