Fair enough.

Is it fair to say that for these six weeks the service level between Bath and Filton will be broadly similar to what it normally is?

And, presumably, the line between Bath and Bristol will be closed for a few weeks at some point and replaced by a bus service.

I'm confused. If the western approach to Bath Spa is closed for the second three weeks, how will the trains reverse from Parkway to Bath Spa?

There are ways around this, in the long term. For example <http://spectrum.ieee.org/transportation/advanced-cars/the-allelectric-car-you-never-plug-in> and <http://primove.bombardier.com/application/automotive/>.

Would it really make much difference? Or would most staff simply TUPE^▸ (The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006.) over to the new operator, bringing all their experience with them?

Journey times for quite a number of years have been longer than they were in the 1980s and this has not caused house prices to be below 1980s levels.

Thanks. Sounds like lack of or unclear information is the standard for Combined Rail & Bus tickets, then.

First Great Western claim to be unable to tell me which bus operators have agreed to accept their "Combined Rail & Bus Tickets" tickets from Bath Spa to "Midsomer Norton Bus" (XBR) and "Radstock Bus" (XEQ), and on which route numbers.

I cannot find any information about these tickets on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) or National Rail websites, but they come up on <http://www.brfares.com> and on the First Bus website <http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/bristol_bath/tickets/bus_rail/combined.php>.

FGW also won't tell me whether their Terms and Conditions for these tickets provide for them to be accepted for boarding at intermediate stops, for example to travel from Peasedown to either Bath or Radstock.

I have asked twice. The first reply took 36 hours and said:-


To which I responded (after checking with Traveline, who say they copied it to the Regional Customer Services Director for First.):-

FGW sent an auto-reply saying:-

And today, 24 days later:-

I also contacted First Bus, as their website does not mention the 379 in connection with these tickets,

Nearly three weeks ago and their website still doesn't say so. They also claim not to know about validity for boarding at intermediate stops.

I followed this up by asking whether they told their drivers to accept them or refuse them if a customer boarded at an intermediate stop, but they have not replied.

Wessex Connect tell me they do not accept these tickets, and BANES council says their contracted services are not required to accept them, it being down to bi-party agreements between FGW and the individual bus operators.

This is all just idle curiosity since First Bus changed their fare structure and Wessex Connect stopped accepting the First Day, First Week, etc. tickets on their council-contracted services out of Bath in the evenings and a lot of peoplr were moaning about it. The fares from Bath to Midsomer Norton shown at <http://www.brfares.com/#!fares?orig=BTH^» (Bath Spa - next trains)&dest=XBR> compare well.

As a kid, I was always amused by the Weetabix boxes stating the nutritional information in milligrammes per ounce.

Or

Melksham - Frome 234
Frome - Wells 161

Do you have to use them by 31st August, or else cash them in for "West of England" tickets?

The Journey planner at <http://www.travelinesw.com/swe/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en&timeOffset=15> finds no route from Bath to Southampton if you only select bus and only select operators with "First" in the name.

Whatever happened to the tram proposals for Bath and Bristol?

Much of the "Trams for Bath" website at <http://www.bathtram.org/tfb/tP000.htm> is still up, and contains a lot of interesting information. It looks like they put in a lot of work, but the website hasn't been updated since 2002/2003. This is a shame, as there now seem to be viable alternatives to overhead wires, such as Alstom^s APS <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-level_power_supply>  or Bombardier^s PRIMOVE <http://primove.bombardier.com/application/light-rail/>, which are both mentioned in this article  <http://www.therailengineer.com/2012/11/28/trams-without-wires/>.

The links "Trams for Bath" have to the proposed Bristol scheme are dead, but there are articles such as <http://www.bathtram.org/tfb/tG37.htm> and <http://www.bathtram.org/tfb/tG35.htm>.

There is also a mention of the Trondheim Bicycle Lift. The link is dead, but City of Trondheim's own website mentions it at <http://www.trondheim.no/content.ap?thisId=1117614134>. Fascinating; Bath could make good use of several of those.

Indeed. It's a First Great Western product.


Not sure I understand that; for buses only there are plenty of cheaper tickets available so there would be no point buying this one. For trains as well as buses, Freedom Travelpass is excellent value.


The only previous price rise in over three years of using this ticket coincided with that year's January fares hike.

And I don't think the bus operators have much input. I have an email from one saying, "We get a very small fixed sum from
First Great Western for being part of the scheme. If we were to get an excessive number of these tickets offered I might need
to reassess our participation."

Sorry for the late reply. I only just saw your post.


That's right.


I usually get them at Bath Spa; enough people buy them there that most of the staff know what you are asking for and how to find it. You supposedly need a photocard with the monthly version, which they often do not check you have when selling the ticket. This can be an issue because the photocard is sometimes asked for when the ticket is checked.

I have also bought at Temple Meads occasionally, without difficulty.

A few weeks back I had a few minutes to spare before my train at Filton on an evening there was actually somebody there to sell tickets. He said he had never sold one before, and couldn't find it on his cheat sheet. But after looking at some training notes he poked around for a bit and found it on the machine.

I only tried to buy once on a bus (First), and the driver could not find it on the machine. I generally buy in advance at the railway station: as well as First drivers not working out how to sell the Freedom Travelpass, the bus I get is just as likely to be Somerbus, who accept it but don't sell it.

According to BANES Council's website <http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/services/parking-and-travel/public-transport/buses/fares-season-tickets-bathrider>, "The bus operators have a duty to provide all their drivers with a copy of the latest fare table available for inspection by any member of the public. Please note the fare table is for inspection only and cannot be taken off the bus."