Trivia: Bus firms with unfortunate nicknames

[JRT]

Or Clitheroe

Yes I had trouble planning bus trips to theses when I had to use the local library for my internet use, on account of the council's nanny software.

 

[SCH117X]

Seen Connexions referred to as Conoxious

 

[galwhv69]

Metroline - Metrocrime
RATP Group - PRAT Group

 

[Busoccultation]

CT Plus - CT Minus

 

[AlastairFraser]

Thames Travel usually gets called Thames Trouble, Reading Buses is Regular Breakdowns and Arriva The Shires gets nicknamed Arriva Slowly and Often Not At All

 

[bussnapperwm]

Rotala Groups Diremond (Diamond) North West... at one stage service was dire due to a massive exodus of ex Worst (First) staff.

Central Disconnect (Central Connect, now part of Diamond WM) was a other as huge parts of its network was disconnected from others.

A bit OT but does anyone remember Nationalised Distress when DOR took on NX East Coast.

 

[unlevel42]

in addition to the observations above, in the 80s when the Sheffield to Hanley bus was late for its departure and had not arrived at its stand in Pond Street it was not uncommon for some students to shout very loudly and in an agitated state "Where the **** is the PMT bus? Where the**** is it? etc, etc,". It was funny the first time but became very irritating!

 

[Flange Squeal]

Countryliner was known as "Binliner", although this seemed to come more from other operators' coach drivers, rather than the public/enthusiasts towards their bus division.

 

[Springs Branch]

My dad often referred to the large undertaking which ran cherry-red buses all over NW England from its HQ in Frenchwood Avenue, Preston as DRibble.

 

[DunsBus]

IDM Travel of Wooler was known locally to stand for I Don't Move.

 

[danielnez1]

I know this is not strictly on topic but when Arriva NE thrust the Temsa Avenue buses upon the poor people of Teesside, they had a press release calling them "Turkish Delight". That quickly changed to "Turkish Alight" after a number of them burnt themselves out.

 

[gka472l]

Also not quite on topic as it's a real name, but I'm sure a few of us on here have heard of the German coach operator with an 'interesting' name.......

 

[Bletchleyite]

I always found PMT an unfortunate name. Clearly given that abbrieviation by men who may not have realised the abbreviation is much more common for Pre-Menstrual Tension.

I thought that when I first saw it, particularly during Barbie days when it just said First(f) PMT. Goodness knows why they didn't just put Potteries.

I've always assumed Arriva to be pronounced "Areeva" which wouldn't make that work so well. Is that not the case?

I've heard them referred to as "Non Arriva", which does fit. And First of course naturally just goes to Farce (or Worst as others say). Not classic ones like the others, though.

When I was at uni we called UK North "UK & S****" because they were, but we were probably just being crude. (It was in its first incarnation called "UK & North" with the ampersand, dropped in a later incarnation). And R Bullock was the "B******s Bus", though that was with quite a bit more fondness (think "the dog's") as they were OK. I don't recall Finglands getting a nickname.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Goodness knows why they didn't just put Potteries.
To be fair to First, it's a long-standing fleetname. However, for a spell in c.1980/1, the NBC did toy with Potteries as a fleetname, as this pic from Cliff the Milk shows:

PMT LEYLAND NATIONAL XEH 254M

XEH 254M was one of the short Leyland Nationals in the PMT fleet>They din't last too long in service,with only one,252,lasting long enough to receive the red and yellow livery of the privitised PMT.

www.flickr.com

I'm a little surprised that you've not proferred up MK Metro as MK Deathrow as one of my friends in the area referred to them.

 

[ACBest]

Back when Arriva The Shires went through a spate of bus fires, I heard them being referred to as Arriva The Fires!

 

[GatwickDepress]

A colleague used to refer to Stagecoach's Hastings Arrows as 'Hastings No-shows' on account of their reliability (or lack of it) back then.

 

[TheManWho]

Back when Arriva The Shires went through a spate of bus fires, I heard them being referred to as Arriva The Fires!

I know one local company MD in Hertfordshire used to replace the "r" in The Shires with a "t"

 

[nw1]

Also not quite on topic as it's a real name, but I'm sure a few of us on here have heard of the German coach operator with an 'interesting' name.......

Are we thinking something related to mountains directly east of Garmisch? Or suburbs of Bern?

 

[duncanp]

Are we thinking something related to mountains directly east of Garmisch? Or suburbs of Bern?

Well the cable car in that region is called the W***bahn.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Well, if we're going international...

There was a proposal to operate a metro service on the line through Huancayo, Peru. There is an official photograph of one of the units bought to operate the service, proudly bearing a destination blind with 'Metro Wa**a'. I daren't upload it here.

 

[nw1]

Well the cable car in that region is called the W***bahn.

The mountain I was referring to comprises the first four letters of that word.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Well the cable car in that region is called the W***bahn.

And don't forget the rather cruder Italian brand of the rail and bus network known in Swiss German as Ssif in the Centovalli border area...

(Edit: "Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinesi SA")

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

And don't forget the rather cruder Italian brand of the rail and bus network known in Swiss German as Ssif in the Centovalli border area...

(Edit: "Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinesi SA")

In the spirit of Only Fools and Horses, the municipal firm on Tenerife - Transportes Interurbanos de Tenerife SA

 

[Bletchleyite]

In the spirit of Only Fools and Horses, the municipal firm on Tenerife - Transportes Interurbanos de Tenerife SA

A quick Google confirms that that, too, is painted on the side!

 

[GusB]

This isn't a company name, but I've seen photos where "Extrafahrt" is displayed on destination blinds in (I think) Switzerland. I believe it means "special excursion".

 

[py_megapixel]

This isn't a company name, but I've seen photos where "Extrafahrt" is displayed on destination blinds in (I think) Switzerland. I believe it means "special excursion".

Literally means "Additional journey", so yes, I guess that could be what it means, though I've never seen it myself

 

[Ken H]

This isn't a company name, but I've seen photos where "Extrafahrt" is displayed on destination blinds in (I think) Switzerland. I believe it means "special excursion".

Fahrt usually means excursion in German. My mum laughed at superfahrt.

 

[Bletchleyite]

This isn't a company name, but I've seen photos where "Extrafahrt" is displayed on destination blinds in (I think) Switzerland. I believe it means "special excursion".

It means "additional journey", could be a special run or a duplicate. Though "Sonderfahrt" might also be used for a special run.

 

[JRT]

It means "additional journey", could be a special run or a duplicate. Though "Sonderfahrt" might also be used for a special run.

Yeah, Extrafahrt = duplicate to an existing service, and Sonderfahrt = a special service, could be a summer-only timetabled journey or an excursion.

 

[Trackman]

I've been on Cumfybus that serve Greater Manchester(?) and Merseyside.
A couple of the vinyl letters had been peeled away on the door.
I noticed it straight away and had a bit of a childish giggle.