Did The Tube Strike Show The Value Of Cashless Buses?
We won’t know yet, as Transport for London, won’t have done the analysis, but as the buses took the strain during the Tube strike of the last two days, it will be interesting to see how much extra cash they took.
If it was very little, then most of the extra passengers were using Oyster or contactless bank cards.
But I did see a group at a bus stop, examining cards to see who’d got ones that worked on the buses.
I suppose, if that is correct, that Bob Crow, has shown Londoners how good cashless travel can be!
Returning From Liverpool Street Station
I can walk from Liverpool Street Station at a push, but as the weather was bad with heavy rain and I had no coat or umbrella, I decided it would be better to brave public transport despite the strike, as usually you don’t get wet on the Tube or in a bus.
The best dry route home for me is to go to Barbican station on the Circle line and then get a 56 bus up to my house, but that station was closed because of the strike. So I thought, I’d take the other easy route, which is to go the other way and change to the strike-free Overground at Whitechapel.
As a train was at the station, I got it and it dropped me at Aldgate, as that was as far as it was going. But never mind, I could get a 67 bus from there to the other end of my road. But for some reason, there were no bus maps at the station and I didn’t fancy the heavy rain, whilst looking for one.
So I got back on the Circle line and went back to Liverpool Street.
At Liverpool Street, I did the sensible thing I should have done in the first place and that was take a train to Hackney Downs and get a 56 bus back the other way to my house.
Luckily the rain was kept off by the railway bridge and after waiting for two minutes I got a bus home.
I must get myself a new coat today!
Bob Crow Looks After The East End
The Tube Strike today, is a pain to many Londoners. But I’ve just been to Canary Wharf and back and things didn’t seem that crowded.
I even changed at Shadwell, which is Bob Crow‘s birthplace, from the Overground to the DLR, with no hassle whatsoever. So perhaps he’s making sure the strike doesn’t affect his part of London very much!
But then, Hackney doesn’t have any Underground lines. And probably never will, as the powers that be, think if you give the plebs in Hackney one, they’ll only want another!
Tube Strikes And Cashless Buses
London for the next two days will suffer a Tube strike, about the closing of ticket offices and putting more staff in station lobbies and on platforms. New technology means that very few people need the ticket offices and the space could be better used for other purposes like retail.
Yesterday, London buses announced that they would no longer accept cash on buses from the summer. I would have thought that the Unions would have objected to this, as surely there must be job losses in those handling the cash. Or are the unions concerned with buses, in favour of a better service for all Londoners, whereas those on the Tube, are just out to do a King Canute and turn back the tide of new technology.
I suspect, every rail company in the UK, can’t wait for the day when Bob Crow retires!
An Early Start From Biarritz
I had intended to leave Biarritz at about mid-morning to travel to Bordeaux, but then I hadn’t planned for the French rail unions, who decided the twelfth would be a good day for a strike.
I found out in the afternoon, when I went to the SNCF Boutique in the centre of Biarritz to get a ticket. There were just two trains on the Thursday; one at seven in the morning and one at six in the evening. Much, as I had enjoyed Biarritz, I wanted to get to Bordeaux at a sensible time.
So it had to be the 07:13 train. But this meant that I had to leave the hotel at six without any breakfast.
I would have to have my sumptuous meal later!
The station was surprisingly warm at about fourteen degrees.
But I certainly didn’t have a warm feeling towards the French rail unions. I had planned to buy myself a sumptuous supper last night to mark six years since the death of my wife, C. But instead, I just had a reasonable steak in the hotel.
So my plans had been totally ruined.
Will Anybody Notice?
There is suppose to be another strike in Post Offices this weekend, according to this report on the BBC.
Will anybody actually notice?
The last time, I went into a Post Office was to collect a packet that the postman couldn’t deliver. I queued for far too long, with most people seemingly buying the odd first class stamp.
I do post the odd parcel, but surely this could be handled by clever automated machines in the wall or by using the good on-line system and then putting the parcel in an oversize post box.
In a year or so, there will hardly be any Post Offices anyway. I have four handy to me and I pass at least one regularly every day. Isn’t that too many?
Wish Me Luck!
I’m leaving soon to go to Charlton to see Ipswich play.
How I’ll get there I’m not sure of at present, as ASLEF are having their usual Christmas party, a day late.
I think if London had a referendum on driverless trains, there’d only be one result.
Coping With The Bus Strike
Arriva buses are on strike today, so the 38s aren’t running.
It’s not causing too much trouble for me, although I suspect it did for some in the rush hours.
It just shows the value of London’s system of route tendering, which means that several bus companies run groups of routes. So when like today, one bus company is on strike, you can cope.
Hit By a Strike
London’s buses are on strike today.
I can’t remember the last time, I was personally hit by a strike, but I suspect it was the odd Underground strike in the 1970s, when we lived in London.
It doesn’t really affect me much, as I can walk to the end of the road to get the Overground. But I know someone, who is having radiotherapy and the only way they can get to hospital is on a bus.
What annoys me about this strike, is that it appears to have been totally avoidable. Olympic bonuses should have been settled months ago, but I suspect UNITE were waiting to see if Ken got to be London Mayor. And where are Ed Milliband’s statements on this strike. Nowhere! But who funds the Labour Party? UNITE!
On fairness grounds, the bus staff should be getting something. But there is more to this row, than has appeared in the media.
The Anonymous Widower 