Nottingham Network Nibbled? (2)

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APOLOGIES

for late publishing of yesterday's blog. Utter incompetence as usual;

pressed the wrong button.

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Press Publishes Parish Peeves

Councillor Alan Wilson, chairman of parish council, said: "Cropwell Bishop Parish Council is appalled by the decision this week to withdraw the Rushcliffe V2 Bus Service to Cotgrave, Cropwell Bishop and the surrounding villages. "This decision was made by Trent Barton alone and the Parish Council and other affected Parish Councils were also not informed of this decision."

Of course, if Cropwell Bishop Parish Council were in a position to make a contribution to the finances of the doomed V2, the chairman's irk might be understandable. The County Council is the authority responsible and they are "on the case".

Councillor John Cottee, committee chairman for communities and place at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: "We are aware of Trent Barton's plans to discontinue their service from July 23. So to make sure the residents of Cropwell Bishop and surrounding villages continue to have a suitable bus service - without any break in service - we are working hard to come up with an alternative which best meets demands, taking into account of the usual criteria of current usage, travel patterns, other available services and ensure value for money.

"We recognise that having a local bus service is important to residents, including helping them get to work and can be a vital way older residents get out and about to help them stay sociable and active."

You do wonder, at times like this, whether the bus company is testing the water with a view to prising a bit more dosh out of the council's coffers. A positive answer maybe already lurking in Trentbarton's filing cabinet.

On thing might be worth thinking about, however.

Is it wise for infrequent bus users to have TWO routes called "Villager"? Here is an extract from the mobile phone version of the Company web site. Our Radcliffe Villager is in green ...

... whereas the other Villager is yellow.

Like the Rushcliffe Version, the yellow village once had a V2 ...

 

... but that, too.has gone, leaving just a V1 and a V3.

These routes run to Burton on Trent, having their origin (if fbb's memory is OK?) in routed run by Blue Bus of Etwall which sold out to Derby Corporation in the early 1970s.

But back to our V2 Rushcliffe Villager.

Trent Tried and Tried

The company's comments on their withdrawal are revealing.

Trentbarton director of service delivery Tom Morgan said: "It is regrettable that we have to withdraw V2 but it has seen a steady decline in customer numbers over several years.

"We know its remaining customers will be disappointed but the V2 is no longer a commercially sustainable service, even with the tender subsidy from Nottinghamshire County Council.

"We tried hard, alongside the council, to stabilise the service. We've tried joint marketing campaigns, leaflet drops, free weekly tickets to tempt people to try the service, plus customer breakfasts and market day events.

"We tried evening buses last year but they also had very low take-up. We even invested in brand new buses at the outset of the route. But it hasn't worked."

fbb is convinced that Mr Morgan and his staff have tried hard, probably harder that many other bus operators would have done. If the improvements to the direct service to Bingham are anything to go buy ...

... Trentbarton have been very trying.

Time will tell what happens in Cropwell Bishop.

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Tornado at Bodmin

Local media in ffbland has been full of the arrival of a large and powerful Tornado in a small Cornish town.

Of course it is the celebrate steam locomotive built from scratch between 1994 and 2008. Here is designer Peppercorn's beastie on the iconic Tamar bridge.

The trains are pre-book only and most trips are already fully booked ...

... although when this blog was compiled (at 1400 yesterday) there were some compartments available today at £90!

Magnificent!

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 Next mixed bag blog : Saturday 3rd June