InsideTransit

The bus company we love to think of as first-class all the way (note sarcasm), Greyhound, is moving across the ocean to the UK. You can see an example of the buses that Greyhound will roll with below – it’s a pretty nice looking bus from the outside.

From the announcement:

• The first UK Greyhound coaches will run between London Victoria and Portsmouth and Southampton with services scheduled to launch on September 14.
• The Greyhound UK coaches will have leather seating, free wi-fi, power sockets, air-conditioning and complimentary newspapers.
• First says the Scania Irizar coaches will have up to 20% more legroom than rivals’ vehicles while traffic light displays on the coach dashboards will inform drivers how well they are driving their vehicle. (LOL – “attention passengers, the driver of this coach is going well past the speed limit”)
• All Greyhound UK coaches will be named after women from popular American songs such as Sweet Caroline, Barbara Ann, Jolene and Peggy Sue. (will there be a britney spears – probably not since it would be prone to crashes)

I thought it was us Americans that wanted to be like the Brits not the other way around. There will be an online marketing campaign when the buses roll out targeting the young Internet audience. I sure hope the drivers remember that in the UK they drive on the left.

As a side note, why do buses in Europe all have those huge ass mirrors – I’ve never seen them state-side but on my European trips, they are everywhere. They remind me of the sticks used in cricket.

Should this cat pay his fare? Would it be an adult fare or a kids fare? You ride you pay, right?

This story comes to us via the BBC in Plymouth, UK. The cat seen to the right is Casper and he rides the bus. He knows when to get off and appears to be a pleasure to everyday riders. BBC says that Casper actually waits in line to board the bus and quietly sits down for the ride.

A spokesman for bus company First said that drivers had been bussing Casper around for months, but Mrs Finden said she had only just found out about his use of public transport.

The care worker said: “He’d always go off and have a wander. He does love people, and I don’t know what the attraction is but he loves big vehicles like lorries and buses.”

I have an email out to Casper to see if he would like to write for InsideTransit about his travels in the UK.

Yesterday we looked at a pretty neat postcard-to-model subway train. Now we have a paper model you can print and create at home.  The available models include:

• TGV PSE (Paris Sud-Est) original orange version
• TGV PSE (Paris Sud-Est) blue Ligne de Coeur version
• TGV La Poste
• TGV Atlantique
• TGV Thalys
• TGV Duplex
• AVE / Euromed (Spanish TGV)
• KTX (Korean TGV)
• Speedrail (Australian TGV)
• Acela Express (USA)
• Undecorated TGV

It looks like you need just some basic supplies (and some thick paper) to create the various trains. Pretty neat craft project!

In the video below, we see a train just doing its job being a train and yet some construction workers figured they would park their “little” earth mover next to the tracks. So guess who wins…

London’s transport system offers several ticket options. The system works on “zones”. The main tourist attractions and the center of London are in Zones 1-2. So, except where noted, the pricing discussed below is for Zones 1-2.

(fares updated December 30, 2010 with early 2011 pricing information)

Cash Fares

• The most basic ticket – a “Cash Single Fare” is £4.00 for most of the network, £4.00 to Heathrow via tube. Approximately 90% of the time, this is not what you want.

Travelcards

• Travelcards – come in 1, 3 and 7 day options.
  • 1 day zone 1-2 travelcard: £8.00 peak, £6.60 off-peak
  • 3 day zone 1-2 travelcard: the 3 day card has been removed
  • 7 day zone 1-2 travelcard: £27.60 (there is no peak/offpeak)

Oyster Card

• Oyster Card – this is the newest form of “currency” for the London transport system.
  • From the TFL web site: Oyster is London’s travel smartcard. You can put your Travelcard or Bus Pass season ticket on it, add travel value (cash) to pay as you go or have a combination of both. Oyster cards are also reusable. This means that when your ticket expires you can buy another on the same Oyster card, and when your travel value (cash) runs out, you can just top it up.
  • The basic idea with Oyster is that you load up the card and you receive the best fares possible based on your trip. So for example, a “Single Fare” in cash is  £3.00 but could be free if you have already passed the limits for a day on the Oyster.
  • Oyster charges a £3.00 refundable deposit when initially charging and receiving the card. There is no fee if you only charge the Oyster with the 7 day travel card listed above.
  • Some of the benefits I see with pre-pay Oyster include:
    • easy to use and recharge
    • allows you to travel anywhere in the system and the computer handles how much to charge you for the trip
    • keep the card forever, each trip back to London you use the same card.

My personal preference is that you use an Oyster card for all of your trips. What’s great is that you can share it – so when you return to your home country, pass it along to a friend.

This section of InsideTransit will help you to understand how the London Underground works, pricing, routings, tips, and more.

Allen’s System Overview:

I think the tube is one of the best transit systems in the world. Ok, yes there are many delays. I think many of these could be avoided and I am pretty sure by the time the 2012 Olympics come around, all of those issues with signaling will be cleared up. There are 13 lines as part of the tube: Bakerloo, Central, Circle, District, East London, Hammersmith & City, Jubilee, Metropolitan, Northern, Piccadilly, Victoria, Waterloo & City and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). The DLR is very interesting, it is controlled basically completely by computers and you can sit in the "driver’s seat" and make believe you are driving!

The basics of the system are quite easy. Most stations have a journey map for the specific line as you descend the stairs to the platform. I suggest you take a minute to read these maps closely. Many of the lines have multiple destinations. For example, the District line shows 6 (yes, six!) main destinations with possible sub-destinations as well. Choose wrong, and time and frustration will be added to your journey. Also, once on the platform, there are computerized signposts up above showing which train is arriving next and how long until the train arrives. This makes getting on the correct train easier.

Another wonderful benefit of the system is the helpful Transport workers who will help you with any of your queries. There are generally assistants near the oyster and ticket machines to help you with purchasing the right type of ticket as well as basic journey queries. This is a great service and their great attitude helps you relax on your transit journey!

Current Promotions:

There are some AWESOME deals currently running:

• For mainline travel to outside of London, check out: Greatfares from FirstGreatWestern (I saved over 30 quid with this one!) (appears to be expired as of 6/1)
• For travel on the Heathrow Express, you can save 25%! by putting in this code 200007 at the Heathrow Express web site (I saved over 4 quid on this one!)
• For travel on the Gatwick Express, you can save 25%! by putting in this code 200006 at the Gatwick Express web site
  • There is another special with 4 for 2 — pay for 2 adults, get 2 free – Gatwick Express

Interesting Quirks about the London Underground:

Ok – here are some of the interesting quirks I have come across over the years. Please drop me a line with your quirks and I will add them here and credit you!

• In the USA trains "stop" at stations, in the UK, they "call" at stations. You are likely to hear "This is a 15:40 train to High Barnet, calling at Camden Town and Archway"
• Trains are operated by 1 person, an operator. There are a series of monitors at the operators end of each platform so they can monitor traffic on and off the train.
• Does the Circle line have an end?

Rants

I have found that taking the Underground is as easy as other major subway systems. One of the pet peeves I have is that the system is non-airconditioned. I am actually shocked that a capital city, one of the top cities in the world, has not figured out how to aircondition the carriages. If it can be done in NYC, it can be done in London.

Another rant would be around express routes. I would wonder what the London system would look like if they had real express tracks within the zone 1 area. For example, could you imagine an express train running from Heathrow to Covent Garden stopping only 1-2 times in between? (oh wait, that will kill their revenue rich Heathrow Express). Or an express on some of the further out lines. And to the Londoners, yes I know there are a few places where a line skips some stops but that is not truly an express train.

Tags: london underground