Macclesfield’s streets have been getting dug up again and it’s a reminder of what was going on around this time last year when traffic light renewal was under way. About that time, there seemed to be some gas works ongoing too and it is gas mains renewals that are causing the disruption at the moment. The powers that be seem to have focussed their attention around the roundabout at the intersection of Churchill Way and Cumberland Street/Hibel Road. So far, that doesn’t seem to having much effect on the buses that I use though services to Kerridge (the bus used for that service now displays its destination and the vehicle has gained a cherished registration mark too; what was wrong with the standard issue 54 one?), Bollington and Upton Priory surely can’t have escaped the build up of traffic caused by temporary traffic lights. Of course, it would be best if this sort of thing went away for a while but that might be why signs have appeared about a few weeks work lasting for eighty years afterwards. Only time can tell if that promise comes to pass with the rigid plastic pipes that they seem to be using.
Posts Tagged ‘Timetables’
10, 11, 4, Arriva, Bollington, Buses, Cheshire, England, Kerridge, Macclesfield, Road Works, Timetables, Traffic, Upton Priory
Gas works
In Happenings, News, Observations on March 5, 2010 at 10:11 pm130, Arriva, Buses, Cheshire, Cheshire East Council, England, Macclesfield, Manchester, Road Works, Timetables, Traffic, Wilmslow
It’s not always the one that you think…
In Buses, Observations, Timetables on February 2, 2010 at 11:43 amYesterday, I was in Macclesfield bus station awaiting a 130 and one did come in from Manchester but that wasn’t to be my bus. In fact, it was to be a double-decker that arrived at the bus stance only minutes from going back out again. It’s destination blinds said Manchester and the route number was still 38 but that soon enough was changed to 130 and we were on our way once the bus driver sorted himself out. As we departed, that earlier bus moved into our stance and must have been the next departure. Now, I suppose that what we were watching were the machinations of rest breaks, dealing with delays to services and such like, the bread and butter of operating bus services that work along congested roads like the 130 does.
The Nether Alderley road improvements are adding to that and bus services are getting disrupted. This morning, it looks as if the 09:15 from Macclesfield never ran and that those waiting for it had to content themselves with the 09:45 instead. Yesterday morning saw a tailback along the A537 from Monk’s Heath traffic lights most of the way back to Henbury. It seems that reversing lorries may be doing hell as they start to draw in foundations for the road widening works near the Monk’s Heath junction itself. All in all, it looks as if this will be part and parcel of travelling that way over the next few months and that the bus tracker will be needed more than ever. Let’s hope that it actually gives us real times too and not just the timetable.
England, National Rail, Scotland, Timetables, Trains, Wales
Getting better but still with room for improvement
In Observations, Suggestions, Timetables, Trains on January 22, 2010 at 7:04 amAfter a look at the National Rail Enquiries website, I have noted the appearance of a departure board form on the main page during the recent arctic spell and it’s still there after the restoration of full service. There is one annoyance that has just come to my attention, though. It’s that you cannot plan day return trips without some adjustments because the default behaviour is that the earliest return date is the day after the day of outward travel even if you specify the return date correctly. This is a situation that does annoy me and I hope that they get to removing that restriction. All in all, the new website feels rough underneath its shiny surface. Did they rush things in place of delivering a more polished item?
Macclesfield, Manchester, Knutsford, Cheshire, England, Buses, 130, Timetables, 27, Cheshire East Council, Real-time Web, Bus Tracker
Not all that glitters…
In Buses, Journeys, News, Observations, Suggestions on January 21, 2010 at 12:17 pmWhen Cheshire East Council launched online bus tracking for routes 27 and 130, it looked like a step in the right direction and that still is the case. However, there caveats regarding the supplied information that need attention. To my mind, it seems that not enough of the buses operating those route have trackers installed or turned on. What we cannot expect is that every bus connecting Macclesfield with Knutsford or Manchester is tracked because that may mean a restricted pool of buses for initiative such as what Cheshire East Council have in operation. Breakdowns and maintenance can mean that the usual buses are unavailable so untracked vehicles have to be tolerated. Nevertheless, I am getting the impression that not enough are being tracked and that makes the tracker little better than a rolling bus timetable. Another thing that I have spotted is that it doesn’t take account of cancelled services and there were plenty of those during the recent run of arctic weather. In a nutshell, things need improving before the tracker is truly dependable and my only hope is that the general extent of usage will convince the council to do just that and maybe even expand the service to other bus routes.
Éire, Buses, Derry, Donegal, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Swilly, Timetables
Swilly Buses
In Buses, Timetables on January 12, 2010 at 7:05 pmIf there ever was an operator that seemed to manage with relative anonymity outside of their operating area, it’s Swilly Buses. That leaves me wondering if it is any better around Derry and north Donegal. Maybe I should pay the area a visit to find out. In the meantime, here’s some places to find out more about them (including a timetable) on the web:
Arriva Trains Wales, c2c, Chitern Railways, CrossCountry, East Coast, East Midlands Trains, First Capital Connect, First Great Western, Gatwick Express, Grand Central, Heathrow Express, Hull Trains, Island Line, London Midland, London Overground, MerseyRail, National Express East Anglia, National Rail, Northern Rail, Scotrail, South West Trains, Southeastern, Southern, Stansted Express, Timetables, Trains, Transpennine Express, Virgin, Weather, Wrexham and Shropshire
U.K. Train Companies on Twitter
In Journeys, Timetables, Trains on January 8, 2010 at 12:45 pmWhen snow came down on us, the frailities of the U.K.’s transport information provision systems was apparent for all to see. It was that which showed the best side of microblogging services like Twitter. In that vein, here are the Twitter areas occupied by the train companies forming part of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) that itself runs National Rail Enquiries. It we get more snow during this big freeze, then these would be the places to turn for train running information.
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Arriva Trains Wales – @NRE_ArrivaWales
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c2c – @NRE_c2c
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Chiltern Railways – @NRE_Chiltern
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Cross Country – @NRE_XC
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East Coast – @NRE_EastCoast
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East Midlands Trains – @NRE_EastMids
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First Capital Connect – @NRE_FirstCC
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First Great Western – @NRE_FirstGW
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First Transpennine Express – @NRE_FirstTPE
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Gatwick Express – @NRE_GatwickExpr
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Grand Central – @NRE_Grand_Centr
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Heathrow Express – @NRE_Heathrow_Ex
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Hull Trains – @NRE_Hull_Trains
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Island Line – @NRE_Island_Line
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London Midland – @NRE_LondonMid
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London Overground – @NRE_LndnOvergnd
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MerseyRail – @NRE_MerseyRail
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NX East Anglia – @NRE_NXEA
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ScotRail – @NRE_ScotRail
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South West Trains – @NRE_SWT
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Southeastern – @NRE_SouthEastrn
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Southern – @NRE_Southern
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Stansted Express – @NRE_StanstedExp
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Virgin Trains – @NRE_Virgin
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Wrexham and Shropshire – @NRE_Wrexshrops
National Rail, Ticketing, Timetables, Trains
A website refresh
In News, Ticketing, Timetables, Trains on December 15, 2009 at 11:19 amA quick trip to the National Rail website reveals that it has undergone a marked change in appearance. Of course, it’s the algorithm that does the journey planning that really matters and only time will tell on that score. Even with just an initial look, I already have noticed one omission and it’s something that I have used a lot. The feature in question is the ability to find either the first or last journey of a given day by selecting from a drop-down box. It was something that I found very handy when planning day trips. Getting the same information is now going to be less slick so this is a step backwards. It may not have been a feature that many used and there is a workaround so it looks as if I’ll have to get used to a new way of doing things. Even so, it is a pity to have lost it.
Update: The facility is still there, albeit not where I would have expected to have found it. For what it’s worth, it’s in the leaving/arriving menu.
Delays, Derbyshire, Edale, Hope Valley, Manchester, Northern Rail, Sheffield, Timetables, Trains
Blame it on the Happy Mondays…
In Happenings, Observations, Timetables, Trains on December 14, 2009 at 12:41 pmNot wanting to waste a weekend that promised some decent weather had me out on a Sunday trip to Edale. All was going swimmingly until the driver of the Northern Rail service that was to take me the last stretch of the outbound journey had to tell us that there was a delay due to not having a conductor. For safety reasons, one has to be present and I suppose that it helps with revenue protection too. That delay was to be 15 minutes and all passengers that were on board had to disembark until a train conductor arrived. Overheard conversations revealed that there had been a night out and that someone was feeling rough after it. Was that the reason for the delay? That question remains unanswered but there is another: how do railways staff have lives involving going to live gigs at the same time as having a job that involves weekend working? Well, it doesn’t make getting out to see the Happy Mondays and their like any easier.
Trains, Dublin, Ireland, Timetables, Wicklow, Irish Rail, Éire, Rail Engineering, Disruption, Iarnród Éireann, Belfast, Rosslare, Arklow, Eniiscorthy, Gorey, Landslip, Malahide, Viaduct
Trouble on Irish east coast railways?
In Happenings, Incidents, News, Trains on November 18, 2009 at 7:48 amThe railway lines going up and down the east coast of Ireland have been having their share of problems in recent months. For one thing, Dublin-Belfast services were disrupted by the collapse of a viaduct near Malahide in north Dublin. Mercifully, no train was going over it at the time but the inconvenience for passengers cannot have helped the sustainability of the Enterprise service or local commuter services. Thankfully, that is behind everyone now and the hope is that any lessons to be learnt are heeded and that the economic downturn doesn’t slow down investment in the Irish rail network too much.
However, no sooner has one problem been sorted but another has surfaced. In fact, it turns out to have echoes of a one that had an impact on journeys between down the Wicklow coast earlier this year with the DART on other trains being unable to operate between Bray and Greystones because of line stability problems. Apparently, the cause of the latest round of disruption is all the rain that we have been getting in recent weeks and the result is a landslip south of Wicklow that was struck by a train running light at the time and instability south of Arklow. For passengers, travel between Wicklow and either Gorey or Enniscorthy will be by rail replacement buses until the end of the month (2009-11-30) with trains running the rest of the way. In a way, sorting the problem in a matter of weeks doesn’t sound so bad but that’s coming from someone who had to contend with a non-existant summer weekend train service for a few years because of the West Coast Mainline upgrade here in the U.K. Even so, let’s hope that nothing else afflicts east coast train services in Ireland for the forseeable future.
CrossCountry, England, Manchester, Northern Rail, Timetables, Trains, Virgin
Hourly?
In News, Observations, Suggestions, Timetables, Trains on November 17, 2009 at 7:26 amAfter last year’s big timetable change, I highlighted on here an inconsistency whereby northbound Virgin and CrossCountry services ran so close together within the hour that we virtually had an hourly service from Macclesfield on Sundays. Well, that seems to have been sorted with a more sensible half-hourly spacing but southbound services would seem to suffer the same affliction on the same day of the week. After the December timetable changeover, things are set to look better but they lapse again in February. All in all, It makes you wonder if these companies speak to each other with the aim of improving customer service. Perhaps, we need to voice our concerns.
Altrincham, Cheshire, Chester, CrossCountry, England, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Manchester, Northern Rail, Northwich, Stockport, Stoke-on-Trent, Timetables, Virgin
They run more trains on Sundays than I thought
In Observations, Timetables, Trains on November 16, 2009 at 7:29 pmUntil yesterday, I was under the impression that the Sunday service on the Mid Cheshire railway line between Stockport and Chester consisted only of three trains running each way. There is some vague memory of a timetable of that shape lodge in the back my brain but it’s two-hourly these days and proved to be good enough to lure me as far as Chester yesterday. There may have been a delay to my outbound journey of the order of 35 minutes because of a delay to the train from Southport but I was far from incensed. The extra time was used to potter around Stockport’s nicer parts (around Stockport Village where its markets are held) and the sun stayed out to shorten the journey around by Knutsford and Northwich. Chester was under cloudy skies when I arrived but the clouds had dissipated by the time that I came to leave the pleasant spot.
A subsequent shamble around the web has revealed active community involvement in the line with there being websites for the associated community rail partnership and local users group. It makes you wonder if any service improvements are a result of the added involvement and the enhanced Sunday service then would make sense. My web wandering also took by the website of the community rail partnership for the Manchester-Crewe line and there would seem to have been improvements there too.
This vein of thought is beginning to make me wonder if a community rail partnership for the Manchester-Macclesfield-Stoke line is in order with Northern only running three services each way of a Sunday and none of these going northbound earlier than the first Virgin service starting from London. Unlike others, we might have been spoilt with what we have and I am getting to wonder if we are paying for any complacency and if we could be made to pay even more. There is the East Cheshire Lines Rail User Group but could it be more active? Where I am going with this is that is a question that only we can answer and it might be time for all of us to give it a bit of added oomph, particularly after the reduction in CrossCountry services and the disruption that we suffered for far too long during the West Coast Mainline upgrade.
Cheshire, Edinburgh, England, Gwynedd, Harlech, Lockerbie, Macclesfield, Machynlleth, Manchester, National Rail, Timetables, Trains, Wales, Wilmslow, Wolverhampton
Not taking no for an answer
In Observations, Timetables, Trains on October 14, 2009 at 11:45 amWith a fine weekend in prospect, the mind turns to getting out and enjoying what’s on offer. In that vein, I tried looking up train times for a return journey between Macclesfield and Harlech, all on the same day with one change in Wolverhampton and maybe another in Machynlleth, only for the National Rail Enquiries website to tell me that it was impossible. The workaround was to look for a single outbound journey and a single return journey, not ideal but I got the information that I needed. While this was a case of curiosity more than anything else, I might be nonplussed if I was after a bargain fare in preference to the standard Off-Peak Return; knowing that such a search would prove fruitless anyway would have meant sticking with a walk on fare so I wasn’t bothered.
While it has come a way since its original incarnation, the episode illustrates that creases still need to be knocked of the National Rail Enquiries journey planning algorithm. When the website first came on the scene, I was left wondering why they couldn’t have used the excellent engine that Network Rail had inherited from Railtrack; it was one of the few things that they got right. It was all the more puzzling when the new planning engine was nowhere near as good as its predecessor. Glitches like not being told about journey options via Wilmslow when engineering work disrupted the normal Sunday services between Macclesfield and Manchester was but one of the inconsistencies.
Of course, any system is only ever as good as the data supplied to it. A striking example of that was the carrot of having an early Sunday morning rail replacement coach to Wilmslow for a day out in Wales. The advised coach service turned out to be a work of fiction so my travel arrangements had to change as did any plans that I had. A good day was enjoyed but not in the way in which I had envisaged it. The same sort of thing may explain the lack of available fares sometimes when there is engineering work ongoing and that between Lockerbie and Edinburgh earlier this year comes to mind.
While I can deal with this and find my way around the rail network anyway or even turn to other journey planning services, what must it all seem to someone who isn’t so savvy? I can see it looking very offputting and that’s a pity because public transport needs all the support that it can get in these leaner times. Taking this further, public transport needs to sell itself better and easier journey planning is part of this. Websites that don’t deliver may not cause someone to pick up a phone or visit their nearest staffed train station but set them to choose to drive or even fly instead, hardly the type of thing that should be happening. The National Rail Enquiries website may have won awards and offer the option to sort out accommodation along with your train ticket but what use is all of this if the journey finding algorithm or the information supplied to it aren’t up to scratch? After all, that’s why people go to the website so both of those need to take precedence over any other fancy features that some might care to add.
Buses, England, Powys, Timetables, Veolia, Wales
A proper bus company?
In Buses, Observations, Timetables on October 11, 2009 at 8:19 pmMost bus companies offer collections of timetables on their websites but Veolia Transport doesn’t bother, merely telling everyone to go Traveline instead. When the rest of your competition offers the more complete service, this looks lazy and makes your bus enterprise look like an afterthought bolted on to your environmental services, water and energy divisions. Going further, it gives the impression that the organisation is a jobsworth utility company, surely not what it wants to do at all. It wouldn’t be such a problem if all of the areas where Veolia operates took up the baton and compensated accordingly but that in’t always the case. Until recently, Powys was such an example but a new website seems to address this so it is a case of giving credit where it is due. Veolia probably still needs to make more of an effort though, even if it makes a good job of providing the actual services. For example, it operates LUAS, Dublin’s tram service, very well and I can vouch for the quality of the provided customer service but that needs to make its way onto the web for all to see.
130, 42, Arriva, Buses, Cheshire, Congleton, Crewe, D&G, Holmes Chapel, Macclesfield, Manchester, Timetables
Is it really true that less of us travel at weekends?
In Buses, Observations, Timetables on October 9, 2009 at 12:13 pmA thought struck me while looking at the service frequency for D&G’s service 42 between Congleton and Crewe via Holmes Chapel. It is hourly Monday for the full route and two hourly on Saturdays for the same (it runs only between Leighton Hospital and Crewe on the intermediate hours); there is no Sunday service. Arriva’s 130 exhibits the same type of behaviour with an hourly daytime frequency on Saturdays and Sundays while it is half hourly during the other days of the week. Intuitively, you would have thought that, away from the rush hours, less folk would be using buses on a main work day in comparison to Saturday when the shops are open for the same hours and there are more folk off work to visit them. However, it doesn’t seem to go like that. Confounding factors might include folk spending their free time at home and not travelling about or people using services that are closed at weekends. Both of those could explain why the streets of Macclesfield are next to empty of an evening; if there is nowhere to go then nobody comes. Another thing to remember is that there is an inclination to spend a whole day going somewhere for some activity rather than dividing it up into short chunks. All of these must affect patronage and might explain why the service level of a Sunday simply drops over a cliff. All in all, the behaviour of hoards can be very odd and I suppose that it has its effects on bus timetables too.
Arriva, BakerBus, Buses, Cheshire, Congleton, Crewe, D&G, GHA, Nantwich, Sandbach, Timetables
A month full of changes
In Buses, News, Timetables on October 5, 2009 at 8:22 pm
A quick look at Cheshire East Council’s list of bus service changes for October will confirm that something of an upheaval will be going on in southeast Cheshire’s bus network at the end of the month. Places like Crewe, Sandbach, Nantwich and Congleton are seeing the bulk of the action with interurban changes showing the most of the transformation. Of course, your only hope is that no reduction in service quality will result and that’s how it looks to me with BakerBus and GHA increasing their footprints with no mention of Arriva at all and plenty of references to D&G. It would seem that Cheshire’s formerly main operator is but a minor player now. There is no sign of anything planned for November or December but my hope is the Cheshire East’s newly refreshed website would be where we would find out about any changes. After all, trying to find out anything from a traffic commissioner website is dead loss, even if it is they who process all of the supporting paperwork.
130, 27, Arriva, Bowers, Buses, Cheshire, Edinburgh, England, Knutsford, Lothian Buses, Macclesfield, Manchester, Scotland, Timetables, Traffic
Where Cheshire bus tracking should go next
In Buses, Observations, Suggestions, Timetables on September 16, 2009 at 2:58 pmI 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.
130, 27, Arriva, Bowers, Cheshire, Cheshire East Council, England, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Manchester, Timetables, Traffic
A spot of progress for a change
In Buses, News, Timetables on August 25, 2009 at 6:26 pmWith the ever pervasiveness of GPS, bus tracking was bound to come to mind sooner or later. It’s been in Wales for a while already and Cheshire East Council now have rolled it out on an experimental basis. So far, it just seems to have the 27 Macclesfield-Knutsford and the 130 Macclesfield-Manchester included. For me, that’s not useless because I use both of these on a regular basis anyway and it would be invaluable to be able to see what’s happening out there on the roads after the schools reopen and in the darker and colder evenings. After all, it is so easy for buses to get delayed.
Unlike Wales, where I have seen the information displayed at bus stops, it’s all online for now. Still, that can mean that you stay inside until you that a bus is due in a few minutes and make the requisite dash to the bus stop in plenty of time. Any time not spent out in the cold and the wet in blind faith and/or frustration can only be a good thing. This is precisely the sort of thing that is needed if a coating of snow or a storm causes havoc.
All in all, it’s a good news story and public transport needs more of them. Let’s hope that it stays with us and even gets expanded to full coverage. A good story could get even better.
130, Arriva, Bowers, Buses, Cheshire, Macclesfield, Manchester, Road Works, Timetables, Traffic, Wilmslow
School’s out…
In Buses, Timetables on July 27, 2009 at 6:55 pmand buses start running on time. This is nothing that I especially notice with the 130 running between Macclesfield and Manchester but quieter traffic during the school holidays has been something that I have known since I lived in Edinburgh. Then, I put it down to the school run stopping up for a while but I have come to realise that there is more to it than that. Parents time their annual leave to coincide with the holidays and that makes more apparent again. Then, there’s the current economic downturn and I really noticed how much quieter the traffic was in the first few weeks of the year. It must have allowed Bowers to re-time their buses more tightly but there remain days when the 130 can be hit and miss to say the least.
Only those almost incessant roadworks seek to spoil the bus timing idyll and this could be a very tempting time to set them in motion. Some, however, will not fit the available time with a three-month disruption hitting Chester Road between Broken Cross roundabout and the fire station. Then, there’s Buxton Road and Fence Avenue too. A recent look on Cheshire’s roadworks map reveals that Macclesfield is besieged by the blighters but Wilmslow doesn’t escape either so the 130 gets diverted while going around there.
Even with all of the activity, it’s best to enjoy the quietness before the school year recommences in September. Then, those pesky road works can only have their effects amplified and I only wonder how many complaints will get made.
Buses, Isle of Man, Timetables, Trains
Isle of Man Public Transport Information
In Buses, Timetables, Trains on July 12, 2009 at 8:44 amIt seems that there are ample public transport options for exploring the Isle of Man by public transport. The website iombusandrail.info should tell you much of what you need to know. Recently, I made a short of visit to the island with the aim of paving the way for others and turned up a pile of useful information for such endeavours, naturally including public tranpsort palnning stuff as well. It may have rained on the day but I am not so easily put off.
Buses, Cheshire, Information, Timetables, Trains
Continuity?
In Buses, News, Timetables, Trains on April 20, 2009 at 12:55 pmThe Cheshire East and Cheshire West & Chester councils seem to have taken up the baton for public transport information from the now defunct Cheshire County Council. The welcome practice of having a list of bus tables has lived on in the websites for the new councils. Hopefully, progress from here will continue in the right direction. In addition, both new authorities are to work with Warrington Borough Council so my hope is that best practices can continue to be shared and promoted while keeping a certain pan-county approach too.
130, Arriva, Arriva Trains Wales, Cheshire, Crewe, Macclesfield, Manchester, Northern Rail, Sunday Travel, Timetables, Trains, Virgin, Wilmslow
Wilmslow as a travel option?
In Suggestions, Timetables, Trains on April 16, 2009 at 3:08 pmThe 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.
Dublin, Dublin Bus, Timetables, Website
New website for Dublin Bus
In Buses, News, Timetables on March 4, 2009 at 8:12 pmIn recent times, I am seeing a lot of traffic here coming from searches for Dublin Bus timetables. I find that a little surprising given that the said bus company has a new website and, of course, that relates the required information. However, the transition may have thrown search engines and there may be many who are concerned about the cutbacks that are planned too. From my short encounter with it, the new web presence seemed to deliver what I wanted from it so I suspect that it do the needful for all of us.
288, Altrincham, Buses, Changes, Cheshire, Connect 88, Knutsford, Timetables, Vale of Llangollen, Wilmslow
288 to become Connect 88
In Buses, News, Timetables on January 7, 2009 at 10:35 amIn a move that could be confusing, the 288 service operated by Arriva and serving Knutsford, Wilmslow and Altrincham is set to be called Connect 88. It’s one thing to change operator and bring in new buses but changing the route name is another. A name change is a minor irritation but it can confound and I have seen search results for the 288 in the stats for this site. So, here’s a link to the timetable that applies from next Monday and further information on Cheshire County Council’s website: Connect 88. All should become clearer once you go over there.
Birmingham, Cheshire, CrossCountry, England, London, Macclesfield, Manchester, Northern Rail, Stoke-on-Trent, Timetables, Trains, Virgin, West Coast
Improvements, what improvements?
In News, Timetables, Trains on December 14, 2008 at 6:57 pmThe massive reorganisation that is the new train timetable changeover hasn’t too kind to Macclesfield. It might not sound so bad to hear that we have been left with three an hour in each direction but it’s the timings that disappoint me, even if the frequency is a cut from that which we have been enjoying for a while now. What is the matter is that Virgin and CrossCountry don’t seem to have worked together to get their times in the hour better separated.
The main pattern for weekday service from Manchester is 27, 35 and 48 minutes past the hour. The CrossCountry in the 27 departure and the 35 is the Virgin one while the 48 is Northern Rail’s local stopping service that now goes all the way to Stoke-on-Trent, not necessarily a bad thing since it opens some new destinations for Macclesfield folk.
Sundays see the same sort of thinking about which I have already complained on my hillwalking blog, especially with the timings of the local stopping service; the TSO timetable had more services listed but these have since turned out to be a work of fiction. Until March 29th, Virgin and CrossCountry do well when keeping their Sunday services to different parts of the hour but this is forgotten on the date in question and both services end up so close together as make it laughable to suggest that Macclesfield is getting any more than an hourly service
This is the sort of thing that makes you want to go to a central timetabling authority to complain but there appears to be none so it’s a case of contacting each operator. Maybe, Passenger Focus might be able to provide some help if no satisfactory response is forthcoming from either of the companies in question. Our local MP is said to have “intervened” but, like a lot of places where he has stuck in his oar, it doesn’t seem to have the desired effect and we have been left with the less than ideal situation that we now face. It probably needs someone else to make an effort…
National Rail, Timetables, Trains, Transpennine Express, Virgin
Big changes ahead…
In Timetables, Trains on December 6, 2008 at 9:22 pmThe December train timetable changes are ahead of us on mainland Britain again and there are some major alterations coming. Transpennine Express has notices up to that effect and Virgin has been making some big promises for a while now. Let’s all hope that it doesn’t turn out like the ill-fated Operation Princess did for Virgin CrossCountry a few years back.
If you can decipher such things and I have to admit that they seem to be as clear as mud in places, Network Rail has PDF’s for the current and forthcoming timetables on its website (there’s the £15 dead tree option too if you’re feeling flush); I honestly don’t envy Rail magazine’s Barry Doe in reviewing the these documents. In addition, the various operators have begun to roll out PDF’s for their own new timetables on their respective websites (Northern Rail has already done the needful). For the majority of us who are so disinclined, the National Rail Enquiries website has a useful overview of what’s coming and has the changes already loaded into its system already so you can dispense with the old means.
