TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
All
Had a day off on Friday and decided to have a day out courtesy of a Worcestershire CC "Connecta" ticket. The info online was looking decidedly out of date but some vague mentions on the Diamond and First websites encouraged me to go for it anyway.
I drove up to Tewkesbury for the 540 to Evesham. Fuelled with coffee, I went into bat and naturally, the Astons driver had no knowledge of such a ticket. The confusion not being helped by him being Eastern European and not having great English. Still, we found it on the ticket machine and many smiles and 8 quid later, we were sorted. It being 0830, it was too early for passes and so few passengers in the next hour as the modern Streetlite made its way on the tendered run and, despite it being lightly loaded and on a rural service, the Streetlite wasn't a bad machine to spend an hour on. One other observation - why doesn't a sparsely loaded tendered route extend the two minutes from the layover stop and run to the rail station? I'm not in favour of running to the station as per the law of the continent, but when it can be done, why not?
Diamond Bus
Now I've not been on a Diamond bus outside WM but have read some fairly scathing comments. Hence I was keen to see what the Worcestershire operations would be like. Waiting on what passes for Evesham bus station (two stops on the main drag) was the first of three Diamond journeys. It was another Streetlite, being a 65 plate. No issues with my ticket though the driver was wrestling with a sickly Ticketer machine. However, as soon as he started the engine, the rattling began. I've seen and heard this on a few Streetlites (but not my earlier one); a rattle of poor build quality around the emergency door. We set off with that accompaniment on a 247 for Redditch that loops through half the town and various retail parks before finally exiting and heading for Bidford. This means a visit fleetingly into Warwickshire where (in the absence of Worcestershire style CC flags) it seems that First Midland Red still operates. Passenger figures thinned out, only climbing again from Alcester. However, it was the performance of the Streetlite that was most alarming - barely able to climb the hill from the Alex hospital in Redditch. A total contrast to the earlier Streetlite that performed ably.
A very quick change in Redditch onto 30932, a former First Dart and one of the few machines inherited when Rotala bought the Kiddy and Redditch ops. However, not before being able to hear several people in Redditch bus station complaining about the poor service provided by Diamond. People seemed very vocal, complaining about no shows etc. In fairness, this Dart provided a very speedy, on time trip via Bromsgrove to Kidderminster. Granted, it had a few rattles as a 14 year old Dart would, but it was not too bad.
We arrived at Kiddy bus station, where bored looking Diamond drivers were waiting for their various machines - no welfare facilities? I grabbed a coffee in Coffee #1 and then went for the 2 to Bewdley. All this time, various Diamond vehicles arrived and left - all in range of colours. We had standard blue of course. There were ex Hansons white blue and green plus ex Central Buses red, white, grey and yellow, all with Diamond logos unceremoniously clagged on. There was also a Volvo in full Wessex Star livery. Clearly, Kiddy is the place to be if you want to relive your days of being in Bristol - my bus to Bewdley was an ex Bristol Eclipse 30813. A notice on the stand stated that the half hourly 2/2A was being re-routed and that one variation was being speeded up to avoid one estate as from 2nd Sep but that if that didn't result in increase loadings, it would be withdrawn as from 28th Sep..... Work that one out.
What I saw in Diamond was an operation that seemed to hark back to the 1990s. Many vehicles in various liveries. Those vehicles in Diamond blue looked shabby - ill matched panels so that the Diamond fleetname was in two halves of different sizes on more than one vehicle. There was an almost total lack of internal advertising and promotion but then again, why promote when the base product is seemingly so far from being right.
The Indies
After the short hop to Bewdley and a break for lunch, some intensely rural operations as I travelled on R&B Travel's tendered run to Tenbury Wells - a very cute place with lots of old established retailers and traders (necessitating another border crossing to and from Shropshire) using a slightly tired Solo that in keeping with the retro feel still retained roller blinds; the driver was unsure of my ticket - probably on the grounds of rarity! My next bus was the long established Yarranton Bros service to Worcester. They have operated this for many years as an old style independent - one main stage route, a few additional market services and then schools and coaching. Their stage run depends on college kids and necessitates a full size bus in the fleet - usually a heavyweight. Having had Omnicities and Solars in the past, it is currently a 14 plate Citaro. To be fair, it was a lovely machine and was spotless, though with a few uncharacteristic rattles and squeaks. Even on a Friday afternoon, there were a few passengers and most were fair paying adolescents rather than pensioners. We were late into Worcester and so slightly hampered the second stage of my plan.
First Midlands
First Midlands' Worcester depot is the last remaining outpost of the former MRW business, a firm butchered by closures and sales. I was keen to see what this was like, given the news of more service reductions/changes etc but also new developments. The late running arrival meant I missed my chance to do the revised Salt Road 144 to Droitwich. Instead, I caught a related 144A short working with a Barbie liveried B7TL, leaping off to allow me to catch a refurbished Salt Road Eclipse heading the other way. From the dowdy Barbie to a nicely appointed Eclipse with internal promotion and USB ports etc.
It really sums up First's Worcester operations. It has the potential and some high points. There has been investment - new fleet arrived with Streetlites and Streetdecks albeit in standard livery with a fuchsia front and some route branding. There have been route developments like extending the 144A to Stourbridge commercially, or the Evesham route to Alcester yet these haven't survived. Is it because the marketing seems haphazard or incomplete?
To sum this up, it was my final journey. The 363 to Tewkesbury. I did think about getting the 332 to Upton and changing but decided against that risk and so eschewed the modern Streetlite. Instead, the 363 was a 2003 Solo in 53048 - clearly it had a mid life overhaul judging by the decent seats but the exterior was a Worcester City logo on standard faded, battered Barbie. This route is apparently due for major cuts (though reports suggest it has been retained for a little while pending a review).
It really summed things up. You have a corridor with inconsistent services, inconsistent quality, muddled branding. The good mixed up with the decidedly average. And then it started raining!
All in all, I found it all rather depressing - two very average operators (though First was much better than Diamond) in a county that barely supports bus services and has a bus ticket in Connecta that would be quite handy but is barely promoted.
Hope this has been of interest and has shone a light on a rather neglected part of the country.
Had a day off on Friday and decided to have a day out courtesy of a Worcestershire CC "Connecta" ticket. The info online was looking decidedly out of date but some vague mentions on the Diamond and First websites encouraged me to go for it anyway.
I drove up to Tewkesbury for the 540 to Evesham. Fuelled with coffee, I went into bat and naturally, the Astons driver had no knowledge of such a ticket. The confusion not being helped by him being Eastern European and not having great English. Still, we found it on the ticket machine and many smiles and 8 quid later, we were sorted. It being 0830, it was too early for passes and so few passengers in the next hour as the modern Streetlite made its way on the tendered run and, despite it being lightly loaded and on a rural service, the Streetlite wasn't a bad machine to spend an hour on. One other observation - why doesn't a sparsely loaded tendered route extend the two minutes from the layover stop and run to the rail station? I'm not in favour of running to the station as per the law of the continent, but when it can be done, why not?
Diamond Bus
Now I've not been on a Diamond bus outside WM but have read some fairly scathing comments. Hence I was keen to see what the Worcestershire operations would be like. Waiting on what passes for Evesham bus station (two stops on the main drag) was the first of three Diamond journeys. It was another Streetlite, being a 65 plate. No issues with my ticket though the driver was wrestling with a sickly Ticketer machine. However, as soon as he started the engine, the rattling began. I've seen and heard this on a few Streetlites (but not my earlier one); a rattle of poor build quality around the emergency door. We set off with that accompaniment on a 247 for Redditch that loops through half the town and various retail parks before finally exiting and heading for Bidford. This means a visit fleetingly into Warwickshire where (in the absence of Worcestershire style CC flags) it seems that First Midland Red still operates. Passenger figures thinned out, only climbing again from Alcester. However, it was the performance of the Streetlite that was most alarming - barely able to climb the hill from the Alex hospital in Redditch. A total contrast to the earlier Streetlite that performed ably.
A very quick change in Redditch onto 30932, a former First Dart and one of the few machines inherited when Rotala bought the Kiddy and Redditch ops. However, not before being able to hear several people in Redditch bus station complaining about the poor service provided by Diamond. People seemed very vocal, complaining about no shows etc. In fairness, this Dart provided a very speedy, on time trip via Bromsgrove to Kidderminster. Granted, it had a few rattles as a 14 year old Dart would, but it was not too bad.
We arrived at Kiddy bus station, where bored looking Diamond drivers were waiting for their various machines - no welfare facilities? I grabbed a coffee in Coffee #1 and then went for the 2 to Bewdley. All this time, various Diamond vehicles arrived and left - all in range of colours. We had standard blue of course. There were ex Hansons white blue and green plus ex Central Buses red, white, grey and yellow, all with Diamond logos unceremoniously clagged on. There was also a Volvo in full Wessex Star livery. Clearly, Kiddy is the place to be if you want to relive your days of being in Bristol - my bus to Bewdley was an ex Bristol Eclipse 30813. A notice on the stand stated that the half hourly 2/2A was being re-routed and that one variation was being speeded up to avoid one estate as from 2nd Sep but that if that didn't result in increase loadings, it would be withdrawn as from 28th Sep..... Work that one out.
What I saw in Diamond was an operation that seemed to hark back to the 1990s. Many vehicles in various liveries. Those vehicles in Diamond blue looked shabby - ill matched panels so that the Diamond fleetname was in two halves of different sizes on more than one vehicle. There was an almost total lack of internal advertising and promotion but then again, why promote when the base product is seemingly so far from being right.
The Indies
After the short hop to Bewdley and a break for lunch, some intensely rural operations as I travelled on R&B Travel's tendered run to Tenbury Wells - a very cute place with lots of old established retailers and traders (necessitating another border crossing to and from Shropshire) using a slightly tired Solo that in keeping with the retro feel still retained roller blinds; the driver was unsure of my ticket - probably on the grounds of rarity! My next bus was the long established Yarranton Bros service to Worcester. They have operated this for many years as an old style independent - one main stage route, a few additional market services and then schools and coaching. Their stage run depends on college kids and necessitates a full size bus in the fleet - usually a heavyweight. Having had Omnicities and Solars in the past, it is currently a 14 plate Citaro. To be fair, it was a lovely machine and was spotless, though with a few uncharacteristic rattles and squeaks. Even on a Friday afternoon, there were a few passengers and most were fair paying adolescents rather than pensioners. We were late into Worcester and so slightly hampered the second stage of my plan.
First Midlands
First Midlands' Worcester depot is the last remaining outpost of the former MRW business, a firm butchered by closures and sales. I was keen to see what this was like, given the news of more service reductions/changes etc but also new developments. The late running arrival meant I missed my chance to do the revised Salt Road 144 to Droitwich. Instead, I caught a related 144A short working with a Barbie liveried B7TL, leaping off to allow me to catch a refurbished Salt Road Eclipse heading the other way. From the dowdy Barbie to a nicely appointed Eclipse with internal promotion and USB ports etc.
It really sums up First's Worcester operations. It has the potential and some high points. There has been investment - new fleet arrived with Streetlites and Streetdecks albeit in standard livery with a fuchsia front and some route branding. There have been route developments like extending the 144A to Stourbridge commercially, or the Evesham route to Alcester yet these haven't survived. Is it because the marketing seems haphazard or incomplete?
To sum this up, it was my final journey. The 363 to Tewkesbury. I did think about getting the 332 to Upton and changing but decided against that risk and so eschewed the modern Streetlite. Instead, the 363 was a 2003 Solo in 53048 - clearly it had a mid life overhaul judging by the decent seats but the exterior was a Worcester City logo on standard faded, battered Barbie. This route is apparently due for major cuts (though reports suggest it has been retained for a little while pending a review).
It really summed things up. You have a corridor with inconsistent services, inconsistent quality, muddled branding. The good mixed up with the decidedly average. And then it started raining!
All in all, I found it all rather depressing - two very average operators (though First was much better than Diamond) in a county that barely supports bus services and has a bus ticket in Connecta that would be quite handy but is barely promoted.
Hope this has been of interest and has shone a light on a rather neglected part of the country.
