Does anyone know of a bus station that they actually like?

[whole diary]

[ellendune]

Correct, she would have needed a CORGI registration to fit her gas cooker.   

NOT CORRECT!

CORGI lost their rights to be the registration service for gas fitters a few years ago.  The new registration service is Gas Safe.  CORGI registration has little meaning these days. A gas fitter must now be on the Gas Safe register (even if they are also CORGI registered).

[MVR S&T]

New gas and electric cookers must be installed by competant electrictions, for electric or Gas Safe registered for Gas cookers. But can be fairley close to the sink, about 500mm or so.

Meanwhile back to bus stations, Poole is pretty dreadfull. Though there are major plans afoot for a new one soon, but of course the railway that runs directly behind the new site is NOT part of the plan, a nice straight level piece of track too, while the current Poole railway (not train) station is on a sharp curve, seems like anither missed opertunity that will be with us for another few decades.

[bobm]

Swindon (bus station) ain’t so brilliant.

[martyjon]

Correct, she would have needed a CORGI registration to fit her gas cooker.   

NOT CORRECT!

CORGI lost their rights to be the registration service for gas fitters a few years ago.  The new registration service is Gas Safe.  CORGI registration has little meaning these days. A gas fitter must now be on the Gas Safe register (even if they are also CORGI registered).

Wind the clock back to 1948, that's the era I'm talking about, she'd probably needed a certificate of proficiency in ordnance disposal then.

[Reading General]

Newbury has just moved its bus station to a previous location away from the railway. Although not that close to the station and a set of stairs between the two, it was reasonably convenient for swapping between bus and train. However, the location it sits now is closer to the shopping areas of the town, so one loss is another areas gain, and I would question how many were swapping between bus and train anyhow.

[grahame]

I have started a new thread [here] about the design of the new bus station in Utopia with a list of principles that should be considered.    Keep the horror stories of having to hold your breath as you exit the bus station through a sea of smokers here! 

[basset44]

Hi All,

A pleasant Bus Station is Sheffield, close to Station.

The story of the new Cardiff Bus station and why it is late was covered in this BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) report.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-46114122

Basset

[caliwag]

I would comment on a related thread about the utopia of  Exeter bus station, if I read it correctly which awoke my memories of a friendly coach + bus outfit called optimistically 'Utopia'. Sadly no longer with us...the closure of which would deeply inconvenience the good people of Drax, Skipwith and Tadcaster (a spot with limited faciities, other than canopies). So once I have read a thread, how do I rediscover same, once I have moved on?)

https://www.busandcoachbuyer.com/utopia-coaches-liquidation/

[TonyK]

A bit of a tangent - Blackpool, where I went to school once or twice, lost its bus station, a monolith with multi-story car park in the neo-Stalinist brutal style, some years ago. Some bemoan it, saying the network of shelters around the central area is inadequate, but the stop closest to Blackpool North station is closer than the bus station by a few yards, and with fewer busy roads to cross.

The council, a few years ago, decided to reinstate the tram link from the promenade to Blackpool North, lost in the 1930s. Funding was won, designs done, and work commenced. When the track had been renewed along the promenade a decade back, someone had the foresight to leave two-way points heading inland, but it was still a major job. The road between prom and station was closed to traffic for quite a while, but the track was eventually laid - nearly. The terminus is to be a modern development on the site of the Wilko store opposite the station. Wilko were to be given a brand new store on a nearby development. But there was a hitch in the legal process for buying the site of the new Wilko, meaning that it is still open at the original site, and is all that is in the way of the new tram link, now delayed for another year or two.

And leading to this rather surreal picture by my pal John McCarthy.

2019-02-16 019 by John McCarthy, on Flickr

When it is built, I am sure I will love it!

The full story, with lots of pictures, is on the Skyscrapercity thread. If you do look through it, see if you can guess which of the posters is me.

[JayMac]

And leading to this rather surreal picture by my pal John McCarthy.

2019-02-16 019 by John McCarthy, on Flickr

If the tram stop is by the Pick 'n Mix that'll suit me fine. A bonus if there's a loop through DIY and Men's Toiletries.

[grahame]

Love the picture.  Until I read the text, I wondered if Wilko were now receiving their goods for sale by rail .... or perhaps had a sideline in second hand class 27, 37, 47 locomotives that people with appropriate driving licenses could buy and take away.

[grahame]

From Bath Bus Station, yesterday at around midday.  An illustration of some of the issues that really need sorting.



Love the decoy owl and pigeon spikes that have attracted a pigeon.

Love the timetable board that just tells you to refer to timetables.

[martyjon]

From Bath Bus Station, yesterday at around midday.  An illustration of some of the issues that really need sorting.



Love the decoy owl and pigeon spikes that have attracted a pigeon.

Love the timetable board that just tells you to refer to timetables.

But did you note the state of the pigeons 'bathroom floor' below the departures board, at least they up their tail feathers and 'fire'. away from passengers looking up at the departures board.

[martyjon]

.... But there was a hitch in the legal process for buying the site of the new Wilko, meaning that it is still open at the original site, and is all that is in the way of the new tram link, now delayed for another year or two.

Meanwhile the legal profession's cash register is clicking up thousands of pounds of council taxpayers money for basically doing FA.

[froome]

From Bath Bus Station, yesterday at around midday.  An illustration of some of the issues that really need sorting.



Love the decoy owl and pigeon spikes that have attracted a pigeon.

Love the timetable board that just tells you to refer to timetables.

From my experiences there, I would say it might as well just have this on the board all the time, as what is on the screen rarely equates with what buses are actually doing. I understand that updating the screen is actually done by the local authority rather than First Bus.

The screen will often tell you your bus is going in one minute or is due and there is no sign of it anywhere. It then disappears off the screen as if it has gone, and you don't know whether to wait around in case it does turn up, or give up and find another way to travel. It will also tell you your bus is at the bay it should be at, when it is actually in a completely different bay.