iDBUS numéro 2

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Well, there's a co-incidence!

Our Northampton correspondent, Alan, reminds us of the following spooky thought:-

In June last year "Passenger Transport" produced a list of those areas that First Group was looking to withdraw from. It was Wigan, Birkenhead, Chester, Kidderminster, Redditch, which have now not only been sold but sold in that order. 

Of the two remaining companies on the list the next one is ...

... Northampton.

fbb wonders whether "Honest Eric" will be changing his odds (read again).

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Now, back to the good idea ...

See also "iDBUS numéro 1" (read again)

En avant, à Paris

iDBUS (idée bus) makes great play of it's quality; including an invocation of Her Maj's gracious and stylistic transport facilities (?).

But what exactly is on offer from, say London to Paris?

Seven departures taking, apparently, 10 hours. Fares, as one might expect, vary according to date and time, so this has to be a random sample ...

... with length of journey shown adjusted for the time difference between UK and France. Nine hours seems a long time compared with Eurostar; but if you want a cheap deal and don't mind sitting comfortably for longer ... You pays your money and makes your choice.

It is worth noting that fares are fixed according to coach departure, so on a specific day ALL seats on the 1200 departure will be £35. The Paris terminus is at Bercy ...

... which is some distance from the centre of the city. Bercy is bottom right ...

... and the main central destinations are top left. But there is a fast link via the fully automatic and driverless Metro Ligne 14, a thrill in itself.

Interestingly, there were some even cheaper offers for the 16.5 hour journey to Lyon!

Obviously for any journey to the southern areas of France, about half the time will be spent overnight. You would need those reclining seats.

iDBUS offers an extensive network ...

... but not all destinations are directly accessible from London. As might be expected there are special offers from time to time, one of which might have even tempted fbb:-

£10 return from London to Lyon was a very tempting introductory offer.

But there's also Megabus, which we know is ludicrously cheap if you travel when the nice smiling man wants you to.

But you only have a choice of one daytime and one overnight trip.

On some dates Megabus is offering seats at £5 ...

... whilst idBUS was only showing "FULL".

La SNCF est satisfaite des premiers résultats d'iDBUS, le nouveau service de liaisons internationales par autocar lancé le 23 juillet 2012 qui relie Londres, Bruxelles ou Amsterdam à Paris et à Lille. Elle va ouvrir un hub à Lyon à la fin de l'année pour desservir le sud de l'Europe.

Owned, operated by and subsidised by (?) French (State) Railways ...

... iDBUS has only been going since July 2012. If, as fbb's lorry driving chum David suggested in yesterday's blog (read again), the coaches are carrying "fresh air" then the business plan might be in trouble. On the other hand, if there really are days when all seven departures are "FULL" then the "bonne idée" of iDBUS looks a sure-fire winner.

One on-line article is positive about an iDBUS journey from London to Paris:-

When I arrived, the two drivers were friendly and bilingual; they checked my ticket, took my luggage, and welcomed me on board. The coach was spacious, had free wi-fi and power outlets, and the seats reclined pretty far back. It was quite comfortable as far as buses go.

I awoke just before midnight, when we took a thirty-minute break at a rest stop just before hitting the Eurotunnel. Immediately after the rest stop we went to immigration. Officers came on board and collected our passports; they disappeared for a few minutes then quickly returned the stamped passports.

I’m not entirely sure what the Eurotunnel is [the writer, "Expatedna", is youthful American, touring Europe; 'nuff said!] as I fell asleep almost immediately after we started moving, so I really can’t say.

The bus was scheduled to arrive at 7:35 at Paris Bercy, a train station in the southeastern 12th arrondissement. We actually arrived at 6:00, an hour and a half early.

Sadly, fbb suspects that Mrs fbb would put her foot down with a heavy hand at the idea of an overnight to Paris, a day on the metro and an overnight back. But if any blog reader does something similar, please send a full report. "Public Transport Expeience" always welcomes contributions.

 Next Bus Blog : Monday 27th January 

iDBUS numéro 1

Ooh là là, zut alors?

"Have you looked at idbus, the french operation of cheap intercity travel by coach? I see them and they are carrying lots of fresh air!"

Chum David, who drives a huuge lorry round France, emailed a few days ago with the above query. And the thought (via fbb's personal babel fish) that "the captain, as well as being bilingual, will watch over you before, during and after my journey" seemed somewhat superior to the chubby one's recent experience with National Express. So an investigation was necessary.

The name, which in English we would say as "eye dee bus" is actually pronounced "ee day boos" and "idée" is Français for "idea". So, presumably, iDBUS is a good idea.

The company's video is typical French "chic" and tells this story:-

La famille veut visiter Londres par auto. Mais le voyage est fort ennuyeux.

Maman a une bonne idée! (get it?)

Elle utilise son ordinateur. Elle choisit "iDBUS".

Le capitaine veille sur leur vogage! [And looks a bit of a smoothie?]

 

L'autocar est très confortable ...

... très relaxant. La famille arrive à Londres pour ..

... faire du sightseeing. ("sightseeing" - un bon mot français!). 

So the publicity is very attractively presented and the real vehicles look much better than their "virtual" video variants ...

... internally as well as externally.

fbb is less than enamoured with the present fashion for "everything in grey", but they do look comfy and would appear on-line to offer a significant degree of incline to allow a pleasant recline.

Maybe blog readers will have practical experience thereof?

So the big questions that remain for tomorrow's blog; how much?; how often? and, notably, how long?

The iDBUS advertorial video can be viewed (here). It's a bit jerky on fbb's very narrow-band and iDBUS won't allow him to download it; so apologies if you can't cope with the file. The link is to the French version, 'cos it's fun to experience something of the entente not-always cordiale! English and German versions are also available c/o You-tube . 

Amusez-vous bien!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY TO Mrs fbb 

 Deuxième blogue au suject d'autocars 

    Dimanche le vingt-sept Janvier    

The Lovely Lymington Link [5]

The Multi-modal Transport Interchange

fbb and Mrs fbb usually decide between Wightlink's Fishbourne to Portsmouth route and Red Funeral's East Cowes to Southampton crossing entirely on price. Going between Yarmouth and Lymington is a rarity because the journey from East to West Wight is tedious, as is the onward motoring route in the New Forest. But their post Christmas safari to family in Wantage exposed the weakness of Red Funeral.

When they enlarged their ships by chopping them into three bits and glueing a "T" shaped extra bit of boat in the gap, this gave extra vehicle space (length and extra deck) but made no provision for extra seating. So with a goodly load of cars and a couple of coaches, the experience is almost akin to "Third World" travel.

With the floor being the only seating inside, and the outside decks being less than inviting in late December, the crossing was not a particularly pleasant experience! So for their January Sidmouth expedition they decided to go via West Wight. The fbbs were "en auto", but what would their expereince have been if on foot and by train?

There's not much station left at Lymington Pier! Midweek the train is a diesel, eschewing the nice conductor rail. Three shelters only. And no longer do the boats tie up beside the train ...

... although the quayside is still there. There is a poster outlining the lavish interchange facilities ...

... including the  E xit, the stop for   R ail   R eplacement buses and  wide selection of  A ppropiate "normal" bus stop(s). But there is only one astoundingly obvious way out of the station (unless you fancy a swim?) and there are no buses to serve the bus stop at "A". So it is thanks to Network Rail that we can enjoy these extensive interchange opportunities. The poster also tell us where the  F erry  T erminal is ...

... in case we couldn't spot the only building in sight!

Other platform "facilities" include a new boring set of standard nameboards, replacing the previous "green hot dog" ones that accompanied the "heritage" slam-door trains ...

... that ran until 2010.

There is a ticket machine and the wherewithal to contact a mysterious and distant enquiry service; a poor substitute for a properly staffed ticket office and a warm waiting room. Of course the ferry terminal provides waiting and refreshment facilities but does not appear to admit to any railway ticket sales or information.

And there is even better news (!) for the intrepid foot passenger arriving from the Isle of Wight. The hourly Winter boat service arrives officially at ...

.. 25 minutes past the hour. Just in time to run pell-mell down the long "tunnel" ...

... leap suicidally across the line of cars leaving the ferry and on to the platform. And, equally, just in time to see the 27 minutes past train trundling over the causeway and on its way back to Brockenhurst.

Not surprisingly, given these helpful timings, only one passenger travelled onward by train from the Island (after an enjoyable 25 minutes in the shelter) as observed by fbb and, on the return trip a superb total of three returned thus. Mind you, there weren't many cars on the 1145 ferry either.

And don't take any notice of the on-line station facilities diagram ...

click to enlarge dagram

... because it has sunk that new terminal building into the murky waters of the Lymington River ...

... and flooded the car park to make a new harbour.

Some wally has got them the wrong way round!

But there is some good news. According to a sticker on the platform, all this excellent/useless/wrong information is part of a grand integrated transport improvement scheme ...

... as a partnership between Southwest Trains and Hampshire County Council. Integrated, with what? Security, what security?

Great!

 Next Coach Blog : Saturday 26th January 

The Lovely Lymington Link [4]

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 Breaking News 1 

 KIDDERMINSTER & REDDITCH 

News today of the sale of First Bus operations at Kidderminster and Redditch to the Rotala Group. Rotala already operates in the Redditch area.

More information as soon as it becomes available.

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 Breaking News 2 

 NOT SO PREMIERE? 

According to "Route One" magazine, published today, "Premiere", a company that has expanded rapidy and competed aggressively against Trent Buses in the Nottingham area, has applied for "protective adminstration" to allow it to continue trading until a buyer is found. Anybody want a "financially challenged" bus company that can't pay its bills? Expansion opportunity for First Bus? P'raps not, Eh?

Presumably Trent would be happy to let it die then pick up any commercially viable pieces?

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Back to Lymington:-

The Island Crossing

The crossing from Lymington to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight has always been the "baby" of the Island's three ferry routes., but the link has been popular with passengers from the West. For most of its history the train at Lymington Pier stood on one side (east) of the platform and the ferry was moored alongside the opposite face (west). Cross-platform interchange.

Locomotives could "run round" their train from a headshunt that was perilously close to the sea!

But as the popularity of the car ferry business began to grow, the layout of the terminal became less and less workable. Cars to and from the ferry had to cross the tracks as here on a level crossing. With trains arriving and leaving to connect with the boats, the gates were often closed, thus delaying either cars or boats or both.

So the railway line was shortened, a ferry linkspan was built in its place and the cars could drive on and off unimpeded by those nasty inconvenient trains. The old ramp and level crossing are top left in this aerial view of today's facility.

Of course it would all be easier with a bridge or a tunnel to the Island. What a spiffing idea that would have been (possibly) and one was proposed ...

... but never built.

In 1900 the proposed seven and a half mile new line would start at a junction between Brockenhurst and Lymington, descending into a brick lined tunnel near Keyhaven. The two and a half mile single-track iron tunnel would have descended under 150 feet of water and 46 feet further below the seabed and then climbed to emerge from Golden Hill near King’s Manor Farm in Freshwater.

the present (much enlarged) Kings Manor Farm with

the line of the former railway in woods on the right

The new railway would then divide into two lines carried on viaducts over the Western Yar to join the Freshwater-Yarmouth line, one going to Freshwater Station, the other to Newport and the rest of the Island’s rail network.

It did, however, appear on some maps in preparation for the construction; which was never commenced. It would be fruitless but interesting to speculate how the Island would have developed had it ever been built. Maybe West Wight would have been the big tourist destination rather than Sandown and Shanklin. We shall never know.

One other snippet from the history of the ferry crossing; 

Farringford was delivered to British Railways (the British Transport Commission) in 1948 for service between Lymington and Yarmouth. She was powered by a diesel engine which drove two two paddlewheels, which could be controlled independently.

In 1974 Farringford was rebuilt as a side loader and transferred to the Hull-New Holland route on the River Humber. She was withdrawn in 1981; replaced by the new Humber Bridge. Farringford was sold to Western Ferries for use on their Gourock-Dunoon route.

Sold on in 1984, she was broken up in Hull, having never taken the long journey north to the Clyde.

Tomorrow we take out last look at the Lymington line as we examine the train and ferry service in recent times.

 Next Train & Ferry Blog, Friday 25th January