Sunday Variety

 Puzzle Picture 1

Which bus company?

fbb has to admit that this caused him real aggro. Kewstoke and Grand Pier have to be in ...? 

But buses in BLUE?

Puzzle Picture 2

Which bus company?

The destination has been blocked out - mustn't make it too easy! But the scenery should give it away.

Puzzle Picture Answer?

This oddity popped up on Pinterest with no further explanation. All fbb can tell you is that the staircase was designed to match up with the way in/way out on an aircraft. If any readers can help with more info, please email :-

fbb@xephos.com

COMING SOON : fbb's grand railway infrastructure quiz.

New Trains Coming In ?? Years' Time

and there's more!

Readers are invited to speculate when (and if?) these trains will be trundling around their respective networks?

fbb prediction - 2030! 

So there is a statistical chance your potentially 85 year old blogger (if he still exists) will never see them!

But Heaven sounds far more fun, enen than blogging!

Heritage Railway Modelling

Remember Airfix kits - the answer to a youthful railway modeller's dream and espoused enthusiastically by a 15-year-old fbb2b. The footbridge was just three shillings as was the water tower.

Both are now sold by Dapol ...

... and they will cost you ...

... about £9 each. 

In some ways they are treated with disdain by "serious" modellers who find the metalwork (!) of the footbridge far too thick and the water tower unlike any recognisable prototype. 

fbb has both at Peterville and both are modified somewhat, but their ancestry is obvious.

In the current (September) Railway Modeller magazine is a gorgeous narrow gauge layout. And there, amongst the slate buildings, quaint rolling stock and odd-looking locomotives is ...

... and Airfix/Dapol footbridge modified to stand on slate plinths. Also peeping in to one of the pictures; is ...

... the water tower but with a tank section much reduced in height as befits the lesser capacity of the line's little locos little water tanks.

An APT Correction

Also in the same edition, Hornby are advertising their APT model, an upgrade of their original version. In a recent blog, fbb implied that only "pre-owned" APTs were available.

Theoretically, the real thing ...

... was designed to run as two seven coach trains. Retailers are offering a seven coach set from Hornby - at a price!

So for those who have enormous layouts or a long display shelf, the full 14 coaches will cost you a modest (!) £1070.l.

Livery Delivery At Last

After a long delay due (probably) to Mr Putin or the American screenwriters strike, a bus in the correct Peak Sightseer livery has been spotted at Chatsworth. In case you thought "photoshop" we also have a 20 second video, also at Chatsworth.

Now that was thrilling, wasn't it?

Planners' & Schedulers' Party Time

Senior bus managers  sometimes call together their experts, timetable clerks and computer technicians and tell them to let rip with timetable and route changes on their network. The excuse is usually "to match resources to demand" (i.e. to cut services) or, as with First in Sheffield, to improve reliability (i.e. to cut services).

Another reason is to counteract loss of passengers during Covid (i.e. to cut services).

Now the more naive amongst this blog's readership may think that the £2 maximum fare was designed to increase passenger numbers and maintain service levels. Hmmm?

So We Go, Virtually, To Cardiff.

Some?

For the last few months all bus operators across Wales have been working with Welsh Government, Regional Authorities and Local Authorities to work through the funding challenges that are coming to the fore as Pandemic support is being withdrawn. 

So we are cutting services.

These funding challenges mean the current levels of support being made to all bus operators cannot be maintained.

So we are cutting services.

In our case, which is not the case for all operators, during pre-pandemic times more than 90% of our revenue came from customers making journeys with us.  However, like all bus operators in Wales, and across the UK, when the pandemic struck we had to quickly change service levels to reflect government directions. We received new subsidies to maintain the existing network and the capacity as we moved out of those levels of restrictions.  It is this support that is now coming to an end. 

So we are cutting services.

At present we are seeing just over 80% of pre-pandemic customers returning to our services. This is now the new base level that we must work from as we move back to operating with reducing support.  These are hard decisions, but we must make changes to maintain a sustainable network in Cardiff and eastern Vale of Glamorgan.

So we are cutting services.

The changes are set out below.  For new timetables we have had to factor in additional journey time as we try and make sure these are robust to navigate the worsened levels of traffic congestion we face.  We also need to fully consider the changes that have been made to road layouts, loss of highway and junction capacity for bus movements, as well as preparation for new speed limits that affect journey times.

But, really, we are cutting services.

fbb will try to sample some of the changes in due course; but it doesn't look good. Do we assume that the £2 fare cap has had little effect?

Do we assume that the (Welsh) Government is happy to see more Cardiff folk using their cars, damaging the city, killing the planet etc etc.

Of course, a commercial Cardiff Bus company needs to manage its finances or it will go bust.

But, f we are serious about the "saving the planet" stuff, is cutting back the right way forward?

OF COURSE IT ISN'T!

The ONLY unchanged services are ...

H59 & H95 Heath and Llandough Hospital Park & Rides: both services remain supported by the Cardiff & Vale University Health Board with no changes proposed at this time.

Both routes run every 20 minutes Monday to Friday only.

99 Cardiff (City Centre) - Cardiff Bay - Penarth Seafront & Esplanade: as a reminder the open-top Skycar route 99 ...

... between Cardiff and Penarth Pier and Esplanade last day will be 23rd September as originally advertised. 

EVERYTHING else has changed! The only positive is that Cardiff Bus has published ALL the revised timetables almost one month in advance.

Is this negativity really the right way to run public transport?

OF COURSE IT ISN'T!

 A Bit More Leigh Park blog : Monday 14th August