A terrible incident

As most people who read this will know, our colleagues at Wilts & Dorset suffered a terrible incident earlier today when one of their open-top double deckers overturned following a collision with a car, resulting in upper deck passengers being thrown clear of the bus.

Mercifully - almost unbelievably in fact - there were no fatalities and only a modest number of passengers were injured, and none of them too seriously.

This is the kind of incident that it just seems impossible to believe has really happened. The idea of an open top bus toppling over and passengers being thrown out is a concept almost impossible to visualise. What must have been going through their minds when they realised what was happening to them?

Tonight I am feeling sorry for the passengers who were caught up in this dreadful incident, and their families. I am also thinking of the bus driver, who I see is being praised by the police for minimising the severity of this incident. Thankfully I have never been personally involved in any serious collision as a driver, so find it difficult to truly understand what he must be going through, and so can only begin to imagine how he will come to terms with what has happened today.

But I also want to say a word for the other representatives of Wilts & Dorset who will have been involved. For all those who attended the scene, as well as all those left back at base trying to pick up the pieces, today will have been an horrific day. It is hard for anyone who hasn't been in a position of responsibility when something like this has occurred, to imagine that initial phone call which stops your world, and that dawning moment of realisation that something horrible has taken place. To then have to attend such an incident, to be confronted with the reality of what has taken place, will have taken their breath away.

I saw a brief interview with Andrew Wickham, Operations Director of Go South Coast, on the BBC website and although the interview was brief and factual, Andrew covered the essential information extremely well and clearly, impressively so. However, a 20 second interview barely touches the surface of a whole day of unfolding drama such as this, and whether it is now or later, I feel quite sure that today's events will leave emotional scars forever on all those involved.

While relieved at the low number of casualties and absence of fatalities, one must not underestimate the emotional impact of having to deal with an incident such as today's, and so right now my thoughts are very much with my colleagues at Wilts & Dorset.

A new addition to the fleet

Today we are celebrating the newest addition to our fleet. Somewhat smaller in capacity than our other rolling stock, it nevertheless drives very smoothly, is highly manoeuvrable and will fit into the tightest of gaps, as this picture shows...

A day on the 8

For the second week in a row, I found myself doing the service 8 duty today, as I did a deal with the scheduled driver (in this case Matt) to cover work for me later in the week if I covered their Sunday. That doesn't mean that it has to be me that does the duty, but I do like it a lot and so I am not too upset that no-one else really wanted the rest day work.

Having said that, last Sunday was great fun from start to finish. Today I wasn't really in the mood when I crawled out of bed, thinking of all the things I could have been doing instead. That's the only problem with driving. I love it, but it stops you doing anything else useful at all.

Added to which, I felt grotty - felt sick, headache, bad stomach - my body was truly in revolt. So I shuffled into work, devoid of any kind of spring in my step, just in time to prep the bus and go. Taz was there to say hi, which cheered me up. Ant was there with his entourage waiting to go to Alton Bus Rally. I was so rude - didn't even say hi to them. Just crawled into my bus, did the walk-round check, set up the ticket machine, drivers seat and destination blind and left.

My steed for the day V7 GMT - recently transformed by the fitment of a new throttle cable. Previously it was like driving a house brick. Now it glides along effortlessly. A ridiculous amount of money well spent! Almost overnight, V7 has gone from being "don't use on Ringwood except as last resort" to first choice Ringwood motor. (In case you are wondering, its because the Ringwood routes are by far the most demanding we cover. Way higher mileage and average running speed than anything else, lots of big hills, tight schedule, you name it.) It has also had four opening passenger windows fitted which has vastly improved the ambience.

So off I go, leaving at 0910 from the yard which should give me about 5 minutes waiting time at Hythe, and sure enough I pull in to the Ferry Interchange at 0939 for a 0944 departure, giving me a few moments to chat to the driver on the 0943 Bluestar 9 heading down to Fawley.

I'm not up for this though. I have already decided that today is going to be a day to endure. The object of the exercise is going to be simply to get to the other end of the day, having looked after my customers the best I can along the way. Last week the revenue was abnormally good, so I'm not expecting a repeat performance and while I like seeing the money come in, maybe a quiet day isn't such a bad thing.

Off I go, empty, and the first customers I meet are the elderly couple who always get on at The Mead stop, and as usual they are very cheery and it is a pleasure to welcome them on board. This is my fourth time on this duty, but I have travelled several other times on the first couple of trips to show drivers the route, so I know some of the regulars and that cheers me up a bit.

A quiet trip into Southampton is no surprise - last week more or less every seat was taken by the time we reached the city on this trip - and a quiet trip back puts me back in Hythe ready for the 1144, feeling a little bit better but still wishing I was in bed, and with a lot less cash in the bag than I had this time last week. One of our regulars, our friend in Pooksgreen who always buys a return to Totton travelling out at 1008 and back at 1732 even adds to the shortfall this week, only buying a single.

Then the day goes mad. On the next round trip I am besieged with people coming from all directions and £5 notes are being handed to me in unprecedented quantities! I am quite certain that the amount I take on this round trip must be the highest for any individual round trip on this route ever. Where are they all coming from? What's more, being busy seems to have perked me up a bit and by Marchwood I'm starting to cheer up a bit, and by Totton I'm positively in the groove! Now I'm checking the module every few seconds it seems to work out how much I've taken, trying to remember how much I'd taken this time last week, how much more I'd need to take to beat last week. I still don't think I'm going to do it - I doubt I'll even come close - but someone has pressed the 'cold start' button in my brain and it's now revving near the top of the green band, and that's always a good sign!

Then, heading back towards Hythe on the 1246 from town, the unthinkable happens. As we leave Totton, I suddenly realise that I have gone from a long way behind, to being actually ahead of where I was this time last week! There is a Magic Number (commercial confidentiality prevents me from disclosing what precisely) that you must pass on the way to the end of this duty, as any figure below this Magic Number would be a failure, but sometimes it passes quite close to the end of the duty - I have had plenty of nail-biting moments in the past wondering if it would ever come, and certainly you never pass it in the first half, except that last week I did, and to my complete amazement I have done it again, and more!

So I am a much happier camper when I pull in at Hythe for my break- running a few minutes late because of the volume of passengers - at around 1345.

A few minutes later, after a quick walk into the village, I'm back on the bus munching a Waitrose sandwich and a drink, door open as an invitation to anyone who might want to come aboard, but enjoying a few minutes peace and quiet.

Then a very posh Merc draws up alongside and four gents spring out taking a close interest in the bus. The whole thing looks very official, and my mind goes into overdrive wondering what could merit such a dramatic scene.

Then the cameras emerge and before I know it, the four guys are lined up shoulder to shoulder on the pavement opposite, they are bus spotters taking pictures of the bus! Never before have I seen such a slick, disciplined approach to bus enthusiasm! Nor has anyone else in Hythe, for it seems the taxi drivers also present and the locals in the area are now clustered in little huddles showing as much interest in the photographers as they are in me!

A brief conversation reveals that they have spent the morning in Bournemouth riding on open-top buses and are now on their way to a bus rally in Alton, but one of them realised that there would be a Velvet bus to be seen if they dropped into Hythe at around this time!

Back to work now, and I'm back in the groove again as I leave on the 1414. Now I am continually drawing comparisons with last week. This is normally a quiet trip, but seven days ago I took more than £10 just in Hythe alone. This week, there is hardly anyone around so I am behind last week's figure again. However, for some reason, there is quite a crowd at Marchwood Church - normally nobody at this time - and suddenly I think I am up again. I stay just ahead of last week's figure all the way through Totton and into town - stopping twice along Millbrook Road to pick up people who stay seated and don't put their hand out because they are determined to catch a blue bus, and a little explanation is required to help them realise that the purple buses do all the same things that the blue ones do, so there is no reason not to ride!

Then, disaster! In Southampton City Centre on the 1516 to Hythe, I take no money at all! Normally this is quite a busy trip, mostly returns and passes but the odd farepayer, but today hardly any passengers and no farepayers! Suddenly I go from being just ahead of last week to way behind once again! There's no coming back from this, is there?!?

There is an elderly lady who boards this trip every week and gets off at Batts Corner just after Totton town centre. I am convinced that she can't tell the difference between me and Jamie and thinks we are the same person. She's always very cheerful though and we briefly discuss the weather. Then she asks if I will be on again next week, or if I am on holiday. The possibility of there being any other options seems to pass her by! I inform her that it should be Jamie, and this seems to confuse her quite a lot - giving me further evidence that she cannot tell us apart.

Into the last round trip now and I would need an unprecedented performance on this trip to match last week's figure and so I start trying to tell myself once again that I already have a more than respectable figure and to calm down about the whole thing!

Sure enough, a quiet run into town makes this almost inevitable, but as I pull onto the stop at West Quay I am suddenly besieged with fare paying passengers! Single to Marchwood after single to Marchwood rolls into the bag and the pound signs in my brain are starting to light up after all!

But as we pull away, and finding no farepayers at Central Station, I know that we are £5 behind last week's figure. It's still a very good figure, but after all I have gone through today, it really would have been the icing on the cake to have beaten it. The only remaining hope is Totton, which usually yields a few passengers but mostly passholders so my hopes are not high.

But then, at Asda, I find myself selling a single to Hythe! A youngish guy needing to get to Blackfield will ride with me to Hythe then transfer to Bluestar 9.

This leaves me precisely £1.50 short of last week and I look hopefully at the two passengers getting on behind - but they both show me free passes and so the fat lady is starting to sing.

But then, as we cross over Rumbridge Street there is a guy stood at the Batts Corner stop. He hails me, unbelievably there is money in his hand, and it's a single to Marchwood - it's £2.60, it's the winning goal, it's £1.10 more than the figure for last Sunday that I thought I wouldn't touch, it's fireworks, it's lights and it's a good job he moved fast or I may well have given him a big hug!

An hour or so later, I'm back in Eastleigh after an uneventful run through to Hythe, and now suddenly everything is right with the world. Even Ant and his cohorts are there, so I have the opportunity to apologise for my lack of communication this morning. I go home happy, reflecting on another awesome day on the 8!

In the middle of the night

Tuesday - a quiet evening in, plodding around the flat, doing bits and pieces on the computer, doing the washing, loading the dishwasher, high octane stuff! But I'm not tired and I'm putting off going to bed. Finish chatting to a friend on the computer around midnight and wonder what to do next.

The problem is solved for me. The phone rings. 0208. It's a rail job! Can we provide a bus for 0035 Eastleigh to Portsmouth Harbour via all stations?

I'm practically out of the front door before we've finished the call. 0035 is half an hour away, I'm in the centre of Southampton heading for my car. I tell them to expect the bus 10-15 late but it'll be there.

Halfway to Eastleigh Wimbledon Control ring back - double checking I know which stations I'm serving - I reel off Hedge End, Botley, Fareham, Portchester, Cosham, Hilsea, Fratton, Portsmouth & Southsea and Portsmouth Harbour from the top of my head and they seem happy.

I drive to Eastleigh - quickly run into the office, round to the yard, open the gate, I need 303 - it's at the back with V7 and V14 in front. Start 303, pull the DAFs out, drive 303 out, put the DAFs back - it's messy but they are out the way for the moment - out through the gate, lock the gate behind me, round to the station and I'm there at 0036!

You never know with rail rep passengers. Sometimes they're jolly and happy that you're there to get them home. Sometimes they're just stroppy because they've been turfed off a train unexpectedly - and I can't really blame them.

Tonight there is a distinct lack of cheer, but they're not going to spoil my mood! It's a quiet, still, calm night, hardly any traffic, beautiful driving conditions and a beautiful bus. The miles slip away effortlessly.

Hedge End - half a dozen noisy youngsters off - peace reigns. Botley - no-one. Turn round and a nice bit of country driving down through Curbridge and Burridge to Swanwick and into Fareham - one off, no-one else in sight. Good progress along the A27 to Portchester - one off, that was a surprise. A few more off at Cosham, really no point going to Hilsea cos there won't be anyone either on or off, but its what SWT want and that's what they'll get. But I was right. All the rest off at Fratton bar one who stays on til the bitter end. 1 hour 15 mins end to end - doesn't seem too bad really.

Back in the yard at 0230, quick chat with one of the truck drivers who's turned up to start work - likes to go early morning so he's finished by lunchtime - and I'm out by 0245 after a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Open even more hours

The fitting postscript to the last post about being called at odd hours, is that having gone to bed shortly after writing that post, I was then woken at 0545 the following morning by the phone ringing. Now you never get a phone call at 0545 unless its an emergency - driver not coming in, problems with buses, whatever. Unless - as in this case - it's a lady ringing to ask about the times of buses from Mansbridge to Eastleigh later that morning! Doh!!!

Open all hours

The time is now 2226 - or 10.26pm if you prefer your times in 'classic' format. The office phone is diverted to me this evening and I am at home, mixing my time between watching TV, surfing the internet and trying to get a couple of jobs done for the morning.

In the last half hour I have received two enquiries from members of the public asking about bus services from Parkway Station to the Rose Bowl. The first came from an 0208 number so that got the heart racing - I was convinced it was going to be South West Trains! Neither enquiry has been a problem, both gentlemen have been a pleasure to assist and they seem to appreciate the information I have given them.

So why am I writing about this?

Well it just strikes me as odd that anyone should expect to ring up at such a late hour expecting lines to be open and people on the other end of them! As a rule, if I am ringing a business as a customer, I would expect them to be winding down from about 5pm onwards, with only the biggest companies still manning their call centres at 8pm, and not much after that.

I am more than happy to help, but it just seems to be an odd time to be ringing with a query about bus times. Is it just me that finds that odd?

The Crazy Frog has croaked

Following the reduction in frequency of service A last weekend, we now have one bus surplus to requirements so we had given notice to Dawson Rentals that we would end our hire of V384 SVV from Tuesday 7th July.

Unfortunately, the sense of rejection obviously proved too much because it disgraced itself outside Hedge End Superstores on Friday evening, and cannot sensibly be repaired in time to be of any use.

So Steve's baby has withdrawn itself early, and he will now need to find one of the DAFs to adopt!