Sunday buses to/from Plymouth

[whole diary]

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

We're having a few days in Cornwall coming back on Sunday 11th March - this was before I knew of the blockade to Plymouth, which hadn't been published when we booked.  On the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website Table 4 is still showing Sundays until 12th Feb only so no help there, but fortunately NR^» (Network Rail - home page)'s table 135 is bang up to date.  Interesting, by the way, that some buses are shown as GW^▸ (Great Western) and some as XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)).

So we're on a bus from Plymouth to Tiverton Parkway.  The connection at Tiverton P seems tight - 12 mins from bus to train - bearing in mind uncertainties of road travel. 

Does anyone know how reliable these buses are? Could we be in for a long wait at the plank of wood called Tiverton Parkway?

Edit: Err, just realised I've posted this in the wrong place: should be in London to Plymouth.  Please would some kind administrator please move it. Thanks.

[Timmer]

Below is a link to the timetable supplements page on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website that shows Sundays from 19th of Feb with tables 4, 30, 31, 33 and 35 combined for Sunday services to/from the South West:
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Train-times-and-tickets/Train-times/Timetable-supplements

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

Thank you. I never saw that. Why can't FGW^▸ (First Great Western) integrate the latest amendments into their timetables like NR^» (Network Rail - home page) does? If I'm confused I'm sure other non-railway people would be as well.

But the columns in the FGW's 11th March service are laid out inconsistently with those in Table 135.  We plan to get 1117 Penzance - Plymouth, 1325 bus to Tiverton P arriving 1445, then 1454 Tiverton P - Reading.  But FGW show this last train 3 columns before the bus, implying no connection.  In fact the FGW timetable appears to show the FGW bus arriving at TP at 1454 connecting into the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) departing at 1531, and the XC bus arriving at TP 1425 connecting into the FGW departing at 1454.

FGW's route planner is consistent with the NR (which I think is unsurprising as NR drives it).  I know that us passenegers are patted on the head and told to use the route planner, but I like to have a full timetable for when things go wrong.  I think I'll take NR's table 135 with me and not FGW's amended Table 4, which appears to show disinformation.

[iant]

Bus connections  from Plymouth to Tiverton Pw when engineering work is on are reliable. The train doesnt go until the busses have arrives and it takes about 1 minute to get from the bus to the platform. Don't worry ! I have experienced this very many times wihtout problem.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks for that very useful 'local knowledge' information, iant! 

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

Iant, thanks from me too.  That's a comforting reassurance. 

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

Well, I'm pleased to reoprt that our experience of the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) bus replacement service yesterday was very good.  Good on-train announcements on the 1117 ex Penzance advising us of the bus arrangements as we approached Plymouth, and we even went into the down platform so that luggage didn't have to be carrried over the footbridge (but maybe that was down to operating convenience so the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) was ready to go back to Penzance, and not customer service!).

As we walked off the train there were station announcements telling us which buses were going where, and plenty of staff to help everyone and get luggage loaded into the coaches, which was done quickly and efficiently.  And unloading at Tiverton Parkway was just as good.

Only downside was the Quantocks coach had very little legroom - fortunately there were enough seats for Mrs GTBE and me to have separate pairs of seats each.  Maybe these buses do school runs normally - I wouldn't fancy going to Blackpool on one!

[inspector_blakey]

Pleased to hear that the replacement buses were well organized and the trip was trouble-free!

Regarding your comment on lack of legroom, I got stuck on a rail replacement bus from Swansea to Cardiff once that was absolutely horrendous: looked relatively new and modern from outside, but on the inside was fitted with bolt-upright 3+2 bench seating (albeit with three-point seat belts) at an unbelievably tight seat pitch. I can only assume that this vehicle was designed for school bus work too, and I do wish that rail companies would be a little more careful when they specify the quality of the vehicles to be used on rail replacement work. Most are absolutely fine, but every now and again you do get the feeling that a bus operator is taking the p*ss with the vehicle they have provided.

[old original]

Apparently the number of coaches used each day for this engineering work is well over 50 from about 10 different operators, with another dozen or so on stand-by, so I think it's a question of getting what they can to give a proper connecting service. Personally, I would rather be a bit cramped for an hour or so than waiting for better quality coaches.

[JayMac]

I once had the 'pleasure' of a bog standard urban double decker bus from Tiverton to Plymouth. Not at all fun on the M5/A38 and we could probably have walked quicker up Haldon Hill.

[inspector_blakey]

I do remember Barry Doe some while ago (in one of his rare flights of fancy in which I find myself violently disagreeing with him) writing that operators should specify buses rather than coaches for rail replacement work. All well and good until you take into account the issue of luggage, which buses are not well equipped to deal with. FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have often used some new, shiny, high-capacity double deckers for rail replacement between Didcot and Oxford: not sure who the operator is, but you can often see them parked up at Culham airfield when you go past on the train. On paper these are very good as people-shifters, but on a Sunday evening with lots of people travelling with luggage after a weekend away they weren't really optimal for the job. The underfloor luggage space on a "proper" coach is often very useful indeed.