Added to website 2 October 2010
Paul Smith writes:
GREEK ISLAND OF KOS
I'm now back from my travels in the Greek island of Kos and thought you may be interested in the attached photos of some of the local buses
serving the main town.
We took a couple of trips into Kos town using the service from the village of Kardamena near to where our hotel was situated. It seems most
buses there are Mercedes types although our first trip was on a MAN with coach trim and very welcome air conditioning. I also photographed
the Setra on the Airport service in the Bus Station. Livery on the cross island services is the very smart orange and cream stripe style.
Also seen in the Bus Station was the wonderful Alfa bodied Mercedes 0.303 on service to Tigaki, which must be quite old judging by the styling!
From what I could make out, vehicles are allocated to individual drivers and dedicated to the same route and timings each day. All the buses
are kept in pristine condition, one driver even asking a tourist to get off the bus as she was drinking a carton of juice prior to departure back
from Kos!
Also of interest was that the seating in the bus shelter in the centre of Kardamena appeared to be the same as that fitted on some of the
vehicles - complete with matching mocquette!
A flat fare scheme is in place and, as I've witnessed in other parts of Greece, fare collection is very entertaining and almost archaic, being
collected by a 'roving' conductor who, after taking all the fares from one service out of town, then disembarks to meet another bus
going into town in order to collect fares on that service. Drivers are in constant radio contact with a central control and buses are
sometimes held at rendezvous points in order for the conductor to transfer from one service to another. Tickets are like paper
cloakroom tickets, being torn from a stub held in a rack and issued by hand. The stubs are then collated at the end of each journey in order to
tally with takings.
As services are very sparse, sometimes only running every 3 hours, they are highly patronised, especially by foreign tourists in season so they
do become very crowded. On our first journey back from town a duplicate vehicle was provided but I didn't see this again. Consequently the antics
of the conductor negotiating the incredibly crowded saloon, packed with standing as well as a full capacity of seated passengers, in order to
collect fares is an entertaining spectacle!
There are also 'urban' buses operating cross town services and of course an endless array of colourful and very modern coaches for the tourist
industry but I personally found these cross-island buses the most interesting ones working in Kos.
Added to website 27 September 2010
Added to website 25 September 2010
Added to website 2 September 2010
Ian Moorcroft writes:
BUSES OF PARIS AND DISNEYLAND PARIS
A recent visit to Disneyland Paris gave me the opportunity to take a few photos of the current bus scene there, including a day in the city
of Paris where the British influence can be seen.
In Disneyland resort itself shuttle buses to the resort hotels are operated from a modern bus station by the side of the rail station, both
built to service the resort, those to the hotels owned by Disney by a fleet of in house buses in a vivid yellow livery with contravision vinyls
picturing various Disney characters. These are mainly 4 door articulated buses of Renault Agora or Irisbus Citelis manufacture, though the
Irisbus ones are basically an updated version of the Renaults. Rigid versions of these also operate but they are few and far between and the
only photo I took didn’t turn out.
The shuttle buses to the hotels in Val d’Europe which are not owned by Disney are operated by 3 doored pink liveried Mercedes Citaro artics
belonging to Transdev subsidiary PEPS which operate from a depot on the outskirts of the resort.
All the buses operate on a 10 – 15 minute frequency and at busy times operate with little or no space and with a number of passengers that
would make VOSA cringe with despair, the Disney buses being driven with the utmost care and smoothness as you would expect from an organisation
that prides itself on customer service, the PEPS ones are an experience that ranks alongside some of the park rides with high speeds and rapid
acceleration seeming to be the norm.
Apart from the shuttle buses others are operated to local areas, again by PEPS with both rigid and articulated citaros and another operator
Marne et Morin, again a Transdev subsidiary using a mix of older Renaults and newer Irisbus of a design we would consider dual purpose, with
PROCARS and Seine et Marne express operating modern coaches on less frequent services, these all being well loaded with locals interchanging
with the train for Paris and Disney staff (or cast members as they are known).
A regular service to both Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports are maintained by Transdev (from the PEPS depot) using 15 meter Bova Magiqs
in a bright livery with prominent Disney vinyls.
Perhaps the most unusual bus is in the Walt Disney Studios park which can be seen from the studio tram tour (open sided carriages pulled by a
tractor unit that bore no clues to its manufacturer) is a London Routemaster on service 13 to Trafalgar Square which as can be seen from the
photo appears to be RMC type.
There also used to be a Neoplan Skyliner as part of the AEROSMITH ROCKIN’ ROLLER COASTER ride but this had gone this year.
Other coaches which may be viewed are the Setra double deck coaches operated by Cityrama from the Disney hotels on sightseeing duties to
Paris but I didn’t see these this year, which is probably not surprising as they charge 71 euros for a full day tour and 53 euros for a three
hour night time tour.
On to Paris itself and the British influence can be seen frequently with the open top East Lancashire Coachbuilders bodied Volvos belong to
L’Open Tour and Les Cars Rouge which ply the city on a number of set routes which all seem to carry good loadings all day.
A number of British coaches were also observed but this number paled into insignificance with the number of East European coaches seen.
Added to website 26 August 2010
Richard Lomas writes:
This picture was taken in Odessa, Ukraine in April 2010:
Here is a picture of a Berlin double decker. They meet most of the criteria for the Borismaster (proposed new London Routemaster)
having two staircases and a rear door and a wonderful innovation for passengers they have top deck windscreen wipers. Pity it didn't rain
on our visit.
I was taken in this coach of Kettlewells of Retford on a Campaign for Real Ale trip to Prague in the autumn of 1984. We left from the side of St
Pancras in the evening and travelled across Germany overnight. The picture was taken at the first bar over the Czech boarder at about 9:00 am.
We then visited a brewery in Pilsen and lost a beer drinking competition to a Russian group.
Added to website 26 August 2010
Ken Jones writes:
As you are transport enthusiasts I thought you should watch this video but don't tell East Midlands trains or they will want some
for local services!
Webmaster's note: Please watch this video right through and then ask yourself this question: "Have we gone too far in the UK in our
obsession with Health & Safety regulations?"
Bamboo railway . . . The Cambodian rail "service"
For YouTube video
CLICK
Added to website 26 August 2010
David Gambles writes:
One of the enjoyable and interesting parts of my job (now retired) was the opportunity to travel to mainland Europe on business trips and here's some
pictures taken in the Czech Republic in 2004. The pictures are taken in Teplice and the trolley buses are mostly Skodas. The term
Health and Safety doesn't seem to have been invented so train passengers just cross "live" tracks and scramble up into the coaches
and when you question whether this might be dangerous people just think you are being silly. Pictures © D Gambles
