New Buses for London On The Euston Road
The route 390 from Archway to Notting Hill Gate from this morning is using New Buses for London.
These pictures were taken on the Euston Road, in the vicinity of Kings Cross and St. Pancras stations, which now have a bus to compliment their own good design.
If you wan t to go in the Archway direction, you will just walk onto Kings Cross Square and pick up the bus along Euston Road. To go to Oxford Street and Notting Hill Gate, you need to cross the road.
I think that when they’ve finished the building work, it will be a lot better than it is at present.
Do East Midland Trains Not Want Football Fans?
I say football fans, but it could be anybody, who wants to travel to somewhere like Ipswich, Liverpool or Nottingham from London to arrive by a certain time like 14:00, have a meeting or watch an event, which maybe of a variable duration and then return home.
I regularly book a ticket to Ipswich on a Saturday with Greater Anglia. It is a simple process, where I buy one ticket, which can be either a First or Standard Class Off Peak Return. I usually buy a First, at £32.60 on a Saturday. It’s also the same price on a weekday, if I leave after the rush hour.
Liverpool is a different one purchase process, in that I usually buy a First |Advance ticket for about forty pounds to go North. Coming home for flexibility and to avoid buying a ticket for a specific train, I buy a Standard Class Off Peak for £25.50.
But East Midland Trains are different. I have just booked my ticket to Nottingham for the 14th of December. A First Advance Ticket has cost me £17.80, which is about the same as my ticket to Ipswich. So as the journey is longer, it’s good value. Coming back the option of a flexible ticket, will cost £37.30, which is fifty percent more than Virgin’s from Liverpool.I can get a ticket for under £20, but that means I have to name a train. So what happens if I meet a mate and have a coffee? I’ll have to buy a new ticket at £37.30.
East Midland Trains are also distinctly against running late night trains back to London, after a football match, as I found at Derby earlier in the season.
Out of curiosity, I just checked out going to Bristol. It looks like FOSH (First Out and Standard Home) is about forty five pounds. And it can be booked in one go!
Doncaster in FOSH by East Coast is just under fifty pounds.
Note that all the prices quoted here are using a valid railcard.
New Buses for London To Venture South
It is being reported that from February 2014, route 148 from Denmark Hill/Camberwell Green to White City is going to be converted to New Buses for London.
The Itinerary For The Trip To Bilbao
I’ve now firmed up my trip to Bilbao and home.
Sunday, December 8th
I fly out on the easyJet flight, EZY3325, which leaves at 18:25.
I have booked into the Silken Gran Dominie by the Guggenheim Museum for two nights.
Monday, December 9th
Tuesday, December 10th
I travel by train to Hendaye from where I get a train to Biarritz.
Bilbao-Hendaye – 6:40 to 11:28, 9:15 to 13:51
I have booked the Radisson Blu for two nights.
Wednesday, December 11th
I shall find a very good restaurant on this day, as it will be six years since C died.
Thursday, December 12th
I travel by train to Bordeaux, where I’m booked into the Le Boutique Hotel for one night.
Friday, December 13th
I take the TGV to Paris and then the 20:13 Eurostar to London.
Scrapping The Car Tax Disc
It has been reported that the government is going to scrap the car tax disc.
It won’t affect me, but I think there will be an alliance of those, who want to keep it.
There will be those, who will object solely on the basis, that the only way to check will be to look it up on a database and this is an infringement on their liberties.
It will also make it difficult for busybodies to report neighbours, who constantly park outside their house, for not having a tax disc.
If the DVLA did the system properly, you would only be able to pay road tax on-line, so that would annoy the Internet refuseniks.
And then there’s the unions, who may complain about the job loses at Swansea and in the Royal Mail.
I’ll be surprised, if they are abandoned it, without a fight from a very odd alliance of troublemakers.
More Progress On The Bacon Factory Curve
The Bacon Factory Curve at Ipswich is progressing well.
I should be going back to the dentist in the Spring, so it will be interesting to see the progress as it is slated from completion next year.
Travelling With Michael Palin
The Class 153 train, that shuttled me to Felixstowe was named after Michael Palin.
Travelling With Michael Palin
I wonder how many other trains have been named after comedians?
Freight Trains At Ipswich
On my trip to the dentist in Felixstowe yesterday, I changed trains at Ipswich. There was a wonderful example of the problems that the Bacon Factory Curve is designed to eliminate, as two freight trains going to and from London, passed through the station at the same time.
One thing that worries me, is that these trains were going through a busy station, where lots of people were waiting for trains like I was. Is this a good idea from a Health and Safety point of view?
Many of these trains, are routed by the North London and Gospel Oak to Barking lines to complete their journey.
When the curve is fully operational, they will go on a more direct route, via Stowmarket and Peterborough.
But will those who live on that line be complaining of very noisy Class 66 locomotives at all hours of the day and night?
Incidentally, as a lot less freight trains will be travelling to or from London, they should be able to use the direct line through Ipswich station, which is between the main lines used by passenger trains to stop at platforms 2 and 3. This will certainly make things less frightening and probably a lot safer.
Off To Bilbao
I think, I might be flying off to Bilbao on Sunday. I’ve found a nice hotel by the Guggenheim Museum and then it will be home by train, staying nights in Biarritz, Bordeaux and possibly,Paris.
The Anonymous Widower 