This has got me raving tonight. I have had a long and eventful night, quite cheap and not all about the beer. I met my old uni mates going back ten years in a location which is driver friendly but not public transport friendly. Another friend had to cancel her plans because of this, although that is her problem and not mine.
Anyway as it was a Saturday and I was meeting other friends in later in town I left the car at home and drank at this car friendly location (it is owned by Peel and has a ski rink, just don't want to mention the name because of google) and got a lift to Salford with a friend who wasn't drinking at that point but then shared a taxi with him to town from his house.
Anyway enough of the story, one of the friends who I was meeting, who has the worse job out of all of us, said she can't meet us in town (which would be best for all of us) as parking is too expensive. I pointed out that she lives next door to a tram station and it takes 15 minutes on the tram. She replied "do I look like a public transport girt".
I just ignored it at the time, but as time went on that comment has really raved, I won't say where she works, but lets just say she knows how to flip hamburgers and is friends with Ronald.
Now I don't like buses much because they are too slow and expensive, but the trams are extremely quick and actually very cheap off peak. £2.40 return is typical. Local trains are also very cheap and reliable. 90% of drivers I know in big cities use a combination of their car and pub transport so what makes people think their too important to use public transport? If you get my local service, the 86 bus at 7:00am the morning there will be 100 people on it and the combined average salary would be around £300,000. People just have more sense than paying £15-£20 a day parking when it is ten minutes longer on the bus and costs just £11.50 a week.
I know cars can be much better than public transport, I use my car a lot when I could use public transport but the car is so much quicker and convient, my anger is though that refuse public transport the sake of it, even it if works out a lot quicker and cheaper, e.g the tram in the case of this girl.
I don't think this applies to many people on here, as thankfully there is always a lot of discussion on train journeys.
Sorry just needed a rant.
To conclude I don't like my local bus service because it is too slow but I will use it if it makes the most sense, e.g getting home from a night out but if I am going to the city centre I will always drive to a tram stop and get the tram from there. It is making the best of both modes of transport.
Oh and I had a look at her car, and within a few seconds I spotted several areas the cops might be interested in, an illegal registration plate (wrong font and spacing) , semi legal tyres and smoked rear lights. THis is the same person btw who laughed when I told her I bought a Panda a year ago....
She is not a chav, I am promise, she is far too classy for that. In the same way that Cheryl Cole is of course....
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Sun 19 Jun 11 at 03:56
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I think you need a breathalyser kit attached to your keyboard Rattle.
Activate only when showing a zero reading.
Pat
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I thought it was a sensible post from Rattle.
Why don't more of us use public transport more often?
In my own case, I now have a bus pass, so I can use buses - I think - anywhere in England after 09.30. Very good as far as it goes, however, some of my local buses are one an hour, so that is not terribly practical.
If I go up to London, I have to pay on the train, but once in London I have unlimited use of buses. From Waterloo there are buses literally every minute to different parts of London, which makes bus use a practical proposition.
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If that had been the question then it would have been, Duncan
The clue for me was at Rattles age, to go on a night out on a Saturday night and to come home focused entirely on a young girls chance remark, probably spoken flippantly, said it all:)
The younger generation don't yet know how to have a good night out!
Pat
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Rattle maybe fancy's her he is showing a lot of interest in her car.:) The man with the Panda.
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>> If I go up to London, I have to pay on the train, but once
>> in London I have unlimited use of buses. From Waterloo there are buses literally every
>> minute to different parts of London, which makes bus use a practical proposition.
>>
We almost always use the train to go to London too, and do so most weeks. However I don't have a bus pass, and tube/bus ticket costs on a daily basis are pretty expensive. As a result, and because there's usually two of us, we always get a taxi for the final leg from Victoria.
If the tube was a lot cheaper maybe we'd use it (used to use it all the time when living in town of course), but at over £10 IIRC for 2 one day travel cards then the £8 ~ £12 each way that a taxi usually costs seems like pretty good value, and an opportunity to make 'phone calls too!!
However the key reason I don't use buses/trains more often locally (W Sussex) is simple; I already have a car, because buses/trains take too long to get to where I want to go, if they go there at all, and they're infrequent, in the case of buses.
Once the fixed costs of a car are already being incurred it almost always makes financial sense to use it rather than public transport, even if there is on the face of it a viable public transport alternative for a particular journey
I can drive to Chichester, pick up a few things, have a cofffee and be back within the hour. Even though there's a direct train with 4 trains an hour, factoring in walks too/from the station that's not possible. Cost wise the train is £3.70; 15 miles in the car has a marginal (fuel) cost of around £2.50, and add a £1 or £2 for parking. For two people the train makes no sense at all.
Peter
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It's not terribly clear what time of day you're talking about Rattle, but it sounds like a nght out? Given that, perhaps she just doesn't feel safe on public transport, especially if she was travelling alone, and you can't blame her for that...
I'm also intrigued by the 100 seater bus (flexi bus?), and the concept of a combined average. I'm prettty sure the average salary of a passenger on the 86 bus is not £300k p.a.... But the other interpretation would be that the 100 people earn a total of £300k p.a., which would be an average of £3k, somehat below the minimum wage...
Peter
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Maybe she was being a little jokey with you and angling for a lift in the Panda....
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It wasn't really flippant, I can understand the security thing, but there is CCTV at the station and on the trams, and here is a car park there. They are also well lit etc. It was the same when we were at university, always parked up in a dodgy area because of her refusal to use public transport, despite the fact her car got smashed up twice by local vandals who were sick of students parking on the near by estate.
Clearly there are times when public transport doesn't work, rural areas being a good example. My dad for example often has to go to Lincolnshire to see his dad, he would rather get the train and there is a good train link, the problem is my grandpa lives 8 miles from the station and the bus service is very poor, so it it simply works out far too expensive to get the train.
I meant 3 millilion as regard to the salary, but that was probably wrong, it would be some where between 18-22k I each I would guess. Not sure about now but in the old days when I was catching two buses at around 8:00am to get to university, they would easily manage to fit 100 people in. The modern buses don't have as many seats though because of the accessibility stuff
The point of this thread was about people who refuse to use public transport for the sake of it, when for that journey it is the quickest and cheapest option. It is none of my business apart from when the area we meet up is hard to get to in a car, it becomes my business. The week it isn't a problem as I have just driven there, but on a Saturday night is the only time I get to escape and I am not drinking coca-cola all night (although occasionally I have done).
When I first bought the Panda, again the comments where quite outspoken, a cheap crap tin box I think she said I had bought. I didn't bother to tell her to check how tight those camshafts bolts are!
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Public transport is not only inconvenient, but distasteful.
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"Public transport is ... distasteful."
No doubt you have recent experience which leads you to that conclusion - or is it just the thought of mixing with other humans which you find distasteful, or something you've read about?
I don't use it a lot but have actually enjoyed it on the few recent occasions that I have.
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On my infrequent trips to London I always used the tube and subsequently bought an Oyster card for the cost benefits, although I've now got a travel card.
I recently went with a friend whose had a recent hip replacement and finds walking more than a few hundred yards difficult. I thought it might be easier for them to use buses and thus avoid the long distances required to walk at tube stations. It was brilliant. There's bus-stops everywhere, they run very frequently and I reckon journey times were quicker than the tube.
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>> Public transport is not only inconvenient
Not where I live. Have 7 bus routes going past the bungalow with some services twice each way in the 9.00 to 5,00 period. This is just First Bus operation. There is also another Operator
that duplicates 3 of these. Stops are both sides of the road. Closest 60metres from my driveway for Westbound, 85metres Eastbound. Have Bus Pass - just doesn't get better in terms of wear and tear on car plus no hassle to park. Even have a restricted service into Bath (two hourly interval) finishes at 23.00 hrs for theatre and cinema patrons.
Happy Freebie Bus Riding
Phil I
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I keep meaning to try a Boris bike.
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>> I keep meaning to try a Boris bike.
>>
Why not buy yourself a Moulton or Brompton H. ??
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>> Why not buy yourself a Moulton or Brompton H. ??
Thought has crossed my mind...
Maybe, but the Boris bikes are quite an attractive thought too.
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>> Maybe, but the Boris bikes are quite an attractive thought too.
The great thing with the BoBis is that they promote the idea of biking as something you do in your work clothes. No need for lycra or fancy 'clipless' shoes with clips in the soles. Even a helmet is definitely optional. Just jump aboard in your suit.
Quite often see lawyerly types riding them round Chancery Lane/Carey St with briefcase and stuf bag stowed on the front rack.
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They look quite good quality bikes too, are they lightweight? The main complaint with my bike although of decent quality it is far too heavy, the fastest I have got in it according to the speedo is 31 and that was down hill by some margin.
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Lightweight they are not. Turn the scales at well over 20kg but they need to be solid and the weight discourages people hanging onto them or pinching. Very low geared though and quite well suited to bimbling in traffic. Much slower than the Brompton though.
My nerve goes at about 30 on a bike - my peak on yesterday's London to Brighton ride was 32. Probably on the drop off Ditchling but might have been earlier.
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>> My nerve goes at about 30 on a bike - my peak on yesterday's London
>> to Brighton ride was 32. Probably on the drop off Ditchling but might have been
>> earlier.
>>
How did you get home? Did you cycle back?
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>> How did you get home? Did you cycle back?
I was leader of a works team so had an overview of return transport!!
Excepting my fellow Bromptoneers trains back to London are barred. On this occasion I was riding my 25yo classic Dawes tourer so that was not an option.
The ride organiser (Heart Foundation) had a bus plus lorry system to get riders back to London, £21 each. Also operated early morning to get riders to London for the start which suits those based in the South Coast or making a weekend of it. One of my team was from Hull & had travelled to Brighton by train on Friday and was going home today - she used that facility.
Although I work in London I live in Northampton (and I saw a fellow Northampton based Brompton pilot on Ditchling) so needed assistance in both directions. For me and son who rode with me Mrs B acted as back up. Dropped us in Wandsworth and met us in Brighton.
Must be plenty who do try and ride back though. There were multiple temporary signs approaching Pease Pottage pointing out the cycling is prohibited on the M23!!!!
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 20 Jun 11 at 19:59
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im with roger im afraid.
public transport may have some cctv but the reason it needs cctv is because its used by undesirable people at certain times of the day.
it doesnt stop at my house so i need to walk to it.
i have cars so i can go anywhere at any time at a reasonable cost.
long distance trains have their merits except on cost but buses are a completwe noo no as far is im concerned. im a grown up adult now and dont need or want to mix with other people carrying germs.
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>> im with roger im afraid.
>> public transport may have some cctv but the reason it needs cctv is because its
>> used by undesirable people at certain times of the day.
>> it doesnt stop at my house so i need to walk to it.
>> i have cars so i can go anywhere at any time at a reasonable cost.
>> long distance trains have their merits except on cost but buses are a completwe noo
>> no as far is im concerned. im a grown up adult now and dont need
>> or want to mix with other people carrying germs.
>>
>>
+1.
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Germs are everywhere. Better to gather immunity as you go along than try to avoid them.
I avoid public transport if I can because because so many people are foul. Too many stink of cigarettes or BO, or put their feet on the seats, eat smelly food, hold loud and tedious phone conversations, weigh about 30 stone and occupy half my seat, or just look unpleasant (as my mother used to say, "she can't help looking like that, but she could stop at home!").
If I have to go in to London as I do a couple of times a month, the best part of the day is getting off the train and into my little tin box to drive the last 6 miles.
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...I avoid public transport if I can because because so many people are foul...
Manatee,
I think you need to alter your route.
There are some very fine looking women who use the tube to get to and from work.
Green Park station in Mayfair is a good spotting point at going home time.
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>>There are some very fine looking women who use the tube to get to and from work.
Warm weather brings them out.
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Forgot to mention is obligatory to give greetings to all passengers on bus. (Daytime only)
Phil I
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Trams busses metro systems I've used them all.Great when the daughter studied in Leeds used to go together to see films and a drink.Bus services are excellent for students in Leeds.
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>> town I left the car at home and drank at this car friendly location (it
>> is owned by Peel and has a ski rink, just don't want to mention the
>> name because of google)
>>
>> really raved, I won't say where she works, but lets just say she knows how
>> to flip hamburgers and is friends with Ronald.
>>
Do people think they are being clever when they write stuff like that? Or is it that they are just too drunk?
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Gobblygook? I used to clean pots for the crew before they let me loose in the Engine Room.
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Public transport is of limited use, thats why Im not a public transport person.
Other than when I go to work, the only time I go out is to visit my parents or go to the supermarket. I can barely lift the shopping bags from trolley to car so why I would choose to lug them onto a bus is beyond common sense.
To get to my parents house, its over an hour on the bus or in the car, 15 mins.
Its not frequent, nor its not cheap, it takes alot longer to get anywhere and if like me you have spinal problems which make walking more than 50M extremely painful, its a non-starter because I cant get to the bus stop even if I wanted to.
In short, Im proud to be a non-public transport person. The concept of public transport worked when people couldnt afford private transport, now too few people use it to make the service work for alot of people as they cant run the routes.
My town has the laughable scenario of having a main line run through it, but no station - on the odd occasion I want to go into Kettering town, I may have considered the train, but as it stands, the only way I can catch it from where I live is to either go into Kettering ( and thus eliminate the need ) or go to a town 6 miles further away to get on a train.
This country decided to drop trains and buses when people fell in love with cars, so we then planned away from public transport, but now cars are evil, we are told to use public transport, but of course, it has neither the capacity nor the flexibility to work around town planning that is based on cars. They ripped up railway lines thinking they wouldnt need them, now it turns out they did. Its a farce.
Public transport only makes sense to townies but to the vast majority of people who live with a disjointed public transport service, its perhaps a nice idea, but its not for nothing people prefer a car.
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A lot of public transport is actually very clean, I remember MEN article saying for example how clean the Metrolink trams are when some organisation tested them. It was something like 100 times cleaner than Newcastle's metro system.
As I said I tend to avoid buses in the day because it is too slow, the average speed can be 5-6mph so not much quicker than walking.
To me I simply take which ever option is easiest and cheapest. Which ever option will make sure I arrive at the other end without suffering from a panic attack.
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We spend a certain amount of time on the Cote d'Azur and in Monaco, where - like the vast majority of the population - we wouldn't dream of using anything but public transport. Buses (clean, comfortable, air-conditioned and frequent) are almost free, trains are reasonable and only prats sit in the traffic, boiling up the Continental GT or the DB9.
I have to say, though, I have never seen any example of anti-social behaviour on public transport down there, so that obviously has a bearing on my opinion.
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Wifey and I use it if it suits. We're lucky to live close to the local Park & Ride, which has been free since its inception about three years ago, but recently started charging, albeit only 50p each way, which isn't bad for a two-mile journey and drops you in the middle of town. I'd also happily use a bus to go to work on if there was a service running past my depot at the right times; unfortunately my clocking-off times are unpredictable so it probably wouldn't work. I tend to work as short a commuting distance from home as possible, cheaper for one thing and I do enough driving in the lorry.
I posted recently on a thread about trains, that it was far cheaper to visit my son in Helensburgh by car or motorcycle than by train, which is disappointing since I've never done the West Coast main line. Ditto by coach although I wouldn't take that option anyway; I've spend enough time bashing the motorways in a lorry where I can at least have an (admittedly illegal) cigarette and not have to sit squeezed up next to a stranger. Trains don't bother me on that score since you've usually got the opportunity to get up and walk round, and if you plan it right you can usually get out for a smoke somewhere.
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Can you book in advance? If so there are some cracking deals on Virgin West Coast. I don't normally pay any more than £25-£30 return from Manchester to London for example.
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>> Can you book in advance?
Therein lies the problem , Rattle. You can't book railway tickets for mid-September until mid-July, but you get the best deals on a cheap flight by booking now.
Bromptonaut told me on another thread that he thought that this is down to planning of engineering works, which does make sense; my best friend is a senior civil engineer who mainly deals with railways, I'll check that out with him.
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The Dragon and I made the trip from Manchester to Appleby via Leeds last weekend. A very enjoyable trip out by Transpennine and Northern Trains. £76.80 for the two returns. An hour into Leeds by the Hull train and then transfer to the Class 158 for the Settle & Carlisle.
Bought a couple of sandwiches at Piccadilly from M&S but there was a trolley on both trains
Comfy table seats, SWM read and I gawped at the scenery...a pleasant experience.
Less so coming back....couldn't get a table so were cramped up worse than a Shearing's coach, Leeds was worse, got on the Manchester Airport train....it was full of students and holidaymakers with huge cases, could have done with more coaches. Had to stand, with our case and bag, in the aisle, blocking it, with others.
Of course, none of the younger ones offered two pensioners a seat !
The guard took pity on us at Morley and found some empty reserved seats at the back, he helped with the case.......top man, we thanked him as we left.
I'd do it again, though, maybe Penrith next time for a change of scenery. I wouldn't get the Airport train back though !
Ted
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>> maybe Penrith
So do pop to Keswick and Derwent Water. Not suggesting a visit to 'that car museum' in Keswick though. But if you happened to go to the pencil museum I'd be curious.
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Just got two tickets Reading to Edinburgh on overnight National for £18 each, for festival attendance in Aug. Can't complain...
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That's a bargain ticket all right but the journey would be my personal idea of hell. I can't be on a coach for more than 15 minutes without being overcome with travel sickness.
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>> my personal idea of hell
I've done Manchester to London and back. It was 2001 but never again. I was very worried/frightened at times! Mad driving. My father as a coach driver too.
I suppose National Express is still a franchise so not only do you not know who the driver is, you don't actually know the company that owns and operates the coach.
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We go the other way, Rob....to the Eden Valley where our friends live.
Sometimes go to Keswick, spent a lot of time there in my teens..Camping in the Newlands Valley at Stair, climbing Catbells, taking the waterbus across the lake, rtc.
Rough camping with schoolmates, even cycled there once from Manchester.
Nice little horel at Embleton, The Derwent Lodge, stayed there many times. Walked and climbed all over the Lakes...wish I could do it now !
Never been tempted by either museum....I'm happy to say. Pencil Museum....don't see the point...geddit ?
Ted
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Done London on the Megabus a few times, it is two hours quicker than national express and the drivers impressed me. However the last one was a P reg (back in 2010) Plaxton which Stagecoach used on the Express Manchester to Blackpool service (I think was x51?) not suitable for a long trip to Manchester. So it put me right off, will only go by train now.
My biggest coach nightmare was Manchester to Paris with college, but thankfully I didn't pay a penny for it.
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"Pencil Museum....don't see the point"
Actually, it's a big draw
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What do they have in a pencil museum anyway?
Exhibit A...the actual pencil used by William Shakespeare to write the famous play "Hamlet", which inspired the immortal lines: "2B or not 2B..."
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>> "2B or not 2B..."
Inspired play there L.
Your young female friend sounds a bit immature Rattie, that's all, does she call people mate too?
A few years of paying for her own home as well as run a car will soon mature her.
Bus transport here is next to useless and in Northants always has been, like others we avoid undesirables, as we do at all times wherever i'm paying for the privelidge, hence we no longer visit the cinema.
Train travel i love but it's just too expensive...comparitively that may change when road pricing comes in.
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Mon 20 Jun 11 at 07:23
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>> Sometimes go to Keswick, spent a lot of time there in my teens..Camping in the
>> Newlands Valley at Stair, climbing Catbells, taking the waterbus across the lake, rtc.
Small world Ted. My parents holidayed at Low Skelgill from 1953 until the early seventies. Regular part of my childhood to be there at Easter and October half term.
Do you remeber the barn coffee shop in Stair.
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Continuing the drift.
Funnily enough, because I've been many times to the Lakes, I haven't been to the pencil museum there, but I did visit one in Cedar Key, Florida. There's not much else there actually, unlike the Lake District. It's down a rather long cul-de-sac - if you want to go anywhere from Cedar Key, you have to drive the 19 miles to Otter Creek first.
The German Faber family set up there in the 1800s, as it was plentifully equipped with trees - cedar, as it happens.
On display was a letter from the scion of the Faber family, who had been put in charge, to his Dad. He said excitedly, among other things, that there was an inexhaustible supply of trees to turn into pencils. As it turned out, they ran out of trees three years later!
As an aside, we went one day (via Otter Creek of course) to Crystal River to the south, where we took a dive boat trip and snorkeled with the manatees. Some time afterwards, when I joined the BR and had to think of a screen name, it was the first thing that popped in to my head. So now you know.
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Well, I have to say that if I didn't work for Stagecoach and so get a free travel pass, it is most unlikely that I would use the buses. They are so expensive compared to when I started driving them 14 years ago. Back then, a single to town from the top of our road was 90p. Now it's £2. If there's three of you, it's cheaper to get a taxi. If there's only two of you, it's about 70p more to get a taxi.
I also totally agree with those who say that buses are used by the more, ahem, undesirable sections of the community. Don't get me wrong - a lot of my passengers are very pleasant, normal people. However, a lot are also socially retarded with standards of personal hygiene that would make a tramp blush. I carry a small can of air freshener in my bag and I'm not afraid to use it!
I'm on lates all this week and I ruddy hate them. Even early in the week you can get people on who are utterly boozed up and therefore aggressive. These lovely people often don't want to pay and barge their way past the passengers who are paying. My employers expect me to challenge this type of passenger and deny them travel but there is no way in hell that this is going to happen. This does mean that the other passengers are going to have to suffer unnacceptable behaviour, but I don't see why I should risk a smack in the chops.
And yet still I love the job and can't really see me doing anything else!
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My parents holidayed at Low Skelgill from 1953 until the early seventies.
Gawd ! That's one long holiday, Bromps !
There were two attractions at Stair......one was the coffee shop, which I well remember
The other was some sort of Holiday Fellowship place for teens. The big attraction there, of course, was a steady supply of girls. I took up with a very nice lass, Linda, who lived in Cheshunt, Herts. We corresponded for quite a while and I visited once, cycling from my auntie's at Westcliffe on Sea.
It fizzled out due to distance, as these things do. We just ' rough-camped ' at Stair, by the roadside above the village. About 6 of us in an old army surplus tent...like sardines.
Great fun, diet of bread and beans cooked on a methylated spirit stove !
Happy daze.
Ted
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I try to avoid using it.
Buses are noisy, slow, uncomfortable, badly driven, and full of other people. Three different companies (at least) run buses down Wilmslow Road towards Manchester; all charging wildly different and excessive rates which vary on time of day, full moon, driver's favourite colour etc.
The other deeply frustrating thing is that bus stops are built every thirty feet so the bus simply lurches between stops. For crying out loud, nearly everyone can walk half a mile or so.
For people who do struggle with distances and would like to use the bus, give them the equivalent of the blue badge that lets them flag a bus down right outside their house, and lets them get off at the exact point of their choice.
Seemples. But for the time being, I'm sticking with cars. I'm definitely not a public transport person. And don't get me started on trains. Or trams.
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...I took up with a very nice lass, Linda, who lived in Cheshunt, Herts...
They are quite posh in Cheshunt.
She was probably attracted by your rough northern ways.
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A friend of mine at university had a theory that no adult male over the age of 30 should ever be seen taking a bus.
Now aged 41, he walks from home to the train station every morning instead of taking the bus which travels that route. He still insists on the point.
Daft twot. But I suppose it gives him some valuable exercise.
I have no such airs and graces!
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I will actually inconvenience myself considerably in a concious effort not to have to come into frequent contact with other people. Buses, trains and even aircraft get used only when a car simply won't do.
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I rarely use buses now apart from when I go into town to the rock pubs/clubs I go to. The day rider is £3.70 and for that I can get the last bus at 2:45, the taxi back would be £10.00.
So to me the bus as a good use, during the day if I go to town I drive to the local tram station and then get the tram in, its far quicker and more relaxing than the bus which is too slow.
The tram line near me opens next Monday, so it will make getting into town so much quicker and less stressful for me.
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I sometimes have to get the bus from Didsbury to city centre if I have been drinking in Didsbury, and it is the worst experience you can ever have by public transport. By the time it hits Rushulme I am ready to scream.
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The park and ride buses into Durham City are quite agreeable in terms of contact with the great unwashed.
Most of the passengers are clean and tidy.
The drivers say the same thing - no pushchairs and pasty flakes on the route.
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The 86 was like that in the morning, before 8:00am before school related lot got on. Trams do attract a better clientèle too, probably because they are perceived as being more expensive.
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I use the train for about 6 hours per week; doesn't seem too bad.
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>> I use the train for about 6 hours per week; doesn't seem too bad.
Same but 10 hours a week (5 return journeys). Comfort is satisfactory; excellent if you know which trains ar of the older low density stock. Screaming kids and lower life seeking the cheapest fare to the West Midlands are an occasional hazrd in the evening but the regulars are all clean & tidy.
Can't be doing with the tube unless I have to though.
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Tube is great for cross central London journeys, e.g Fulham Broadway to Euston. It is crap for smaller journeys, in London legs are by far the best mode of transport for any journey less than 1.5 miles.
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Euston to Fulham Broadway is a bit of a zig/zag in the tube even if you use Euston Sq then Central/H&C to change at Edgware Road.
Arriving at Euston from Manchester? use the 15 past the hour train from Pic, change at Milton Keynes for a direct train to West Brompton. If it's too far to walk then just one stop on the District.
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I think I used the district line anyway, I know it was just a direct tube. But I walk most the time anyway. The last time I was in the Fulham area I just walked to Euston as I had four hours to kill before getting the train.
My dads family are all from that part of London, so I like to visit and see the roads where my ancestors used to live. Don't go to that part of London often though.
The main issue with the tube I find is it takes too longer to find the platform, so its only suitable for medium to long journeys, the bus is quicker for short hops.
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I would much rather walk 2 or 3 miles than catch a bus. Doesn't normally take much longer either.
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Same here, 2 miles is my limit really. Sometimes I have walked to the next suburb if I meeting for a drink, if I have no bus pass and can't get a lift I will walk, 2.9 miles. Takes about 50-60 minutes depending on how quickly I can get across the parkway.
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Well, Alfa F will be pleased that the tramway is progressing well through Didsbury village.
We had lunch at La Tasca today and I was gricing the cutting through the railings of the car park.
They've been tasting the line for a week now here. I can say, even stood in my workshop 40 ft away, there is no vibration and very little noise...even at some speed.
Only downside is that I may meet Ratto on one one day :-)
Ted
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Charming :p.
It should be open for public testers from next Monday :) With the official launch of a bit later.
What they have now done is decided to only use LOS on the new line, and when it gets to Trafford Bar it will convert to the old ATS signals as they cannot get the Altrincham line converted to LOS in time.
They are converting five of the unused brand new trams to work with ATS this week, so they can run on the Chorlton line beyond the depot e.g Trafford Bar.
Btw LOS = Line of Sight signalling.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Mon 20 Jun 11 at 17:58
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>>I will actually inconvenience myself considerably in a concious effort not to have to come into frequent contact with other people. Buses, trains and even aircraft get used only when a car simply won't do<<
Aye, same here - but then there isn't any public transport where I live, no post box, no phone box,
Not a lot of Woman either come to that ... plenty of Sheep though ;}
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Living near Settle I used to work 2 days a week in Keighley....only £3.90 return with a DalesRail card. It would cost a least £10 in fuel alone, and the 07.30 train was very civilized, with increasing numbers of commuters working in Leeds. And I could have a couple of Timmy Taylors after work if I so chose.
I use buses occasionally, though they are far more expensive in my part of the world.
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While I was out and about this morning, I parked up near an access point to the Sustrans trail, which crosses our tramway at the back of the house on the level.
There were two guys in orange gear guarding the crossing as trams are being tested fairly intensively along that stretch.
They confirmed that public service would be operating from Monday and anyone crossing would be on their own from then. There are plenty of waring signs, 'Beware of Trams ' etc.
You can actually hear the rails 'singing ' some time before the tram appears.
One interesting point I asked about...the crossing is that black non-slip rubbercompound and looks very safe to walk on but they have continued the surface between the rails for about 25 yards on the side the tram travels on after crossing the footway....both directions.
I asked what the idea of that was and one told me it was in case anyone was hit by a tram and pushed forward. They would have a fairly soft landing ( before the tram ran them over ! )
Hedging their bets there...eh ?
Lots of nice fresh double yellow lines around the area, some talk of residents permits but I think we're just about far enough away not to be troubled. I'll be leaving one of the cars out overnight on Sunday anyway until we know just how the parking patterns will settle.
I'll be off for a spin on it come Monday morning......first time on that line since 1967 !
Ted
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It's certainly coming along. Do you know if any of the stops will be near Trafford General Hospital. Not looked where the line goes really or where the hospital is... know someone who needs to get there.
Edit: Trafford General is quite a bit further south isn't it than where the tram goes... Ho Hum.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Thu 23 Jun 11 at 18:29
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>>
>> They confirmed that public service would be operating from Monday and anyone crossing would be
>> on their own from then. There are plenty of waring signs, 'Beware of Trams '
>> etc.
Here's a warning sign from the tram line in Stockholm; I did chuckle a bit what with my schoolboy sense of humour:-
tinypic.com/r/280l92t/7
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Trafford General is in Davyhulme, so no where near any of the lines really, but might be walking distance to the Port Salford line to the Trafford Centre if that gets built.
It is not certain the tram will be running on Monday, it depends on the tests over the weekend. They have had to convert 5 brand new trams to run on the old ATS system but Moday is looking likely, but they won't commit to that until the last minute.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Thu 23 Jun 11 at 20:49
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Well, we're up and running today...a tram every 12 minutes, now in public service.
I had a car to deliver into the village this morning so I gor the tram home, only one stop and I just missed one so it would have been quicker to walk, but at least I travelled on the first day of rail service since 1967 when we used to get the train to Edale for some Sunday hiking !
Did you manage a trip Ratto ?
Ted
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Well, one day into service and service suspended for a few hours...I thought it was quiet yesterday morningas I was messing about out the back
Technical gremlims ? More computer problems ?
No, some scrote had tried to pinch the copper cable in the night ! He's cut through a high voltage cable and disrupted the network locally. What a shame Constable Amps didn't manage to grab his gonads !
All is well now, just been sat on the patio with a cuppa, enjoying the last light and listening to the trams gliding past. A lot less noise than the jets that circle above us on Summer days or the police retpocileh that comes most nights. It's a reassuring noise, hearing one every few minutes.t .
Ted
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Not sure I how missed this Ted. Yeah I managed a trip, and ended being taken pictures off all over the internet with the president of the LRA.
Been on it a few times, and and I am really god smacked about the entire impact the three stops have had. It will make my life more expensive but much richer. The fact I can now be in the city in 15 minutes instead of 45 will make my life so much better.
I suspect house values in our area will rocket even further too. Some of the comments about Chorlton from the LRA have been very positive. You only need to look at how expensive the Cromwell Road area of Stretford is to see how a tram station next door can dramatically increase house prices.
Of course the network is still to grow another 150% in the next five years, and Manchester will finally have its own proper mas transit system like all great European cities have. However the only other city in the UK to truly have the same standard of system will be London.
PS for me being interested in railways and local history, it was very emotional for me to travel on than line for the first time on Thursday, because I wasn't born in 1967 so never got the chance before Beeching did his worse :(
I am sad though because my grandad who was born in Fallowfield (his house backed onto the railway) but lived in Chorlton most of his lived died in 2005 so he will never know the dream came true. He also lived opposite where the new airport line will be. My grandma sill lives there but I am doubtfull she will still be there by the time the line opens due to her poor health :(
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Sun 10 Jul 11 at 03:11
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I'm inclined to think that a tram thundering past a house every few minutes would reduce its value, but hey, that's just me.
Edit: Accidental apostrophe removed. Detention given.
Last edited by: Alfa Floor on Sun 10 Jul 11 at 10:32
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It's an easy mistake to make.
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That'll be the same Cromwell Road where an average semi has lost £40k over the last 4yrs then?
Sorry Rattle... Rightmove and Zoopla are open every day here at the moment so Manchester was just a click away.
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The trams don't zoom past, and are extremely quiet, they are quieter than a bus. As for Cromwell Road well houses have lost value in general, and trams have gone past there since 1992.
Already my area has had an influx in visitors and shops have reported in increase in sales, this is just since Thursday when the line opened. How long it will last I don't know. But the simple fact it is people are far more likely to use trams than buses, and areas are more likely to be visited if it has good public transport links.
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But the simple fact it is people are far more likely
>> to use trams than buses>>
Why? Please substantiate that.
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>> But the simple fact it is people are far more likely
>> >> to use trams than buses>>
>>
>> Why? Please substantiate that.
>>
Please do.
The VAST majority of people I know, will use a bus many more times than a tram.
I do admit that the reason is that not many areas have trams, where as there is a bus service nearly everywhere.
That fact alone seems to make the opening statement null and void....
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>> Why? Please substantiate that.
I suspect that stats exist somewhere. On a personal level I know which I'd prefer to board on arrival at Picadilly.
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>> But the simple fact it is people are far more likely
>> >> to use trams than buses>>
>>
>> Why? Please substantiate that.
Do you seriously doubt it? Trams are trendy. Buses are not for the image conscious. I thought everybody knew that. Why else spend zillions on trams?
BTW Duncan, did you solve your computer problem? You never told us.
Last edited by: Manatee on Sun 10 Jul 11 at 14:27
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There is something comforting about waiting for transport that arrives on rails. You always think and assume its going to be more punctual, comfortable reliable and pleasant.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 10 Jul 11 at 14:37
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>>There is something comforting about waiting for transport that arrives on rails. You always think and assume its going to be more punctual, comfortable reliable and pleasant.
I used to travel by rail quite frequently but was not at all impressed. On the rare occasions now that I use public transport I tend to go by bus or coach.
Have you been at the merlot again, Zero?
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>> I used to travel by rail quite frequently but was not at all impressed. On
>> the rare occasions now that I use public transport I tend to go by bus
>> or coach.
>>
>> Have you been at the merlot again, Zero?
No but I think you may have been, buses are without doubt, nasty late form of transport.
In fact if the bus was the only way to get about I would buy a segway
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>> buses are without doubt, nasty late form of transport.
Perhaps where you are, but not around these parts.
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There has been lots of studies on the subject, I can't name one but you only need to listen to comments on the new tram lines.
Of course if an area has no tram line then people won't use trams, but given the choice of a bus or tram most people will take the tram. Quicker and cleaner and sometimes cheaper.
It is also a nightmare getting buses to strange areas because its very hard to know where to get off, where as with trams you know exactly what stop to get off at.
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A Segway, now that would be true desperation. Can't think of anything worse , although perhaps a Sinclair C5. might fit the bill.
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Anything is better than a bus, even walking. Buses are at the bottom of the transportation food chain.
Buses are transportation for people whose time is not important and don't care when they arrive.
If your time has any value, you will surely pay for a better form of transportaton than a bus. You will not stand there, in the freezing cold, waiting God only knows how long for some lumbering, offspring of a dinosaur (one of the slower, stupider species) and a sloth to meander its way through traffic to reach the bus stop.
If you are lucky enough to be let on you will be charged an extortionate fare for a miserable journey accompanied by a collection of fellow passengers drawn from the more desperate echelons of society, some of which are so hard up that they cannot afford the price of soap and water.
A tram is an altogether superior beast.
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I had to get to Didsbury today but had a heavy night last night so didn't want to risk driving. I had a choice, pay £3.70 return on the bus or cycle in the pouring rain. Cycling won.
I feel very lucky that I have:-
1) A car
2) A tram stop
3) A bicycle
4) Good bus services, but I still hate buses!.
To be fair not all bus journeys are bad, the clientel on the rush hour buses are usually city workers. Buses do have their place, but most people will go out of their way to avoid them if they have a choice, where as trams a lot of people actually enjoy travelling on them. Personally though trams in rush hour are a nightmare, but unlike the bus you're only on it for a few minutes.
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I've only been on a tram once in my life. It was at about 5 a.m. in Sheffield, and I would have been hitching up to Scotland to see my parents, probably in 1959 or so.
The other passengers were mostly chain-smoking steelworkers with phlegmy coughs, on their way to work. The tram wasn't a bogey type but had four wheels, with immense overhang at each end. At high speed on the rough old track there it developed an alarming lateral oscillation threatening at any moment to jump the track and career into the scenery. I enjoyed it enormously, but although brisk it wasn't quiet or smooth and the other passengers weren't the sort of fragrant yummy mummies and kindly old professors who, reading between the lines, tram lovers here seem to be claiming are the most usual tram passengers.
I longed to go on a tram as a small child. My mother had told me about the trams and escalators in London and I couldn't wait. But by the time I went to live in London the last trams had vanished there leaving only the hybrid trolleybus.
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>>
>> BTW Duncan, did you solve your computer problem? You never told us.
>>
Dear Memory Man
Thank you for your enquiry. TBH I am not sure which PC problem it was!! My PC is now working ok, thank you.
Yours etc
Duncan
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>> Duncan's computer question:
>>
>> www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?f=6&t=6872
>>
I have posted a reply in the computer section. Thanks everyone
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Here's the local BBC news report of the new link. It has the bonus of a shot of our delightful and fragrant Ranvir Singh at the beginning.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdCsNecm5TI&NR=1
The engineers have done a first class job from the very first days of sorting out the issues with trees, bats and other wildlife to the extensive recent testing.
We have been kept informed by letter at all stages of work and the noise has not been at all intrusive.
In fact the only minor irritation has been the reverse bleepers on the big ballast carrying trucks as they backed down the line to deliver the goods. Health and safety, I guess, but there was no public access and speeds have been very slow.
I don't think there would have been a problem to muffle them a bit but it was only during the day.
I'm typing this with the window open by my desk and the trams going past are actually a lot quieter than the odd car coming past the house front.
Ratto arrived at the Didsbury Car Show on his bike and found me for a pleasant chat....I couldn't escape, he came up behind me ! :-)......Bless him !
Ted
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I enjoyed the show :). I got soaked though on both journeys. I wish I had drank less last night now so I could have driven, still I needed the exercise.
I think your car was perhaps the most rare there. There was quite a few Ford Consuls there etc.
Some of the stuff there was simply too modern really, stuff like 3 year old Ferraris etc.
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Interesting (and ambitious) expansion plans for the tram network, but one thing that I find surprising is that a line to the airport doesn't get a higher priority.
Maybe it already has good transport links and that's the reason?
I'm a bit envious though. Sure, we have the tube - but I never relish traveling in holes like a mole. (Even a refurbished, cleaner, faster, safer tube). No, a tram is much more appealing.
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The airport already has a train station with a regular and quick service to the city centre. The Chortlon line which has just opened will split into two, one will go to Didsbury, the other the airport. But the Chorlton line had to open before any line to airport can because it goes via Chorlton.
Chorlton is s very busy place and it is expected the stop will be amongst the busiest on the network. It also uses the old railway line cutting so it is was a much easier job than say the airport line which is being built from scratch.
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Ah! That explains it very clearly- thanks Rattle.
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>> Here's the local BBC news report of the new link. It has the bonus of
>> a shot of our delightful and fragrant Ranvir Singh at the beginning.
>>
>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdCsNecm5TI&NR=1
>>
Let me see if I have grasped this concept.
What you have is a big yellow bus - which runs on rails? What's clever about that?
Oh and the big yellow bus doesn't stop at the bus stops! What's clever about that?
Let's be serious for a moment. What does the tram thingy thing do that a bus couldn't? Except cost a heck of a lot more!
Somewhere along the line(?) I bet I have paid for this overpriced juggernaut.
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>> Somewhere along the line(?) I bet I have paid for this overpriced juggernaut.
Not yet, we are sending you the bill for the Edinburgh Tram, thought you would appreciate that one much more.
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Further to Rattski's post, the airport branch is mainly aimed at opening up a huge residential area across the Mersey to a more rapid way to access the City. It includes the major teaching hospital for South Manchester and a large and well used area civic centre.
As a bonus, people from the west of the city will be asle to get directly to the airport without having to go through the city centre...a much quicker journey.
My youngest daughter has just visited from Stockport, by train and tram, bringing both nippers, for a return fare of about £8. She wouldn't have entertained the bus for that journey. I rode back with them to St Peter's Square wher I got the tram back home.....very smooth, fast and free for me !
Never mind, Duncan...we'll let you have a go on it if you don't like the Edinburgh system.
Ted
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Do I look like a public transport person? - Pat
