(23/01/2016 21:57)wirralbus Wrote: [ -> ]To be honest Liverpool really doesn't have any spare bus station infrastructure really for a coach company the size of National Express to really feasibly use , but coaches shouldn't really impede the working of a bus station , if it does then it clearly doesn't work.
I know it is out of town and a 20-30 minute drive away from Liverpool City Centre I think
Liverpool South Parkway would be ideal as a base for National Express in Liverpool. I mean there are plenty of trains/buses that run from there to the City Centre and Airport so it is well connected. Plus the size of the concourse and road space could fit in at least 2 or 3 coaches as they await departure.
(08/02/2016 02:44)JamesR19 Wrote: [ -> ]I know it is out of town and a 20-30 minute drive away from Liverpool City Centre...
And, of course, after a Nat Ex journey lasting many hours, passengers would relish the prospect of jumping on an 86A - assuming they are running at that time of the day - and spend another 40 minutes getting to their final destination.
That suggestion is on a par with raising ticket prices at Anfield to ensure that only 'real fans' attend the games.
Many other areas have gone for Coachway operations , maybe an idea that has a bit to run .
Oh why did they pull down Skelhorne Street it was an ideal place to have a coach station , but the price of land in the city is just sky rocketing now .
I have to admit Norton Street wasn't ideal because of its location on the wrong side of the city but it had the space .
(08/02/2016 14:28)wirralbus Wrote: [ -> ]Many other areas have gone for Coachway operations , maybe an idea that has a bit to run .
Oh why did they pull down Skelhorne Street it was an ideal place to have a coach station , but the price of land in the city is just sky rocketing now .
I have to admit Norton Street wasn't ideal because of its location on the wrong side of the city but it had the space .
Don't forget, Skelhorne Street continued to operate after deregulation until the then owners (North Western?) needed to raise capital to keep its bus operations afloat. When it was sold to property speculators the land became a car park for years and Nat Ex used a portakabin on Brownlow Hill as a booking office until the recently closed coach station in Norton Street was built.
There are currently disused layby's on Smithdown Lane at the top of Brownlow Hill by the old Archbishop Blanch school which could probably take 4 coaches with ample room to spare.
Okay, so it's not the city centre, but it's close, and it is close to the uni. The laybys themselves aren't exactly disused - they're currently 5mins free parking no-return, so they are never used by anybody because there is nothing around. I think they were more for the benefit of the school when that was there, but now they're just wasted space.
It'd be good if coaches could layover here, and maybe even serve it as a stop for the uni. I understand that the council has plans for the school site to become a new train station, but that is a few years off at least at the moment. Right now, the laybys are a good place to use for coach layover: the road has a decent width, and at this point there are no houses in the immediate vicinity to annoy residents with constant coach maneuvers.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.405741...a=!3m1!1e3
(08/02/2016 13:43)Barney Wrote: [ -> ]And, of course, after a Nat Ex journey lasting many hours, passengers would relish the prospect of jumping on an 86A - assuming they are running at that time of the day - and spend another 40 minutes getting to their final destination.
That suggestion is on a par with raising ticket prices at Anfield to ensure that only 'real fans' attend the games.
Who said that their journeys would be extended by 40 minutes on a bus? Ok it is a 20-30 minute drive in a car from LSP to the CC but if passengers used the train its only an added 10 minutes to both Lime Street and Central railway stations. Plus National Express do still have a stop available on Norton Street so they could just use that before or after LSP, depending on which way the coach comes into or leaves Liverpool.
I know I would love to add a 10 minute train journey to/from LSP rather than using the farcical Liverpool One.
(08/02/2016 23:49)JamesR19 Wrote: [ -> ]Who said that their journeys would be extended by 40 minutes on a bus? Ok it is a 20-30 minute drive in a car from LSP to the CC but if passengers used the train its only an added 10 minutes to both Lime Street and Central railway stations. Plus National Express do still have a stop available on Norton Street so they could just use that before or after LSP, depending on which way the coach comes into or leaves Liverpool.
I know I would love to add a 10 minute train journey to/from LSP rather than using the farcical Liverpool One.
Erm, Nat Ex is in direct competition with the national rail companies. Could you imagine Tesco's telling a customer to try Sainsbury's as its products are better, cheaper and can be delivered to your door more quickly? Of course not.
Think the only problem in Liverpool is none of the bus stations really if everybody is being honest about it has spare capacity for National Express extremely long coaches .
Coach dimensions just seem to be getting longer and longer and also moving from double to tri-axles as well.
(09/02/2016 14:36)wirralbus Wrote: [ -> ]Think the only problem in Liverpool is none of the bus stations really if everybody is being honest about it has spare capacity for National Express extremely long coaches .
Coach dimensions just seem to be getting longer and longer and also moving from double to tri-axles as well.
That is very true. On the continent, bus/coach stations are built with this is mind. For example, articulated inter-urban coaches are common-place throughout Spain and are easily accommodated in purpose-built coach stations. The fundamental problem is that, outside of London, bus and coach travel is seen as a poor man's option and there is a total lack of investment in infrastructure.
(09/02/2016 20:11)Dentonian Wrote: [ -> ]Presumably, the extra £3.80 isn't as significant to you as it is to most other coach passengers, then.
That, and why would Liverpool ONE be farcical to anybody other than some het up local. I know if I had paid to get a coach to Liverpool and had to endure a full journey, the last thing I'd want is to unload my luggage and board a train for a couple of stops, even if I did think L1 was a farce!
Public transport should be convenient for the passenger. Stopping 6 miles short of a destination is not convenient as far as I'm concerned.