Herefords' Bus System
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
'Ahh the joys of attempting to traverse hereford in a bus' : Some bloke who rode the buses a lot.
Herefords' bus system is like many others in the UK, crap. buses in Hereford work according to their own personal laws of physics and time.
The bus service is run by the First Midland Red company of Worcester, meaning that they have to provide buses and timetables for both Hereford & Worcester. Unfortunately, since they are based in Worcester, Hereford has to play second fiddle. This means that Hereford timetables are little more than something to do mathematical puzzles on whilst waiting for your bus.
The Buses themselves are Mercedes Benz, 30 year old Mercedes Benz. This therefore means that the buses are to be frank, shagged. All the upholstery is torn and has never been changed in it's thirty year service. The suspension is something akin to 70's muscle cars, which means that you have a terrible ride. The tires are bald and are either under-inflated as to get more tire on the road or over-inflated to the verge of taking half of the county with it. However, the drivers have come up with an ingenious solution to slow down tire wear; They hurl the buses round corners so fast that rarely do more than two tires are on the ground at any one time.
Oh yes the drivers. They are the most surly entities you will ever come across, they never smile, never say 'please' or 'thankyou' and pull off when you adjust your centre of balance to sit down. They short-change you and always question your age. At the mearest hint of bumfluff they instantly assume you are 18 and start charging adult fares. They also smoke, on a NON-SMOKING bus.
However, this is not true of Worcester, home of FMR. The oldest bus I saw there was an 'S' registration bus. Their bus station is located under the Crowngate shopping centre whilst ours is located at the back of Tesco's. They have upholstered benches whilst we have rot ridden benches nicked from the park.
Given the choice, most of the people I interviewed, would not use the bus but since Hereford is a rural town, there is no alternative.
There has been talk of new buses, but the newest bus I have seen is a 'C' reg bus from Worcester. Which is the trend in this county; Anything that is too old or too dangerous to be used in Worcester, is snapped up by Hereford.
First Midland Red say that they will replace the buses when they conk out. But since the buses are Mercedes Benz, it looks like we've got a long wait ahead of us...
Herefords' bus system is like many others in the UK, crap. buses in Hereford work according to their own personal laws of physics and time.
The bus service is run by the First Midland Red company of Worcester, meaning that they have to provide buses and timetables for both Hereford & Worcester. Unfortunately, since they are based in Worcester, Hereford has to play second fiddle. This means that Hereford timetables are little more than something to do mathematical puzzles on whilst waiting for your bus.
The Buses themselves are Mercedes Benz, 30 year old Mercedes Benz. This therefore means that the buses are to be frank, shagged. All the upholstery is torn and has never been changed in it's thirty year service. The suspension is something akin to 70's muscle cars, which means that you have a terrible ride. The tires are bald and are either under-inflated as to get more tire on the road or over-inflated to the verge of taking half of the county with it. However, the drivers have come up with an ingenious solution to slow down tire wear; They hurl the buses round corners so fast that rarely do more than two tires are on the ground at any one time.
Oh yes the drivers. They are the most surly entities you will ever come across, they never smile, never say 'please' or 'thankyou' and pull off when you adjust your centre of balance to sit down. They short-change you and always question your age. At the mearest hint of bumfluff they instantly assume you are 18 and start charging adult fares. They also smoke, on a NON-SMOKING bus.
However, this is not true of Worcester, home of FMR. The oldest bus I saw there was an 'S' registration bus. Their bus station is located under the Crowngate shopping centre whilst ours is located at the back of Tesco's. They have upholstered benches whilst we have rot ridden benches nicked from the park.
Given the choice, most of the people I interviewed, would not use the bus but since Hereford is a rural town, there is no alternative.
There has been talk of new buses, but the newest bus I have seen is a 'C' reg bus from Worcester. Which is the trend in this county; Anything that is too old or too dangerous to be used in Worcester, is snapped up by Hereford.
First Midland Red say that they will replace the buses when they conk out. But since the buses are Mercedes Benz, it looks like we've got a long wait ahead of us...
