I will be back - next year!

I know I have been quiet - but to be honest I am enjoying the break between Christmas and New Year even though I am back at work now.

Dont worry though, I will be back up and running again from the 1st January and back to posting every day again.

For now though, I thank you all for your support during 2008 and hope you all have a great 2009 - even if it looks like being a difficult year for a lot of people.

Enjoy New Years Eve!

Christmas Best on Flickr

©Bus Preservation via Flickr Blog This.

824KDV Western National superb night shot on Royal Parade.

Plym Valley Railway

Better late than never, a few photos taken on Sunday when 168 TTT168X was on the shuttle service linking Plymouth Station with the Plym Valley Railway for their Mince Pie Specials running day.

168 ready to depart from the Railway Station

Albert gets ready to depart

 

A quick video (taken with my digital camera so not brilliant quality)

then below we have my transport home 168 looking very smart as usual.
Well done to all involved at the PVR and the preservation group with their smart Atlanteans - always nice to see them back on the road.





* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Thanks once again to everyone who has contributed to Plymothian Transit over the past year either by allowing me to use their excellent photographs (there have been some great ones this year) or passing me information for use on the site. Thanks also to those who have left comments on the site as these often add interesting points, and often correct me when I make mistakes!

Thanks especially to Brian George, Terry Partridge, Ian Byrne, Ralph Delbridge, AecRegent, Rev Ian Kirby, Daniel Marker, Dave Boulter, Nick Rice, Tom & Louis, Sou'Wester, Plymouth City Council Transport Section, and many others.

Things will continue to be fairly quiet here for a few days over Christmas as of course family comes first.
Have a good Christmas everyone!

 

Graham

Oh dear

I am sorry for the lack of posting here over the last few days but its Christmas, and things are getting a bit hectic! Saturday was Zaks birthday too so computer time has been limited to say the least. I dont suppose it will improve that much over the nest few days either but I will have a posting tomorrow with photos taken down on the Plym Valley Railway and the Atlantean on the shuttle service - which was my real reason for going out.

Citycoaching on...

©Brian George
Islwyn Borough Transport has just announced that it has sold its coaching holidays division 'Kingfisher' to a local coach operator. Their coach work will cease at the end of December, with just a few coaches retained for seat-belted school work.

Why is this news reported on Plymothian Transit? Because this leaves Plymouth Citybus as the only municipal owned fleet that are still running and advertising coach tours into 2009. There used to be quite a few but they have all either disappeared as companies or have just pulled out of coach holidays. Of course Citybus considered selling the Citycoach operation but it was trimmed down and saved due to customer demand. Mind you, its not just the municipal coach fleets that are on the endangered list as municipally owned bus companies are a dwindling band. The sale of Eastbourne to Stagecoach this month see's yet another company removed from this list.

Reminder

Just a little reminder...

Tomorrow the Plymouth City Transport Preservation Group are running Leyland Atlanteans on a free City Centre Shuttle to link to the Plym Valley Railway.

this is your last chance for now!

Click the advert to go the the web site and follow the 'Timetable' link.

Enjoy a ride on a real bus!

Sparks flew yesterday

Yesterday was Plymouth Citybus Mufti Day where most drivers wore what they liked, with a few in fancy dress to raise money for local charity. Its always been a popular day and is fun for passengers as well as drivers.
It also saw their 'celebrity bus driver' BBC Radio's Gordon Sparks out on the road. He was out and about in one of the Citaro's which made a nice treat for those of un on the 50 in the afternoon. I have never been a real Citaro fan but it makes a change from the bog standard Darts we normally get.

He is obviously popular - you don't see many drivers getting kisses from their passengers!

Confusion over Plymouth's Citybus Ham bus stop

 

First buses travelling on Ham Drive in Plymouth are refusing to pick up passengers at the bus stop at Ham Drive Community Centre, heading north, according to city Labour leader Tudor Evans.

Confusion over Plymouth's Citybus Ham bus stop (This is Plymouth)

This is an odd story to say the least. It seems that drivers are not allowed to stop there but that First, and the council don't seem to know why? The more I read it the less sense it makes! What is also apparent that this is more a publicity stunt by Tudor as neither the bus company nor the council have received any complaints about buses not stopping there anyway.

Odd!

New Improved Service

This week sees the start of the new timetable for the Tamar Valley Line which runs between Plymouth, Bere Alston and Gunnislake. An extra daily train has been provided giving a service almost every two hours without the gaps that existed before. Apparently this is the best ever service provided on this line since May 1968 when the Tavistock section was closed.

Skipping off...

The council hopes to save £30,000 by ending its in-house provided skip container service and transferring internal customers to other collections. (This is Plymouth)

Sunday Best: 348EDV

©MarkHarrington
Bristol SUL4A latterly used by a Leeds school and former Midland Red 6242 at Norths, August 1984.

PlymGo - coming soon

We have had Ugo - now we are getting PlymGo. Interesting new service being launched very soon by Plymouth City Council. You can register your interest in hearing about the site when it launches this coming week. www.plymgo.com.

The City Council have developed a brand new, Plymouth focused, journey planning website 'PlymGo.' The new tool is designed to give people choice about how, why and when they travel, the very essence of travel plans, and has been designed in a user friendly format so it gives people the information they need.

The website has been designed to plan journeys on foot, by bike and by public transport and the private car with the results reported in terms of; distance travelled, time taken, calories burnt whilst on route and the carbon value of your journey- this means we hope to tie in with the entire spectrum of New Year resolutions. However, the site will only be successful if people use it. We are therefore asking for your help. The site will go live on the 15th December. As an incentive to people registering at www.plymgo.com the first 500 people using the site will receive promotional merchandise.
If the teaser screen shot is an indication then this is a good looking service with decent maps and should be a lot easier to use than the current city council site that goes with the real time information system. I will be covering this in more detail once it launches next week. The City Council really are getting serious about promoting public transport!

Reminder

Just a little reminder...

Tomorrow the Plymouth City Transport Preservation Group are running Leyland Atlanteans on a free City Centre Shuttle to link to the Plym Valley Railway.

Click the advert to go the the web site and follow the 'Timetable' link.

Enjoy a ride on a real bus!

Life after Trathens

©Peter Relf. Used with Peters permission.

 

Soul, Olney (BK):  50 DBD.  Auwaerter Neoplan N122/3 with CH57/18CT body.  It was new in 12/01 to Trathens, Plymouth (DN) as YN51 XMH. Park Lane, London   10th May 2008.
Looking a lot smarte than it ever did in National Express livery!

Research Way.

Another photos from Steve Bagley, this time of the new bus stop shelters installed down at the bottom of Research Way in the Tamar Science Park development with the infamous Derriford cigarette in the background. The contract service for the Medical School (just down to the left of this picture) requires a double decker so probably does need the double shelter arrangement even though few other people seem to use this stop. Anything which helps to improve the experience of waiting for buses has to be a good thing.

First Great Western say trains linking Plymouth and London to stop at Ivybridge

 

HIGH-SPEED trains linking Plymouth and London are to stop at Ivybridge for the first time as part of a new winter timetable unveiled by First Great Western.

First Great Western say trains linking Plymouth and London to stop at Ivybridge (This is Plymouth)

Extra services are always welcome. This will certainly make life a lot easier for people living in Ivybridge. It seems that three services each way a day will stop at Ivybridge. Great news.

No more bent bus stop

 

Thanks to Steve Bagley from Plymouth City Council for these photos giving us the before and after views of the front of Derriford Hospital

The famous 'bent bus stop' at the top end of this stop can be seen in the distance.

The much improved shelters and the new flags can be seen below.

Just the Real Time displays and the lighting to sort out now and it will all be finished.

 

Brilliant!

 

School kids left stranded in rain by bus

 

SCHOOL children in Plymouth were left stranded in the rain, after drivers of over-crowded buses refused their fare. Bus company First National told their drivers to refuse school pupils once buses reach full-capacity, after parents complained that the essential transporters were dangerously overcrowded

School kids left stranded in rain by bus (This is Plymouth)

This story has been great to follow on the This is Plymouth site as it does show up an awful lot of ignorance by the people (and the reporter - "First National"?!) of Plymouth. As I type this there are over 70 comments many of them hostile to the company. People seem to think that someone else should come in and run this - not for profit. Cant see that happening!
Another comments suggests that the City Council should give Citybus permission to run to Plymstock. The fact that they dont need council permission, and indeed already operate into Plymstock albeit on a tendered run seems to have passed this person by. The one good thing to see is that the pupils have come out in support of their regular drivers of this service. Knowing one of the drivers who does this run, that support is well deserved.
Si if you want some entertainment pop over to the This is Plymouth site and read the comments HERE

Sunday Best: Western National SFJ101R

©AECRegent (Via Flickr)
I am sure that this was one of the experiments before WN adopted the smart blue and cream with red livery to replace the Birdseye livery which was not one of the better received liveries! I am certainly glad they went for the blue and cream which was generally well thought off.

[For some reason several of my 'future booked' postings have not published as I expected - this should have gone live on Sunday!]

New modern shelters for bus stops at Derriford

 

OLD bus stops in Derriford have been replaced by three modern, double-length shelters. The new shelters are wheelchair and pushchair accessible and have internal lighting, comfortable seating and timetable information panels

New modern shelters for bus stops at Derriford (This is Plymouth)

The news item also mentions the new bus stop shelter that has been put up at the Tamar Science Park which I noticed just on Thursday. This is now served by the 46/47 along with Northern Connect and the Medical School service run by Citybus. I have only one one occasion been on a taxibus when it has picked or dropped anyone there. Too most passengers on the 46/47 its just an annoyance that the bus runs there - none of my friends have seen anyone catch a bus from there either. I guess there must be some users of this stop?

Reminder

Just a little reminder...

Tomorrow the Plymouth City Transport Preservation Group are running Leyland Atlanteans on a free City Centre Shuttle to link to the Plym Valley Railway.

Click the advert to go the the web site and follow the 'Timetable' link.

Enjoy a ride on a real bus!

Hoppa on parade

Sometimes I have no idea what to post, and little time available to put anything together. I try to keep a few items in hand but this isnt always possible. I didnt want to miss out tonight as I know I wont be posting tomorrow evening as I am out late having a practice drinking session ready for Christmas. I then came across an old CD from 2001 with a few of my old photos on and saw this little Hoppa, ex Western National in what seems to be the Lord Mayors Day Parade from 2001.

Its funny, you look at the fleet of Dennis Darts on the streets of Plymouth and dream of the good old days when Plymothians were carried about in proper double decker buses. Its easy to forget that actually the deckers were mostly seen off by these horrible things - (and Citybus had those awful Renault things) the Darts have then seen these off so at least they were a step back in the right direction!

The real 138

photo from Brian George collection - photographer unknown
Yesterday I posted photo and news of Citybus 138 which has gone a bit special. Here is the previous 138 which was also a bit special in that it carried this attractive all over advert from the days when adverts were painted on and respected windows!
Enviro 138 may be able to tell me where to get off, but if both of these turned up at the bus stop I know which one I would get on! (I also know which one most passengers would prefer - those Enviros are very comfortable!)

BBC NEWS | England | First Great Western boss resigns

 

The boss of rail franchise First Great Western (FGW) has unexpectedly resigned from his post citing personal reasons. Andrew Haines is widely credited with turning around the worst performing rail company in the UK since taking up the post in September 2007.

BBC NEWS | England | First Great Western boss resigns

A bus that knows where its going

Citybus 138 is a bit special. You cant tell from this photo as it was taken before it got special, and actually the special bit is inside anyway. It has just been fitted with new GPS system. This means that the display screen inside the bus that normally just displays random gobbledegook at the moment will now be clever enough to know where the bus is, and what the next bus stop is.

It has only been configured for a couple of routes at the moment as a trial. It works great on service 42 with the "Next Stop" and the name being displayed. If the bus stops at the next stop the opening of the doors triggers the sign to clear and display the next stop along the route.

If the bus does not use the stop the sign clears after about 20 yards past the stop and then displays "Next Stop" and the name.

The software has also been sorted so that the bus can display the coloured route numbers - although it is not yet planned to use these just yet. It does open possibilities for route branding further down the line if Citybus decide to go down that path. It is set up for a couple of routes at the moment, one being the 42 which is normally Enviro operated these days.