The bus that's making a splash on the Clyde

An amphibious bus is being tested on the river Clyde which could replace the Yorker to Renfrew ferry which will end service in March. Will it really work? The video is worth a watch anyway. There is a tour bus called the 'DUK' in London which uses a ex military vehicle which is part boat and part truck. The difference with this bus is it actually looks very much like a coach, so much that I am left wondering how it floats!

Travel Connections

The tracks don't go everywhere and Scotrail have produced a really useful section of their website which describes links to other transport options. See it here along with a guide to download. It includes details of bus and ferry links, airport connections and cycling by rail. Things that you might not know about include all in one ferry and rail tickets, a cycle rescue service for rail passengers, bus travel in town (included in the price of a train ticket) and airport links. Something travel companies are very poor at is joining up methods of transport. Scotrail is leading on this, lets hope the other train companies catch up!

Cheap East Coast Fares

East Coast Trains are offering cheap tickets through two newspapers - Scotland on Sunday and the Scotsman from today. All you need to do is collect three parts from a password to apply for your tickets. The East Coast railway was formerly known as National Express East Coast and before that GNER. Trains run from Aberdeen, Inverness, Glasgow, Perth, Stirling and Edinburgh to destinations along the east coast of England.

Day out to Edinburgh

If anyone is looking for something to do on Saturday 28th November 2009, 'The Christmas Pendle Scotsman' could be the answer. Compass Tours is running a special train to Edinburgh. Its just in time for the Christmas shopping or maybe just enjoying the festivities of Princess Street in the festive season including the Christmas Market. Or there is enough time to visit the Castle, or perhaps the brilliant National Museum. The train will run via the very scenic Settle and Carlisle Railway so there are views along the way too. Compass tours are a small organisation which arranges days out by trains for the general public to enjoy. The trains are staffed by enthusiastic volunteers who are dedicated to helping you enjoy your day out, so these are genuine fun trains.

Train or Coach

I recently had to head down to Dundee for a conference. The train fares were high (peak summer time) so I decided to look at coach tickets instead. So the final journey ended up being Megabus from Inverness to Perth, Citylink Coach from Perth to Dundee and back and then train from Perth to Inverness (National Express East Coast). Arriving at Inverness Bus Station I was looking forward to the journey as Megabus from Inverness uses new coaches that look pretty nice. My departure time was booked at 13.12 and since the coach is coming right from the bus depot, rather than other journey, you can be sure it will be on time...I thought. The tickets ask you to be there 30 minutes early for boarding. So at 13.00 there was no sign of the coach. At 13.10 it arrived. Ah well two minutes for us all to get on then. Only there was a problem. It sat there with the door closed. It seems we had the wrong driver. So when the right one arrived he got on and started checking tickets while the other driver helped us all load our luggage. So at 13.37 we left, very late. Before everyone thinks this is me being critical of Megabus let me explain. I understand Megabus to be a very reliable company, but in Inverness it is operated by Stagecoach Inverness a company that can't even get the first bus of the day out on time (0810 service to Dingwall - on time less than 50% of the times I've rode). On board my nice new coach was pretty good except the individual air vents were switched off. On a summers day with fellow passengers who perhaps are in need of a shower this was an issue. The journey was a long two hours.
Citylink was much better, for one thing the coach wasn't packed. So even if some of my fellow travellers had skipped the shower that morning I didn't notice. Plus the air was on, thank you Citylink. A pleasent journey to and from Dundee - and on time both ways.
Having enjoyed the conference it was time to head home and this was my train portion of the trip. Perth to Inverness first class on National Express. Well, you have to treat yourself after saving on every other bit of the trip! I was sitting at Perth thinking of dinner looking out over the Highland mountains. The Highland Chieftain is one of the few UK trains that still has an on board restaurant and the food is something else. The train was late, so I had lots of time to think of my dinner and to be honest I thought of very little else. Even after 30 years in service the HST still looks like a new train and I doubt there is anything more comfortable on the rails. I jamp on when it arrived and took a seat. Oh, it was a little hot. This reminded me of Megabus. The air conditioning was not working right. That is very unusual on the HST, its pretty reliable. Never mind dinner was about to be served. They always have the last serving just north of Perth from Monday to Friday. It was Saturday. Yes I had forgot that in my planning. Thoughts of a bowl of porridge and some toast were on my mind for the journey north.
Conclusions: avoid services run by Stagecoach Inverness. Citylink is pretty good if you are on a budget. Ask your Megabus driver (the one in the seat not the jolly yellow one painted on the side of the bus, to turn on the air), and check the day of the week before spending all conference thinking of your on board dinner.

Laurencekirk Reopens

The town of Laurencekirk is proud of their restored station. It was closed in September 1967 and fell into disrepair. This wiki image shows the extent of the decay only a couple of years ago when the platforms were gone and the building was in danger of being lost. Thankfully the Scottish Government decided to do something about this crazy sitatuion where a resonable sized town on a busy rail route has no station. The Station was restored and new platforms built. In May of this year it reopened and has been very popular with local people. The picture is from www.laurencekirk.info where you may see more pictures, details and find out more about the town.

NXEC no more

Yesterday I was writing about National Express East Coast offering 20% off their lowest advance fares, today they are back in the news again, this time having lost the franchise to run trains on the east coast mainline. The route runs from Edinburgh (and points north), Newcastle, York, Leeds to London. It is one of Britain's most popular routes and was Intercity's flagship in the 1990's with the high speed 225 electric trains. Today the Government has anounced that it is taking over the franchase and will run it until a new operator can be found. Ironic that British Rail's most successful route is back in state ownership, for the second time. Yes it has happened before. GNER (Sea Containers) won the rights to run as it was then known Intercity East Coast. Soon dark blue trains, stewards in smart uniforms and perhaps something of a return to the great days of rail was around as GNER lead the industry for customer service. GNER won the franchise for a second time but then in 2005 it was taken over by the government. Why? They didn't pay enough money. GNER didn't win the franchise for their customer service, they won for agreeing to pay a 1.3 billion premium to run the route. It was unaffordable. At the time Gerry Doherty, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, said "GNER is losing the contract because it cannot afford to pay £1.3bn to run the service, while at the same time the government is giving Sir Richard Branson £1.3bn to run the West Coast line,". Fast forward two years to 2007 and the Government and National Express now think 1.4 billion is a realistic figure to pay to run the route. At the time many industry insiders were wondering if anyone had learnt anything. Clearly they have not. Its still unrealistic. Yes, the East Coast makes money, it made money for BR, GNER and National Express, or would have if the franchiase rates were realistic. Of course the Government is well known for their over optimistic economic predictions...

What does this mean for the passenger though? Well the trains have been almost all refurbished, tickets purchase will be honoured and tickets for future travel are being sold. Thankfully unlike an airline going bust there is nothing to worry about. The route will continue as is for the time being and the most likely outcome is that a new operator will continue where National Express left off (National Express itself changed very little from GNER other than the livery). It would be nice though for the money constantly spent on new brand images, re franchising and other waste to be spend on trains or lower fares though. Do I ask for too much?