Commuter coach is a viable alternative
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WITH British Rail drivers taking action for higher wages CM's feature writer, Brian Chalmers-Hunt, a regular rail commuter from Worthing in Sussex to London, discovered the delights of travel by coach.
Despite having to get himself from his bed 30 minutes earlier, our man discovered that coach travel provided standards of cleanliness and courtesy that he, as a rail commuter, had only dreamed of. Brian commented on the cleanliness of the vehicle — he could actually see through the windows, there was no dust on the seats and the ashtrays were empty. On his usual commuter electric multiple unit train, the windows are opaque with grime and the seats obviously dust-laden.
Other commuters forced by circumstances to use the coach commented also on the friendliness and courtesy of National Express and Southdown staff, the cleanliness of the coach and the low cost of the ticket.
Comments on the inflexibility of the coach timetable were the only uncompli mentary ones heard by Brian during his journey. Some commuters suggested that they would prefer to suffer the extra travelling time regularly if they could be sure of an extra coach running straight to their destination if they were delayed at the office.
Others regretted that the coach did not enter into direct competition with the railways, as they were sure that the service offered c4ould be more than comparable.
The lack of long-term parking facilities at the Worthing coach station was regretted by some passengers who had to start their journeys before the local stage carriage service started.
Southdown and National Express can, however, take a pat on the back because their standard winter service, although by no means designed to be a substitute for regular commuter trains, provided a creditable and, despite. being delayed in heavy car traffic, a viable alternative to public transport for our man Chalmers-Hunt and several of his regularly commuting friends.
Coach travel can therefore compete with trains on the standard of the service it offers.
Unfortunately, it often does not, as the fear of abstraction from our regularlycriticised rail services often deters the traffic commissioners and coach operators from authorising or promoting directly competing services.