If you read my first Southbus Comment last month, you will recall how I'd become a regular bus user again following my move to Colchester. I do feel rather guilty about this but I have to report that today, I traded in my "Colchester Bus" travelcard add-on for a "Colchester North Station Car Park" travelcard add-on.
Much as I like buses (and this site is evidence of that), I have to say that I am not impressed with the bus service in Colchester. The reduction of the 10 minute frequency to a 2 hourly one on Sundays was mentioned last month - however, it is not this that has driven me back to my car.
The outward journey on my route (the 66) is fine, taking some 12 minutes to cover the distance between the Recreation Ground and Colchester North station. The return journey however, is a different matter, taking over double the time to cover the same distance.
The reason for this is that the 66 does not appear to be a cross-town service in the true sense. On its way back to Old Heath from Colchester North, it stops in the bus station for a period of time. On one occasion, it stopped in the bus station for over 10 minutes, during which time the driver abandoned the vehicle (sealing the passengers inside) and disappeared to do whatever drivers do.
Last week, I made the terrible error of arriving back in Colchester after 6.00 p.m (a quarter past six actually). With some trepidation (given that I was already going off the 66), I went down to the temporary bus stop and waited in the rain. The scheduled 66 failed to appear and eventually I decided to catch a 65 to the bus station. As no 66 was promised for some time here, I caught a 64 to a point near my home, the driver of which took my travelcard from me and examined it for some time before deciding I should be permitted to ride.
To cut a long and boring story short, it took me 50 minutes to cover the 2 miles to the Recreation Ground (it had taken me just under that to cover the 54 miles from Liverpool Street). I got home wet and miserable and it was at this point I resolved that the buses would need to improve before I got back on one. As I am cursed with having to work in Islington for the foreseeable future, my transport to and from the station needs to be a little more certain.
You may feel that I have been too easily discouraged. Whether this is true or not, I do feel that the bus companies have some way to go if they are to succeed in coaxing people from their cars. I am more disposed than many people to use the bus - however, I'm not prepared to sit on a stationary vehicle at Colchester Bus Station for up to 10 minutes on what is supposed to be a through facility, especially when I've been up since 5.30 a.m. I appreciate bus drivers need their rest too, but couldn't they have it at the terminus rather than the middle of the route?
Abandoned. First Eastern National Volvo B6/Alexander on service 66 in
Osborne Street, 27 April 2002Nigel Chatfield