Of course not! The news item refers to the withdrawal (again!) of Sheffield's new "tram-train" trams, manufactured by Stadler ...
They must have a six-digit National Rail fleet number (399202) because they will run, at some time in the future, for about a mile on National Rail tracks. Notwork Rail's sophistical confuser system, apparently, cannot cope with calling then "tram".
Anyway, they don't seem to work very well on Sheffield's non-train tram tracks; this is not the first time they have been popped back into their Nunnery!
Of course in Karlsruhe (Germany) tram-trains have been running happily for ages.
There they also operated Citylink tram trains ...
... with, apparently, no problems or delays.
Vorsprung durch technik, as Audi used to say.
At First Glance 2
An e-mail from our Senior Isle of Wight Correspondent gave fbb some journalistic collywobbles.
Had thee good folk from the land of Newcy Brown, Cushy Butterfield and Pan Haggety (pronounced "Pernackety") finally decided to return to common sense and yellow buses?
And why had fbb not gotten wind of this dramatic rebranding. According to the press article, the changes ...
Lambton was, of course, familiar, but surely "Swansea" was a misprint ...
But belay that order Cap'n, what's this snippet from the article?
Whilst the story sounds real enough, and typical of bus operation anywhere in the UK, the station building looks odd and the stop sign itself is either revolutionary or just plain wrong.
More slowly that he would like, it dawned upon fbb that his correspondent had made a mega-bludner. This was NOT Newcastle-upon-Tyne England, as perceived by out esteemed correspondent, but ...
... Newcastle Australia. fbb likes the juxtaposition of suburbs called Kooragang and Islington!
A family, aggrieved at the loss of their through service 334 ...
... did not look much like a typical Geordie clan! And Jettson?
What became genuinely interesting, however, were the similarities between Oz and the UK; new networks that don't work, bus stops not updated, dissatisfied customers plus a raft of criticism of operator and local authority. Seems very familiar to those of us who follow the decline of public transport in Sheffield!
The news item came from a web site that "collects" bits of intriguing news from local newspapers.
Livery Delivery Update
Back in July 2017 Bright Bus, operators of school services in the Sheffield area, closed down. Buses were sold or scrapped and other operators struggled with replacement services as it appeared that South Yorkshire PTE hadn't done their sums properly - insufficient seats were provided and min-chaos ensued!
A while ago, fbb reported on one Bridge bus that and found a new home.
Originally with First Bus in Glasgow, it ran in white for Bright (a distinctive sight, right?) before becoming Bright green. Bought by T M Travel for schools work, it remained green but with T M T logos applied.
The bus (photographed by Roy, supplier of much good stuff for this blog) has now appeared in T M Travel's sedate and respectful all-over maroon.
To fbb's antediluvian eyes, this looks so much better that all of today's squiggles, swoops and diagonal zots.
Back in July 2017 Bright Bus, operators of school services in the Sheffield area, closed down. Buses were sold or scrapped and other operators struggled with replacement services as it appeared that South Yorkshire PTE hadn't done their sums properly - insufficient seats were provided and min-chaos ensued!
A while ago, fbb reported on one Bridge bus that and found a new home.
The bus (photographed by Roy, supplier of much good stuff for this blog) has now appeared in T M Travel's sedate and respectful all-over maroon.
Talking of Odd (?) Liveries ...
Bachmann EFE have announced their first releases for 2018. One, due in a month or two, is a VR liveried in Midland Fox style.
The first release for the year is an AEC reliance.
Here is the bus for real ...
Next Havant blog : Monday 19th February
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