Sunday 24 September 2023

Sunday Variety

Doubt Not The Information Provider!

When the two extra passengers ran frantically up the ramp as they saw the Citylink 917 ready to leave, fbb did wonder whether an incorrect timetable posed in the Gift Shop at Eilean Donan Castle might be to blame. 

The old man was able to slightly enhance the poor quality picture he snapped in the gloom of the gift shop ...
... which showed the expected (but late running) 1508, followed by a 1534. The current Citylink page showed just the same.
So the late runners up the ramp were running for the late 1508 having intended to catch the later 1534 for which they were not at all late.

Great!

Anglicised Aircoach
Aurcoach is an important First Bus brand in the Republic of Ireland. Recently Roger French has ridden the first appearance of this brand in England's green and pleasant land. 

It runs hourly 24/7 from Leicester to Birmingham Airport using minibuses.
Publicity on the First Leicester web site is weak. There is a stylised picture ...
... a bit of text ...
... and  poor-looking timetable.
As you can see, it runs every hour at fixed intervals except when it doesn't thus promoting an unnecessary flutter of passenger confusion.

The single fare is £9 if you book electronically, but a yikes and horror £16 if you dare to turn up and want to pay the diver. Naughty naughty! This is not the way to encourage folk to give the service a try.

Roger confessed his appreciation for a stop display at St Margaret's from day 1. fbb begs to differ!
So Aircoach is numbered X45, is it? ANSWER NO!!

Ah, but - there is a stylised route diagram.
So Aircoach and X45 have some common stops. ANSWER NO!!

The only common stop is St Margaret's Bus Station. The two routes simply have no affinty whatsoever.

So why are the departures all mashed together in one incomprehensible mess?

There should be separate panels for each separate route.

And where are the timetables?

Oh, yes. The new Leicester information "wunderkind, "Leicester Buses" hasn't heard of the service yet.

No rush, chaps!

What You Have All Been Waiting For
Who could resist an OO gauge model of a Great Western Railway directors' saloon? Designed, surprisingly, to trundle directors round their railway in opulent luxury and well away from those nasty things called "passengers", such vehicles were limited in production and rare to spot even in their heyday.

Your model can come in a choice of liveries ...
... and the list of "features" is unbelievable. It also has wheels!
You just slaver at separately moulded curtains!

There is just one snag.

Only £150 each!

London Fashion Week & Public Transport

Burberry, once the epitome of the tweedy country set, has gone all trendy! Note the miserable-looking models and the weird settings.

But Burberry now has their own Underground Station?

The rebrand extends to station signs at platform level ...
... and even the line diagram.
The station itself was renamed externally.
And all this for London Fashion Week.

The station normally calls itself Bond Street!

Not everyone thought it was a good idea.
And that includes fbb!

How many passengers have been utterly confused by this money grasping advertising show from Transport for London?

Tomorrow, fbb is hoping for a virtual holiday in the sun!

 Next sun soaked bus blog : Monday 25th September 

1 comment:

  1. Leicester Buses deals with local bus services. Aircoach is not one of these (it's unregistered) - indeed, neither is there any mention of National Express, Megabus and Flixbus.

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