Small Annoyances In Travel
I have some big things, that annoy me, but in my travels, I constantly come across small things that can be improved.
1. Beggars Selling Tissues
A complete pain and an annoyance to train companies too!
One day, an annoyed drunk, will tell one to get lost very forcibly!
2. Bi-Lingual Signs
If the Welsh want to have station signs in Welsh that’s for them to decide, but having everything in Welsh and English just clutters the station and makes doing simple things like finding toilets difficult.
3. Bus Information Outside London Is Mainly Useless
London’s bus maps and text Countdown system, sets a very high standard for bus information.
But why is it, that no area of the UK, or few in Europe for that matter, has a system that works as well for visitors?
4. Bus Pass Restriction In Other Countries Of The UK
Today, I was in Cardiff and had to buy a ticket. I had no small change, so I held everybody up and in the end a kind Welshman paid.
I believe that if all bus passes worked all over the UK, it would be a self-financing scheme, as more of us would travel to the other three countries and probably spend money which would generate VAT and other taxes.
Supposing too, we also allowed those from other countries over sixty-five or disabled to use buses for free. Would this encourage tourism and create revenue?
It certainly would be an experiment that would be worth trying.
5. Buses With Only One Door
All of London’s buses, except for the very smallest have two or more doors. It speeds loading and unloading, especially for those in wheelchairs or pushing buggies, so the buses go faster.
6. Cities And Towns With Two Disconnected Main Stations
Some cities and large towns have two main stations. Birmingham, Blackpool, Glasgow and Manchester come to mind.
If they can’t be connected by a proper rail connection, then at least there should be a ticketless way of getting between the stations.
Several times a year, I do journeys, where I have to go across Manchester between Victoria and Piccadilly stations. I have to buy a ticket on the tram, but if say I have a ticket from Euston to Burnley or Blackburn, the tram should be included.
It is not a system designed for the real needs of travellers.
7. East Croydon Station
East Croydon Station is the ideal changing point for journeys to Surrey and Sussex.
But despite the rail lines being in place, it is not easy to get there from East London. You use one of these routes.
- Bus or Bus/Tube to London Bridge station and then use Thameslink.
- Bus or Bus/Tube to Victoria station and then use a direct train.
- East London Line to West Croydon station and then a tram
The last method can’t be used coming north, as the trams don’t serve West Croydon when going west.
At present, you can take the East London Line to New Cross Gate or Norwood Junction stations and change, but this will be stopped, when the full Thameslink opens.
8. Ordsall Chord
I fear that due to the persistent opposition of one misguided and obstinate individual, that the Ordsall Chord will never be built.
9. Paddington Station
For those of us in East London, Paddington station is a very difficult station to get to. Unless you’re happy to crawl along the Hammersmith and City Line and walk a long way to your train.
10. Stations With No Information On How To Use Local Buses
Manchester Piccadilly station is particularly bad and in many cases you have to walk to Piccadilly Gardens to get the bus you need.
Some towns and cities like Sheffield have the main bus station by the train station.
If this is not possible, then at least have comprehensive information.
11, Stations Without A Marks & Spencer Simply Food
Paddington and Nottingham stations annoy me, as these two important stations don’t have a Marks & Spencer Simply Food store, which is the only one I trust for gluten-free sandwiches, snacks and ready meals.
12. Stations Without Ticket Machines
Most stations have them these days, but I’ve come across a couple recently which don’t.
They should also be as close to the platforms as possible, under a shelter from the weather.
13. Taxi Drivers That Are Incompetent
In London we’re spoilt as our black cab drivers know where they’re going and everything is on a meter.
I think because of this, all the mini-cabs seem to work to a very good standard of knowledge.
But I’ve had some very incompetent taxi drivers in parts of the UK! One was even a black cab!
14. Toilets That Need Money
I know that providing toilets is expensive and that there are other reasons to charge, but why can’t someone develop a toilet that can be entered using a contactless bank card.
15. Urban Area Ticketing
If I wasn’t old or infirm enough for my Freedom Pass, I could use any contactless bank card to pay my fare on all of London’s transport.
But why can’t I do this in places like Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle?
Are these transport authorities worried that if passenger numbers rise like they have in London with contactless ticketing, that they couldn’t afford the extra buses, trains and trams?
The Anonymous Widower 
Many years ago, soon after the trams first started to operate, I remember going from Piccadilly to Victoria and not paying, we were going to Halifax I think to a wonderful children’s museum whose name I totally forget. IMO Piccadilly is in a silly place, and is a distance from many of the shops and from the Arndale. Piccadilly Gardens itself isn’t a safe part of the city either, not at night, and I am careful around there in the daytime – I do volunteer work in Oldham St just off Piccadilly Gardens each Friday. Now I have my folding scooter and car hoist, I can park near Afflecks and scoot around to where I need to be, and to anywhere else in the city.
As for contactless payments, it is surprising how many places still don’t take them, and not just in Manchester.
Comment by nosnikrapzil | March 13, 2016 |
Transport for London now takes a million ticket transactions a day on bank cards from 80 countries. Manchester’s card is supposed to use bank cards, but doesn’t yet.
One of the troubles with Piccadilly is that the trams were designed wrongly to fit into the station. At places where trams and trains interface well, like Nottingham or East Croydon, the tram line is at right angles to the trains.
The layout at Victoria is better.
Comment by AnonW | March 13, 2016 |
Incidentally, I have never seen beggars selling tissues.
Comment by nosnikrapzil | March 13, 2016 |
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/davehillblog/2015/may/26/a-tissue-salesman-on-the-metropolitan-line
It’s got past a nuisance.
Comment by AnonW | March 13, 2016 |
Fine with most of this except 11. Why do we have to have M&S’s over-priced and over-hyped food? Surely the reason that many stations don’t have them (especially here ‘oop north’ where folk are careful with their money) is because most people just don’t go in them.
Comment by Mark Clayton | March 13, 2016 |
When you’re coeliac, they’re the only place where you can get good gluten-free snacks and sandwiches.
So I plan my journeys accordingly. You should try getting something gluten-free in Middlesbrough, Preston, Blackpool, Blackburn or Burnley.
I always change at Piccadilly, Lime Street, Sheffield or Leeds.
Comment by AnonW | March 13, 2016 |
The trams in Manchester are often more trouble than they are worth! Cars regularly get stuck on tramlines – seriously somewhere will be closed several times a week because of it, and it seems to be in one of half a dozen places most often. I am not on the tram system where I live, I have to drive to East Didsbury, which I will try at some point. Because I live near manchester, I don’t know road names, but there is one main road which the trams come out of the tunnel to cross – it is around Piccadilly station. And they scare the heck out of me, the lights flash when they are coming, but never convinced they actually will. And I am not keen on walking/scooting across them either! Incidentally, there is a small Morrisons on Piccadilly Gardens, which sells Morrisons very nice GF bread rolls, and if you want an unhealthy treat, NoG sausage rolls. On Friday I tend to get one and a fruit salad for lunch, and take a starbucks in to where I volunteer.
Comment by nosnikrapzil | March 13, 2016 |
I always find walking around Manchester city centre difficult, as so many drivers don’t obey the speed limit.
I only use M&S for snacks on the move, as you only get M&S, Tesco, Sinsburys and Waitrose in London. There are a couple of big Asdas and Morrisons, but nowhere near me! I don’t shop at Tesco, as they alkways park in bus lanes and slow the traffic down. We’ve also got lots of Carluccios, Leons and Prets
Comment by AnonW | March 13, 2016 |
If ever you are somewhere and happen across a Morrisons when you are looking for lunch, it is worth a look. I live very near a Morrisons. We don’t have Leons, by Prets do you mean Pret a Manger? There is one in Selfridges Food Hall at Trafford Centre, but never seen GF there, although to be fair, I haven’t really looked properly!
How are you? I am a bit off kilter with mum dying and also been diagnosed with pancreatic insufficiency which is either congenital or autoimmune, am waiting for results for that one.
Comment by nosnikrapzil | March 13, 2016 |
My shopping tends to be very basic. If I go to the Angel, I’ve got a Marks, Chapel Market, Waitrose and Sainsbury all in line. Funny my grandmother used to shop in the Marks, the market and Waitrose before the Great War. Except Waitrose was Woolies. We also used the Marks in the 1970s. Life goes round in circles.
I got a series of Morrison vouchers through the door and offered them to the lady who does my laundry. She declined them, as she never goes near one.
Best of luck with your health.
I’m suffering from the cold dry winter.
Comment by AnonW | March 13, 2016 |