Great Western Coffee Shop

Two buses, one journey, one timetable. And yet, a slew of online journey planner timetable issues.

On the way to Stroud, the 620 pauses and, like a caterpillar, undergoes a wondrous metamorphosis, becoming service 69, when it resumes its journey towards Stroud*. Here's a link to the timetable.

https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/West/2021/69620020121.pdf

However, *all* online timetables including the Traveline site and the likes of Google journeyplanner regard the 'Connection' at draughty Old Sodbury as far too tight to recognise, and list a connection into the ensuing service perhaps an hour later, which somewhat increases the predicted overall travel time, trashing the potential attractiveness of the journey.

No idea how this can be sorted, and slightly worried that this happens elsewhere too - having taken a trip from Conwy in North Wales to Caernarfon that was theoretically a connecting bus, indeed, at Bangor the bus we were on simply transformed into the onward service. But at least that one *was* represented correctly in journey planners.

Mark

*Another oddity: the last two northbound services of the day peter out a mile or so from Stroud, at a bus stop in Bowbridge. No idea what *that's* about.

Could it be to do with funding? That there is perhaps an upper limit on what journeys will be subsidised, either by time or by distance? Or simply that by splitting the journey close to the local authority boundary, it's easier to get each LA to fund their part of the journey?

Alternatively, it could be psychology. A bus that takes two and a half hours to cover 30 miles doesn't look too appealing, whereas two journeys each of 1 hour 10 minutes, do?

Historically the First Bus 51 from Dorchester or 53 from Weymouth ran from Bridport to Exeter. However, due to EU regulations this was deemed too far and had to be cut back to Axminster. It thus may be a hangover from those days.

I suspect this comes about partly with the limit on journey length for a "local" bus - you see the bus from Swindon to Trowbridge split in two at Devizes but it's the same vehicle continuing.  My understanding is that there are extra requirements for long distance heavy vehicles - HGVs and coaches - tachographs and extra rest hour rules - which would apply to bus routes over a certain length.

Looking at the timetables in this thread, it surely has to be the same vehicle ... perhaps the number changes because different authorities fund the different legs.


That just posted as I was writing.   My understanding is that this remains current British law.

Journeys over 50 (?) miles have to come under tacho regulations, which also changes the hours worked, etc.
So to avoid a clash, companies split longer runs into two separate sections with a break in between.
Same vehicle, same driver, same run.
As it is legally registered as two different runs, with a break in between, it's suddenly legal under domestic regulations.