24 Reflections and 24 Quiz Questions about my 2024
21 December 2024
ABOVE: Diamond Bus North West 30652 (YJ24 EJK), an ADL Enviro200 MMC, is seen in Leigh Bus Station on Saturday 29 June 2024. I couldn't find a suitable route 24 picture so I've chosen a 24-reg vehicle instead!
As we get close to Christmas, I've been reflecting on my travels through 2024. I'll do my normal annual round-up and stats special next time, but I thought I would put forward 24 reflections on 2024 today. And, as I set quizzes in another life, I've decided to set a completely self-indulgent quiz as well (with 24 questions, naturally), all based on the stories I have brought you this year.
So here goes...
Reflections
1) I do sometimes repeat myself – I try not to, but I’ve published so much material now that I sometimes forget that I’ve already used something.
2) The most ludicrous things make me think of buses. Even a saw-tooth parking arrangement for cars, as at this petrol station near Brunel's Iron Bridge in West London, makes me think of a bus station with similar arrangements.
2) The most ludicrous things make me think of buses. Even a saw-tooth parking arrangement for cars, as at this petrol station near Brunel's Iron Bridge in West London, makes me think of a bus station with similar arrangements.
3) The £2 fare has stopped a lot of people from stating their destination. Nowadays many just board and ask for a “single, please”.
4) The £2 fare has also stopped some people from even speaking to the driver. They just put the coins down on the counter and wait for a ticket!
5) “Tap-On, Tap-Off” (TOTO) is less of a big deal with a £2 cap. At least two drivers this year just asked me to “tap on”, when I was in TOTO territory, without giving any indication that I had to tap-off again. I did as I was bid and was still only charged £2.
6) I hope both passengers and operators remember that the new £3 fare is a “cap”, not a “fare”; shorter-distance journey fares won't automatically go up to £3.
7) I had naturally assumed that a non-London service would charge £2, even for a journey in the London area, but Carousel Buses service 102 (High Wycombe to Heathrow) only charges £1.75 for the section from Uxbridge to Heathrow – the same fare as the London bus routes that link the same two points. Perhaps if Carousel made a bigger noise about this, it would get more customers than there were on the Saturday lunchtime ride I made a few weeks ago.
ABOVE: Carousel Buses 614 (GH64 OXF), an ADL Enviro400 MMC, is part-way through a journey on "Flightline" route 102 (Heathrow to High Wycombe), as it passes along Belmont Road in Uxbridge, on Saturday 23 November 2024.
8) The London Superloop still feels like a bit of a gimmick to me, but its very existence has brought me some great new friends this year. We first met in Croydon and rode to Heathrow on the SL7. We met again to do the SL9 & SL10 up to North Finchley, and, in four trips we went right round the loop. We then went to Imberbus together.
My plan for 2025 is to get the rest of the gang to ride the Birmingham Outer Circle 11A or 11C!
ABOVE: Arriva London HA46 (LK66 HBU), an ADL Enviro400H City, passes along Ilford Lane during a journey on Superloop route SL2, on Saturday 11 May 2024
9) I was going to write a heavily-critical piece on Transport for London (TfL) early this year. What I wanted to say a year ago still needs saying, but I need to be restrained and not to get carried away. When I’m in the right frame of mind, I will write it!
ABOVE: An example of the deterioration in standards at Transport for London is Transport UK 8880 (SN17 MOU), an ADL Enviro200 MMC, working route 195 on Sunday 15 December 2024. It has just left the Iron Bridge stop on the outskirts of Southall and is presumably heading towards Brentford, although with no front or side information it's hard to tell.
10) I wish people wouldn't rely on Facebook to share important information, such as the cancellation of feeder buses to Running Days. Not all of us can access Facebook; I was blocked for a “breach of the rules” within half an hour of signing up.
11) I didn’t go to the Gravesend Running Day in October because I couldn’t find any information about it in advance. Someone was very active in visiting other Running Days to dish out leaflets about it, but nothing was published online at any place that I could find.
I found information on the evening of the event (ie, after the fact) to say that there had been some feeder buses from South East London, but there were no details and no times. The only other place to get details was at a model shop in the town, apparently. I got as far as Abbey Wood, but the prospect of a 45-minute wait for a train, and a rail replacement bus journey to follow, when I didn’t know whether it would be worth it, put me off. I ended up in Morden instead. Like you do.
ABOVE: My unscheduled trip across South London on Sunday 13 October 2024 ultimately took me to Morden. London General Ee154 (LG23 FGZ), a BYD D8UR-DD ADL Enviro400EV, calls at the Throwley Way stop on Benhill Avenue in Sutton, working route 154 from Morden to West Croydon
12) I still get very few ‘fails’ where buses don’t turn up at all. I can’t recall a single occasion this year where a scheduled bus that I had been intending to catch did not turn up eventually.
13) They don’t always turn up on time, of course, and I have already recounted how I gave up on an X15 from Oxford after 40 minutes, only for it reportedly to have turned up around one minute later.
14) At 41 minutes late, the X15 was the longest delay beyond the scheduled time of the buses that I set out to catch. However, the X15 that I nearly caught - had it not been turning short - was almost an hour late, and the X1 that I eventually left Oxford on was 67 minutes behind schedule. (Services that day were running reasonably regularly; just not to time as they were all delayed.)
15) It’s still better to have a plan than not to have one, but I often seem to set off without one and it generally works out.
16) It’s really tricky at the moment to keep up with all the new types of bus coming into service, and their model names. Normally there is a gentle flow of new vehicle designs over a number of years, but it’s become a sudden flurry at present as everyone vies to get their electric vehicle designs out.
ABOVE: First Portsmouth, Fareham & Gosport 63623 (BJ73 WVH) is a Wright GB Kite Electroliner. It is on route 1 (Southsea to Portsmouth Harbour, Gunwharf Quays, via Fratton) turning from Queen Street into Wickham Street, just around the corner from Portsmouth Harbour, on Saturday 8 June 2024
17) I spend a lot of time working on my Home Page, trying to make it look attractive and easy to find articles. Then I direct my regulars, via X, straight to the specific article that I have just published. So I wonder how often people actually see my Home page? (Go on, have a look…!)
18) My 100 British Bus Routes feature has progressed (slowly) this year, but one route I really should have done and didn’t do in 2024 was route 24.
19) Photographs are really important for this site, which is why I get frustrated when it’s raining, or the window is too filthy, or is blocked by a screen, or is covered in advertising material, etc. The rain is just one of those things, but all of the others are avoidable.
20) I have found out today that the Autonomous bus trial in Edinburgh, which I visited in 2023, is coming to an end in February 2025. I wonder what will happen to the specially-kitted-out vehicles?
ABOVE: Stagecoach East Scotland 62001 (YX69 NUH) is an ADL Enviro200AV (Autonomous Vehicle). It is seen at Ferrytoll Park & Ride on Friday 8 September 2023.
21) I caught a 24-year-old Volvo B10BLE Wright Renown, B10 YKT, in Blackburn in June, a week after there had been some sort of ‘farewell’ event for the type at the Blackburn Bus Company. The bus was still operating months after my visit, but there’s no record, on BusTimes.org, of it having operated since 23 October 2024, so it looks as though it has finally been retired. Fellow Renown 1103 (PN02 HVK), two years younger but still 22 years old, remains in service, and is running on route 2 from Blackburn to Chorley as I write this on 21 December 2024.
22) The most ludicrous things make me think of buses. I recently discovered a wonderful arrangement, on YouTube, of the orchestral composition Danzón No. 2 (1994) by Mexican composer Arturo Márquez (born 1950). This version, with around 30 musicians and a dancer, was recorded during lockdown under the title of “La Orquesta Imposible” (“The Impossible Orchestra”).
The musicians were recorded in groups of two or three, in different studios around the world, so most of them never met during the recording. But it’s brilliant because it is edited together seamlessly and they’re all having so much fun (just watch violinist Maxim Vengerov, for example). The performers are completely engrossed in the beautiful music and it's lovely to watch the intensity, and to see how music can break down barriers and bring people together in a way that nothing else can.
This has absolutely nothing to do with buses, but the Swiss flautist Emmanuel Pahud appears at around 04:18 playing a piccolo, and around 15 seconds later he is back with a flute. I just look at this thinking “short Enviro, long Enviro”. I know…
Piccolo
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Flute
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ABOVE: Short Enviro, Long Enviro - ENN 57 (YX69 NYC, left) of Arriva London is an 8.9-metre ADL Enviro200 MMC, whilst Stagecoach South 26154 (SN67 WVY, right) is an 11.8-metre version of the same model. The Arriva bus is in Enfield, North London, on Wednesday 15 November 2023, whilst the Stagecoach vehicle is reversing out of the stand at Havant Bus Station whilst working route 23 on Frday 7 June 2024.
23) A colleague bought me a bar of this limited-edition chocolate. It tasted lovely as well!
24) I do sometimes repeat myself – I try not to, but I’ve published so much material now that I sometimes forget that I’ve already used something.
Quiz
All of the answers to the questions below can be found within the articles published on this site during 2024, including the 100 British Bus Route stories for routes 2, 6, 12, 15, 16, 28, 29, 33, 38, 41, 59, 62 and 99.
There's a link at the bottom of the section to take you to the answers.
There's a link at the bottom of the section to take you to the answers.
1) Guglielmo Marconi opened the world's first wireless factory in which city in 1899?
2) What’s the nearest town, and what route was I travelling on, when I passed through the settlement of Norton Fitzwarren?
"Norton Fitzwarren dates back thousands of years, as evidenced by the nearby Norton Hillfort, a large fortified hilltop site occupied since neolithic times. Legend has it that a fearsome dragon once inhabited the hillfort and terrorised the local people until it was slain by a medieval knight."
3) What “cosy fishing village” did William the Conqueror land at in 1066, and which route was I on when I passed it?
4) Which former railway station in Kent is this (below)?
5) Who is Roger Bourgein? (Clue: He's easily heard!)
6) Which bus route largely follows the A4040 Ring Road?
7) What is “Dick’s Maggot”?
8) What happens next on route 8 between Walsall and Lichfield)?
"A woman is travelling with a severely-disabled child. The driver leaves the cab, opens out the ramp and allows them to board. The woman wheels her charge into the Wheelchair User space and secures the chair. Meantime, the driver has folded up the ramp and got back into the cab. The woman goes to pay..."
9) What unusual thing (for me) happened on board the Hulley's of Baslow route 110 bus from Ashbourne to Matlock?
10) Which was my shortest bus ride of the year?
11) What does my acronym AAAC stand for, and what specific event does it refer to?
12) Where did I find the "Summat to Ate" steak restaurant, but declined to stop because it was only summat past 10 in the morning (George Formby lived in the town as a child)?
13) Which new transport interchange has been nicknamed "the Tissue Box"?
14) The village of Hollow Bay in "The Secret of Crickley Hall" by James Herbert is based on which town in Devon, that was devastated by floods in 1952?
15) Which Bus Station, with the initials GC, is operational for just one day a year?
16) Which University has a Bus Interchange known as the “Underpass", because it is underneath one of the University buildings? And what route was I on when I passed it?
17) What time does the first Newport Bus route 66 bus of the day depart Hereford Railway Station on (a) Schooldays, (b) School Holidays and (c) Saturdays)?
18) Apart from in West London, where can one find a Sudbury just a few miles from an Acton?
19) Which bus company runs these unusual B8L MCV eVoSetis (below)?
20) What route am I on where I describe the below?
“We are venturing into the heart of the Snowdonia (Eryri in Welsh) National Park. Covering 823 square miles, the area is home to a variety of wildlife such as otters, water voles, feral ponies and rare birds. The National Trust advises that there are over 1,000 archaeological sites here, including seven scheduled ancient monuments.
“The A5 cuts a route between the mountain ranges of Carneddau (to the north) and Glyderau (to the south). The Carneddau range has 19 peaks of at least 2,000 feet above sea level, whilst the Glyderau, a smaller range, can offer 11 more. No wonder it all looks so stunning. I'm running out of superlatives!”
21) Which Oxfordshire town has a tradition of bun-throwing on specific days of celebration, such as royal marriages, Coronations and Jubilees?
22) What bay in Haverfordwest Bus Station does route 381 to Tenby not currently leave from, despite every source of information saying that it does?
23) The Landsker Line - a term used to describe the language border in Wales with the English-speaking "Little England beyond Wales" is largely in which county?
24) What was Sir Ken Dodd describing here:
"Sixteen Corinthian columns, sixty feet high, supporting the façade. It started out as a bus shelter, but it just got a bit out of hand."