Monday 25 June 2012

Languishing in Largs [Day 3]

The Search for the "Holy Grail" continued

Largs is in the county of  North Ayrshire, so perhaps their web site has a set of local bus timetables?
Not at proverbial sausage. In fact fbb can't even remember how he found the heading above. Then there's Traveline Scotland ...
... which advertises timetables ...
... but you need to know the route number first:-
Or you can click on the timetable library button ...
... but here you need to know the operating company first:-
Most traveline regions allow you to search by locality and, if this were possible in Scotland, fbb might have been able to check what services were available and download their timetables. From information as reported yesterday, fbb thinks that the amiguities can be resolved with a reasonable chance of accuracy. See Languishing in Largs [Day 2] (read again).

One last check, however, involved a stroll round the centre of Largs yesterday (Sunday) morning to take photographs of bus stop information; an activity which produced a few askance glances from the local populace.
.
fbb's conclusions.
Sorry, fbb maps not possible away from home!

McGills, having taken over Arriva Scotland, run a significant network of routes as follows:-

 901  Largs, Gourock, Greenock, Paisley, Glasgow
          every hour Monday to Saturday
          every two hours Sunday
          some Monday to Friday commuter trips omit Paisley

 904  Largs, Haylie Brae, Glangarnock, Paisley
          every hour Monday to Saturday
view from Haylie Brae to the Cumbrae islands

 906  Largs, Greenock, Paisley, Glasgow
          every half hour Monday to Saturday
          every hour Sunday to Greenock only
906 photographed yesterday

 907  Dunoon, Gourock, Greenock, Paisley, Glasgow
          every two hours Monday to Saturday
          [NOT from Largs but here to show the whole "network"]
          this service travels by ferry between Dunoon and Gourock
McGills with "City Connect" branding on ferry

 908  Largs, Gourock, Greenock, Breahead shopping centre, Glasgow
          every two hours Monday to Saturday

Then there's the Stagecoach route:-

 585  Ardrossan, Largs, Greenock
          every 30 mins Monday to Saturday
          every 2 or 2.5 hours Sunday
585 photographed yesterday

For those that care; and from yesterday's blog, there is no 800; it used to be an Arriva route from Glasgow Airport to Largs via Paisley and the Haylie Brae, replaced by the  904  above.

The 40 and the 45 DO exist; they provide local and "estate" services within Largs  40  and between Skelmorlie, Largs and Fairlie  45 .
40 and 45 departure lists and straight line routes
at the stop in Largs High Street

Which leaves the eternally mysterious  576  and  578  as shown on the National Rail "Onward Travel" pages for Largs Station. There is no mention of either of these on stops in the town, but a check with the "numerical timetables" pages on Traveline reveals that they are evening "fill in" tendered journeys between Largs and Greenock (Sunday 576, Monday to Saturday two journeys on 578).

Presumably, as they are kept a closely guarded secret, they won't be heavily loaded and can be withdrawn at the next "tender round". The daytime 578 is operated (commercially?) by McGills between Greenock and Upper Skelmorlie.

So, after an afternoon's hard work and a 15 minute walk round the town centre, fbb might have got it about right unless anyone knows differently.

And, of course, it is all available on-line via a couple of clicks ...
... and an afternoon's frustration.

And, before you ask "What about Strathclyde Partnership for Transport?"
Nuff said!

All that remains is to collect a full set of timetable leaflets from Largs Tourist Information Centre [stop sniggering at the back]. fbb will try today (Monday) and report back in due course.

And to gladden the hearts of those who hope longingly for helpful and reliable bus publicity, the departure list for the Harte service 66 to Braehead (which has not run since sometime in May) is still displayed throughout Largs and, presumably, all intermediate points.
It'll be a long wait.
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Today (Monday) Mr and Mrs fbb set off for a trip
by train to Glasgow with fbb continuing via Airdrie
and Bathgate to Edinburgh, the newest link between
the cities.
the first train at Caldercruix : 13th February 2011

For some unfathomable reason Mrs fbb
prefers to remain chez Saint Mungo.
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 Next Blog : Tuesday 26th June 

2 comments:

  1. I've commented on this elsewhere, but I agree it is absolutely criminal that SPT only publish timetables for the journeys they support financially.

    For clarity, this can include showing a particular route having one journey at, sat 0645 on Sunday morning when it is, in reality part of a seven day a week high frequency service. Someone ought to be shouting from the rooftops at this misuse of public funds.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have tried, TonyW1960, but to no avail - well not from the rooftops but by "forceful" letter. SPT is the worst large authority in UK for bus publicity.

    ReplyDelete