An Incident On A Bus
I was on a bus this morning, when a couple tried to get on without paying. They seemed to produce an old ticket claiming it had been issued earlier. But obviously, this didn’t fool the driver and he said no.
After a minute or so everyone on the bus started to get a bit impatient ringing the bell and rumbling about moving on. But the couple stood their ground.
it was then that the two biggest passengers on the bus moved forward to try to support the driver and sort the impasse. One was a stockily-built, fifty year old or so, white man in a suit and the other was a much younger, tall black man in jeans and a cotton jacket.
Faced with this irresistible force, the couple got off and possibly waited for another bus.
I was sitting next to a rather slight young lady and remarked that luckily you don’t see that too often. She agreed and we both wished each other well, as we got off a couple of stops later.
Perhaps we should have all cheered, but I think we thought that discretion was the better part of valour.
So, in the end, no-one or nothing was hurt, except perhaps the couple’s pride.
A Too Polite Society
There were about six of us at the bus stop this morning waiting for a bus, in a rather loose queue.
I wanted a 38 or 56 and one duly turned up.
However, we were all being so polite about who should go first and not pushing in, that the driver shut the doors and pushed off. It didn’t matter as after a laugh about what happened, another 38 arrived and two of us got on.
The Lawyer Likes The New Bus For London
Lawyers get everywhere these days. They’ve even got an article in The Lawyer magazine about the New Bus for London.
Sorting Out Highbury Corner
Highbury Corner is one of London’s busiest interchanges, which is being restructured to make it easier for all users. The picture shows the terminus of the 277 bus.
277 Buses At Highbury Corner
I regularly get a bus from here to my house and the stop is badly placed for the Underground. It is also a very busy stop, just off the roundabout towards Dalston and not the nicest place to wait for a bus.
I think that whatever you do, you’re not going to make a great improvement, unless the 277 route was extended a bit towards Holloway. But then there probably isn’t another suitable terminus.
Traffic was particularly bad last night, as Arsenal were playing at home and people will insist on driving to the Emirates.
By Bus To The Amex Stadium
It wasn’t the easiest to find the bus at first, as there didn’t appear to be any information. In the end I struck lucky, with a bit of phone guidance from my son, who used to live in the city. But getting off left me on a busy dual carriageway with the stadium on the other side of the road.
By Bus To The Amex Stadium
It’s on cold rainy nights that bus information systems like London and a few other places have, come into their own, as you know which stop to get out.
Eventually, I found my way in, by the time-honoured method of finding the walking crowd and following them.
I could have got a train, as my match ticket, included a free bus or train ticket from Brighton, but that would have meant walking back to the station.
But getting to the Amex, is infinitely better that getting to some stadia I’ve visited.
Brighton Names The Buses
I’ve said before that buses should be named. Brighton does it!
Brighton Names The Buses
This may be different too, but it’s a brave attempt at a livery that gives you information.
To Brighton via Cable Car And A Lot More
And a few other things too!
I had plenty of time yesterday to get to the Ipswich match at Brighton, so I thought, I’d see how many different forms of transport I could use.
1. A 21 Bus to Bank
I started the simple way by getting on this 21 bus to take me to Bank station for the DLR.
A 21 Bus To Bank
It didn’t actually go to Bank, as southbound buses have to take a detour at Moorgate because of Crossrail.
2. Docklands Light Railway to Royal Victoria Docks
I then took the DLR to Royal Victoria Dock station for the cable-car.
DLR Train At Bank
I did take a pause at Limehouse station to take pictures of the Hydraulic Accumulator Tower.
3. Emirates Air-Line To North Greenwich
I’d actually come this way to give me a good title to the post. But, as I had a gondola to myself, I was able to take good pictures of the Crossrail site at Limmo.
The Crossrail Site On The Limmo Peninsular
Work seems to be proceeding at speed and hopefully Elizabeth and Victoria will be dropped in the big hole soon.
4. Jubilee Line To Canada Water
This was the point, I realised I hadn’t got an SD card in the camera, so I purchased one by the O2.
Jubilee Line At Canada Water
At least the Jubilee line was working properly.
5.Lift To The Overground
This might seem like blatant cheating to get my count up. It is!
Lift To The Overground
Although it was a nice clean lift!
6. Overground To West Croydon
Those who know London’s transport system can argue that I should have taken the Jubilee line to London Bridge station and got a train from there. But hey! That would not be fun.
Arriving At West Croydon
But even the Overground takes you to wrong station at Croydon for Brighton. But at least, West Croydon station now has a quick exit to the tram.
7. Tram To East Croydon
At least when you’re going West to East in Croydon, the Tramlink is simple.
Tram at East Croydon
In fact, if say I’m coming from Brighton to my home, I will probably go direct to the London terminus. But going south, I tend to take the Overground from close by my house and then the tram to East Croydon station, as I did here.
8. Train To Brighton
I bought my first ticket of the day. a senior return to Brighton for £11.70.
My Train To Brighton Arrives
I arrived in Brighton on time.
I then walked down the hill to Carluccio’s for an early supper.
The Downside of PFI
I found this little story tucked away on the Internet. In 1998, London Underground entered into a PFI contract with a consortium called Powerlink to provide power to the system. Although, they have no issues with the consortium, London Underground have decided to exercise a break clause, that should save them £220m over the thirty year life of the contract.
Sounds like good and sensible business to me, unless you’re a member of the consortium.
Supposedly, New Buses for London cost about £330,000 each. If you divide this into £220m, you get approximately 667 buses.
Didn’t Transport for London just buy 600 New Buses for London?
It makes you think!
Bus Pass On Rails
Modern Railways is reporting that the government is doing an experiment with First Great Western, whereby a concessionary bus-pass can effectively be used as a Senior Railcard.
I have both and it would be one less card to lose, if I had to carry just one card. The Freedom Pass also has a photograph and I have used it where a photo ID is required.
I also have to show both cards, when I go to Ipswich, by buying a ticket from the Zone 6 boundary to Ipswich, as I do the London end of the journey on my Freedom Pass.
I don’t know how many concessionary bus passes and Senior Railcards are in circulation, but abolishing the Senior Railcard and using the concessionary bus-pass wouldn’t be very affordable in these times of financial restraint.
But then the experiment may show that if those with bus-passes got rail travel with a third off, the extra revenue might pay for the scheme.
It certainly seems an idea that will eventually be implemented.
Especially, as it would be a real vote winner for the party that brought it in. Especially, if they tied up the rules, so that bus-passes worked under the same restrictions nationwide.
The Anonymous Widower 