An Outer Odyssey

It’s 30 years to the year since I last boarded Birmingham’s iconic 11C Outer Circular. And it’s time for something completely different blogwise, today.

The inspiration comes from comes elevenbus.co.uk.

Today, I’ve decided to participate in 11-11-11, an opportunity to sample National Express West Midlands’ service 11 on 11th day of the 11th month. Using my smartphone (or, who knows, even a laptop from the wi-fi enabled AMPM Travel competition), I aim to upload a brief journal throughout the day, so look out for updates on life from the top deck along Birmingham’s A4040 is it circles the city suburbs. Will the preconceptions hold? I trust everything works as I trek across the varying cultural landscapes that make up outer Birmingham, without actually going anywhere at all...

I have elected to use the Outer Circle 11C (clockwise) (the 11A, of course, operates anti-clockwise). And I shall alight where I think there is something of interest.

Outer Circle Facts

• The 11A runs anti-clockwise and 11C clockwise.


• The 11A/C is reported to be Europe’s longest urban bus route, at 26-27 miles, just within Domestic Driving Hours rules. Journey times vary by time of day & day of week but are about 2hr 30mins weekdays. This is about 15 minutes longer than in 1979.


• Since 2004, the commercial route is now part of a partnership with Centro PTE and the city council. As such, Volvo B7TL/Wrightbus Eclipse Geminis have replaced the MCW Metrobuses that in turn replaced Daimlers Fleetlines.


• In 1979 the weekday frequency was up to evey four minutes in each direction & every 12 on Sundays. Currently, it is advertised online at every eight and 20 respectively.


• The service carries some 50,000 passengers every day.


• As of 17 October, upstart AMPM Travel began every 20 minutes Mondays to Saturdays and historically is the third operator to compete on the Outer Circle along its entire length. I have to say that AMPM’s timetable looks a little haphazard.


• NXWM is said to deploy a PVR of 42 on the 11A/C. AMPM uses refurbish Volvo Olympians with wi-fi access.


• Number of pubs served by 11A/C: 49. No. of leisure facilities: 69. No. of schools: 233. No. of retail centres: 19. No. of dog tracks: two. No. of prisons: one.


• The service strays beyond Birmingham into Sandwell borough, at Bearwood.

Year of Change

20 years ago today, Newspaper headlines throughout the world rang out to the fall of the Berlin Wall. In fact, 1989 was a year that reshaped our world. Arguably, there’ve been other momentous years even in recent times—the Suez crisis, Cuban missile crisis, our entry into what was then called the common market, decimalisation, for example—but 1989 saw freedom in Europe on an unprecedented scale. 1989—year of considerable change...

Sunday Times magazine front cover, May 2009

Kegworth air disaster; Solidarity union legalised in Poland; Soviets leave Afghanistan after nine bloody years; Sky TV finally launches; first GPS satellite enters orbit; death threats made against author of the Satanic Verses; agreement eventually reached on the banning of CFCs; the Purley rail crash; the Exxon Valdez spills its 9mil gallons of oil off Alaska; Soviet troops kill civilians during peaceful Georgian rally in capital Tbilsi; Hillsborough disaster kills 96 Liverpool football fans; Hungary dismantles 150 miles of barbed wire along Austria border soon followed by historic reburial of 1958 executed leader Imre Nagy; Tiananmen Square massacre in Peking; Solidarity wins in free elections in Poland; space shuttle Columbia takes off for the first time; Dow Jones Industrial Average crashes; Guildford Four freed after 14 years; free movement allowed between east and west Berlin as Wall is torn down; Velvet Revolution begins in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia; Romanian revolution sees historic Christmas changes in Bucharest.		Grampian Regional Transport sold to management under Moir Lockhead; Trinity buys Hestair Group vehicle division; Southern National buys Brutonian; Drawlane buys Crosville; National Welsh buys Inter Valley Link; Lincoln closes both Lincoln taxi & Scunthorpe minibus operations; South Yorkshire Transport launches Eager Beavers; Docklands Transit commences; London Buses fragments; Stagecoach buys East Midlands; Stagecoach buys Ribble; London Country South West renamed London & Country and passes to Drawlane; Shamrock & Rambler & Charlie's Cars close; Stagecoach takes over operations in Barrow; Busways privatised; Traction buys Gash; Plaxton buys Henlys; Trent buys Barton; Plaxton buys Duple; Stagecoach buys Southdown; Merthyr Tydfil Transport goes bankrupt; National Express buys Stagecoach Scottish expresses; Derby City Transport sold to consortium; Drawlane buys Midland Fox; Stagecoach buys Portsmouth; Metrobus design passes to Optare; Alexander North East split between Stagecoach Magic Bus and Grampian; United Bus formed upon DAF & Bova merger; Stagecoach buys Hastings & District.

Omnibuses meets Jenni Wilkinson

Marketing has played a fundamental role in turning Bournemouth's bus service around. When Omnibuses2.0 met Transdev Yellow Buses' long-standing marketing manager Jenni Wilkinson, we asked her some obvious questions. It's not surprising that Jenni also enthused about the potential for this week's UK Bus Awards 2009...

OB: Now that you’ve grown the market by over 40 percent, where else is there to go?

JW: You can never sit on your laurels. We need to continue to grow the market and look at converting current non-bus users, wherever possible.

OB: What made you decide to buy Versas and Tempos? What other options did you consider?

JW: We had a variety of demonstrators to look at, and all factors were taken into consideration including seat layout, leg room etc . The decision to purchase Versa followed by Tempo was taken as they were the vehicles that best fitted our needs.

OB: Café Nero-style buses and leather’s been quite affective in upping the image of the bus but more on longer distance rather than local services. Why have you chosen leather for the 1A?

JW: The decision wasn't really about leather, but about raising the bar on the attention to detail inside the bus. We are really pleased with the growth on both the 1A and subsequently the 3.

OB: Bournemouth once prided itself on a standard fleet of double decks. Do you ever see the time when you will buy any more new?

JW: Vehicle purchases are based on the requirement of the network, so never say never.

OB: Why have you abandoned the open top bus service?

JW: Abandoned is such an emotive word. We took the decision, rightly in the current economic climate, to put our resource into our core network and ensure the stability of our year round customer base. We are not averse to an open top services but it has to be commercially viable and sustainable. Better weather locally would help as well!

OB: There’s a campaign around Bournemouth at the moment to rid the town of car parking at bus stops. Do you see this ever as being successful?

JW: We sincerely hope so, any initiative that improves journey times for our passengers receives our full support. Ensuring the roads are kept clearer doesn't just benefit the wider travelling public, but also makes using public transport an even more attractive option.

OB: How much of the recent innovation has been the result of the in-house team and how much brought in from consultants or Transdev?

JW: We are lucky to have such a wealth of experience within the group we can call on if required, and Transdev promotes best practice, which means we share ideas but in the main the ideas and innovations come from the team locally here in Bournemouth.

OB: You have reduced the 5/5A to the frequency you adopted in 2006. In spite of your success, why have you done this?

JW:Pre-July 2007 the frequency on route 5 (Kinson) was already every seven/eight minutes. We increased this to six minutes as we saw potential growth. Sadly, this growth has not materialised, hence our decision to reduce the frequency to pre-2007 levels after, effectively, a two year ‘trial’ period.

OB: Why was the white Your Bus fleet set up and what are your long term goals for it?

JW: Your Bus is a brand that is used for vehicles which solely service schools or other non-network contracts. As these are older, step vehicles, the separate brand was to ensure there was no confusion as to whether this style of bus served on our network routes, and the white is to emphasise the difference.

OB: Why did you alight at the lighter shade of yellow compared to the 'bluer' yellow of the old YB?

JW: It is all part of our brighter philosophy. We are so much more than just a brighter yellow; it is all part of our 'smart' image.

OB: Well done for getting through to the shortlist of the Bus Oscars™. Do you feel you may get the national recognition you deserve?

JW: It would be fabulous to think so. We have done very well in recent years in the local tourism awards, so, of course, that raises our profile within our market place, which is exactly what we are after. I should say that being short listed is enough, but Shire Operator... of course we want it. All that aside, it is amazing to be short listed, to be down to the final six operators and with two of our sister operations as well, who we have a healthy rivalry with. I have of course wished them luck, just perhaps not quite as much as us, but we will be cheering each other on, on the day.

It's no surprise to us to see that Ed Wills [head of operations] was short listed for Young Manager of the Year. One of the many advantages of working for Transdev Yellow Buses is being able to take projects forward if you are able to do so, if you have the business acumen and the ability, you get the support to progress. As a group, Transdev is really pro-active in recognising young talent and has a management development scheme which allows access to each business in the UK.
Carbon Stoppers has really progressed this year. We have seen growth on a Thursday across the network and it fits really well with us being a community- based company on many different levels. We trademarked Carbon Stoppers very early on, as we knew it was going to be special, and it has really captured the imagination of our passengers and readers of the local paper the Daily Echo Bournemouth.

Wait till the Bus Stops

Another news story and another case where the bus industry is on the back foot.

I refer to Wednesday’s Echo article in which a two-year-old ended up in hospital with a swollen nose after he fell on his Transdev Yellow Bus journey. The allegation is that the driver took off before the family of one mum and three children were safely seated.

This raises a number of issues.

• Passengers are most at risk while standing or moving around the vehicle.


• This does not stop children from messing around and it doesn’t seem to have any impact on some parents who fail to control their children’s behaviour.


• We still allow standing passengers on service buses. If they are more vulnerable when standing, why? Yet, without the ability to load standing passengers, urban buses would seize up at peak periods.


• Setting off before passengers have found their seats is not an indication of a rude or intolerant driver, though passengers seem to think it is.


• Passengers have responsibilities e.g. to find a seat quickly and, as stated, to control children. Most (indeed many) drivers will show due consideration where passengers find it difficult to get to their seats easily.


• To what extent should a driver wait for passengers to get to their seats before restarting the journey? For years, it’s been custom & practice to pull away at the earliest opportunity. Realistically, to wait for *every* passenger to sit would cause unacceptable delays for *every* passenger.


• Timekeeping constraints are nothing new. Almost exactly 29 years to the day since Hants & Dorset operated its last bus with a conductor, I can still hear the cry ring out, “Hold very tight, please” followed immediately by two bells to single the driver to depart, and a prompt re-entry into traffic, as passengers moved down the bus.


• That said, we now live in a “no-win-no-fee” era. You used to grin & bear minor injuries on buses—but no longer.


• Like many operators, TYB recommends that passengers signal by the bell when they want to get off and remain seated till the bus stops. By publicising this, TYB is covered to some extent. How many passengers actually do this? Few, if any. Passengers accept that moving to the front as the bus approaches their stop is all part & parcel of their journey.

As an aside and in terms of attitudes towards safety, an increasing number of service buses these days have seat belts and generally all coaches do, too. How many passengers use them?

Going Dutch—or Gallic

Another new name, another new brand. NedRailways, fire sale owners since May of former National Express’ Travel London/Surrey, has renamed its bus operation Abellio.

With some 85 per cent of its operation in London, the Abellio name is unlikely to hit people in the face, subsumed as it is under the strong TfL bus brand. It nevertheless will appear on the sides of its 350-vehicle London bus fleet. The brand will, of course, be more transparent in Surrey.

Abellio joins the trend towards the establishment of UK transport brands with seemingly made up names such as Arriva, Veolia, Govia, Transdev and Rotala.

Abellio is a Northrhine-Westphalia, Germany, bus & rail operator that NedRail took over in 2008. Interestingly, the origins of German Abellio appear to have involved a majority investment by a British investment fund manager, Star Capital Partners. The name Abellio may be traced either to either a Gallic god or it may even be a derivative of the Greco-Roman god Apollo.

One Nation

Among all the words written about the so-called ‘nationalisation’ (that rather isn’t) of the east coast main railway line, we should remember two things. First, the same fate would’ve befallen all three other franchise bidders. Secondly, there are other lines, for example, those in, erm, Wales?

Most of Wales’ patchy rail network runs around the principality’s periphery (serving much of its population). Since partial devolution, there’s a desire within the region to become more united. It’s up to the bus to fill the gaps.

A newish bus/rail map shows just what’s been achieved. It marks out all rail routes plus the Trawscambria bus network, side-by-side. This is a positive development, no doubt made much easier by Welsh government funding for both bus & rail and a single bus/rail operator over much of Wales—Arriva. Of the Trawscambria network, the maps calls it’s “expanding”. That isn’t strictly true because, in the last four years, the network has certainly expanded but is now static. In fact, Arriva Buses Wales has recently retrenched from Chester to Wrexham on its Barmouth X94. With the recent appointment of a Welsh Trawscambria manager, things may change. His remit is developmental though lean years to come may have some impact.

One easy way of expanding Trawscambria is to fill in the gaps between the map’s red buses and green trains and to subsume those bus services not directly competing with rail that perform more than local functions. These might include the X63 Brecon-Swansea, X43 Abergavenny-Cardiff and X50/52 Rhyl-Wrexham. The recent upgrade to the X63 was designed to Trawscambria specification.

Now’s the right time to see a second Trawscambria expansion. Trawscambria was born 30 years ago—remember the 700 Bangor-Cardiff?—and its development till 2005 was patchy. To date, the principle’s been the replacement of sometimes piecemeal services with regular, connecting ones. Seasonal traffic congestion in parts of rural Wales can hinder these connections. Pivotal has been the all-new Newtown-Brecon service, the first time ever there’s been a regular bus along the Cambrian mountain spine.

Trawscambria is now a Welsh government-controlled brand though technically it still belongs to Arriva Buses Wales as successor to the original owner, Crosville Motor Services. You can now see Trawscambria branding on Arriva, First, Stagecoach & Richards Bros buses.

Update at 1800: find the map online here

Additional information by Omnibuses’ Northern Correspondent

Merry Christmas

Here’s a thing. After the atheist bus advert campaign that sort of backfired, this Christmas Christian churches will begin their first ever organised advertising campaign. And it’s coming specifically to a bus shelter near you.

“Christmas starts with Christ” aims to retell the Nativity in a modern, secular context. In particular, agency churchad.net is concentrating on bus shelters because these, they believe, are the modern day equivalent of a stable. Not a bad analogy, actually, as there are parallels with “no room at the inn”. Bus shelters can and actually do offer shelter to marginalised and homeless people, for short periods and long, during the day and evening. Passing through bus shelters will be a great many people whose lives are in need to the hope of the Easter & Christmas messages, the agency feels.

Getting all modern: note the Tesco carrier bag at the foot of the TfL flag pole

The campaign aims to sponsor 2,000 shelter adverts in the last two weeks of December 2009. For a modest sum, local churches can “buy” an advert in local shelters and they are being invited to give a carol concert on 22 December 2009 at or by their respective shelters. Who was it who said churches needed to get out beyond their buildings? Bet they never thought that this would involve a bus shelter.

With Advent but 24 days away, may we be the first to wish you all a merry Christmas.