How to Ruin a Bus Service (Lesson 3A)

An update - and more bad news!

Our regular readers will recall the sadness of the withdrawal of through buses from Northampton to south of Silverstone (read again).

Further research shows that this is dafter than even fbb could know.   The "through" service involves a same time connection at Silverstone, which is risky enough ...

Notice the 1311 arrival and departure but with an asterisk.   The latter note advises potential cutomers, worried about the change, that the departing vehicle will wait up to 5 minutes.  Now, supposing that an innocent enquirer had searched on Transport Defunct for a similar journey, what would he find?

Using the government's "official" journey planner, costing the taxpayer £50 million a year, the weary traveller would be advised to leave Northampton a whole hour early and then spend just over and hour (from 1210 to 1312) unsheltered at the lavish interchange facility in Silverstone.   Hope it's not raining!

Whilst the printed timetable makes it clear that the inerchange is at the same place and involves crossing the road (White Horse and opp. White Horse), Transport Defunct leaves just that nagging suspicion of possible human error; but at least you have got a whole hour to find the stop!   Maybe a pint and a bag of pork scratchings in the White Horse while you wait (note bus stop, bottom left!).

 

And does Walters Coaches' vehicle leave at 1311 or 1312? Only a minute, but ...

 a reminder of those lavish interchange facilities

That's all  because Transport Defunct (aka Transport Direct) is technically over-engineered and cannot cope with same time connections on different timetables!   No wonder the folk of South Northamptonshire are not very happy!

AND, dear Mr Transport Defunct, both the pub and the stops are, technically and traditionally on STOCKS HILL Silverstone, NOT High Street.   Pendantic, moi?   It's what the stop has been know as, locally, for countless eons, so why befuddle the regulars?