Still waiting folks.
But have you noticed. After years of corporate livery, Stagecoach have been developing some more local images.
When Stagecoach bought Norfolk Green, they announced that livery and identity would be preserved intact.
But it wasn't and it didn't. Or was it and does it?
fbb's view is that the Stagecoachified Norfolk Green colours are neither one nor the other; a weak Stagecoach message and an inferior Norfolk Green brand.
Meanwhile in Carlisle.
City services are branded with a coloured triangular "gash" with timetables picking up the same tinge as in this little bit chopped from the 62.
The buses are still recognisably Stagecoach but the treatment is very much non standard; and the move from a universal blue for the timetables is attractive and refreshing.
But in Winchester ...
... King Alfred is reborn! But without the regnal name.
The timetables are all purple, but quite different from the Stagecoach standard.
Correspondent John also reports that they have come up with a trendy new idea. The lads at Winchester have put all their timetables into a book. Wow! Stunner!
What a good idea.
But it's the livery that stands out as a radical change from blue, blue, orange, white and red. Here is a piccy from John (many thanks) taken in fading light at Winchester station. Click on these to photos for an enlarged view.
But it's the livery that stands out as a radical change from blue, blue, orange, white and red. Here is a piccy from John (many thanks) taken in fading light at Winchester station. Click on these to photos for an enlarged view.
On Wednesday November 4th Bus Users UK held one of its regular "Your Bus Matters" consultation events on the Market Square in Northampton. Representatives from Bus Users HQ, Northamptonshire County Council, Stagecoach Midlands and UNO Bus attended to hear Northampton residents' comments on their local bus services. Despite the poor weather on the day the event was very well patronized.
Two themes were clear in the comments made.
Two themes were clear in the comments made.
There is a need for better evening and Sunday services in some parts of the town such as Kings Heath and Southfields and ...
... the dysfunctional North Gate bus station remains unpopular with those who have to use it. Even the only person who said she liked the building went on to say that it is too small.
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Courtesy of SouthWest Trains and German State Railways, fbb and No 3 son are on their way to Sheffield. Four hours on a Voyager - deep joy! It might be an HST and thus real joy.
Not surprisingly, the article in yesterday's "Star" was full of opprobrium. Here are a few extracts thereforem
Long queues, timetable confusion and endless waits for buses after drastic cuts have sparked a wave of complaints.
I now have to walk further which is fine but the 35 buses have gone to one an hour. The bus misses half the time so if you get the next hourly one you are going to be late for work. You have to leave two and a half hours before work to make sure you can get there when it is a shopping centre that employs thousands of people.
The elderly and disabled people in Firs Hill had to walk further and change buses to access shops in Burngreave.
The printed timetable for the new 81 service which has replaced the 70 does not match the one online.
Others have complained about long queues and cramped buses on the 52 routes from the city centre to Crookes, and the services up and down Ecclesall Road.
When the 20 arrived a man asked if it went to Pitsmoor and the driver didn’t know; the passenger kicked off saying he had been there for 45 minutes.
So, as confidently predicted by fbb, it's all going jolly well.
Not surprisingly, the article in yesterday's "Star" was full of opprobrium. Here are a few extracts thereforem
Long queues, timetable confusion and endless waits for buses after drastic cuts have sparked a wave of complaints.
I now have to walk further which is fine but the 35 buses have gone to one an hour. The bus misses half the time so if you get the next hourly one you are going to be late for work. You have to leave two and a half hours before work to make sure you can get there when it is a shopping centre that employs thousands of people.
The elderly and disabled people in Firs Hill had to walk further and change buses to access shops in Burngreave.
The printed timetable for the new 81 service which has replaced the 70 does not match the one online.
Others have complained about long queues and cramped buses on the 52 routes from the city centre to Crookes, and the services up and down Ecclesall Road.
When the 20 arrived a man asked if it went to Pitsmoor and the driver didn’t know; the passenger kicked off saying he had been there for 45 minutes.
So, as confidently predicted by fbb, it's all going jolly well.
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News from Delhi
Via the experimental downloadable App from the geeks at Google.
This particular snippet came (yesterday 0800 approx), not from the bus company, but from a "news alert" - clicking on "WEBSITE" brought up a video.
The mind boggles at the power of modern technology. Well fbb's ancient mind does, anyway!
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Next bus blog : Wednesday 11th November
Norfolk Green is now getting standard Stagecoach livery whilst in Carlisle the Solos which replaced most of the E200s have an even more non-standard livery.
ReplyDeleteYour Carlisle images are a little out of date, it changed again back in June... http://www.thenorthwestbusblog.co.uk/2015/06/stagecoach-invest-over-3-million-in-new-buses-for-carlisle.html
ReplyDeleteAs you may find our on your visit to Sheffield, Stagecoach seem to have abandoned the SupertramLink branding and tram-style livery in favour of standard Stagecoach bus colours. The services themselves had been at risk of withdrawal but SL and SL2 managed to survive. SL3 became service 72.
ReplyDeleteJoy or Real joy.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Cross Country won't let you into the secret as to which of their trains are formed of Voyager stock (Joy) or High Speed Trains (Real Joy), if you look in the very helpful Great Western timetable, you can find out the formation of Cross Country's trains.
Sadly, my GWR timetable tells me that the 1024 from Exeter is formed of a Voyager.
http://www.125group.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/HST-Diags-XC-Autumn-2015.pdf-
ReplyDeletegives the full XC diagrams.
Norfolk Green's website has yet to be subsumed into the Stagecoach one, although it confirms that the company is now "Stagecoach in Norfolk". Nevertheless, details of former NG services are not shown on the current SGC website - but I would expect will be on the new one. (Select Spalding at the moment and it only gets the 37 to Peterborough - there's no 505 to Kings Lynn).
ReplyDeleteThe out-of-dateness of parts of the site are confirmed by the statement "All decision-making and day-to-day management of the business is done locally, from our base in King's Lynn." Not now it isn't - it's overseen from Cambridge as part of the Stagecoach East empire.
Thanks for your updates. Confession time from fbb. This blog was inadequately researched due to lack of time. Must do better!
ReplyDelete