On 10/02/2019 15:03, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at
13:51:40 on Sun, 10 Feb 2019, Arthur Figgis
remarked:
On 10/02/2019 13:30, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at
13:12:32 on Sun, 10 Feb 2019, Arthur Figgis
remarked:
Waiting at a bus stop yesterday, I noticed the times for a
few-days-a-year return bus service from Kingston to Eastbourne.

Why does this exist?

Does anyone actually spend 3h 5min on a bus to Eastbourne,
ratherÂ* thanÂ* take a train?
Â*Easily beaten by the 3hrs 50mins for the Oxford-Cambridge bus.

These days aren't those posh vehicles with according to Stagecoach
"the luxury of leather reclining seats, air conditioning and free
Wi-Fi" (and tiolets), rather than ordinary red double-deckers like
this https://www.flickr.com/photos/drakes...hs/35717850435

Yes, it's cheap, 10 quid return compared to train fares from
GBP8.50Â* single... but you would spend more of the day on the
bus than inÂ* Eastbourne. It looks like coffin-dodger passes are
not valid(?).
Â*The X5 (above) offers an unspecified discount for card-holders
beforeÂ* 9:30 which implies they are valid after 9:30.

"Special £7 Return on 774 only for Freedom Pass Holders.No other
concessions available."
Â*What's 774?

Dorking to Tunbridge Wells or Bluewater, it seems. GoAhead seem to
have a handful of these odd infrequent return services.
Â*I was wondering how 774 applied to the X5.

I was wondering how the X5 applied to transport in (or from) London...

It's a well-known example of a bus service with longer end-to-end times
than the OP's. Or do you think residents of Kingston are more fidgety
than those in Oxford or Cambridge?

I can see the need for a frequent, direct link between a major centre of
education, science, technology etc, south Midlands-ish towns not linked
by rail, and a place where marmalade comes from, but it is less obvious
where there would be a bus from a fairly generic suburb to a suburb
no-one has heard of to a place with fast trains to a random seaside town.

Some years ago I found a London bus route which had a "parliamentary"
style service which had apparently linked an old people's residential
area with a supermarket, which had since been eclipsed by changing
retail patterns but did have a non-obvious reason to be there.

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

In message , at
16:06:20 on Sun, 10 Feb 2019, Arthur Figgis
remarked:
On 10/02/2019 15:03, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at
13:51:40 on Sun, 10 Feb 2019, Arthur Figgis
remarked:
On 10/02/2019 13:30, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at
13:12:32 on Sun, 10 Feb 2019, Arthur Figgis
remarked:
Waiting at a bus stop yesterday, I noticed the times for a
few-days-a-year return bus service from Kingston to Eastbourne.

Why does this exist?

Does anyone actually spend 3h 5min on a bus to Eastbourne,
rather* than* take a train?
*Easily beaten by the 3hrs 50mins for the Oxford-Cambridge bus.

These days aren't those posh vehicles with according to
Stagecoach "the luxury of leather reclining seats, air
conditioning and free Wi-Fi" (and tiolets), rather than ordinary
red double-deckers like this
https://www.flickr.com/photos/drakes...hs/35717850435

Yes, it's cheap, 10 quid return compared to train fares from
GBP8.50* single... but you would spend more of the day on the
bus than in* Eastbourne. It looks like coffin-dodger passes are not valid(?).
*The X5 (above) offers an unspecified discount for card-holders
before* 9:30 which implies they are valid after 9:30.

"Special £7 Return on 774 only for Freedom Pass Holders.No other
concessions available."
*What's 774?

Dorking to Tunbridge Wells or Bluewater, it seems. GoAhead seem to
have a handful of these odd infrequent return services.
*I was wondering how 774 applied to the X5.

I was wondering how the X5 applied to transport in (or from) London...
It's a well-known example of a bus service with longer end-to-end
times than the OP's. Or do you think residents of Kingston are more
fidgety than those in Oxford or Cambridge?

I can see the need for a frequent, direct link between a major centre
of education, science, technology etc, south Midlands-ish towns not
linked by rail, and a place where marmalade comes from,

The perceived need is somewhat diluted by the ~4hr each way timing.

--
Roland Perry

On 10/02/2019 16:06, Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 10/02/2019 15:03, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at
13:51:40 on Sun, 10 Feb 2019, Arthur Figgis
remarked:
On 10/02/2019 13:30, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at
13:12:32 on Sun, 10 Feb 2019, Arthur Figgis
remarked:
Waiting at a bus stop yesterday, I noticed the times for a
few-days-a-year return bus service from Kingston to Eastbourne.

Why does this exist?

Does anyone actually spend 3h 5min on a bus to Eastbourne,
ratherÂ* thanÂ* take a train?
Â*Easily beaten by the 3hrs 50mins for the Oxford-Cambridge bus.

These days aren't those posh vehicles with according to
Stagecoach "the luxury of leather reclining seats, air
conditioning and free Wi-Fi" (and tiolets), rather than ordinary
red double-deckers like this
https://www.flickr.com/photos/drakes...hs/35717850435

Yes, it's cheap, 10 quid return compared to train fares from
GBP8.50Â* single... but you would spend more of the day on the
bus than inÂ* Eastbourne. It looks like coffin-dodger passes are
not valid(?).
Â*The X5 (above) offers an unspecified discount for card-holders
beforeÂ* 9:30 which implies they are valid after 9:30.

"Special £7 Return on 774 only for Freedom Pass Holders.No other
concessions available."
Â*What's 774?

Dorking to Tunbridge Wells or Bluewater, it seems. GoAhead seem to
have a handful of these odd infrequent return services.
Â*I was wondering how 774 applied to the X5.

I was wondering how the X5 applied to transport in (or from) London...

It's a well-known example of a bus service with longer end-to-end
times than the OP's. Or do you think residents of Kingston are more
fidgety than those in Oxford or Cambridge?

I can see the need for a frequent, direct link between a major centre of
education, science, technology etc, south Midlands-ish towns not linked
by rail, and a place where marmalade comes from, but it is less obvious
where there would be a bus from a fairly generic suburb to a suburb
no-one has heard of to a place with fast trains to a random seaside town.


It's not a question of "need".

You may find it hard to believe but some people enjoy sitting on a bus
and looking at what's passing by outside the window; then spending a few
hours at the seaside (or wherever); then sitting on the bus on the way
back looking out the windows again (or if it's dark talking about what
they've seen and done). And they'd rather do that - very cheaply - than
spend more money on a faster route by means of a series of journeys by
rail. There may not be very many such people these days. But it
doesn't take very many to make a service which runs so rarely
potentially profitable, especially if Go Ahead are making use of assets
which would otherwise not be in use.


--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

On 10/02/2019 21:32, Robin wrote:

You may find it hard to believe but some people enjoy sitting on a bus
and looking at what's passing by outside the window; then spending a few
hours at the seaside (or wherever); then sitting on the bus on the way
back looking out the windows again (or if it's dark talking about what
they've seen and done).Â* And they'd rather do that - very cheaply - than
spend more money on a faster route by means of a series of journeys by
rail.Â* There may not be very many such people these days.Â* But it
doesn't take very many to make a service which runs so rarely
potentially profitable, especially if Go Ahead are making use of assets
which would otherwise not be in use.

I can see that that works for some services (hello Yorkshire Coastliner,
or the often packed summer buses along the coast), but I'm amazed there
are enough people in Kingston and Sutton wanting to do it.


--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK