Thoughts from Southwestbus

Have you ever set out with some grand plans and then discovered 'life' completely stuffing them up? That's been the story of this summer and this autumn so far.  So, very little about the models this time. These days, I eke out a living driving MK7 Ford Transit jumbo minibuses for a small operator on WY Metro SEN Schools contracts. Since September 2020 I was working for a firm in South Kirkby, where I spent two and a half years until I no longer enjoyed it. There was the small matter of some people I hope never to meet stealing the bus from outside the house around 18 months ago. End of keeping a vehicle 'home' during a week, and an 18 mile round trip 39 weeks a year and cost to me of c£1500.... useful.  Nice, until it went one night... I was then put on a 'new' contract in September of last year, I no longer enjoyed working on that run, or there and so in January I made contact with B&J Goulding who were based in Knottingley 3 miles from where I now res...

Having maintained the usual spasmodic posting frequency into the 'summer' this is a quick post to let both my reader(s) know that I am still here, and also to reveal what will be a series of posts on a combined topic. This is the 'fleet standard'. In the two fleets I've operated there have been some standard buses and coaches which have been prevalent. Blue Bus was known for it's reliance on the Mercedes Vario/Plaxton Beaver 2 combination and the Van Hool Alizee (T8) has been a workhorse in both my fleets.  The series will span minibus, single and double decker buses and hopefully will provide interest to both of you who read this blog.   Other news has been the creation of a couple of articles for the Midland Bus Kits newsletter.  I split them into one about 'the collection' and 'the fleet'. The collection one has appeared in the May edition.  To subscribe to future editions of the Midland Bus Kits newsletter, click HERE . 

Some more topical news this week is this very sad case which reflects extremely poorly on the bus and coach industry. It concerns the successful judgment against a Yorkshire coach operator by a driver who has Asperger Syndrome who has won his case for constructive dismissal.  The judgment comes in three parts -  but the pertinent link is the third one which takes you to a 20 page PDF.  I've touched on my own struggles with Asperger's before on other posts here, but reading through the judgment is heartbreaking. I've experienced good employers (and a few bad ones) in my almost 19 year career and the good ones were the ones who took the time, and effort to understand what it means to be mildly autistic and what people with the condition can offer an employer.  The behaviours described within the judgment are experiences I readily relate to, and have in fact suffered elsewhere during my career. And that is sad as we can offer the industry quite a lot. Us Aspies tend t...

This week's item of interest in Route One magazine is the interesting (to us) topic of rural bus services being discussed by the Transport Select Committee.  A useful summary of the wibble discussed can be found on this link . Of interest was the transcript of the hearings which as always is illuminating.  You can click here for PDFs of the transcript.   One of the committee members is Chris Loder, MP for West Dorset and a former Railwayman. I met him in 2009 on a CILT 'Young Professionals' weekender in France. Suffice to say, he comes across in the hearings as a self important individual which is precisely the impression I gained from a few hours in his presence.  Being an MP is appropriate for someone with a god complex.... You know you're popular when you get an outing on a politics youtube channel.   What also comes across is his complete lack of knowledge about local bus services in his constituency. For someone with a rural area one would expect him to be ...

As I'm listening to BBC Radio Sheffield's football commentary (Rotherham United vs Blackburn Rovers as part of the marathon 5 hour afternoon coverage) some thoughts come to mind about the Government's £2 maximum fare scheme which a number of real operators are participating in from 1st January to 31st March 2023.  With us being a model operation we have a choice of either joining in or standing on the sidelines going 'we reject this'. Like many Government ideas it is good in principle but like most ideas might fall down in the execution - like the Concessionary Fare scheme which allows free travel for passholders.  Pushing the 'green' somewhat - our advert I don't think anyone can fault the concept of capping bus fares to stimulate bus journeys. It's something which has been tried a number of times in the past and it's proven to generate bus passenger journeys. As part of a battery of measures to alleviate the cost of living crisis in which we fi...

Sadly for both of you who read this blog I'm sitting here on Christmas Eve in a reflective mood. I've just spent a week hacking up my lungs with a bronchial cold and now have a functioning voice again. As opposed to the exceptionally poor Darth Vader voice I can do when full of cold.  I've got Radio 2's Pick of the pops blasting out and I'm starting to type as Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' is in full flow. This afternoon's choices are 1983 and 1995, both fairly decent years for music.  Christmas 1995 was the Wonderwall christmas, where Oasis had their hit high up in the charts. However it wasn't a no 1 - which is why the Channel 4 'Greatest Number 1 singles' compilation and programme doesn't include it, but instead has 'Don't Look Back In Anger' from April 1996 as the sole Oasis record on the compilation.   See, my useless knowledge extends beyond the world of buses.... :D  What have we achieved in 2022? Well, we've be...

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of my first 'proper' bus fleet, Blue Bus.  It ran under my control from 15/11/1997 until July of 2008 when I sold it to Pilgrim Travel  and entered the thrilling world of 'retirement'. This lasted less than 12 months as my present fleet was established in May 2009, initially operating in Kent and East Sussex (where I worked at the time) before moving to the non existent county of Wessex. Later in 2010, operations settled on Bridgwater in Somerset, where we continue to this day. Blue Bus began life under an odd set of circumstances. During my childhood I attended no fewer than five schools thanks to the losing of my special needs statement file by Somerset County Council. This meant I was denied the support I should have had through school and consequently my memories of that time are best left behind a firmly bolted door. I went to two primary schools and was probably happiest at the second. I was sad to leave people who ...