[heart-of-wessex]

Hello all,

On the 14th of August 2012 (Tuesday) I decided to make use of a 100% free travel bash, courtesy of First Somerset & Avon. They sent me a free First Day South West pass as the last bus back to Trowbridge failed to show up one day when I finished work, so I had to walk the 7 miles back home, so they sent me this as a goodwill gesture, not bad considering I paid £3.95 for the ticket to Melksham, and I have a ticket worth £7.

So, with a day off, I thought I'd make use of a bash rather than using it for work, it's a weekday after all! Of course, I realised I'd be paying food etc, so it's not a free day, just a free ride.
The name 'Darts and Parts' is because I wanted to do what Darts I could today, and I wanted to try an Eclipse 2 and a East Lancs Trident, as I've never done them yet, so I came up with the name Darts and Parts as it rhymes....well I couldn't think of anything else!


0605 265 Trowbridge Town Hall - Bath Bus Station

Starting of my favourite move, I appear to be the only one getting on at Trowbridge this morning. I am lumbered with the usual plastic rattle, ex-rail-link 42963, not the sort of Darts I was thinking of being on today but it does get me to Bath, so it'll have to do. It does seem odd getting on and not paying anything though!

We leave 2 late at 0607 as it arrived on departure time, but it's probably because it's slacked anyway, so far when I've been on it, it gets to Bath early.
I spent the journey transferring sights from my old 2010 First Bus fleetlist into my new First Bus Bristol fleetlist book by Steve White:

http://www.swhite.org.uk/steve/book.htm

It is well worth the £6, and has some decent photos on decent paper too! I only ticked off the ones for sight, yet to update with haulages by underlining the number, something I wasn't willing to do on the bus!!
We got to Bath 5 minutes early, well in time for the 0655 to Bristol.

0655 X39 Bath Bus Station - Bristol Bus Station

66730 (NOT a Class 66 by the way!) was on the X39 today, so another long drag to Bristol but the time passed as I finished off transferring numbers in my new book and checking out the photos. Not much to note otherwise, but I did see what looked like a B10M Learner Coach 60474 (Found it, it's an Alexander PS http://www.flickr.com/photos/gbbuspics/7032847363/) shame it's not for public use now, I'd jump on that on a X39 turn!

Arrival into Bristol Bus Station was 07:51, 4 minutes down.
Now decision time, where the hell do I start!! Well I could do with a coffee and roll or something to be honest, but my eyes are glazing over to a pristine Dart gleaming at me on Bay 17, so I peer over to see it's an M reg dart, 46610 M510DHU, but why is there people queuing for it, the next one is apparently at 0820...but it appears that it is in fact a late running 0750 Thornbury service, so without hesitation I queue up. Not bad making what would have been a -1 connection off the X39!

0750 310 Bristol Bus Station - Thornbury Rock Street

We depart Bay 17 8 minutes late, unfortunately the engine seats are taken so I'm in the middle, but there was some office veg sitting behind me laughing, having a banter, nattering about office stuff etc, so listening to the thrash was no use. I decide to stay put until they got off, they surely can't be going all the way to Thornbury. I decided to stay on until Thornbury anyway as I've not done the 310 there, nor have I ever been there.

Later on we passed through Filton and passed by Filton Airport, which was a nice sight, one of the office veg behind thought it was Bristol Airport though! !
Then we reached Aztec West where all the office lot and the rest of the bus tipped off, now for some dart thrash....well...only a group of people speaking in a foreign language decided to get on and start talking at a high level like the office veg were...maybe not just yet then!

We passed under the M5 and headed to Thornbury through some great scenery, one of the views was absolutely astonishing, as we were high up you could see the new Severn Bridge, part of South Wales and a huge mountain on the far horizon which, from what I can gather on the map, is looking over to Cwmbran and Newbridge!!!

We got to Alveston where the foreign people got off, and it was then quiet at last...now we are near Thornbury. After all, I wouldn't say it was a loud dart, surprisingly I couldn't hear the whine usually heard on the N reg darts from second gear.

I bailed off at Rock Street in Thorbury at 0848, 1 minute late arrival which wasn't bad at all. Now to hunt down a convenience store. It's actually a nice place here, and there's even a Greggs, so I went RA to a cashpoint for a tenner, and then went to Greggs for a bacon bap and a coffee for £2.
Then it was over to the Co-Op for a pack of Richmonds, then off to The Plain stop for the 0916 service to Bristol.

0916 309 Thornbury The Plain - Bristol Bus Station

The route 310 has appeared to finished, and it's now the 309 ever half hour. I don't know if this is dart operated or if it's a peak hour thing (the 310 appears to be peak hour only) but rounding the corner was an M reg dart...only 46610 M510 DHU again!

Time to scratch the route 309 off then with this dart! This was also rammed from Thornbury however I managed to grab a seat at the middle rear seat by the engine. The whine was just about audible from here, but sounds like it's silenced out or something, but still the mechanical music was good enough for me.
Not long after Thornbury we went up a 10% gradient which 46610 provided some rather good thrash on, and got to the top with ease

Then, we got caught up by a tailback, what's going on here??? It appears some cars ahead are moving on, and as it appears there is a small campervan ahead driving at walking pace with the hazards on...ok....
As we got near it when cars started overtaking it when they could, we rounded a corner and I could just make out a tractor ahead...not a John Deere type, but a proper old cab-less open air one. Towing the camper maybe?

We eventually got to overtake it and I saw a sign on the back of the said camper, it read that there was a slow moving vehicle ahead, Tractor on a sponsored drive from John O'Groats to Lands end!!!!
The camper was not connected to the Tractor, but appeared to act as a barrier for the Tractor, and just ahead was another camper and a Land Rover with a Trailer, probably the support vehicles.

(I searched this on Google, and it was a 1953 Marshall http://www.daat.org/news/Mary+Tracto...+to+Lands+End/)

We then got past Aztec West again, but just before Filton Airport, we swung off onto another road and ended up in Cribbs Causeway, where I thought half the bus would fly off, but as it turned out only two or three got off and no-one on.
Leaving here, we re-joined the 310 route in Filton then headed back through familiar territory back to Bristol Bus Station, arriving 6 minutes late at 1017, what a trek that was!

Now then, out the station to Rupert Street to see what darts are kicking out there, usually there's one sitting there on the 36 or something. A short walk finds me there to see the stops taken up by Gemini's and an ALX400...nothing yet then...
So I decided to note down some numbers whilst I'm waiting, since it's a busy trunk road too.

I see an ex-A4 P&R W reg East Lancs Lolyne Trident on the 20 Hengrove service, something I must do later, and I see a V reg ALX200 dart thrashing away too, something else I want to do!
Other bus types seen were the Eclipse IIs, Eclipse Gemini's, ALX400's, E400's and one R reg SLF. By now, there was another M reg dart that arrived from the 4 or 5, and was now forming the next service to Downend.

1035 4 Bristol Rupert Street - Downend

I was not going to turn down 46616, so I leapt on and decided to do it throughout, not done any route to Downend yet. I was the only one on until we reached Broadmead where it then started getting busy. 46616 sounded more like 46610, again a bit different sound to the N reg variety but still good nonetheless. Working out the mileage was something else as I didn't really note what route we took, but my Bristol Travel Map came in use to follow the route on Google Maps.

Not much to see on this route really, but still being on a steppy dart is good enough and is hard to imagine one day this will all be a thing of the past. I wonder what will be used on the 4 and 5 in the future?
On the way I also saw 46653 (N553 LHU) on the route 4, and later another un-ID step-entrance dart passed too. Plenty of these on the circuit today!

45 minutes later, and 9 miles bagged off 46616, we arrive at Downend on time.
I decide to head back to the Centre now on another route that I haven't done yet, and it isn't long before two buses appear, one on the 48 and one on the 342.

1120 342 Downend - Bristol Bus Station

The 48 was formed of an Eclipse Gemini, however the 342 was a Volvo B7TL/ALX400 number 32007 (W807 PAE) I don't think I've done a 32/0 down here yet, not that I recall in the past so by my records it's required for haulage anyway.

Upstairs only room on this, so I went to the top rear so I could hear if these sound like the WR03 reg ones in our area. Well I must admit 32007 at least sounds a bit different, screams a lot (turbo?) and seems to have different seats too.
The route was straightforward and we seemed to stop at practically every bus stop. We then appeared to be in the lane for the M32, could we be going on a Motorway? We did indeed! I didn't know this route did part of the M32, bit of a novelty, last time I did the M32 was on a Dennis Lance!

We passed Ikea and flew off to Bristol, and it wasn't long before we reached the end, but it wasn't far to the Bus Station from here. We arrive at the Bus Station 9 minutes late, having left Downend 7 late we lost 2 minutes somewhere along the route.
I now just need the 342 route from Downend to Chipping Sodbury.

I was going to head off to the Centre stops however I see N reg dart 46243 (dud) on the 354 Nailsea, worth a spin but I need a drink first, so I attempt to buy a Cola from the shop in the station, but some customer in front was faffing about giving exact change, and time was ticking away! I had exact change ready and I got served just 2 minutes before the 354 was due out! After a rapid purchase I shot over for the 354 and made it just in time!

1202 354 Bristol Bus Station - Long Ashton Theynes Croft

We left on time, pretty well loaded too, rear seats taken up, but audible from the middle, nice to hear the whine now from 2nd gear, a proper dart note, though I still say the P reg low floor darts can swipe the floor with thrash, something I need to do in the Bath area at some point.

I decide to take the 354 to Theynes Croft bus stop in Long Ashton, as I have the mileage worked out for this already, just something to make it easier! There is also a +12 at Long Ashton too for the return 354.
We get to the bus stop 7 minutes late (tight schedule I guess!!) and I cross over to get the return service.
I have a gander at the timetable on the post, and I can help but notice this one bus by North Somerset Coaches. Not only is there only one service, it runs on Fridays only! I can't help but think that is sounds like a parliamentary bus service to keep a bit of road open or something!
Looking at the X54 timetable, there is one at 1915 to Nailsea, and then this 1957 to Bristol, the other services use the by-pass.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6789390...in/photostream

1233 354 Long Ashton Theynes Croft - Bristol Bus Station

The 1233 appears to be running late, but still at least it was dry, and the view from the stop is something I like, I even managed to see a Class 153 and Class 150 pass on the mainline in the distance, I didn't actually know you could see the mainline from here.

N reg dart 46244 (another dud dart) showed up 6 minutes late for the return trip. Still I don't mind rides on dud darts at the moment, riding them while I can is the main idea! 46244 appears to be a bit knackered, as it sounds more like a thumper when on idle, felt a bit rough rocking back and forth when we weren't moving, but made a different tune that's for sure! The gears seemed to be a bit rough as well, jolting rather harshly as we changed gear but I've noticed this on most M or N reg darts.

More numbers were noted as we passed through the road version of Clapham Junction of buses (Bristol Centre stops) and then we got to the Bus Station 9 minutes late at 1258.
Time for lunch now, but where to go for food? Suddenly, this made me think of Asda, as I was actually thinking about going to the site at Longwell Green as it is supposedly big, so I better see it for myself then.
I gathered that some form of bus goes there as A Bus have a Omnidekka in the livery, and I would have though First would go there too.

Out with the huge foldout map, which turned a few eyes as it seemed to take up the whole bus station, it felt like holding some big OS map! I located Longwell Green and it is served by the 45, right off to The Horsefair bus stop then.

1323 45 Bristol The Horsefair - Longwell Green Craven Close

Eclipse Gemini 37618 (not in DRS livery ) was on the 45, a required for haulage bus and required route which was a double bonus. The route out was pretty straightforward, not far out the centre it's just basically down one road. We also go over Lawrence Hill Station, now I know how to get here should I ever bus it here.
I was going to come here earlier on for about 1145 actually, to see 31602 on the 0Z31 to Washwood Heath, but I couldn't decide if it was a good place to see the 31, would it be idling slowly or just making no noise? Instead I was doing darts at the time which seemed like a better idea to me!

Then it was a proper round the houses run to Cadbury Heath (or Cadbury Chocolate as I call it, it makes me want a Chocolate bar when I see the name!) then it was down a couple more roads to Craven Close, near to the Asda site. The 45 does go on to Longwell Green Leisure Centre so I need that little bit left before I can say I've done the 45.

The Asda here doesn't look big outside, but inside definitely is!! A whopping 32 Isles (or so, there are some un-numbered ones which probably add it up to 35-40 isles), a whopping George section, Pharmacy, café, Optician's and even a First Choice travel centre!
The Home and Leisure part had about 10 isles, even with a whopping Pre-Owned games/DVDs section! I took a nose around as this is my department at Melksham, which has 6 isles, and the variety here is much MUCH wider, I can see why it says 'Superstore' at the front, and can see why it's 24hr's too!
A chicken with sweetcorn sub was purchased, along with a pie and a large drink of summer fruits water (bloomin hot outside!) though I nearly bought The Railway Magazine (which had a free DVD of the Frothing Frothman..no taa) and BUSES magazine (surprise they stock these!) but I decided not to.

Back to Craven Close then to get a bus back to the City.

1448 45 Longwell Green Craven Close - Bristol Centre

Heavyweight Gemini 37772 ( sorry if you don't know railway Class 37 locos, you probably aren't getting the jokes!) turns up on the return 45. I sit upstairs and take numbers of other Geminis on the route 44/45 passing the other way, until we get into Bristol. The heat wasn't helping much though with me drifting off now and again, though the journey felt a lot quicker than the outbound run, even though I spent 4 more minutes on the route as I got off at Bristol Clapham Junction instead...I mean Bristol Centre.

I walked back over to Rupert Street, and got some sights on the way there, including an East Lancs Lolyle on the 90 to Hengrove (must do this type later!), an N reg Olympian of Abus, and surprisingly an ALX400 Volvo B7TL on the route 4! A slight contrast in size to the steppy dart I had earlier!

I was half tempted to fork out some cash for a ride on the Olympian, but I wanted to make the most of a 100% free day out!
I found the stop for the route 90 to Hengrove Depot, and looked at the timetable to see how frequent they are...every 10 minutes! flippin hell I thought it was every half hour or something! I wanted either a trident or an ALX200, so first up was a Wrights Crusader Volvo B6BLE, no taa. Flagged that up since it was only 10 minutes until the next one, then Dart 42732 (V732 FAE) on a ALX200 body turned up, that'll do!

1605 90 Bristol Rupert Street - Hengrove Depot

I've always wanted to go to Hengrove depot, but just never got round to doing it, so I was determined to do it on either of the million of routes that seem to go there! The bus was very busy, but the dart was very thrasy and entertaining too! We got round the corner to Bristol Centre to pick up more people, and I saw a Solo pass empty with the driver having a fag whilst driving ! Is this allowed, even empty? I don't know what operator it was, but had a North Somerset Council logo on the rear right side window, council operated maybe?

We then got to Bedminster where people started to get off at various stops from here, and then when down all sorts of back roads which were quite tight, especially at one junction where we waited for another V reg dart from Hengrove to clear the road, and behind this was a Wrights Crusader also on the 90 running practically empty bar one person, I guess it will hold back a bit later on!

Then we travel through some rather rough run down areas, which looked a right state, but probably has a better reputation than St Paul's or Easton.
Then on the outskirts of Hengrove, 32701 was seen on a 90 duty followed shortly by 32702 (both East Lancs Lolyle Tridents). We reached Hengrove Depot 2 minutes early, well I assume it was the 1605 from Bristol, being every 10 minutes I don't know if it's 10 minutes late and just looks like it's on time or not, who knows, it's just like not knowing if a London Underground train is on time or not!

The area is in an industrial estate, a rather quiet one at that, but I got to see the depot and stood by the gates taking numbers, not that I could see much in the depot. Two Learners were visible and some were seen in the shed, but couldn't see the numbers.
R reg dart 42710 was doing a couple of circuits round the depot with a fitter at the controls, looked like he was doing a power test hammering the throttle but holding the brake so he didn't go flying off, that was entertaining racket however!

Later, one of the depot managers (or someone in a shirt/tie) came out and kindly asked if I would stand across the road rather than stand at the gates, which was fair enough.
He was extremely nice though, and even asked if there was anything in particular I was after, so he got me the number of steppy dart 46328 that originally I couldn't see as it was far away. I did try to ask nicely if I could sign in and walk around the depot, but he said no with an apologetic face, knowing it was H&S that would halt that idea, but no harm in asking really! I gave up anyway since I couldn't see any other numbers, and after half an hour waiting, no East Lancs Trident came in or out to work a service!! grrr!

In that time though I spotted:

32704
37014/37018/37019/37317/37597/37602/37612/37619/37771
42712/42737
44905
48222/48214/48219

Along with 2 un-ID trainer buses, one coach, one minibus learner, the rear of two Eclipse Gemini's and the rear of one dart in the shed.

1712 76 Hengrove Depot - Bristol Centre

37014 pulled off Hengrove depot to work the 1708 to work the route 76, and we left 7 minutes late from the start! Another uneventful trip through some unfamiliar territory we landed back at Bristol Centre 6 minutes late, 1 minute gained en-route.
Not much to note here to be honest, though I did note a good view of the City on the horizon from St Peters Rise:

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hen...30.99,,0,-5.99

So now what to do? The bus stops were rammed being after 5pm, now it's going to bet a bit busy on services! I walked over to The Haymarket stops, and on the way my jaw took out the pavement as I saw an N reg steppy dart on the 332 from Bristol to Bath!! Envy!
Too late to catch it now as I saw it on the road leaving the Bus Station

So up at the Haymarket I waited for a Dennis Trident to show up as, if you've followed it correctly, I haven't done it yet. Plenty of Gemini's out and Volvo B7 ALX400's but no Trident in sight yet, but an R reg SLF dart 42718 appeared on the 20 to Hengrove so I took a spin on that to Hengrove, or so that was the plan.

1815 20 Bristol The Haymarket - Temple Meads

This of course was a rattly refreshed Dart engine, or I wouldn't be on it, but it was packed and got to the point of full and standing, so I decided to press the bell when Temple Meads came into view and bailed off there what felt like half an hour later, though it only took 10 minutes and was only 1 mile away!

Over the road I just missed 66729 on the X39 as the traffic lights let every car that exists in Bristol through first before the green man came on to let us cross, by that point the X39 was long gone.
So I waited just over 5 minutes before a bus showed (though two other non-First buses came in between) and it was 37355 on the 54 to Cribbs Causeway.

1835 54 Temple Meads - Clifton Westbury Road

I wondered weather to get off at the centre or go right up to Cribbs Causeway. Some deciding on weather to get the X39 or 319 was made whilst we were trundling through the City, and as we left to head up to Clifton, I checked the timetable to see when the 319 actually was. It appeared I had a long wait for the 2015 to Bath! Never mind then...

Cribbs was now flown out the window, but I stayed on a bit longer, wondering where to get off. Then, there was some whooping long hill ahead, and we had some run up it though we managed to keep a fairly good pace, the engine actually sounded a bit hellfire pushing all this weight up!
Then we came up to Blackboy Hill, a stop I recognize having done the route 8 or 9 up here once, but I wasn't interested in doing a Dart SLF back, but I'm sure there was some other routes up here. I decided to get off at the next stop up Westbury Road.

I crossed the road for the southbound stop and it wasn't long of a wait before an Eclipse 2 showed up, something else I wanted to try today!

1911 41 Clifton Westbury Road - Bristol The Horsefair

Eclipse 2 69455 (WX59 BJZ) was on the 41 ex-Avonmouth, my first 694xx in the book (though I need all the 695xx Airport lot)
These sound a lot quieter than the Eclipse Vovlo's B7's, as these have a Volvo B9RLE fitted, but there was a deep sort of hum to it, didn't sound too bad to be honest, and the interior was pretty good too (though I can't find an interior picture online)

The back seat was a bit cramped as usual, not as bad as the Eclipse 1 mind, as I didn't have to sit sideways to fit my long legs in and the seat in front doesn't vibrate to try and knock your knee out!

3 miles and 16 chains was bagged in, got a long way to go to get some miles off these, but that can be done after the Steppy Dart cascade.
Now I have around half an hour before getting the X39 back...what to do now? There was nothing really I could think of to do, so I simply waited at the Bus Station for the 2000 back to Bath...and looking at the screen of course, it's the 339 now not the X39.

66729 appeared on the service from Bath which is to work the 2000 back, which it did.

2000 339 Bristol Bus Station - Bath Bus Station

The bus was ready for service 5 minutes beforehand, and we left smack on time. I copped 69501, 503 and 504 in the parking bays, and 69500 in bay 6 or 7 on the Airport service. I also saw something I don't think I've seen here before, 47304 being the number, and looking it up, it's an N reg Dart on a UVG Urbanstar body!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23095055@N05/7748319898/

How long as this been here for??
Darts 46254 and 46651 were also noted on the parking bays, and then we left the station off to Bath. I was now going to transfer my numbers into my new book, but to be honest I felt a bit wrecked for some reason (usually the thought of trekking back through Bristol and Keynsham to get to Bath sends me to sleep) so I had a bit of shut-eye and seemed to sleep through parts of the route as Bath appeared in no time!

I'll probably transfer my numbers on the 265, as no doubt I'll have an Eclipse or Plastic Dart on the way back anyway.

So the half an hour connection was filled in with a move to KFC, and as I walked back after a hellfire dinner, I saw 42968 on the in bound 265 working....yawn.
For some reason, this parked up on Bay 6 rather than Bay 5, even though 5 was free until the 14A to Weston came in. I think this was a late runner too as it wasn't even shown on the boards, though he did sit there for a bit. A Crusader was spotted on the 18, which made me wonder why there is an 18 and a SPA route operated by First..different routes?

2115 265 Bath Bus Station - Trowbridge Town Hall

The 14A finally left and it was nearly time for the 265 to leave, the screens were still saying bay 5 for the 265 though. 42968 was still there with the lights off and saying 'Sorry, not in service' (ARE you actually sorry though? ) Then, P reg monster dart 46259 flew into Bay 5 with nothing on the front....surely not...??

You can just imagine my eyes wider than the sun and jaw smashing the floor (I think the council had a lot of work after I left!) when the blind flashed up '265 Trowbridge'!!!
There was only 2 other people getting on (one who just turned up decided to barge in front ) and the ticket machine was broke too, so a free-for-all, but probably only on this return trip. It turns out 42968 had failed so we had this beast instead!
Well, transferring the numbers went flying out the window at the speed of light, I'm getting recordings of this while I can!

I wrote the move in my moves book as we reversed out of Bay 6 just 5 minutes late. Pretty quiet since it was reversing, then we stopped, set into drive, and then I was shot out of my seat by the thrash as we thundered out the bus station! I remembered why I call them H-bombs (from Class 20s) now!
To have a full on non-city run on one of these made me smile, I can't wait for Winsley Hill!

Words cannot describe the thrash, so I'll upload a sound video tomorrow, you'll get the idea!

After a non stop run from Bathampton to Trowbridge, we arrived 3 minutes early, making up 8 minutes overall!
A very enjoyable day overall, my ears were ringing at the end, so it really was a good way to end the free bash courtesy of First!


I am thinking about setting up a First Day South West meet now I have some days in the weeks of here and there, and do a proper Bristol Darts day, and make the most of the Step Entrance Darts, because one day it will all vanish probably before our eyes. I know it's not Ivo's favourite either but I'm sure he could be persuaded to come along because it's a meet..

I also want to to a Week FDSW too, at £24 I think that is pretty good for a weeks worth!! The amount I could do with that..!


Also, Steve White has contacted me to say that the white coach at Hengrove was 20460


Sound Video of the Dart will probably be put up tomorrow night, I'll make sure it has the loud parts!


James.

[anthony263]

Excellent I certainly have to visist Bristol again to get some step entrance darts.

I havent been to bothered about visiting Bristol since I have started work and First Cymru have two step entrance darts again so I have been busy trying to bash them..


To anwer one of the your questions no you are not supposed to smoke at all on the bus even if it is empty.

[Birdbrain]

Good report but i don't think i could handle a dart bash! I remember the A reg Olympians and VR's in Bristol so bashing darts would just make me upset!

[Dennis]

Originally Posted by PHILIPE

I thought this was a Railway Forum.

Metro, Light Rail & Other Transport

Hmmm, Bristol dart bash.....might be up for that

[heart-of-wessex]

Cheers, maybe me, Anthony and Dennis, along with anyone else can come up with a plan for a meet.

I've noticed so far that the Step Entrances have been on:

4/5 - Bristol - Downend
24 - Bristol - Ashton Vale
36 - Bristol - Withywood
309/310 - Bristol - Thornbury
354 - Bristol - Nailsea
357 - Bristol - Portishead

And probably more. Plenty to go around, though I'd want to do this sooner than later just in case!

Sound clip of P259 PAE now up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edWvA...1&feature=plcp


P.S - Dennis, correct. An admin as followed this up, trip reports for this are permitted, my fault for forgetting to put 'bus' in the title

[Dennis]

deffo sooner rather than later; I should imagine there will be a post-olympics cascade and with the ongoing contraction of First operations, I can't see some of the older (usually = rateable ) stuff being around very much longer at all.