Ireland recommendations
Dennis Basford writes (18 September 2010):
I have just returned from a four day break based in Dublin (for photos click on image below).
Irish Railways have a promotion on until the end of the year where if you are 66 years of age or over (and some of your readers must be)
then they will give you a free 4 day rail pass for use anywhere in the republic (including Dublin's DART system).
As I understand it, they will give you up to 3 separate passes this year which need to be applied for individually.
Applicants should type Irish Rail Golden Trekker into their preferred search engine and follow the instructions from there.
Should anyone want to make it an all Ireland trip, then Northern Ireland Railways are running an identical scheme and it can be located
in a similar manner to that in the Republic.
We flew with Ryanair from the East Midlands and with an early start we were in Dublin before 9am on the first day.
We stayed at the Ripley Court Hotel in Dublin which I would recommend. I have no connection with the hotel other than as a satisfied customer.
However, there is plenty of choice in Dublin to suit all pockets.
Irish Railways is one of the most modern systems in Europe and the volume and variety of Buses in Dublin has to be seen to be believed.
So if you are fancying a short Autumn break ?????
Dennis Basford. Added to website 21 September 2010. Link to photographs added 25 September 2010
Long distance value
Since I wrote my words of wisdom below, National Express from mid September 2010 have started offering more journeys for one pound (in addition
to the normal "from a pound" routes in competition with Megabus). See if you can get one and enjoy!
Oliver Foreman with thanks to Richad Lomas for the picture
Oliver Foreman writes (17 September 2010):
An adult member of the family needed to make a return trip by public transport from Mansfield to Dover. Thinking that the train would involve
making one's own way across London and would be too expensive (but I was mistaken on both counts - see below), I went onto the National Express
website to discover a pre-booked adult return Mansfield to Dover (changing at London Victoria Coach Station) costs £46 and takes around
7 hours and 45 minutes each way.
There was something about Fun Fares but I did not seem able to get any to come up between Mansfield and London.
Transport walking encyclopaedia Neville Whitmore said it would be cheaper from Chesterfield (a town 11 miles from Mansfield) . . .
and he was right. Booking online in two parts 11 days before the outward
journey, I was able to get Chesterfield to London return for £14 and London to Dover return for £16. Journey time 7 hours 30 minutes; total cost £30; saving
over fare from Mansfield £16 (though two single bus fares between Mansfield and Chesterfield would add £7).
Like Megabus, these days you print off your National Express paperwork yourself with an option to send it to your mobile phone. So no more anxious waiting for tickets to land on your doormat, or
going to bus stations offices in opening hours to pick them up, or, as is the case sometimes on the railways, getting pre-booked tickets from a machine at
the station that may have been vandalised. The driver just needs your booking code.
The outward journey was on Saturday 11 September. Would it be a brand new Volvo Elite coach? No, but David had a good journey with an easy change of coach at Victoria. Coming back
on Thursday 16 September, there was a 30 minute delayed departure from Victoria for 'technical reasons' thus causing a late arrival at
Chesterfield. Again, not an Elite, but a comfortable, fast coach which the relief driver assured us was soon to be passed over to Megabus.
Here are the coaches leaving from and arriving at Chesterfield. Read on beneath the photographs as there is more to this tale.
Dedicated followers of the TRANSPIRE and FOCUS websites may recall that about a year ago I proudly described how I travelled between
Norwich and Nottingham on the train for £1* by booking on the Megabus website. (See TRANSPIRE website
HERE.)
I have since repeated this journey for a very reasonable £6*.
Thus it seems all the more surprising that I did not properly investigate rail travel for the proposed journey between Mansfield and Dover.
Today I have checked for travel in two weeks time and have come up with very agreeable fares and times. It seems that now you do not
have to change stations in London. You can get to Dover from St Pancras, the station you arrive at from Sheffield, Derby, Chesterfield and
Nottingham.
Another surprise are the quoted fares. The Super off peak return of £84.70 does not seem much of a bargain, but a single between Mansfield and Dover of
£25 on the 30 September leaving at 10.41, and a return on the 7 October for just £22 (leaving Dover 10.44) are most tempting! Journey time, less than
4 and a half hours! Total fare £47 return between Mansfield and Dover, about the same as the coach but over 3 hours quicker! With fares and times like this,
surely the train is the way to go . . . but because of false notions I did not check before booking National Express.
I found the train information on the East Midlands Trains website
HERE.
However, if I was contemplating a journey that just used East Midlands Trains (or another Stagecoach train company) I would try first the Megabus website
HERE.
A search for a train journey from Chesterfield to London less than two weeks from now reveals single fares from £9* at sensible times. Coming back a week after gives
a choice of four different journeys costing just £7*.
For National Express look
HERE.
What is the point of all this rambling? Simple: take time when booking journeys as often there is a bargain to be had, but it may not be obvious at first. And . . .
rid your mind of misconceptions (such as rail travel is always expensive).
Incidentally, the reason I did not look into booking a Megabus coach is that they no longer pick up in the Mansfield / Chesterfield area. You
may be more fortunate where you live.
* Megabus website charges a booking fee of 50p. You can also book by phone on 0900 1600900 but this costs at least 60p per minute.
Please let us know of value fares in your area . . . and how to obtain them!
Oliver Foreman. Added to website 18 September 2010. Extra opening comment added 21 September 2010
Bus Station Design and Safety
David Gambles writes (20 August 2010):
In towns and cities space is usually at a premium so the "drive in - reverse out" style of layout has to be used in bus stations, as it makes best use of
the available space.
Smaller bus stations that don't have the intensity of traffic sometimes have a series of laybys with protruding kerbs, which is safer as
buses can just drive in and drive out again, but this type of layout would take acres of space to provide the same number of bays at a location
such as Derby.
The key to successful operation at "drive in - drive out" locations is that reversing buses are always given right of way, as the reversing
driver only has a limited view. Providing all drivers move slowly and always give way to vehicles reversing off stands this system works well and
has done so for many years.
Newcastle's Haymarket and Eldon Square bus stations are of this layout and I've never personally seen any incidents directly due to reversing
off stands. The Eldon Square bus station, opened 2007, has been crammed into a very limited area making manoeuvring off some of the stands very
difficult, but due to the skill and patience of the drivers it all seems to work as well as it could under the circumstances.
There are some design flaws at Eldon Square that make the drivers job more difficult and initially buses were grounding on a raised area when
reaching their stand but this was solved by raising the approach road to each stand.
For some reason stand K which is allocated to dropping off buses only, is positioned so that they block buses from reversing off stand J and
the high granite kerbs mean that the driver is very limited in what can be done until the bus has completely cleared the stand.
I must compliment all drivers who use Eldon Square as they show true skill and patience whenever using this facility.
David Gambles
The passenger environment is excellent and is immediately adjacent to the shops. Stands F, G, H & J have limited seating and at busy
times passengers frequently are seen sitting on the floor whilst waiting for buses. © D Gambles
Stand K is positioned so that it blocks stand J © D Gambles
ABOVE & 2 BELOW: General views showing how the bus station has cleverly been squeezed into a very limited space between existing
buildings. © D Gambles
Two years after opening, the ramp to each bay had to be raised in order to prevent buses grounding on the raised, cobbled area. Here we see
stand A which has been modified and stand B which hasn't. There were numerous incidents of buses grounding on the cobbles and some even had
their fronts ripped off when reversing off the stands. © D Gambles
Signs to confuse
David Gambles writes (31 July 2010):
Following Oliver Foreman's comments (further down this page) about bus stops and bus stop information in Nottinghamshire
here's a few pictures showing how NOT to do it.
In order to encourage bus travel, intending passengers deserve clear, accurate, unambiguous information, not a lot to ask you might say,
especially when councils have special departments that are dedicated to dealing with this subject.
Picture 1 shows how definitely not to do it, this timetable display was like this for some months before it was changed. The tatty paper timetable was
pushed behind the perspex panel.
Picture 2 taken this week shows the ridiculous way that resources are wasted. New bus stops have been erected in this area, to replace
those that have been damaged or are life expired, but in this case a perfectly serviceable bus stop has been joined by a brand new one and
the old one left in place for many months. As a further insult, bus drivers can't see either the bus stops or the intending passengers, due
to increasing growth of overhanging bushes, which are growing on council owned land! Presumably the whole situation will only ever be sorted
out when a member of the public makes a complaint to the relevant departments, (there will be more than one department - there always is!) in
other words we are doing their job for them.
Picture 3 shows a local timetable just up the road from where picture 2 was taken where surprisingly a smart new timetable
has been inserted in this particular display panel. I noticed initially that the timetable states that no services run on Sundays which is incorrect.
For as long as I can remember the local county council have subsidised Sunday services (74A) running every two hours so why miss them off the
timetable?!! Looking further at the timetable the Monday to Saturday council sponsored services (74) are also missing and only show the
Stagecoach services.
The council are doing the right thing by providing vital routes to outlying villages, seven days a week, but failing to advertise them,
what a shambles!
If we could just get things right first time we could save millions and save a packet on Council Charges.
Finally picture 4 shows one of two road signs that were erected locally where the word except has been spelt incorrectly
as expect. The sign writer can't spell, presumably the team of workers (it's always a team) who erected it can't spell either
and it therefore required a second team of people to come along a few days later to erect the new, corrected signs. Right First Time - no
chance around here!
If you see examples of poor bus stop facilities why not send them to Focus Transport?
David Gambles. Added to website 1 August 2010
Two comments by Oliver Foreman posted 21 July 2010
The good . . .
BUS STOP INFORMATION
On the right is my local bus stop on Southwell Road West, Mansfield. It is not a particularly busy stop but is typical of the majority
in the Mansfield area - bright, clean, well maintained, a bit of a seat and with timetable information.
The three face noticeboard has Trentbarton times in one, Stagecoach in another and contact information in the third. This refers you to a
plate on the pole with information to allow you to use your mobile phone to find out the time of the next bus.
Because I am mean, I have never used the text facility (25p) but for your benefit I tried it out (I will be passing amongst you with a hat)
. . . and it worked within 20 seconds! The times of the next four buses (the last on the following morning) were correctly displayed on my phone. (See left.)
You may wonder why I was so surprised the system functioned correctly. Well, about ten years ago at great expense Nottinghamshire County Council
tried a system called Next Bus, initially on the Clipstone/Ollerton corridor in the Mansfield area. It involved big red bus stop signs with aerials on the top.
The times of the next buses (in real time as each bus had a transmitter) was supposed to be displayed. I never remember it working reliably.
There are still the remains of it as shown here. Note the bare wires (hopefully not live - I did not test them!) where the display used to be.
The good news is that behind it is a recently erected shelter with timetable information.
The next idea was a display built into the bus shelter and the Mansfield Oak Tree route was used as a guinea pig. If the system ever worked, it
certainly does not now. The photograph below was taken last night at 19.24 with the next bus due at 19.35 to Mansfield (and it came).
Remember that while these experiments were taking place on specific routes, most stops elsewhere had no timetable information and if there was a
shelter it was likely to have the glass smashed, be covered in grafitti and rubbish, and possibly used as a toilet. There may not have even been a
proper sign to indicate it was a bus stop.
What a contrast now! Well done whoever is responsible. I presume Nottinghamshire County Council. It is good to know my Council Tax is being
spent for the benefit of so many people. Is it a similar situation where you live?
Oliver Foreman
19 July 2010
The bad . . .
PUBLIC INCONVENIENCES
My moan is prompted by a recent visit to Nottingham. This involved getting off the Pronto bus in Victoria bus station and finding this notice on the door of the toilets:
The alternative toilets referred to are a good five minutes walk away and are only available when the shopping centre is open.
Victoria Bus Station must cater for thousands of people each day, with around 40 - 50 bus departures an hour.
I then caught the excellent free shuttle bus down to the other Nottingham bus station, Broadmarsh. This is much larger than Victoria and
used to have roomy, busy toilets. Not now! Where they were now says 'Staff only' (see left).
Admittedly, there is one of those toilet kiosks available for the use of one person at a time, but surely totally inadequate for a
vast interchange like this. (See above).
However, all is not lost! I see a sign hanging from the ceiling (left). A the end of the bus station is a further sign directing me into Broadmarsh shopping centre.
After negotiating the crowds through a long mall there is a further sign . . . directing me up an escalator . . . and a huge sign pointing along a balcony to a further sign . . .
and I am there. Phew! It took me six minutes, and they are only available when the shopping centre is open.
OK so a few people vandalise toilets and use them for unmentionable purposes. So the rest of us have to suffer? Recently much money has
been spent in Broadmarsh erecting glass screens, but they can't afford to provide proper toilets. And it seems Victoria bus station has none at all
'until further notice'.
I am assuming Nottingham City Council is responsible. If so, I think they have their priorities wrong. What do you think?
Oliver Foreman
19 July 2010