Sunday Variety

Why Do They Do This? (No 1)

Northampton Alan poses the question above. He postulates a shopping trip for Mrs Miggins travelling from Aylesbury to Milton Keynes.

One way would be to catch the 150.

This would take one hour and 26 minutes, so might not be the first choice. Mrs Miggins will notice that Arriva The Shires appear to have gone back to posting timetables that the public can follow rather than multiple pages of unintelligible guff!

A more amenable journey might be by Red Rose route 100.

This route is a bit quicker ...

... just 55 minutes.

Were she to be brave enough, she might (unlikely, but it is possible!) spread her search wider. She might use Traveline.

How about this option?

From Aylesbury Bus Stn (Bay 8), Great Western Street, Aylesbury, take X60 bus to High Street, Buckingham

43 minutes. Depart 10:00, Arrive 10:43

Take X5 bus to Central Railway Station (Stop Y4), Elder Gate, Central Milton Keynes

25 minutes. Depart 10:51, Arrive 11:16

Walk to Milton Keynes 18 minutes. Depart 11:16, Arrive 11:34

But, obviously, she doesn't want an 18 minute walk to the shopping centre! Who would? But then a thought pops into her alert and bus savvy mind. Did she not once see an Arriva bus showing 150 on the front ...

... but a service X60 on the side, complete with Aylesbury to Milton Keynes lettering.

And if the redoubtable Mrs Miggins were significantly redoubtable, she might have even battled her way through Arriva's appalling web site to find a timetable.

Oh no, she shudders in horror. The X60 only runs to Buckingham and then, presumably comes back!

A separate bus runs from Buckingham to Milton Keynes and, what is worse, there is only ONE MINUTE to make the connection. Whilst Buckingham is a sweet place, Mrs Miggins is set on Milton Keynes and is unwilling to risk a 61 minute delay to her onward journey.

Obviously the 1 minute connection is too much for Traveline, hence the option of the X5 from Buckingham to the retail paradise of Central MK (with the 18 minute walk!)

Just for fun, fbb tries Padbury to Stony Stratford with Traveline.

From Buckingham Road Opp The New Inn, Padbury, 

take X60 bus to High Street Buckingham

11 minutes. Depart 10:32, Arrive 10:43

Take X5 bus to Central Railway Station (Stop Y4), Elder Gate, Central Milton Keynes

25 minutes. Depart 10:51, Arrive 11:16

Walk to Central Railway Station (Stop Z4), Elder Gate, Central Milton Keynes

1 minute. Depart 11:16, Arrive 11:17

Take X60 bus to Wolverton Road, Stony Stratford

10 minutes. Depart 11:37, Arrive 11:47

So it's X60 and X5 to Milton Keynes as before with an X60 back to Stony Stratford. That is a journey of 1 hour and 15 minutes whereas by staying on the X60 at Buckingham you would take a mere 33 minutes.

Needless to say, Traveline have got the data input as two completely separate timetables.

Harrogate - It's Electric!

Much has been reported about Harrogate town services being powered by electricity.

They’ve placed Harrogate firmly on the map as a UK trendsetter in green travel – and now Transdev’s subsidiary The Harrogate Bus Company is marking the nation’s Clean Air Day by digging deep for a tree-mendous celebration of its amazing all-electric buses!

The bus company became the first in the country to introduce the fume-free Harrogate Electrics buses in 2018, after it became the only operator in Yorkshire to win funding of £2.25 (€2.46) million from the Government to create Britain’s first Low Emission Bus Town.

Its eight sparkling red Harrogate Electrics buses have since become a familiar sight on the town’s streets, proving popular for their swift, clean and comfortable service – and as the UK celebrated the Clean Air Day on 8 October 2020, The Harrogate Bus Company revealed its electric buses have together covered more than 400,000 miles – the equivalent of going around the world over 16 times.

In March of last year, our subsidiary marked its commitment to cutting carbon emissions further by promising to plant a tree in Harrogate for every 10,000 miles covered by its electric buses, beginning with an oak tree at West Park, close to the town center. It now plans to fulfil its promise by planting 39 more trees in three areas served by its Harrogate Electrics buses, including in the Nidd Gorge close to Bilton, at Jennyfield and in the pine woods near Pannal Ash.

There are two charging gantries at Harrogate bus station ...

... plus charging at the depot overnight.

In the last few days the Transdev company has been playing with a shiny new electric bus ...

... a Mercedes Citaro in a fetching silver-grey livery.

The promo pictures show the vehicle on route 1C. The route 1 group is Harrogate's banker, running frequently along the main road via Starbeck to Knaresborough. Here the routes splay out to serve three historic blocks of housing.

The 1D is a recent addition ...

... serving a new development at The Pastures.

The estate has yet been visited by the Streetview Noddy Car ...

... but you can get an impression from the entry roundabout. This unlikely bus territory gets an hourly 1D ...

... which, fbb guesses, is paid for by a Section 106 subsidy from the estate's developer.

The combined service via Starbeck is advertised as "every 7 minutes" ...

... actually 8 buses an hour, so every 7.5 minutes or, as is sometimes shown, every 7/8 minutes. When fbb was involved with the Great Britain Bus Timetable it was every 10!

Does the arrival of the very "green" silver Merc presage the electrification of the service 1 group?

Puzzle Picture

Pre-war station signs, pots of flowers, black and white photography ...

... but a train that is very much out of character and out of time!

But which station is it in the top pictures? Another clue below:-

See You Later

We will meet this little darling in tomorrow's blog

On Guard

Mr Tubbles, every muscle tense, defending fbb mansions against all intruders in a spell of sentry duty yedterday evening. It's a tough job, but some cat has to do it!

 Next "A Place You Have Forgotton?" blog : Monday 23rd August