Ambling my way through Edinburgh's near deserted Cameron Toll Shopping Centre at 8.40 this morning, contemplating another fun-filled day at the office, I looked up at the rather impressive electronic board above the exit. This technological wizardry listed all the Lothian buses serving the shopping centre, where to get them and how long they would be (I can hear the smart-arses among you saying 'about twelve feet')
Impressed though I was with this information, there was one service which has a little asterisk next to it with the disclaimer 'this is not a real time bus'.
I contemplated that statement for a moment. What did they mean by that, I wondered? Had Edinburgh been taken over by aliens overnight and we were now travelling back in time? As we commemorate the 70th year since the outbreak of World War Two, were we heading back to the times of the blitz? Or further back to a period when Hibernian last won the Scottish Cup? Or even further back to when Adullamite was a child? Was this bus a figment of imagination? Would it ever appear in real life? Then it struck me (the answer, not the bus)
Edinburgh's Lothian Buses operate a bus tracker system where you can see an electronic display at many bus stops in the city centre which advises how long the next service will be. The bus that 'wasn't a real time bus' must have been an older vehicle that did not have the technology fitted. Therefore, one would have to resort to old fashioned methods and consult the timetable. I should point out that only Lothian Buses use this technology as they appear to put the needs of their passengers above all else. Worst Group (Rants passim) don't bother with such ethos although it's rumoured they are replacing their timetables with a calendar...
However, it got me thinking about the proposed high speed rail link between Edinburgh/Glasgow and London which was announced last week. With trains travelling at 200 miles per hour it's envisaged the journey times between Scotland and the old smoke will be cut to little over two and a half hours - by the year 2030...
I harbour suspicions that - particularly if Worst Group are given the franchise - will never be a real time train...
3 comments:
Ah, but what is real, and what does it have to do with reality?
fun-filled day at the office - something wrong with that but just can't pick it.
How hilarious real time - never ever seen public transport operate all over the world on real time. Cameron Toll shopping centre - now you are bringing back memories.
We have been talking about fast trains between Sydney and Canberra here - for 20 years. It would be great, really great so I hope they do it. What it takes about an hour in the plane between Edinburgh and London - then three hours to get out of the airport? It will be good,and hopefully real. 2030 I will come back to see it.
Isn't it a cool idea? Hah! =)
I love Edinburgh, as it's full of some nice and sometimes surprising things.
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