You might think, O foolish reader, that catching a bus from Temple Meads Station would be really really simple. There are just two possibilities.
Here, on the station approach road, you will find Airport Flyer buses, now double deck ...
These all leave from alongside Brunel's former terminus. If you totter to the bottom of the slope, you will find many, many more on the road called Temple Gate.
But you will not find Metrobus M2, despite the map stop called Temple Meads.
Here is what you have to do. Use the exit from the booking hall that leads to "4 more self service ticket machines this way" and "Temple Quay and Ferries" ...
... and obvious route to a Temple Meads bus stop.
You then exit the station via a creepy back alley ...
... continue forward aiming at some more comforting buildings.
The M2 map gives you 6 minutes amble time - and the best of Bristolian British luck mate! From stepping on to the platform to arriving at the stop, it took fbb just under ten minutes - but he is old, creaky and a bit on the slow side.
Is the route clearly signposted?
Of course not.
There may be a Temple Meads bus stop map somewhere but fbb could not find it and there was certainly nothing in the station or at the M2 stop.
There may be a Temple Meads bus stop map somewhere but fbb could not find it and there was certainly nothing in the station or at the M2 stop.
And best not rely on the Metrobus leaflet map. It takes you to a blank wall and the locked gates from an underground car park; no exit at the trees at the top of the Google Earth view below.
This is the non-exit at the end of the map's dotted line opposite the stop ...
... with a spectacular vault over some railings and a plunge to the road below. At least attacking the route from the stop TO the station you would give up at the outset rather than attempt a climb.
Visitors with a basic local knowledge of the area would, perhaps, find their way via Temple Gate and the station approach road or vice versa.
POOR MARKS
Thanks to considerable preparation via Google Streetview and some modicum of directional sense, the old man eschewed the M2 leaflet map and thus did not get lost.
Visitors with a basic local knowledge of the area would, perhaps, find their way via Temple Gate and the station approach road or vice versa.
POOR MARKS
Thanks to considerable preparation via Google Streetview and some modicum of directional sense, the old man eschewed the M2 leaflet map and thus did not get lost.
Fortunately he did not have to tackle the required pre-book ticket machine.
The bus stop flag made no mention of the M2 ...
POOR MARKS
Regular readers will remember that all things Metrobus are delivered by a 2001 Space Odyssey type of Monolith (My God, it's filled with stars!), where be tickets. The Monolith is not at the stop, but 30 metres away under the trees.
As a source of M2 information it was, to put it mildly, inadequate!
It didn't load. The "traditional" real/unreal screen was similarly uninformative.
POOR MARKS
But eschewing electronics, fbb consulted the old fashioned piece of paper ...
... and, to the minute, the bus appeared.
GOOD MARKS
Later, working Monoliths showed only timetabled time for the M2 ...
... which, at "Broadmead" (not actually at Broadmead!) was one minute earlier than the printed timetable. fbb passed by at 0952 (on time) but his bus had vanished from the display.
WORRYING
But the bad news was the destination shown on the bus as it arrived at the so-called Temple Meads stop was ...
City Centre m2
... WRONG!
POOR MARKS
This was a big disappointment after the success of the leaflet; which did not show a City "terminus", allowing the passenger to follow a seamless "loop" timetable.
At Temple Meads stop, the start of the loop, it should show "Ashton Vale Park and Ride".
Please put that right, First. At least two potential passengers had to ask the driver if he was going to Ashton Vale!
Of course, the Metrobus "team" will claim the it was "only the first day" but they have had all of Sunday to change the "flags" whilst the real-time technology should be standard and work just like, for example the M3 which was showing real real-time times.
The introduction and first stop experience was, at best, disappointing; but at 0942 precisely, your intrepid traveller boarded his M2 for a run from Temple Meads all the way to Ashton Gate.
More M2 matters blog : Wednesday 5th September
0942 ?
ReplyDeleteA serious question, why would anyone other than a bus blogger wish to travel on the M2 from Temple Meads?
ReplyDeleteI have just done a few Traveline enquiries from home to SS Great Britain museum (along from Wapping Wharf), and to Broadmead (for the shops), and the Royal Infirmary (just up the hill from the Bus Station) - journeys which potential passengers are likely to make from "out of town" and arriving by train. Metrobus didn't feature on any of the enquiries, but plenty of other services did.
What M2 does do is serve the office complex around Temple Meads (where the Goods Depot used to be) and link them to the Park & Ride.
Another thing to consider is that while M2 isn't really a choice from the station, when it was being planned Network Rail were saying that the old Mildland Trainshed would be re-opened and be used by the electric London services. That is now postponed (if not forgotten) although there are still plans to open up a new gate line on that side of the station.
It is so easy to criticise; much harder to see the bigger picture.
As parking at Long Ashton is free, plenty of folk may wish to Park and Train from there. The problem is that the stop should not be called Temple Meads. Despite the shadowy history of the meadows surrounding Bristol's Temple the name is synonymous with the station. (maybe Brunel's fault).
ReplyDeleteIt would be easy to provide signage en route and posters within the station ("Metrobus M2 to Long Ashton Park and Ride) and at the stop.
It should be straightforward to show the route correctly on the map.
Most of the new office blocks have underground car parks. Q E D
anon 10:40 makes a valid point about the lack of a likely traffic flow from the P&R to Temple Meads. I'd certainly question anon 11:16's belief that plenty of folk may wish to park and train from there - given the position of Backwell station near the A370. That really is a red herring.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the m2 is a regular bus service and the serves areas where new housing is in situ or planned so it will be more than a replacement for the 903. Therefore, there is a requirement for the m2 to link with the rail station but for stops between Ashton Vale and the city centre.
Whilst the m2 is supposed to be serving Temple Meads, the delays to the redevelopment of the Temple Quay roundabout and its environs have seen it put back until 2019. Not the fault of First, BCC or Network Rail.
Poor Marks for FBB though - the P&R is known as Long Ashton not Ashton Vale