One of the things that amazes me about Cheshire is where you can find footways and traffic lights. Sometimes, these are as far from dense urban areas as you can hope to get. The traffic lights at Bosley Crossroads are typical of the type as perhaps are those at Monk’s Heath. That’s never to say that they are not needed but it is telling how dense traffic can get on Cheshire’s roads at times that even rural locations are afflicted by the malady.
On the other hand, it can amaze one where there aren’t any traffic lights either. For example, having one at the junction of Green Lane and Alderley Road (A538) in Wilmslow would surely help the 130 on its way to Macclesfield during the rush hour. The possibility that really comes to mind is the staggered junction between Priory Lane, Macclesfield Road (B5087) and Prestbury Road near between Upton Priory and Prestbury. I was reminded of this twice when come home from work on my bicycle because with busy filter lanes, someone could take a chance when they shouldn’t and anyone on a pedal cycle cut come off badly as a result. The Connect 19 passes the way too so visibility mightn’t always be what it should be. Of course, you should never pull out of a minor road onto a major one when you cannot see what’s happening but we all can make mistakes, can’t we? It’s not a particularly nice part of the road system of a dark evening or morning so I often wonder if anyone does come a cropper around there.
Tags: Bosley, Buses, Cheshire, Connect 19, Cycling, England, Macclesfield, Monk's Heath, Prestbury, Road Safety, Upton Priory, Wilmslow
A Saturday outing to the western end of the Yorkshire Dales had me travelling around by Lancaster and that meant my train journey was set to take in the striking bottleneck that is the Manchester Piccadilly-Oxford Road-Deansgate-Salford line. While I had admit that it may be a difficult and expensive thing to do but the restrictive approach to Manchester Piccadilly always amazes me. It is, I think, a consequence of history in that it is a hangover from a time when Manchester had more termini than it does now. For instance, what is now the Museum of Science and Technology was once the terminus for the Manchester and Liverpool railway right back at the start of the railway revolution. Then, there was Manchester Central and that train shed has become G-Mex. Manchester Victoria was the terminus of choice of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway company, a map of whose network still adorns its walls. These days it seems underused with its better western connections but it is a mile away from Piccadilly so I suppose that makes it less convenient for some though its situation next to the Arndale Centre is more central than that of Piccadilly.
What reminded me of all of this was a 20-30 minute delay that afflicted the 07:54 Northern stopping service to Preston. My plan was to use the 08:15 Transpennine Express departure that was to follow it but I tend to use what is at hand rather than sticking rigidly to plans; in fact, my train was retarded so as not to delay the progress of that 08:15. The cause of the disruption was a fright train in difficulty, not a good thing to have on the line between Piccadilly and Oxford Road. Though it may prove expensive and disruptive, I would like to see quadrification of the through line from Piccadilly. In reality, we are probably more likely to get an HS2 rather than this kind of meaningful advance. Small changes that don’t arouse much in the way of excitement are less likely when there is cash about than the shiny one.
Tags: England, History, HS2, Improvements, Lancaster, Manchester, Northern Rail, Preston, Stations, Trains, Transpennine Express, West Coast
I was up in Edinburgh for the last weekend of August and noticed that a goodly number of bus stops were supplied with display boards showing when the real number of minutes until the arrival of the next bus(es). The arrangement of the information seems to be by service number rather than time with there being two slots per service. There is some sense to this if you are after a particular service but, if you are of a more flexible mindset, it may seem a little strange at first. Another peculiarity is that the very useful offering only applies to Lothian Buses and not other operators in the city like First or Munros. In fact, Lothian’s services can be so regular that you wonder why satellite tracking is used for them at when it would make far more sense for longer distance services entering and leaving the city while plying their way to destinations like the Borders or Fife. The counterpoint to that is that it saves you having to inspect bus timetables attached to bus shelters and people standing or sitting right in front of them.
The relevance of all this to Cheshire is pertaining to its current piloting of bus tracking services 27 and 130. It is needed especially badly for the 130 with its propensity for getting delayed along its route, particularly at busy times. As if to remind me of the point, the one taking me to work this morning was the most of twenty minutes late. However, my impression is that you need to start up a computer to get the information, as useful as even that it. However, the last thing that you really need to being on going out the door in the morning is going through of starting a computer up to see when the next bus is due and then shutting it down afterwards. That sort of thing can cause you to leave it on all of the time, hardly an environmentally friendly practice. An obvious alternative to this is delivery via mobile phone (text messaging would be handy for those without web enabled handsets) or displaying the time until the next arrivals at well used bus stops like what is in place in Edinburgh. In reality, I can see this type of installation having to await the outcome of the current pilot but I still feel that it’s where things should be headed.
Tags: 130, 27, Arriva, Bowers, Buses, Cheshire, Edinburgh, England, Knutsford, Lothian Buses, Macclesfield, Manchester, Scotland, Timetables, Traffic
The powers that be must reckon that Macclesfield is full of lazybones with the first northbound train departing on Sunday mornings after 10:00. Thankfully, the first 130 of the day does leave at 09:05 but that takes an age to reach Manchester. However, there is another option: using the 130 to reach Wilmslow’s train station. That approach gets you to Manchester by 10:12 and opens up a few more travel options. Booking a taxi starts to bring earlier options from Wilmslow into the fray and there are more again if you decide to go as far as Manchester Airport. Returning to Wilmslow, it seems that Arriva Trains Wales’ apparent stabling of trains in Crewe means a good supply of Sunday morning services since their southbound timetable was expanded at this time. Add to that the fact that Northern, CrossCountry and Virgin all use the station and a good deal of choice is on offer.
It might be the size of the shopping precinct in the centre of the town but I have always been a little surprised by the level of train service that a place the size of Wilmslow enjoys. To an extent, that has always been pertinent when it comes to getting away to somewhere of a Sunday but becomes even more pointed after last December’s timetable changes left Macclesfield with three trains an hour connecting us with Manchester. Is it because Wilmslow feels a little like an extension of Greater Manchester and Macclesfield has pastoral countryside between it and Stockport? I don’t know the answer to that one but I’d much rather it if Northern Rail offered a better Sunday service to Macclesfield than they do. Hopeless is near enough the description that I’d ascribe to it and the timings of Virgin and CrossCountry trains make Sunday service next to hourly when spreading them apart would make so much more sense. As things stand, they look enough of a dog’s breakfast that using buses to get to and from the likes of Crewe and Wilmslow remains a useful addition to the travel arsenal.
Tags: 130, Arriva, Arriva Trains Wales, Cheshire, Crewe, Macclesfield, Manchester, Northern Rail, Sunday Travel, Timetables, Trains, Virgin, Wilmslow
The past weekend saw me fit in a short foray to Scotland and rail engineering work has started to return some thoughts to my mind that have lain dormant for a while and then developed them. The main cause of this was the non-running of trains between Lockerbie and Glasgow or Edinburgh because of work on the line. The result was that I got sent around by the more expensive East Coast mainline on a journey commencing from Macclesfield. Does going around by York add that much to the mileage?
Of itself, that escapade has prompted thoughts regarding the differences in fares between the West Coast and East Coast mainlines. Some vague recollection has left me with the impression that the former is subsidised with the latter being treated as a sort of cash cow. However, it would make for a great display of forward thinking if West Coast tickets were to made valid for journeys along the East Coast whenever engineering works took place. Going beyond this again, it might be an even better idea if fare harmonisation meant that an East Coast journey cost the same as a West Coast one. In the eyes of some, that may seem like adding a new idiosyncrasy to a system that already is illogical in parts. Others may decry the idea of fare increases while more would appreciate the decreases. All in all, having the extra flexibility could be worth it.
Saying all of that, the tide seems to be going the way of inflexibility these days so another crazy idea of mine might never see the light of day either: tickets allowing you to go via either Edinburgh or Glasgow on journeys going further north. Though it doesn’t happen so often these days, there have been occasions in the past when I wished to go via Edinburgh and return via Glasgow or vice versa but the need of single tickets for each precluded the scheme. Then, I was prone to going by coach from Scotland’s central belt so the idea of a “Central Belter” ticket allowing the use of either Edinburgh or Glasgow on inbound or return journeys often appealed.
Would either of the above wild daydreams yield an increase in visitors to Scotland using the railways? I don’t know the answer to that one but having the freedoms granted by their implementation would be no bad thing. Otherwise, the thoughts of the inconvenience induced by what I assume are very necessary rail engineering works are enough to get you wondering about the prospect of going by National Express coaches instead. Add the cost of travel into the equation and the coach option starts to look more promising, enough to make you wonder why the service level isn’t better than it is.
Tags: Coaches, Edinburgh, Glasgow, National Express, National Express East Coast, Railways, Scotland, Trains, Transpennine Express, Virgin
