Posted on May 5th, 2010
Over the past bank holiday weekend, I spent some time on the Isle of Man and that meant sampling its public transport system as I explored some of the island’s many delights. Steam trains and electric trams were in operation but it was buses that I was using with journeys taking to me to the likes of Port Erin and Peel. In a way, it’s surprising but I was on double-decker vehicles for all of this, something that helps when it comes to enjoying the scenery as you pass through it. Bus Vannin, the Manx government-owned bus company is the sole operator on the island and there are signs of that public ownership in the operation and the upkeep of the vehicles. It has single deckers too, Dennis Darts by the appearance of things, but these seem to be kept for shorter route and are the full length item and not the stubby short wheelbase counterparts that are so commonplace on the British mainland.
It cannot be said that all Manx roads are smooth but they’re not in bad nick at all and the driving of the buses that I used was stately and sedate rather than hurried, even are a short delay at some roadworks. I suppose that it helps that the island is not overrun with other motor traffic so stop-start driving condition are rare though I do wonder what things are like when the TT is in full swing, not that I am desperate to find out; quieter times will more than do me, thank you very much.
Some of those roads are narrow though and I’d advise against trying to get about the town of Peel with no map; I ended up walking in a circle while trying to get my bearings after a strenuous day’s walking. Seeing the way that tight corners are negotiated by double-decker buses is an eye-opening spectacle and cars use the same streets too. It helps to be unhurried…
The title arises from the colour scheme applied to the mixture of Dennis Darts, Dennis Tridents and, latterly, Wright Eclipse Geminis. The latter have gained a mix of maroon (madder?) and cream as have a few of the Tridents. Otherwise, it’s a combination of bright red and cream and it’s not as garish as it sounds. The newer buses get the Bus Vannin logo while older vehicles bear the arms of the Isle of Man, complete with triskelion and motto. It’s refreshing to see two liveries used side bt side without the pressure that many private sector operators feel when it comes to their brand identity.
Services are regular too with the backbone routes connecting Douglas with Port St. Mary, serving the island’s airport along with Castletown (the old capital) and Port Erin, Ramsey, via Peel or Laxey. Douglas has copious local services as well and these are but a selection of what is operated. Sunday services are more limited but are largely hourly on the main routes so they are more than usable. Interestingly, a Saturday service was offered on the bank holiday itself (the Isle of Man has a Mayday holiday too) when so many places on the British mainland are subject to Sunday service (Macclesfield is but one example).
My experience of the Manx bus system was a positive one and reminded me of another municipal operation: Lothian Buses. Apart from the use of marron or madder in their liveries and their public ownership, it is the driving that really sticks out in my mind as a similarity. While on my way to Port Erin, I was reminded of a journey downhill from Bruntsfield towards Tollcross when any bumpiness resulted in any easy off of the accelerator and I suppose that the way that they were glided around corners might have reminded me of the 42 up and around the Mound.
Where this mental meandering is taking me is the resurgence of madder on Lothian’s buses. I have to admit that the harlequin livery was never to my tastes and often wondered at the cost of its maintenance. It seemed like change for the sake of change when the madder and white livery that bedecked so many Olympians (Leyland and Volvo) looked just right. Was it all the idea of a chief executive who was parachuted in from Stagecoach and who wanted low floor buses to be made more distinctive? He’s retired now so it’s intriguing that the madder and white is coming back in a new form. The curves in the new scheme may leave me unsure but it’s good to have the more traditional colours on the way back. We are facing more financially constrained time so the new scheme might be easier and cheaper to keep, no bad thing at all. There was a consultation ongoing on Lothian’s website, something that I don’t remember from ten years ago but I had other things on my mind back then; starting a career after university was the biggest of them and that involved a move south to Cheshire, a good distance away.
In a way, it’s odd that an island excursion that took me out into quiet countryside went and reminded me of a bustling city but that’s what can happen at times. Now that I come to think of it, I haven’t been in Edinburgh so it might be a good time to think of fitting in a return visit.
In truth, there are more helpful local authorities than Northumberland County Council when it comes to the provision of public transport information. Even so, they do have leaflets online for what they call the Experience Northumberland bus network. This turns out to be sufficiently useful for visitors to the area to be able to get about without needing to resort to travel by car as the only option. Saying that, the Sunday service is more limited so walking out from where you located yourself for a weekend in the county might be a sensible plan. Places like Bellingham and Wooler fall into this category though they have useful long distance trails passing near them for getting you back to more populated places.
Things are better by the coast though connections with train services can be less than perfect with the 501 service being a particular offender at Alnmouth station, especially with northbound trains. These coastal services underwent something of of changeover within the last week with changes in provider and even the withdrawal of some services accompanied by the introduction of others.
In the middle of all this, there has been that depot swap between Arriva and Go North East. While it’s easy to see what Arriva might have seen in Morpeth, what Go North East saw in Hexham is not so clear. After all, it may be a pleasant part of the world but there aren’t that can’t be that many bus routes and users around there. Saying all of that, there is a regular service to Newcastle so that may be saying something. Is that what they were seeing?
In summary, it’s been a while since I went casting my eye over over the bus service provision in Northumberland and some things have stayed remarkably familiar while others had changed a lot. With my pondering excursions to the county, the information that I have gleaned so far has to have a use. Only time will tell what use I make of it.
The current spate of road works continues. As if the attentions given to the A34 aren’t enough, we have gas network works blighting Macclesfield and the Broken Cross roundabout is the latest victim. Because of the need to rip up part of Gawsworth Road, one side of the roundabout is shut with temporary traffic lights controlling things. That they alternative between the three other roads leading into the roundabout is little consolation to anyone joining a queue at Henbury. It cannot be good on Chester Road either, but I have not passed that way, so I cannot confirm the situation. Saying that, things haven’t been so bad from the Fallibroome Road side, yet you can escape around by Upton Priory and the B5087 if needs be. If I were driving this way every day, I’d be very tempted to find another route until all is over.
Needless to say, bus services like the 130 Macclesfield-Manchester, the 27 Macclesfield-Knutsford and the 19 Macclesfield-Prestbury are getting caught up in all of this, and it was particularly bad on Friday evening. So, it’s very much a case of keeping an eye on the real-time bus tracker to see how things are going because things are almost certain to veer markedly away from the timetable. Let’s hope that this doesn’t go on too long because it is having a major impact. Do the people who plan these things realise what disruption gets caused?
Update: Traffic didn’t seem so bad when coming home through Broken Cross this evening. Have people decided to divert around the roadworks?
Unlike a near neighbour, Conwy Borough Council doesn’t share bus and train timetables via its website though it does produce a printed timetable twice a year. Gwynedd Council also produces printed timetables around the same time but also offers PDF versions via its website. It’s not the only example of such inconsistency in service provision but it doesn’t make Conwy as easy to explore using public transport as Gwynedd and both local authority areas share the Snowdonia National Park. While you can understand that everyone wants to approach a job in their own way, it’d be better if there was at least sort of consistency between council areas (it’s not an exclusively Welsh problem at all). To its credit, Conwy’s council does host a microsite dedicated to the Conwy Valley Railway but another devoted to providing bus timetable information wouldn’t go amiss because it has fine countryside to be exploring too.
Somehow, Arriva has come into the possession of an Optare Solo (admittedly, it looks a bit tiddly on a route normally operated using full size Dennis Darts and the occasional double decker but never underestimate how many can be fitted into these buses) with a sign on board dating from the days of Chester City Transport. It’s like a vague memory that the erstwhile municipal operation had at least one bus with Cheshire County Council “Cheshire Rider” livery and this, with its dark blue paintwork, might have been one of them. That recollection leads me to wonder if Arriva has the bus on loan from Cheshire East Council, especially with the local authority’s logo featured on the sides of the vehicle.
This week, it has appeared operating 130 services between Macclesfield and Manchester and carries signage publicising the real time bus tracker that has been available since the end of last year. The strap line goes something like “to find out if the 130 is on time, go online”. With that sort of livery and the mention of Cheshire East Council, you’d expect the bus to have a GPS tracker but I have seen little evidence of that so far. Maybe, it’s one of life’s little ironies.
It also has appeared at the same time that Arriva has updated the 130 timetable to cope with all the upheaval that the A34 bypass and associated works has brought to Alderley Edge and Nether Alderley. Adding to that is what is happening in Macclesfield with roads being dug up all around the town to replace old gas mains. It’s like everything is happening all at once but we’ll have to hop that they stop up soon enough.