Wider Wantage Wanderings (maxi)

The Bible Book Of Ecclesiastes?

The occasionally remembered song by the Byrds was released in 1965, but was a Pete Seager composition from 1959; when fbb was 14! It is taken directly from the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. It is a book which many Christians find difficult to take on board because it suggests that everything is a waste of time.

The book does (eventually!) concludes that God is never a waste of time but it is a hard slog getting there!

But you could think exactly that about today's shambolic bus industry. fbb did think thus as he waited for a bus outside The Bear on Wantage Market Place on Saturday 12th October.

The gist of fbb's first ever couple of blogs in March 2010 was that it was hard to find out when the buses ran; in this case from Wantage to Oxford. Then, fbb was looking back at his experience the previous Christmastide, on 29th December 2009 to be precise.

To understand the gist, you may wish to enlarge the above graphic. You can see something of Ecclesiastes in the situation. fbb couldn't find out what timetable was in operation on 29th December, despite the timetable at the stop and despite phoning Traveline.

The choice, back then,  was between an X30 via Grove and Cumnor and a 31 (not X) via Grove, Marcham and Abingdon.

Things were much the same in 2014.

The X30 ran every 30 minutes (RED on the above map) and the 30 (ORANGE) was hourly.

Both routes diverted from the main drag to serve Grove High Street.

Then Stagecoach had an onrush of the timetable tinkering disease and came up with a whole new set of numbers with "S" as the prefix for use in the Oxford area.

So the X30 became S9 and the 31 became S8.

Search for an S8 timetable on-line today and this appears ...

And the buses were branded "Gold" ...

... as were the S9 vehicles.

There is a truly awful piece of Stagecoach publicity for the S9 fully available on-line and showing all sorts of "working timetable" drivel ...

... but like so much that fills the waste paper basket that is the internet, it is both drivel and out of date! The S9 now runs every 20 minutes instead of every half hour.

Idly, fbb wondered whether the former hourly S8 had increased in frequency.

But it hadn't. It had disappeared completely. Both easily accessible on-line timetables were out of date.

Surely there was still a bus between Wantage, Grove, Marcham, Abingdon and Oxford? It was Google Maps that guided fbb to the answer.

But whose X1?

fbb guessed correctly that Stagecoach had abandoned its S8 and GoAhead's Oxford Bus had taken it over as X1.

The livery is rather cluttered and garish, but you wouldn't miss it!

The frequency is still every hour, but it is integrated with an X15 to Witney providing a bus every 30 min between Oxford and Marcham,

But what is so much better than Stagecoach's current effort is the map for the X1/X15; here from Oxford to Abingdon and Marcham ...

... and below the continuation from Marcham to Wantage.

The routeing between Grove and Wantage has chan byged.

Thus it was that fbb and No 1 son joined their bus for part one of their Wider Wantage Wander.

Outside The Bear Inn they boarded the S3 from Chipping Norton to Oxford.

Oh? Sorry? It was an S9 from Wantage to Oxford in a cunning disguise!

The wanderings will continue  on Wednesday .

 Next Torquay mini-blog : Tuesday 22nd Oct 

Tortuous Traffic in Torquay (mini blog 1)

A Bit Of Background

For those familar with the broad sweep of the seafront at Torquay to the west of the busy central area, it may be easy to forget that this is very much "new" Torquay! 

The town owes its name to the magnificent and ancient Torre Abbey ...

... whch then gave its name to a quay around which the modern town developed; Torre Quay.

The road at the water's edge was named "The Strand" ...

... which is centre right in the picture above. In 1902 The Strand was adorned with the Mallock Monument a k a The Clock Tower.

The clock tower was designed by John Donkin, a local architect from Bournemouth. It was erected by public subscription and completed in 1902, commemorating Richard Mallock, a prominent local figure who owned nearby Cockington and was a Member of Parliament for Torquay. 

In 1907, trams joined the somewhat limited bus service.

Thus it was that The Strand developed into Torbay's de facto bus station. The main incumbent became Devon General ...

... later famous for its open toppers ...

... which, of course, all became part of the National Bus Company. [unlike the other pictures of The Strand, this below is looking east towards the clock tower].

Under privatisation, Torquay became one of the Harry Blundred minibus towns (just like Exeter) ...

... then Stagecoach bought out Sir Harry and thus things ultimately became stable, operator-wise until the present day.

Note the shelter to the right with its string of bus stop signs, one on each pillar ...

... and far too close to be any use to passenger queue control! These have now disappeared.

But the calm and heritage of The Strand as a bus station is undergoing a significant change. Torbay Council have a cunning plan!

=================

to a  blog near you

Mon 21 Oct

(maxi) Wider wandering from Wantage

Tue 22 Oct

(mini) Torquay part two

Wed 23 Oct

(maxi) A Bridge Too Far part 1

Thu 24 Oct

(mini) Torquay part three

e & o e

================

 Next Wantage wandering blog : Mon 21 Oct 

Stagecoach Succumbs in Sussex (mini blog)

 A Battle Lost Before It Started!

Back in May, Stagecoach made a tentative incursion into the domain of GoAhead's Brighton and Hove Buses territory. 

With much excitement the company introduced an hourly service between Brighton and Eastbourne via the University campuses at Falmet. 

This was a route not followed exactly by any B&H service.

It was not clear what Stagecoach's motive might have been, but the most optimistic bus watcher would opine that Stagecoach were just putting a very small toe into this very well served bus water.

Maybe the occasional use of single deck vehicles was prophetic?

B&H services appear on the map below.

Following a longer but possibly more entertaining route via the Uni(s), service 28, part of the Regency brand) ...

... offers two through journeys and a short working every hour.

But the coastal route 12 network has developed fantastically over the years. It is now branded Coaster ...

... and just look at the timetables.

There is a 20 minute service sort of fast, plus another 20 minute frequency wiggling around Newhaven, with a further 20 minute headway terminating at Seaford.

fbb has ridden a 12 all the way and it is a gorgeous ride and very well used!

You would have to pour in a huge amount of resources if you really wanted to compete.

Anyway, in a massive shock revelation (NOT!) stagecoach has announced that it will be withdrawing its 701.

Well, there's a huge surprise.

You would never have expected Stagecoach's hourly service to fail as it feebly competed with eight buses an hour between Brighton and Eastbourne from GoAhead (B&H).

And GoAhead didn't have to lift a fuel cap to respond!

 Next Torquay mini blog : Sunday 20th Oct 

Lovely Liepaja Part 3

 Clean, Tidy but Flat Ride

Above is the tuning circle at Mirdzas, the northern terminus of Lierpaja's only tram route. The greenery is dominated by an industrial bridge (not for public use) linking two parts of the Intersteel factory site.

It is a bit scary, but the tram sets off enthusiastically on its reserved track.

... before making a sharp right hand turn to get to the railway station.

The station is almost unchanged since the 1900s ...

... although the front view always was a little grander than the platform side.

The route then continues ...

... southbound to the town centre.

We pass the turnoff to the depot and enjoy some road works (track works?)  ...

...nwhere cobbles are being replaced by cobbles. Nice!

Like the rest of the environment, the central area is clean and devoid of the clutter and graffiti that we seem to have become used to in the UK. And there is that white-spired church we met in Wednesday's blog.

We cross the cut-through from sea to Liapaja Lake ...

... and continue southbound; where the ambiance, although not totally rural, is very much small town in character ...

... with lots of greenery.

There is even a little bit of tram only track, where road traffic has been sent round two sides of a grassy triangle.

More semi-rural progress ...

... unil a community of low rise and bigger blocks of flats is encountered

Next comes the point at which the 2013 extension turns left leaving that former stub unserved and trackless.

We are now on the first extension to Ezerkrats, the only extension of the system since 1899 ...

... which must he some kind of record.

Here the blocks of apartments are much bigger and buses join the tram route.

The terminal loop (above) is almost on the shore of the Liepaya Lake; althogh the "waterfront" has a touch of the shanty town about it!

Note the buses parked in the tram loop!

As the transport network map shows, Ezerkrats is also the terminus of several bus routes.

Note also that the bus map does not show the tram - that would never do!

The tram is the most frequent public transport service in the town, running every seven minutes Monday to Friday and drastically reduced to every eight minutes on Saturday and Sunday.

You only get departure lists from the outer terminus of all the routes, tram or bus.

Most bus routes are relatively infrequent ...

...  although the 2 excels itself by reaching the dizzy heights of every 12 minutes at peak times.

Fares are, as you would expect, ludicrously cheap.

Tickets for specific number of trips

Ticket for a single purchased in advance

   0,90 EUR

Ticket for a single the driver of the vehicle

   1,50 EUR

Ticket for ten trips

    8,50 EUR

Long-term tickets

One day long-term ticket

   3,00 EUR

Three day long-term ticket

   6,00 EUR

Five day long-term ticket

   9,00 EUR

One month long-term ticket

   30,00 EUR

A lticket valid for three months

    75,00 EUR

Wow! £5 for a three day ticket. As they say in the shopping centres of Liepaja:-

Pat lētāk nekā frī kartupeļi

 Next Stagecoach mini blog : Saturday 19 Oct