Sunday Variety Part 2 (on Monday)

Something New At Last?

fbb has not been impressed by the way in which Andy Burnham's takeover of Manchester's buses has been handled. After much hype, and a few poor starts, the new set-up is ...

... exactly the same network as the old set-up!

Route 50 to East Didsbury (NOT via Wilmslow Road) has been around for quite an age.

Recently a Stagecoach operation ...

... buses have run in a variety of the orange paint jobs over the years. Selnec style ...

... gives way to Greater Manchester ...

... and GM Buses.

And now various on-line news feeds are becoming very excited about "improvements" to the route.

Here is a summary of the big upgrade news!

Bus journeys on a busy Salford route could become faster under new plans to improve the service.

The number 50 bus - which goes between east Didsbury and Media City via Manchester city centre - is in line for a major upgrade along a section of the route between Salford Crescent and the Quays.

Salford City Council is working with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to make improvements and boost the number of people using the service.

The town hall has laid out plans to cut journey times and improve reliability along the section of the route, alongside improvements to bus stops and integration with the Metrolink and railway stations.

Bus stops along the route are set to become ‘fully accessible’ and provide a ‘comfortable, safe space’ for passengers, with information about onward journeys to other forms of transport.

This is planned alongside ‘improved accessibility via new cycle and walking infrastructure’ in the city.

Have our observant readers spotted the big uplift in this historic route (historically extended from central Manchester to Media City)?

It seems that what improvements are on offer will NOT be to the bus service as such - maybe just a few posh shelters.

Big deal!

Merseyrail Mutterings

It would appear that things are not well with Merseytravel's shiny new trains. Mayor Steve Rotherham has already apologised publicly for several short comings during recent bad weather.

Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has ordered an investigation into rail disruption which saw services suspended and left passengers stranded due to the cold weather.

The Liverpool City Region (LCR) Combined Authority leader has commissioned an independent and rapid review into cancellations and delays on the Merseyrail network earlier and told transport bosses improvements were needed "fast".

He said the chaos came despite "repeated assurances" from Merseyrail and Network Rail they had "robust plans winter plans in place".

But problems seem to go deeper that a few days of bad weather.

Joe Public is becoming frustrated, and no wonder.

Understandable.

Remember "Wrexham and Shropshire"?

It offered a real quality service to London Marylebone but was hampered by anti-competitive restrictions en route. It was not permitted to carry passengers from New Street or Birmingham International and Brum travellers were dumped out at Aston.

When fbb took a ride to Aston and then back to his desired destination at International, the excellent staff reported that a real passenger for Aston shared rarity with the apocryphal hens' teeth.

The service was closed down very quickly after Arriva took over "Wrexham & Shropshire" owner Chiltern.

BUT ...

... it might be back - but different.

It's a strange route, again missing the key Birmingham stations.

fbb doubts that there is enough business to make it viable without New Street and International - and the lump via Nuneaton may well make running times less than attractive.

Watch this space.

Branding At Last

When Arriva introduced its new "Loop" circular service round a fair chunk of Milton Keynes, fbb was not impressed. Whilst the idea of the route was commendable, the plan that it could ever be a commercial venture seemed daft.

It did serve areas of the new city that had lost their proper bus service in favour of DRT (which nobody liked) BUT, what these good but omnibologically deprived folk wanted was a bus direct into the centre.

Loop did not do that!

What was doubly disappointing was a total lack of vehicle identity. Everything was boring Arriva blue with just the destination display to herald this new and exciting (?) project.

But it will be blue no more!

The launch was on 6th January and, only now, buses have appeared in a loopy yellow livery. At least one has!

Better late than never!

Another Resurrection!

A south western approach to Heathrow Airport has been discussed, on and off, for many a long year. It has now re-appeared.

The current scheme is to link Staines-on-Sea (is that the right re-naming?) end-on with the Elizabeth Line/Heathrow Express at terminal 5.

Instead of the original idea of a triangular junction at Staines,  the new plan envisages an extra track from Virginia Water.

Speculative, yet again!

Needless to say, the local press has got it wrong.

Underground? At a stretch you could call the Elizabeth Line line an underground railway in parts, but it is most definitely NOT part of London's Underground (Capital "U" in the capital!).

It's the same map.

Puzzle Picture (for Modellers)

Can readers identify the above model? It is "O" gauge.

 Next LA P.S. Mini Blog : Tues 18 Feb