Gunnislake Branch Line Threat?

The picture above shows the point where the Tamar Valley branch Line passes under the main line as it crosses the River Tamar on the magnificent Royal Albert Bridge. This line is one of the most beautiful branch lines in the country and very popular. It was saved from the Beeching Axe in the 1960s because Gunnislake in particular is not well served by good roads so it was deemed necessary to keep the train service.

Some of the history of this line as part of the Callington Branch can be foun on the Train web site, which is well worth a visit to explore more of the hsitory of rail services in this area.

Well today this is Plymouth reports that:

Rural train services in the area could be scrapped by the Government, it has been revealed. In a statement in Parliament, the Department for Transport has revealed that dozens of branch lines and secondary routes could shut.The proposed moves were found within an 83-page document issued alongside a statement by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling. They would be the biggest overhaul of the network since the Beeching report in the 1960s, which led to the closure of 4,000 miles of railway and nearly half the nation's stations.Loss-making services would be transferred onto buses, as a means of reducing the £6bn-a-year subsidy, the document states.Mr Darling's statement, along with the 83-page consultation paper, entitled: 'Consultation on the Implementation of the Railways Act 2005,was designed to set the scene for future rail cuts.

This seems to be preparing the way to cut even more rural rail services just like the Tamar Valley Line. For a government that pretends to be in favour of public transport this is a great way of showing their true colours. I am sure that this story will grow and a lot more will come out in the days ahead. I will certainly be having a good read of this document myself.

In the meantime a photo from Cyberheritage of happier days at Calstock.


For pictures of modern day Calstock Station and others on the branch then visit this page.
didbygraham

National Express

Typical of the National Express fleet operated by First Devon & Cornwall these days is WK02UMC which was new in July 2002 as fleet number 2703. Now numbered 20520 in the national fleet numbering system adopted by First Group.
Its a Volvo B12M with Plaxton bodywork. FDC have really tidied up their act when it comes to National Express operations over the past few years. A while back you could get all sorts of stuff sent out, much of it looking really scruffy, but First sent down quiet a few Volvo Plaxtons from the Bristol based coach fleet to give a very standardised fleet of coaches. Boring for the enthusiast but I am sure National Express are a lot happier.
Of course National Express itself is just a small part of National Express Group these days.
The previous corporate image of the fleet is illustrated in a series of free fotos offered for download at freefoto.com.
didbygraham

Soap Box Sunday

"A soapbox is a raised, improvised platform on which one stands to make an impromptu speech, often about a political subject. Alternately, the word may be used to describe the box that soap comes in." Wikipedia

Daily Telegraph:
Plans to give Britain's over-60s free bus travel were in disarray last night as councils across the country complained they did not have enough money to pay for the scheme.
While the programme is going ahead smoothly in some areas, elsewhere local authorities are considering cutting other subsidies to meet the bill. continues...

Compare the Scottish scheme as promised by the Scottish Executive
Plans for free, unrestricted national bus travel for Scotland's older people and those with disabilities was announced today. In a statement to Parliament today, Transport Minister Nicol Stephen said existing concessionary travel schemes would be expanded to unlimited Scotland-wide free bus travel, as well as two free return ferry trips a year for older and disabled residents of Scotland's islands, from April 2006. Mr Stephen said:
"From 2006 all older and disabled people will be entitled to Scotland-wide free bus travel.
"The Executive made this commitment last year and today we are delivering. The new scheme goes further than we promised, offering free travel to all parts of Scotland at any time of the day - not just off peak periods. "This is a major expansion of our existing free bus scheme. It will open up opportunities and provide greater access to vital health and community services.
"A free national bus travel scheme will further improve the quality of life for over one million people in Scotland by opening access to greater travel choice. It will connect communities across the country.
Continues..

It does seem that the Scottish system will succeed because it appears to be introduced with the aim of improving lives for Scottish pensioners and the disabled. It will undoubtedly be expensive and quite probably difficult to manage and administer but there is a will to make it work.

The new scheme for England only promises...

• A new scheme from April 2006 will increase the statutory minimum requirement in Transport Act 2000 from half fares to free fares for older and disabled people on local bus services in England, with no charge for the annual pass.
• People over 60 and people with disabilities will benefit from free bus travel within the area of the local authority where they live (district councils in shire areas), from 9.30 am Monday to Friday and all day at weekends.
• 
  
Local authorities will retain their existing discretion to offer enhancements to schemes, including providing travel over a wider area eg county-wide schemes; concessions on other modes such as rail, light rail, or ferry, and weekday travel before 9.30 am.
Authorities will also be able to continue to offer travel token schemes as an alternative to a free local bus pass.
• Around 11 million people in England over 60 will be guaranteed free local bus travel. Disabled people eligible for concessionary fares will also benefit. Of course some of these people have already benefited from free fares under local authorities which have implemented discretionary schemes. Around 9 million people will get free fares from April 2006 in areas where they previously did not do so.

In other words a real mis-mash of schemes totally dependent on where you live and, more importantly, how much Central Government cash is going into the area you live. We are not all equal!

If you live on a border between local authorities you can have two next door neighbours having different access to free travel. The system in Plymouth is city-wide only. Devon is County wide. This can make a big difference. Some local authorities have a good public transport record - Devon being one of them. The areas where public transport is not so well supported will probably end up even worse off than before. (Plymouth might just fit into this category?)

I think the key to all this is amply explained in just one line in the Telegraph report above..

"The introduction of nationwide free bus travel was a key-plank in Gordon Brown's
pre-election Budget as he sought to win the "grey vote" for Labour."

The English scheme has been introduced with the sole aim of securing votes for New Labour. No real though went into it at the time. When they did sit down and start looking at it they realised it would be difficult to administer so they left it to local authorities to sort out. If it all goes wrong - it will be blamed on the authorities themselves. No blame will be accepted by central government for the mess they make. All this from a central Government who are better known for trying to take control of local public services away from local authority control.

If by some miracle it all does work out well - you can be sure who will take the credit!

Saltash Station

Welcome to Cornwall is the proud sign that greets visitors to Saltash Station. Well thats the pride bit out of the way, as there is very little for the good people of Saltash to be proud of here. The main station building in the middle is run down and derelict and apparently up for sale by the local council and will probably end up as a block of flats. wooppee. There is a website (if you can call it that) for Save Saltash Station which although a good idea could do with a better website. It may be worth filling in the on-line form but then nothing has been updated since July 2005 so maybe its all over?
However, all may not be lost as according to the Town Councils own web site
"Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge is one of Britain's finest engineering achievements. The bridge, completed in 1859, brought the Great Western Railway in to Cornwall. When the Town Council became aware that Railtrack was to dispose of the Saltash Station building, they entered in to negotiation with Railtrack and acquired the building to provide a Brunel Heritage Centre. The Town Council has obtained planning permission to convert the building to a Brunel Heritage Centre, which includes re-instating the canopy over the platform. In addition, a gallery/exhibition space will provide an opportunity for a variety of events including interactive structural workshops for children, and exhibitions. A café and shop form an integral part of the scheme, which overall will form an important component in the Town's Heritage Trail. "
This page was updated in September 2005 so maybe the building was saved after all. You just wouldn't know by looking at it though. There are more photos taken around the station area here. Google have a html version of a report into celebrating 200 Years of Brunel and if you scroll down far enough you get to Saltash Station.
Activities:
2006 could be the target date for the opening of the Brunel Heritage Centre in the restored Saltash Station (a two phase project restoring the station to a usable shell and then developing this into a dedicated museum). If sponsors could be found, Saltash Town Council would also like to floodlight the Royal Albert Bridge – perhaps in conjunction with Plymouth City Council. A Brunel toddlers’ play train is to be installed at the foot of the Royal Albert bridge by the end of May 2004, and a Living Spaces bid will be made for Saltash Waterside comprising an adventure kit for young people (a scaled down bridge concept) made to Saltash Town Council’s specifications
The Illustrated London News has a small section on the opening of the Bridge with a nice little drawing.

There is a hint at civic pride:


You can see just how close the station is to the bridge in the photo below taken at the end of the platform.



There is also a rare plant found growing around the station:
Rough grass bank. Dymond Court / Saltash Station Yard, Saltash, Cornwall. 09.07.05 The Deptford Pink, a nationally rare plant, is certainly under threat at this site. The pink does occur in gardens around the station yard and because a bomb blast spread seeds and plants during the Second World War. It is very important that these garden plants are recorded, and primarily because there may be more Deptford Pink growing in gardens in the area than in the wild.



didbygraham

Its their fault!

Kensa are the design company who designed the new Citybus livery. So if you dont like it - its their fault!
Actually I do like it as its a big improvement on the standard dull red white and grey. Compared to many of the new liveries coming out today is extremely restrained and some may say boring, but this is Plymouth Citybus after all.
I reported this one as being in this livery a while back but have only just realised I have never posted a photo of it.
didbygraham

in exile

© Simon Coates

Simon Coates sent me this photo today and has given me permission to post it here. It shows two exiled Plymouth Citybus Atlanteans in deepest Cornwall, now with Roselyn Coaches.
Roselyn seem to be building quite a fleet of ex Citybus vehicles at the moment as I believe they have taken on a few of our coaches as well as some Atlanteans. It is also expected that they will be taking at least some of the remaining Atlanteans when they get withdrawn from service.
TTT164X in front and ATK156W in full Citybus livery brings up the rear.
Both look very cold.
didbygraham

Pensioner travel

Omnibuses: Miserable Day

Excellent and even handed update on some councils complaining about lack of funding for the free pensioner travel scheme from the excellent Omnibuses blog. Well worth and read any day.

On this subject I had an interesting email today as a result of my previous postings

You don't know me but I live in Plymouth and am interested in buses because I use them all the time (not being a car owner). I am also disabled and coming up to my sixtieth birthday so have a special interest in free bus travel after April 1. As I understand it, from info gleaned from the Devon County Council and Plymouth City Council web sites, I will be entitled to free travel within the city boundary but my blue Countywide Life Pass will be withdrawn and I will not be able to get any concessionary fares outside Plymouth. Totally unfair since Devon residents will be able to enjoy free travel all over Devon.
Anyway I have emailed gary Streeter who replied that he was not aware of the situation but would look into it. I also emailed 10 Downing Street (well why not...in for a penny, in for a pound). I have no idea if my protests will make any difference. I doubt if many pensioners are aware of the coming situation.

I think this is going to grow as more people get to understand just what is happening!

Other items in the news today:

Bus firm waives fares for trainers of guide dogs for the blindFour-legged guide dog recruits are being given a helping hand in their training thanks to Plymouth Citybus.Guide dog trainers and their pups will be able to travel around the city free of charge thanks to a generous offer by the city bus operator.The company has teamed up with Guide Dogs for the Blind to offer puppy walkers free bus travel to boost the training and development of future guide dogs.Young guide dog pups start their training at just six-weeks-old, and a crucial part of it is learning to cope with public transport.They spend most of their first year with a puppy walker volunteer, receiving basic obedience training and getting used to the noise and bustle of the city environment.The new initiative will play a big part in helping the future guide dogs get used to public transport and busy environments at an early age.Terry Smith, of Guide Dogs for the Blind, described the scheme as 'immeasurably valuable' and said it would save the charity hundreds of pounds a year.He said: "These pups are the guide dogs of tomorrow and it is vitally important that they are exposed to the different environments they are likely to come across in later life."Familiarising these pups with buses in Plymouth means they learn well and it is very welcome by us."Puppies receive their initial training all over the country but Plymouth is one of the hubs. It is vital they get used to buses so from the cost point of view this arrangement will save the charity hundreds of pounds a year."Puppy walkers issued with a special pass and accompanied by a puppy will be allowed free travel on any Citybus service.Phil Smith, operations manager of Plymouth Citybus, said the arrangement with the guide dogs charity was an extension of the company's commitment to serving the whole community, including disabled passengers."I am sure many of our passengers will enjoy seeing the puppies when they come on board the bus," he added.

also
The South West Public Transport Users' Forum has hit out at the decision by FirstGroup to increase some bus fares by 20 per cent. Joe Lynch, vice-chair of the group, said: "These staggering fare increases are an unacceptable New Year's present from a company which delivered a poor service to bus users in 2005."The increases will cause considerable financial hardship for many bus users who will find that they cannot afford to undertake essential trips to places of work, schools, health centres etc."First Devon and Cornwall is going to have to work very hard to demonstrate that these new higher bus fares represent value for money to the user."Bus companies throughout the South West are facing rising costs and there is clearly the need for greater financial support from central and local government in order to mitigate the impact of fare increases on customers."City bus firms announced at the end of last year that bus fares would have to increase in the face of spiralling oil prices.

Citybus 48

Dart 48 Y648NYD seen a couple of weeks ago in Plymouth.
If Citybus continue their repaint program in order then this will be next to receive the new livery. 47 was the last to be done - still waiting to get a photo of that one though.



One other item of news is that several of the volvo B10M Plaxton buses have been sold to a Dealer in Bristol including F384FYS which I caught on blog back in July.
didbygraham

Passenger Choice

Working in the NHS as I do, I cant escape the idea of 'patient choice' which is the Tony Bliars way of trying to hide the mess that it has made of the NHS by offering patients a choice of service they can recieve. In reality it wont work out that way and eventually most patients will end up worse off, but thats another story!
Well today I was able to exercise passenger choice - as two buses turned up at once both going to the same destination. The first was Dart 125 on the Citybus service 50. This was followed down the hill by Dart 108 on the 47. Both then follow each other all the way to Derriford Hospital, overtaking each other at alternate bus stops along the way.
Faced with a choice of two near identical, tidy but boring Plaxton bodied Darts, and both with similar passenger loadings you probably would normally just get on the first one. However there is one big difference between these buses as you can see in the photos. 125 has been plastered with all over adverts for the Plymouth Property Centre. This may look great from the outside and provide a little bit of interest in an otherwise extremely boring fleet of buses, but it offers a dismal passenger experience. Its so dark and gloomy inside some of these buses with contravision that you wouldn't normally take one out of choice.
This whole idea of passenger choice only works when both buses turn up at once, or you can at least see the second bus coming when the first arrives. All too often I have let one bus go past knowing that the other one is due, only for it not to turn up. Not good!
Now some passengers get cross that two buses just follow each other along the route like this but to be fair to Citybus its practically impossible to time all buses to get regular gaps in service along common stretches of route. The 47 and 50 only really cover two stretches of route together and the 47 disappears off onto another estate in between the two commons sections.


didbygraham

Refresh that DOG

30065 A167VFM is now in the new standard Barbie livery and looking very smart indeed. Thanks to Nick Rice for permission to use his fotos in this blog. This is of course originally Crosville DOG167.

This bus was last mentioned in my blog back on 12th August when it was still running around in PMT red / Yellow livery. It sounds like all of them are now in full livery.
FDC have recently transferred a few elderly Olympians out of Plymouth and into Cornwall including a couple of the FUM-Y buses (horrible things - glad to see them go) and the two D-HUB Optare buses which were not so bad.

One other news item to mention here, although nothing at all to do with Plymouth really, is a big fire at a bus garage in London. BBC News:

Twelve double-decker buses have been damaged in a fire which sent plumes of smoke across London. About 50 firefighters tackled the blaze at the Westbourne Park Bus Garage in west London, on Sunday, which is now under control. Police said initially three vehicles were on fire when they were called, but there were subsequent explosions. The Great West Road, the A40 and Westbourne Park Tube station have all reopened after being shut for hours. A spokesman for bus company First confirmed the fire was estimated to have caused hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage. He said: "It looks like seven buses have been burned out and three to four are smoke damaged." The spokesman added that it was a "complete mystery" as to how the blaze had begun, but confirmed there had been no casualties. He said the incident had happened in an outside area, where the buses had been parked overnight. Services would not be affected, the spokesman said.

It seems as if it was mainly Low Floor Trident DDs that were destroyed, including a few which were ready for cascading throughout First Group as no longer needed in London. Although the Tridents due for Plymouth are already in Plymouth this could have a slight knock on effect as such group cascades are delayed or cancelled it could delay any other cascades throughout the group. As other companies have to wait for the London rubbish to reach them, it delays them sending their cast-offs down here!

Maybe I am just cynical.
didbygraham

Virgin Trains

Took my 3 year old son 'train spotting' today! He actually had a choice - I offered him the chance of a trip on the Torpoint Ferry or go and see some trains. The trains won.
He enjoyed his trip out with Daddy and I got some photos of the Station and a few trains. So tonight I post one of the Virgin Trains that was sat at the station this afternoon. Shortly before this an identical Virgin train had left on the 16:05 departure to York.
I know very little about trains as I have spent years being a hardened bus spotter and always hated trains. As my interests have widened over the years to include most forms of transport I now pay more attention to railways - but still know very little about the trains themselves. I belive these are Voyager trains.
The Railway Centre has an interesting set of pages on the Voyager trains although its not been updated for a couple of years. Another site here gives more details on the trains.

They may look great but they do look on the small side. This is born out by this item about lack of luggae space on the trains meaning Virgin were sending luggage by road!
Also...

About 160 passengers stranded for more than three hours on a Virgin Train that broke down on a coastal route on Friday night have disembarked. The Glasgow to Penzance service came to a halt at about 1730 GMT after huge waves caused damage to tracks near Dawlish in Devon.
The train was towed into Dawlish station at about 2110 GMT.
A Virgin spokesman said if they had known how severe the weather was they would have stopped the train at Exeter. He added that Network Rail has told them the track has been damaged in both directions. He said the weather had taken a turn for the worse - the train involved was stopped at red lights on the sea wall at Dawlish when it was hit by a huge wave - and water got into the electrics.
He said contingency plans were put into immediate effect but the track had been damaged by debris in both directions which delayed the arrival of the rescue locomotive. Once the track had been made safe the train was towed to Dawlish station. Passengers were transferred to a Great Western service to continue their journey. Passenger Marion Roue was travelling had travelled from Liverpool and was only a few miles from her destination of Newton abbot when the train broke down She said: "It was a bit scary. Three hundred yards outside Dawlish and they said we couldn't get off the train. My brother-in-law rang through and said he could come and pick us up but we couldn't get off the train. "Mind you it was dangerous because the waves were coming up one side, catching one side, and it was frightening." Virgin will be writing to all passengers involved offering a full refund. The rail line is now open but only a single track furthest from the sea.
BBC News 2nd December 2005.
Needless to say, First Great Western's 25 year old High Speed Trains, based on reliable old 1970s British Rail technology, continued to run once they'd got the failed Voyager out of the way.


A closer view of 220-017

For more photos of Virgin Trains try FreeFoto which has a collection of (free) fotos to download.
didbygraham

In the beginning there was 101

The arrival of this bus in Plymouth, in August 1992 was a major change of policy for Citybus. It was the first Dennis Dart in a fleet which is now mostly Dart based. The previous year had seen the first large batch of Mercedes 709s such as this one on Malcolm Audsleys fotopic. In fact apart from 4 Volvo double deckers which were purchased as coaches these were the first proper full sized buses for Citybus since 1981 X Reg Atlanteans and short lived Olympians.
These have proved themselves to be very capable buses and are well looked after by Citybus. Unlike in Exeter where city services will be all low floor later this year, I suspect it will be a good few years before we get to that stage in Plymouth, so I can see these Darts remaining in use for quite a few years yet. Unless of course Citybus undertake a major investment in new buses, over and beyond their normal fleet replacement (unlikely) or they have a major cutback of services (more likely!).
didbygraham

Volvo Wright

I had to make a quick trip into town tonight after work so ended up on a Tavistock - Plymouth 83 service provided by W605PAF Volvo B6BLE (Chassis number 010207) with Wright B36F (body number B610) bodywork which was new in May 2000 as First Western National 605. Now numbered 48265. Identical sister W602PAF is seen above a few months ago on the same route. These were quite a surprise when they arrived as it had been a case of Dart City as far as Plymouth was concerned until that point with Citybus and First both buying almost identical buses for their low floor fleet. FDC have since added a large batch of second hand Volvo Wright buses from South Yorkshire which are really awful buses.
These W reg buses are not as bad but they are not as comfortable as the earlier Darts. For all of First Group bragging about transforming travel with their well designed high standard interiors which was certainly the case with earlier low floor darts - these buses introduced the horrible hard seats which really spoil the travelling experience. If you travel any distance on one of these you certainly feel it. The Optare Solos which were added to the fleet at the same time also feature these horrible seats. First penny-pinching? I cant imagine that these seats were chosen by any passenger focus groups.
The only good thing is that standard First interior designed buses do have more leg room - certainly more than Citybus who cram in more seats in their buses. But I'd rather have a slightly cramped journey than end up with plenty of leg room but a sore bum. Maybe thats just me though?
didbygraham

Airbus Olympian

This picture was taken a few months ago but it was down at Marsh Mills Roundabout so it does kind of fit in with the theme of the last few days.
First 34194 481FPO is one of the "Airbus" Olympian buses which have been drafted in to Devon to use on the X80 Plymouth - Torquay service. This is a heavily used service and has been crying out for decent buses for a long time. These fine machines fit the bill perfectly, although nice new Trident low floor buses would be even better!

This particular bus was acquired from Airlinks in April 2005 and was new as N113UHP. David Oakley has a few photos on his fotopic site of this batch of buses including N112UHP in Airbus livery and N117UHP in National Express Airport livery (this bus is now 34196 OWB 243 in the FDC fleet.

didbygraham

Bus Users Group

We had our Bus Users group meeting today at Derriford Hospital which was very well attended and quite entertaining. For change it was not all moans about the bus service as quite a few people praised the service of Plymouth Citybus on the 52 and 152 services which were taken over from First. Both are running well, but as Citybus Manager explained both are still 'very marginal' in terms of revenue so are under constant review. We all hope that the service does continue but of course the company needs to be able to run it at a profit. This is still an issue which passengers just cant see. As far as they are concerned buses are a public service and should run regardless of the cost, and certainly not just to make a profit for bus companies. Its interesting that you dont see people arguing that Tescos shouldnt make a profit selling food!
There were no major anouncements about any service changes this time.

I asked about the forthcoming "Tavy GoldLine" but didn't get much idea of when its likely to happen. It will be later this year - hopefully by 'Summer' but no more details are available yet. Apparently there was a meeting with Devon County Council taking place today to try and sort out the details. I did also lay down the point that Exeter seems to do a lot better than Plymouth and was this down to lack of co-ordination between the companies and Plymouth City Council - but just got a diplomatic response which didn't really answer my points!

There was also some discussion about the forthcoming free bus travel for pensioners and how difficult it was for bus companies such as First who cover several different council areas each with their own different free travel scheme. Devon & Cornwall have differing time restrictions in place which could make life very difficult for passengers and the bus companies trying to run services. Both companies can see likely problems but are hopeful that things will be up and running properly in time for April. I guess its a case of watch this space!

Marsh Mills Flyover

This may look like an ugly bit of concrete but it is a special bit of concrete - honest!
Its the slip road onto the Marsh Mills A38 Flyover. These are famous in civil engineering circles as they were built using a very unusual technique.

The photo below was taken in 1980 (taken from the excellent Cyberheritage)and shows what the area used to look like...

You will see the original road bridges down onto the roundabout were used as the slip roads onto the new flyover - which was built in between the two carriageways.
Just out of interest the large factory bottom left is the old Tecalamit factory which is now the site of a large retail park and Vospers Ford car and van dealership and also a Novotel. Top right is now a large Sainsburys Supermarket.

Once the new flyover had been built it was soon discovered that the original bridges were suffering from a condition known as concrete cancer so had to be demolished. The normal way of doing this would have caused major traffic congestion! So a novel approach was called for.
The new slip roads were built alongside the old ones. Traffic was then diverted onto the new slip roads while the old roads were demolished. Then over the course of a few days the slip roads were closed off and were slowly slid into the place where the old roads used to be. Excellent idea!

DYWIDAG-Systems International Limited had more detail on the work here.
TGP have a small feature on the construction here with a link to a video of the event (avi) which is well worth a look.


Here you get a better look back along the flyover looking towards Cornwall. This is taken from the pedestrian bridge over the railway which can be seen on the 1980 photo. My son Zak is looking out for trains for me.



Finally a look under the road, up the railway as it heads towards London. Tavistock Junction is just up from here. More on this later...


didbygraham

Marsh Mills Bridge Works

The main road into Plympton off the Marsh Mills Roundabout is a scene of traffic chaos at peak times at the moment due to these roadworks. They are rebuilding the bridge over the river Plym to bring it up to today's standards. It appears that the bridge is being totally rebuilt so it is a major job. At the moment they have demolished half of the Plympton bound side which I guess will be rebuilt and then they will move to the other side. On Googlemap you can see the location of these roadworks (its actually on Plymouth Road where it crosses the Plym)
The photo above shows the Westcountry Crane Hire crane that is being used on site.


We are now standing directly over the River Plym and you can just about make out the large hole between the two carriageways - this is where the road used to go!


And this is the other side photo taken from Longfield Road which runs alongside the River. What you see here is a new temporary pedestrian bridge built alongside the old road bridge. This allows the road to be brought across to the left over the old pavement so they can demolish the right hand side of the bridge. The traffic has to squeeze into these left hand lanes so is restricted to 20 mph - with a large automated sign to warn any drivers doing more than that!

There is a lot of transportation interest in this small area so I will be coming back and posting more from my mini expedition trip yesterday

didbygraham

Free travel on non existent buses!

BBC News 12th January 2006
A Plymouth pensioner is refusing to pay her council tax after a bus service she describes as "vital" was cancelled. The number 17 First Bus service between Glenholt, Derriford and the city centre was scrapped on 3 January. Fordie Preston, 80, who lives at Glenholt said the bus was a "lifeline" and she was prepared to go to court if necessary to make her point. First said it took the decision because the route was no longer "commercially viable". First spokesperson Claire Sneddon said: "The service is simply not commercially viable and is not carrying enough passengers to cover the costs of running the service."
I was surprised they ran it as long as they did - apart from at peak times - it was rarely carrying more than half a dozen passengers.

The service connects Glenholt to Derriford Hospital and the city centre, and some passengers will now have to walk at least half a mile (0.8km) to the nearest bus stop.
councillor Sue Dann, Plymouth City Council cabinet member for transport, said: "First made a commercial decision to discontinue the Number 17 service and we appreciate that this causes problems for people who rely on that service as their connection with the city centre." She said she understood Mrs Preston was "making a statement about her frustration" by not paying her council tax. "But I would ask her instead to make representations in writing to me at the council as a more constructive way forward," she added. Ms Dann said the council was currently reviewing all bus routes to see whether there were any viable alternatives which it could provide in next year's budget.

Mrs Preston has cancelled her council tax direct debit and says she will be writing to the council to explain her actions. "The service is a vital lifeline for pensioners who don't use commuter services and I feel the council should be doing something about it. "This is the most effective way I can think of of making a stand," she said. "I won't pay my council tax until another bus is sorted and if they say I've got to go court, I'll have a job to get there. "Good point!
At my time of life it seems ridiculous to have to fight for a bus."

Although I can sympathize with the lady I also sympathize with First on this one. This bus service has always struggled - and most of the previous versions of routes to serve Glenholt. Glenholt is a large estate on the Northern fringes of Plymouth which was very clearly designed and built for people with cars - and no thought whatsoever about public transport. There is no easy way of serving the estate without major inconvenience to other passengers who would not want a twenty minute diversion of another route. The fact that the council put in replacement services to cover the other routes withdrawn by First and didn't cover this one shows how little used the service is.
It also highlights the lack of thought that this government gives to public transport in this country. They are more interested in quick fix gimmicks than actually sitting down and looking at the problems bus companies and passengers have and trying to fix them. Thanks to the generous Mr Brown this lady will be able to have free travel on her local buses after 9:30 every day from April. Just a shame that Mr Brown cant help provide a bus for her to use in the first place. I am sure most pensioners would rather have better services closer to their own homes and pay a bit for them, than to have free travel on buses that don't go near them.

Of course this lady could just move to Exeter where the service just seems to be getting better. By this Spring it seems that just about all services there will be provided by low floor buses many of them really new. Another 20 new buses are due for Exeter in the next couple of months using help from the Kickstart scheme. While this is brilliant for the people in Exeter you do have to ask why the authorities and operators in Plymouth cant seem to get their act together in the same way and start to provide a decent bus service in Plymouth.

The company believes it will be the second UK town (after Dundee) and the first English town to achieve full low floor status.
I think this does ignore London though as being run totally differently to the rest of the country. I see that Trent Barton has also claimed to be the first English operator to have a 100% low floor network in place.( see the excellent Omnibus blog for more on this.)

Imagination

I have walked by this signpost almost everyday for the last 18 months and never really took much notice of what it said. You'd think they could have come up with a better name for the place!
didbygraham

Shakey Bridge

Today was my last day at the Goschen Centre (Yes - I passed my First Aid course and am now a registered first aider!) so I managed to get a few photos of "Shakey Bridge" as its always been known locally although it seems to be called Weston Mill Viaduct officially. Well, you can just see the bridge in the background anyway. The train crossing the bridge is '150247' whatever that is!
I am standing on the road bridge that can be seen on my recent post about Keyham Station which is just behind me, on the other side of this bridge. More info on Keyham Station can be found here.
One of the most useful features of this bridge for years was the footpath that ran alongside it as it provided a short cut across the creek and saved a good 40 minute walk along the main road. It was probably this well known path that led to the bridge being known as Shakey Bridge as we always used to enjoy it when a train crossed the bridge at speed as it always shook the bridge and was great fun when I was a child. This path has since been closed - and by the look of it this was some time ago and there are no plans to re-open it. I guess this is down to Health & Safety issues.

Finally another treat from Cyberheritage - from 1986 this time with this shot in the snow. In this shot you can see the branch into HMS Drake and the Naval Dockyard which is just to the right of the train.


didbygraham

St Levan Road Bridge(s)

We start off with this large bridge which carries the main railway line through Plymouth and across the St Leven Valley. Behind me as I stand to take this photo is the St Levens Gate entrance to the Dockyard. A close up view showing the construction detail of the bridge is below:


Its certainly an unusual construction design. I am not sure why the central pillar has the middle oval bricked in when all the other pillars have the original oval left. I am still trying to find out some of the history of this bridge so may well come back to it at a later date.
It was not always the only railway bridge over the St Leven valley though. The next picture taken in 1981 from Cyberheritage shows the old stone viaduct which was always the better looking, more graceful bridge.

Very little of this remains now although you can still see clues either side of the Valley that a railway once existed. The main remnant is the stone base of one of the pillars with this plate which was added when the bridge was demolished in 1987. A sad end to a once proud bridge and a major transport landmark in Plymouth.

The Plymouth Data site has a bit more detail on some of the railway history of this are included on this page which makes interesting reading. Some time soon I will come back to this area and start looking in more detail at the old railway that has been lost.
didbygraham

Congestion

I am a bus enthusiast. I ride on buses because I like to ride buses. I would rather ride a bus than take the same journey in a car. I am not your usual passenger. However, once and a while I get the sort of bus journey which makes you wish you had another way of getting there!
I had to get to The Goschen Centre for 9:15 this morning so I could leave home a bit later. I like to arrive in plenty of time to get a coffee etc. before I enter the classroom. According to the timetable a number 11 leaves Derriford Hospital at 08:24. It reaches Ham Green at 08:41 and will reach Goschen by 08:50. Perfect. Well, if only it was like that in real life!

The number 11 arrived at Derriford at 08:36. 11 mins late. Its timetabled to take 12 mins to reach Ham Green so that would make it 08:48. More like 08:53 by the time it got that far. I actually reached Goschen at 09:10. Twenty minutes late and no time for a drink.

The photo above gives a bit of a clue why. You might just make out the cars to the left and in front of the bus. We had sat in this queue for traffic lights at Cherry Tree for 10 Minutes. You might also make out cars through the right hand windows. These are queued heading away from the traffic lights heading back towards Derriford. Another long queue of traffic and more long delays. Sadly this junction is well known for this problem and late running is a major problem on this route - and any routes running through this area.
If you are in a car - you might be able to avoid these jams. In a bus you cant. Although it cant be easy you would think that the council might be able to do something about getting the buses through regular jams like this. They have made progress in some areas - Derriford is one area where major gains have been made for public transport users. All it means though is that buses coming into Plymouth just reach this set of jams a bit quicker than they used too!

Well, rant over for now. I post a photo of my bus for this morning below. As can be seen above it has the standard First Group interior décor which is quite pleasant although the seats can be on the hard side. I have to say that in this bus they were quite comfortable though. However, these brand new buses are not the quietest buses. Sitting at the back can be quite a noisy experience. These also have loud bleeps every time the indicators are on. This is really loud and extremely irritating. The drivers must hate them. It might help the driver remember to switch them off when thay have made the turn - but it could also encourage drivers not to bother to signal at all!
All in all these are not bad buses. However - try a ride in one the Citybuses new Mercedes Citaros and you quickly realise just what an 'old' design this Dennis Dart is and how poor the ride, noise and general ambience of the whole passenger experience is in comparison.




didbygraham

Keyham Station

Today was my first day of the four day course at the Goschen Centre in Keyham so I was able to grab a few photos on my way to work of Keyham Station. Sadly I didn't have time to get down into the station proper and take more photos, and it was too dark to take many after the course had finished at tea time.

Here was are looking back into the Station from the bridge on the Plymouth bound track. wae are looking down the line towards Cornwall. Just past the road bridge you can see top left, is the rail track 'branch' into HMS Drake. More photos from this area soon I hope.



Compare the shot above with this old shot (from the excellent Cyberheritage site). This is actually looking in the same direction but taken from the main centre platform. Although this was never a major station you can see what building there were have been replaced by single bus shelters! Also you may notice the signal box is another missing feature of today's photo.



Our final photo from Cyberheritage was taken in 1981 and was some time after the old photo above. This one is looking back the opposite direction, taken from the road bridge seen in the distance in both photos. You can see the signal box has already disappeared. Otherwise not much has changed between the two old photos. You can also see the road bridge which was my vantage point this morning.

Other News:
The latest on the London Tridents noted in Plymouth mentioned yesterday is that they will not be staying in Plymouth and will be here for the Park & Ride until new buses arrive later in the year. It looks like they will stay in London red livery for the duration of their visit. From what people say they do not sound like pleasant buses at all!

didbygraham

Student Link

Next week I am going back to college. Well, I am actually attending the Goschen Centre, run by the College of Further Education for a four day First Aid course, as I am to be the First Aider for our department at the Hospital. It does also mean that I will probably get the chance to catch the CFE service linking the college buildings and the City Centre. These use the fleet of Volvo B10M Citybus double decking in their bright yellow Student Link livery.
One of these is 187 F604GVO which is seen in standard Citybus livery above and in the yellow livery below.



One of the things I am hoping to do next week is get some uptodate photos of the transport network around Stoke, Keyham and Devonport - especially the railways in the area. Its not often I get to this part of the City. Of course its weather permitting as it may be to dark to get many photos after the course has finished for the day if its raining!

Other news:

Seen on the M4 heading west last Monday were Six First London Tridents
all were in London Livery and fleet nos but all had destination blinds
removed vehicles were T802/3/12/17/19/46LLC

These are the buses destined for the Park & Ride to be operated by First when they take over in a few months time. Not sure if this is all of them yet as it remains to be seen how many buses they need for the whole service. I guess they will be repainted into Barbie livery for now as we are due to receive brand new buses for the service eventually. Still, its good to know that the buses are starting to arrive now.

Tamar Bridges

As I have spent the day looking at old photos of Plymouth I thought it would be nice to post this photo of the famous Royal Albert Bridge Brunel Bridge built by Brunel. This photo was taken in the early 1900's when it can be seen in its full glory with no distractions from other bridges!
A good web site to visit about the bridge is this one in which the author give a useful potted history of the bridge.

Also well worth a visit is the Plymouth data page on the bridge for more detailed notes on its construction and try this page for even more detailed notes including the 'phyics' of its construction. I am sure there is a lot more out there about the bridge!




This next photo shows both bridges in place and is from the early 1980s. This has come from the excellent Cyberheritage site which is well worth exploring.
The Tamar Bridge has its own web site which gives plenty of useful information too. Plymouth Data has a page about the bridge as well.

In real Time?

Photo taken a few days ago in Plymouth City Centre is of Target Travels Mercedes 709D N94BNF. This was purchased from Blue Bus a couple of years ago and was in service in their livery for a while. Ben Morroll has a photo of it on his fotopic site in the bluebus livery here.

This brings me to another blog I discovered recently Omnibuses which has today posted "Minibuses - where next" which is well worth a read - as is the whole blog.
He also has posted the news that Transdev has just announced the purchase of Blazefield Group. This has no local value but is yet another bus operator changing hands. There has been a real flurry of activity over the last few months with Transdev emerging as a major force to be reckoned with.

A couple of other local stories on the this is Plymouth news site tonight have caught my eye:

12:00 - 06 January 2006
Bus passengers in Plymouth will be able to get timetable details on their mobile phone within months. Residents will be able to get up-to-date information on the buses by sending a simple text message.The £1.7million project, which uses radio-navigation technology, is being seen as a key tool in the city council's bid to get more people on buses.The ambitious scheme is thought to be the largest of its kind outside London.Under the system, each of the Plymouth's 1,700 bus stops has been given a unique code.By texting the code for their nearest bus stop, passengers will be able to get details about when the next bus will arrive.A website providing codes for every bus stop in the city is to be set up by the council within three to six months.Over the next two years, each bus stop will be fitted with a sign showing its unique code.(why does this take two years?)Alex Huke, the council's public transport co-ordinator, said that the new system would help passengers to plan their journeys.He said: "We don't want to tell people that their bus is late when they're cold and wet at the bus stop."We want to give them the information they need when they are having a cup of coffee or doing some shopping."More than 160 buses have been fitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking equipment as part of the scheme.'Real-time' data from each bus is transferred to an information room in the Civic Centre, where officers can check the service's overall progress.The data can also be used to help buses that are running late to make up time.At three city junctions, the system is set up so that late buses are given priority at traffic lights.Mr Huke said: "A bus running late can ask for priority if it is approaching a junction. Every bus knows where it should be and where it is."The technology is in place at Derriford roundabout, as well as junctions at Ham and Transit Way.Mr Huke said: "Those are the three we are using while we are in a testing phase. As new junctions go in, this technology will be used as a matter of course."


The other news item tonight is

12:00 - 06 January 2006
The city council is not to blame for growing traffic congestion in Plymouth, transport chiefs have insisted.But the authority admits that the city's roads will become even busier when major new developments are completed.And the council has acknowledged that changes to the road layout on Royal Parade have caused delays - but made the area safer for pedestrians.(How can the pedestrian crossing be safer than the underpass which existed before?)The news comes in the wake of a critical Government report, which claimed that the council had caused traffic congestion in Plymouth.As revealed in the Evening Herald on Tuesday, the Government criticised the council's draft Local Transport Plan 2, which sets out the city's proposals for transport from 2006 to 2011.City transport manager Chris Sane has told the Evening Herald that there were 'gaps' in the draft plan, but he added that Plymouth does not have 'huge congestion problems'.And Councillor Sue Dann, the council's Cabinet member for transport and human resources, said that busy roads were a sign that the city is thriving and moving forward.The Government Office for the South West (GOSW) said that the draft plan, which was submitted last July, was 'disjointed and contradicts itself'.The council has now drawn up an action plan to ensure the final plan is completed before the Government's deadline in March.Millions of pounds of funding depend on the Government's ultimate assessment of the plan's quality and the council's ability to deliver it.Mr Sane, the council's transportation infrastructure and engineering manager, said that 'congestion hotspots' had been identified where busy traffic could pose problems.He added: "Plymouth isn't a city with huge congestion problems. If you compare Plymouth with places like Bristol, Exeter, Birmingham and Manchester, it is not a hugely congested city."What we are concerned about is that we do have a growth and regeneration agenda, not just in the city centre but also areas like the northern corridor, including Derriford."As you create jobs and employment opportunities, that is going to increase traffic in some areas and that, therefore, has the risk that we will have congestion hotspots."Mr Sane added that major highway projects, such as the £14.5million road widening scheme at the George Junction in Derriford, showed that the council was acting now to ensure that the city does not face larger problems in the future.He said: "If we do nothing, we will start to see congestion which ultimately will then act as a brake and stifle economic activity."By doing things now, like the work at the A386 George junction, we are easing an existing bottleneck, but also creating capacity for future growth in that area."Mr Sane added: "Traffic congestion has not been caused by the council."We have got the Drake Circus development, which will bring jobs to the city and create an additional high quality shopping environment. That brings more traffic into the city."We are trying to manage the consequences of developments like that for the benefit of not only the citizens of Plymouth, but also shoppers that come in from other parts of the region."Cllr Dann said: "Having busy roads isn't bad. Having busy roads means that people want to come into the city centre to work and shop."Traffic in itself is not a bad thing. It is actually showing how the city is moving forward."Plymouth is booming and, if Plymouth is booming, it means with that we get more people, and more people travelling."Although more traffic is expected on the city's roads in the years to come, the council has no plans to introduce a congestion charge.Instead, the authority is striving to ensure that bus services in Plymouth are more reliable, providing residents with an alternative to taking their cars.But transport chiefs admit that getting people on buses will mean overturning a 'lifestyle' shift that has evolved over decades.Mr Sane said: "Where this stems from is the lifestyle that everyone chooses to live. Nowadays, we have two-adult households where both adults are working. Forty years ago, there was probably a single earner in most households."Many adults now do the school run before driving on into work. We try to encourage children to come to school by other means, whether that be bus or walking."Cllr Dann said: "We can't be accountable for when people want to travel - people make lifestyle choices."People are busy, they want to move around the city quickly, and as a council we need to be able to take all that on board and offer viable transport choices."She added: "All we can do is try to control the traffic and make sure we offer viable alternatives so people can choose how they travel."One of the 'congestion hotspots' identified in the council's draft plan is Royal Parade, where lack of space at bus stops and people using pedestrian crossings are slowing buses.Last year, an underpass which ran under Royal Parade was filled in and replaced with a pedestrian crossing as part of a £1.5million facelift of Armada Way.The work also included the creation of a 'plaza' space, which has hosted temporary attractions including an ice rink, a big wheel, and a giant screen showing matches from the Wimbledon tennis championships.Mr Sane said: "As a result of introducing the Royal Parade crossing, that has displaced some traffic onto Notte Street."For bus journey times around the inner ring, all developments have had a delaying impact. This is something that is inevitable."The crossing was put in primarily to give better pedestrian access. It was very difficult for anybody with mobility needs - such as people with pushchairs, disabled people, and elderly people - to use, compared with what we currently have."Cllr Dann added that the new crossing had turned a former 'accident hotspot' into an area where people felt safe.She said: "We don't get boy racers down Royal Parade anymore. We have accepted that the traffic has slowed down to make the road safer."Cllr Dann added that the 'plaza' had enabled the city to become one of the region's premier shopping developments.She said: "Plymouth was one of the most successful Christmas shopping centres in terms of visitor numbers in the whole of the South West. It's been really buoyant."The entertainment has made the city buzz, and that would not have happened without the Royal Parade crossing."GOSW has told the council that its draft plan 'lacks a coherent policy', with few links to the Mackay Vision for future development in the city.Mr Sane said: "We always knew there were gaps that needed substantial improvement, and we are addressing them."What we were very, very keen on was making sure we had very good public consultation. The consequence of that is that the plan went in with some gaps."Of the draft plan's relationship with the Mackay Vision, Mr Sane said: "I think they did link, but I think the issue was about how explicitly this was expressed in the draft plan."They are not in conflict - we just hadn't made it really explicit that there was a link between the two."Cllr Dann said that the council had been commended for the way it had consulted with stake-holders about the draft proposals.She said: "It shows we are trying to make our streets safer, we are trying to improve the environment in which we live, and we are trying to make the city a lot easier to get around."

Todays blog is already big enough so I wont add too many comments of my own to this yet. But I can assure you I will be coming back to it!

didbygraham

Evans Transport

Another photo I managed to get yesterday was this very smart MAN of Evans Transport. I have always been impressed by this fleet as its always very well turned out in this smart, distinctive livery.

Other stuff that has caught my eye tonight:

This is Plymouth 12:00 - 05 January 2006
Plans for a £70million development at the walled-in former Devonport Dockyard stores enclave have been given the go-ahead by councillors.The development, which includes 463 new homes together with shops, businesses and community facilities, is set to transform the old heart of Devonport, which was destroyed in the Blitz. Once the post-war naval buildings are flattened, the area will undergo a £70 million redevelopment which will once again see surrounding Cumberland Street and Fore Street running through it.A third 'historic' road will be recreated too, when Tavistock Street is rebuilt.Two other streets will be created through the yard under a plan which EP said "follows, very approximately, the route of former street patterns".
More news here.
I will be watching out for this as its a very interesting development indeed. I will be looking out for a few photos I have of this general area. Its certainly good news for this run down area of Plymouth.






didbygraham

St Johns Ambulance and the 52

Despite the freezing cold I ventured out at lunchtime today and took a few photos. One of the few worth posting is this Renault ambulance of St Johns. The days when they ran a fleet of ancient 'hand-me-downs from the main ambulance fleets have long gone and they now run a highly standardised fleet of new ambulances. Click here for a web page on St Johns ambulance number GA109 which is identical to this one - and even features a cut out card board model you can make! There is also the London St John fleet which features its own Crusaders and a larger specialised unit based on a Dennis Dart bus. well worth a visit. A worthy organisation to support.

Staying with hospital transport (well sort of)


This is Plymouth: 12:00 - 04 January 2006
A new bus service between Saltash and Derriford has been launched by Plymouth Citybus after a rival company axed the route. The first number 152 buses started running yesterday, along exactly the same route and with the same timetable as the old 52 service ended by First at the end of October.Buses link Saltash with Derriford Hospital by way of the Tamar Bridge, Pemros Road, St Budeaux Square, Victoria Road, Crownhill Road and Tavistock Road.First has cut several of its services to Derriford Hospital because it said not enough people were using the routes.Citybus operations director Phil Smith said the service would run until at least May, when it would be reviewed.He added: "We will be doing everything that we can to regain the old customers and will hopefully gain some new ones."Citybus is not taking over the 52A Saltash to Notre Dame School service.

It must be said that this is welcomed by most passengers I know that use the service. Those of us that use the Plympton end on the 52 that Citybus took over last year have a much better service than was ever provided by First.
didbygraham

Plymouth City Council

There is only one story I can lead on tonight.

12:00 - 03 January 2006

Traffic congestion in Plymouth has been caused by the city council, according to a highly critical Government report.And the authority has also done little to tackle existing and emerging snarl-ups, the document said.The criticisms come in a blunt assessment of the council's 192-page draft Local Transport Plan 2, covering 2006 to 2011, which puts it in the worst seven plans from 82 submitted nationally.They have led to calls for the resignation of cabinet transport member Cllr Sue Dann, and accusations that the Labour Party wants an excuse to bring in a congestion charge.The Government Office for the South West (GOSW) assessment of Plymouth's provisional plan said: "Where a summary of congestion hotspots is provided, the plan states that the authority has created many of the problems itself. The plan does not show how this issue is to be resolved."The report doesn't go into detail but refers to a table in the draft plan, completed last July, which lists hotspots and 'activities affecting congestion'.On the list is Royal Parade where lack of space at bus stops and people using pedestrian crossings are slowing buses and leading to 'vehicle-pedestrian tension'.The Royal Parade crossing also affects peak period traffic on the city centre ring road and Notte Street, according to the draft plan.And in Mutley Plain congestion is related to the 'high numbers' of pedestrians crossing and illegal parking'.Other congestion hotspots include Tavistock Road and North Hill, where major developments are under way.GOSW has now told the council its provisional plan 'needs substantial improvement'.It called the entire plan 'disjointed' and said it is not clear how it will link with the Mackay Vision for the development of Plymouth.The council now must provide an amended and improved plan by the end of March if it is not to get an overall 'weak' rating.Millions of pounds of funding depend on the Government's ultimate assessment of the plan's quality and the council's ability to deliver it.But already the Integrated Transport Block grant Plymouth will receive for 2006/7 has been reduced by five per cent to £3.085 million.Cllr Dann was approached by the Herald but chose for the council's press office to issue a statement.The statement said: "We were aware some parts of the LTP2 submission needed further work but we honoured the statutory July deadline and since then have developed the document, including our targets and how we are going to deliver them."But Tory transport spokesman Cllr Kevin Wigens called for Cllr Dann's head and said the plan 'could not have been worse'.He said: "Of the many alarming aspects of this report, the one that concerns me and many other motorists, is the apparent acknowledgement by Plymouth City Council that it is responsible for much of the congestion in Plymouth."I would call upon Cllr Dann to consider her position."Lib Dem Cllr Lee Finn, who defected from Labour in July, accused the ruling party of wanting to create traffic bottlenecks to justify bringing in a congestion charge.This is even though, in March 2005, Cllr Dann said there were no council plans to introduce congestion charges.Cllr Finn said the draft plan would create a transport system which would 'cause economic catastrophe' by hampering businesses wanting to set up in Plymouth.He said: "It's a damning indictment of the way our transport infrastructure is viewed, planned and implemented."Taxifast boss John Preece called the assessment 'scathing' and wanted Cllr Dann to 'step down'.He said: "The council has not got a plan, it has got dreams."The transport system in this city is the biggest single factor to its economy - they have lost the plot."He added: "We need to get rid of at least 50 per cent of traffic lights to ease traffic flow."We have permitted the increase in bus lanes to the point where they become counter productive. They create bottlenecks."He called for a 'consultative committee' containing the police, RAC, AA and transport 'operators' to be set up.Don Allen, Plymouth and Cornwall co-ordinator for the transport and environmental pressure group Transport 2000, also thinks the council has caused congestion - by permitting development and removing the Royal Parade underpass.He said: "I'm not against pedestrian crossings as such, but they could have done that without filling in the underpass."He said building developments on the A386 and Drake's Circus had increased congestion, and predicted the same if developments happen at Sherford and Bretonside.Plymouth is not as congested as Exeter or Bristol, he said, but congestion is 'growing'.Mr Allen said the solution was 'encouraging people to use public transport'. He added: "One way to do that is by reducing the fares, not only for the over-60s but all people."Edmund King, director of the RAC Foundation, said traffic management, such as pedestrian crossings, could slow traffic, cause congestion and pollution and fail to enhance safety.He said: "It's a pipedream to think that putting in pedestrian crossings will deter vehicles - it will not."He said a balance needed to be struck but added: "Any city needs roads that move traffic - if not, a city dies."It seems that the planners in the city need to go back to the drawing board and work out which roads are for movement."Council staff are due to meet Government officials to discuss the plan. A revised version must be completed by the end of February so it can pass the council's committee system before the end of the financial year.After March the revised plan will be further assessed and that assessment will affect the council's bid for funds.A GOSW spokeswoman said the Government would look at how 'appropriate' and 'well-planned' proposed schemes are, and whether they provide 'value for taxpayers' money'. Although all local authorities would receive money, the rating a plan gets for being 'achievable, affordable, and value for money' 'can affect the settlement'.
The Government Office for the South West's assessment of Plymouth City Council's provisional Local Transport Plan 2 includes the following criticisms: The plan 'lacks a coherent strategy', is 'disjointed and contradicts itself'.The plan is supposed to link with the Mackay Vision for future development of Plymouth, but the assessment said: "It is not clear at this stage how the Mackay vision fits into the wider policy and planning context'. It said there needs to be 'sound evidence and analysis of that evidence' to show a transport strategy has been developed. The lack of a Mackay link is 'a considerable weakness throughout the whole of the plan'.In a section on opportunities and problems it is 'difficult to identify whether they are addressing a problem or maximising an opportunity'. Problems are 'too generic' and the final plan will need to use statistical information so 'particular measures' can resolve localised problems.A works programme is 'not related to the indicators and outcomes proposed'. This makes it difficult to allocate funds, the GOSW said, because 'few targets have been fully defined at this stage'.Passenger transport plans are 'undeliverable' and not supported by 'a realistic capital programme' because they were based on a £200 million bid for the 'Eastern Corridor' and were therefore 'high risk'.The GOSW has sought confirmation that the council is acting within the law after the authority admitted 'little existing revenue surplus from car parking is actually used for other transport projects'.

The full document can be found here [No longer available 2008!](PDF). It makes very interesting reading indeed!

This is just the latest area in which Plymouth City Council has been rated as among the worse in the country. The report is pretty damning and shows the lack of real commitment to Transport in Plymouth and the many problems it faces - many of which it appears are actually the councils own fault anyway. You only have to look at what is happening elsewhere in Devon to see how poorly Plymouth is being served by its council. One cant help but wonder what area of the councils work will be rated as failing next.

Truronian Fire

© Nick Rice

Its not really Plymouth Transit but its still important: News has come through that Truronian have suffered a major fire resulting in the loss of 7 buses on New Years Eve. One bus that is confirmed as destroyed is PRC856X one of the last VRTs in service. Photo above comes from Nick Rice who has kindly allowed me to post it here.


Seven buses were totally gutted in a suspected arson attack at a
Cornish depot. Four double-deckers and three single-decker buses were burned out during the fire which caused thousands of pounds' worth of damage.
Dozens of fire fighters fought the blaze at the Truronian Bus Depot
on Saturday night in Truro. The fire broke out at 9.30pm at the depot on Lighterage Hill, Newham Industrial Estate. No one was injured during the fire, which is being treated as a possible arson attack. The Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service Investigation Unit was due to re-examine the scene yesterday. The Truronian bus company said it was confident that services will not be disrupted despite the devastation to 12 per cent of its fleet. A driver raised the alarm after he had refuelled his bus and was walking towards the rest room. He saw the reflection of a burning bus in a window and called the fire service. Five fire crews arrived on the scene. However, fire fighting efforts were initially hampered by strong winds which caused the fire to spread from vehicle to vehicle. Geoff Rumbles, Truronian's joint managing director, said the quick-thinking of staff on duty stopped the fire spreading further and engulfing the rest of the fleet. He said: "I'd like to say how much we appreciate the help and very, very swift actions of the drivers who were at work on Saturday night. "They were absolutely brilliant and without their help this could have been worse." A portable building in the yard also caught alight and will have to be demolished. Nigel Vincent, spokesman for the fire service, said an investigation had been launched into the cause of the fire, which is as yet, unknown. He said: "We are not ruling anything out at the moment and are investigating the cause of the fire along with police colleagues. "It's early days. "An investigation will be carried out but at this moment in time we won't discount anything." Truronian Ltd was formed in September 1987 and quickly acquired Truronian Tours followed by Flora Motors in Helston and City Taxis in Truro. Over the last three years, more than £2 million has been invested in new vehicles. It operates a fleet of nearly 90 vehicles including 62 buses and coaches, 25 taxis and other vehicles.

It has since been reported that six Arriva Olympians are heading to Cornwall to help out the fleet - it remains to be seen if they are on loan or acquired.

Other news is that Plymouth Citybus Dart 47 is the latest to receive the new livery - thought to have been repainted back in November 2005. I will post a photo here when I get one.
didbygraham

RIP the 17

No buses out today as far as I know so start the year with a route which never made it into 2006! D513HUB is seen on the last day of service of route 17 from the City Centre to Glenholt. It was always a good route in that First would put just about anything on it - even more so than any of the low floor routes. To be fair to FDC there were hardly any passengers on it whenever I used the service so I am not surprised its going. The fact that Citybus are taking on the other withdrawn routes but not this one does confirm this lack of usage.
D513HUB is one of the Olympians with bodywork built by Optare very shortly after they took over from Roe, and is to the old Roe design. The body number is 28 so it is very early Optare product! New to Yorkshire Rider as 5513 in Feb 1987. It found its way to First Western National back in April 2000 with its sister D514HUB.
As can be seen 34713 is one of the scruffier buses in the fleet at the moment, especially when compared to sister 34714 which was posted to this blog back on 19th September.
didbygraham