Commuter Coaches (3 - Stroud?)

 Dramatis Personae

Tom and Rebecca MacMillan are the creative couple. They are joined in the project by Barnes Coaches of Swindon.

The service is branded "GoStroud".

The MacMillans claim to have surveyed the market and "there is demand for a service that is cheaper than rail".

Perhaps we should have had some pictures of thpse potential passengers who have been "moved to tears".

Cheaper Travel?

It certainly is cheaper!

A peak hour train from Stroud to London ...

... will would set you back a fairly whopping sum.

The cheapest fare, leaving Stroud after 1000 and leaving Paddington after 1900 ...

... is still more than twice GoStroud's cheapest return.

"Morning Table Seat" is actually a single fare.

How do timings compare?

Less Flexibility

GoStroud has not yet published actual times, but gives a general guide.

So it is a long day with an early start and a late finish, with, obviously, no alternative timings.

Trains are every hour.

There is another snag (or consideration). 

GoStroud goes no further that West Drayton ...

... which is "way out", man, on a par with Heathrow airport. There will be extra cost to get to you workplace destination.

That is another ten quid OR a huge amount more for a taxi.

The operation is limited to Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so it only makes sense if your flexible working can be made to match the inflexible coach.

It also looks like on-line booking is all that is available ...

... whilst you can just turn up and go on the train. 

No 1 son, who lives in Wantage and 'commutes' from Didcot, aims to arrange his flexible working day to start late and finish late so only buys the cheaper fares. He has also learned that he can sidestep peak departure fare restrictions from Paddington by taking an Elizabeth Line line train to Reading, then honeward Didcotwards.

It is far quicker than enjoying time at Paddington waiting for the cheaper fare departures. It will be similar for the Stroud.

For the record, the GoStroud coach also calls at Stonehouse, Chalford and ...

... Cirencester although advance publicity does not say exactly where.

The stop in Stroud itself is here ...

... at Cheapside ...

... which is right next to the railway station!

  Next Rethink in Reading blog : Thur 30th July 

Commuter Coaches (2 - Kent)

 That Was Then. This Is Now

fbb has tried to discover what runs from Kent to London (via Canary Wharf) today. His researches may be incomplete but will provide an antidote to the Buses article.

First up, then, is Brookline ...

... which runs, like Invictaway, from the Maidstone area. Brookline says it is route 764a ...

... but Traveline insists that 784 is the suffix-less route number. Traveline overcomes Brookline's omission by providing a useful map (NOT) of what happens in the Maidstone area ...

... and at the London end.

Next we have Redwing ...

... running FOUR journeys from the Gravesend area. The timetables are unhelpful on the Redwing web site, but Traveline is clear.

There are two journeys in route 735 ...

... and two on 736.

The pointless little arrows are for "pick up only", surprisingly at the first time of the schedule. Then, cleverly, the last time of the journey is "set down only" - astounding revelatory information. fbb suspects that lots of times would actually be "pick up only".

Surely all the stops in London would be "set down only"?

Redwing provides no route diagram, but Traveline offers a completely incomprehensible "map".

Readers might like to attempt to identify the actual stops.

Dreadful!

Redwing has other problems.

Heres what is being said.

Not the best news for Redwing.

The largest operator is Centaur.

The services run from the Tonbridge Wells and Tonbridge area with an excellent full colour map.

Four routes are on offer ...

The map of the London end of the route is very clear ...

... and the stops are named.

Here Is the timetabLe for route 'SEV' ...

... where fbb was intrigued by the "Park & Ride" tag, and even more intrigued by the more extensive note.

Philpots Allotments ...

... appears to sell Christmas Trees AND ...

 ... commuter parking! But ...

... only monthly or annual season tickets are available.

But there it is ...

... just the place to park (monthly or annual fee only) ...

... just off the A271, close to Hildenborough railway station; and just the place to catch your 'SEV' to London.

And there are allotments!

Hmmm?

By the way, Traveline seems to no nothing of Centaur's 'SEV'

 Next Commuter Coach blog : Weds 29 July 

Commuter Coaches (1 - Kent)

How Quickly We Forget

Whilst bus deregulation came along in 1986, coach deregulation began six years earlier. We also had the development of National Express as a countrywide brand. Initially coaches were adorned with stripes usually appropriate to the operating company. Then came all-over white with a tiny company name ...

... followed by simple white plus the logo and double 'N' symbol..

A competitor emerged briefly in the form of British Coachways ...

... a consortium of independent operators of longer distance coach services.

The network was well publicised ...

... with an appropriate slogan.

The one drawback for the project was its London Terminus. Called "Kings Cross' in publicity, it was the site of the demolished Somers Town goods depot (former Midland Railway) next door to St Pancras station.

It was not an attractive departure or arrival point, being just a yard, and a dusty one at that.

Welcome to competitive coach travel!

The site is where now sits the British Library.

One splendid boundary wall ...

... did once remain as a memory of the vast depot.

The initial buildings of the British Library lay beyond. But today ...

... there is now no sign of this rather inadequate competitor for Victoria Coach station!

Decline and break-up

edit

The exit from the group of Wallace Arnold and Grey-Green had seen more responsibility transferred to Shearings, now the largest of the six surviving members of British Coachways. When it pulled out in August 1982, sustaining the operations of the consortium became difficult. Morris Bros also left British Coachways in the summer of 1982, leaving the group with just four constituent companies. On 18 October 1982, the consortium found itself without a terminus in London when the site it had been using became unavailable. Services ceased operation from this date onwards

A more successful outcome of coach deregulatiion was the growth of commuter services. These evolved out if a dissatisfaction with British Railways, both in quality and price.

One area where coach commuting became big business was from Kent. At the time, the M2 and M20 were less congested than they are now and the development of Canary Wharf was more easily accessuble by coach than by rail.

Big names were Kings Ferry ...

... Invictaway, a brand of Maidstone and District ...

... London Coaches formerly a department of London Transport ...

... and, later, some smaller operators like Chalkwell.

Chalkwell pulled out in 2017, and Kings Ferry as a consequence of Covid ...

... as recorded in Roger French's blog.

The other two had faded well before.

Buses magazine carried an article wondering whether such services would soon be a thing of the past.

Well, commuter coaches still run from Kent and fbb has news of a brand new service to London, seeking to provide an alternative to the train but from another direction.

And just for the nostalgia freaks, a picture of a bus stop flag at Canary Wharf.

How many of these seven hundreds can you identify?

fbb doesn't have a clue but he can manage 'Kings Ferry'!

Clever boy!

 Next Commuter Coach blog : Tues 28th July