A Bold Plan Is Planned!
The problem with York station, as is the problem with sop many others, is that it was not designed for today's style of travel. Above we see the splendid porte cochere where private carriages would wait for their distinguished occupants. Outside we have taximeters for the middle classes and, across the road and safely distant from the important passengers, you would find the trams for the lower orders.
The rather fine shelter seen in the top picture is still there!
Then came the buses ...
... and with them an ugly shelter glued on to the attractive station frontage.
Today for those travelling to the centre and beyond, there is a sort of mini bus station with an additional platform out in the roadway.
When fbb was last there, admittedly a few years ago, the provision of information was appalling and the "real time" information in complete and unreliable. So there were (and still are, fbb is assured) large numbers of people wandering about in an attempt to find their bus. For buses in the opposite direction you have to cross the very busy road ...
... with a bit of help. But, again, the labelling of the stops was weak.
The porte cochere is now the taxi and drop-off road ...
... presenting three lanes of hazard for a passenger seeking a bus.
Should you decide to walk into town, the next excitement is the short stay car park entrance ...
... yet another hazard to be aware of.
So what can be done to make York station more people friendly, whilst retaining its excellent public transport links.
Remember that bridge over the former tracks to the old station, once nestling inside the city walls? Flatten it!There are snags, of course. The buses and the short term parking will be further from the station entrance.
The long long taxi lanes will remove useful parking ...
There is also talk of moving some bus departures to the back entrance on the historic (?) Cinder Lane. See the recently added footbridge extension, far left
If this IS part of the plan rather than scaremongering by local journalists, it is utterly crackpot. It removes the excellent interchange opportunities and it will involve more buses (single decks only, of course) using the creepy Leeman Road "tunnel" to get to the far side.
But the bonus of the videoed scheme is that there will be much more space for pedestrians and bus passengers ...
... and the area round the station entrances will be bliss compared with today.
But it will be fun (NOT!) for York residents when Queen Street is closed for the demolition of the bridge and the rebuilding of the carriageway.
It is also good top know that the plan involves using left hand drive buses with doors on the offside.
Should be interesting!!
Weetabeanz?
Really?
Puzzle Picture
What is this Azuma driver up to? Answer tomorrow!
Printed Leaflets?
Excellent publicity from Go Ahead East Yorkshire.
The Messenger Of The Gods
Sadly, fbb did not see the man himself but thinks he dresses more warmly for winter and uses a van!
The fbbs have learned how to use Hermes - doing it all on-line, weighing and payingat at home, and then taking the parcel to the Co-op along the road.
The latest was a self-assembled food hamper for No 1 Son's 46th birthday. The box weighed 5 kilos and the delivery cost £5.65 which seems a bargain.
Hermes told fbb it had been delivered, which he expected ...
... but also sent a picture of the goodies parked at the front door.
Heartily recommended! And surprisingly simple to do. The hardest bit is packing up the parcel!
More "Variety" blogging : Saturday 13th February
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