The Public Transport Thread

[rob666]

As said several times, there used to be a more frequent service, but it was underused outside peak times, and uneconomic overall.
Universal will not make them change a thing...why would they?
Other public transport facilities would be nice, but nobody wants to fund them, and Merlin certainly won't when the car parks are rarely full, and a complete cash cow.

 

[BarryZola]

If they could do the stretch of canal from somewhere beyond Alton Station down to Crumpwood Weir that would be pretty cool. Not for transport, just for pleasure and aesthetics. Might be a bit pointless without connecting it to the rest of the existing canal network first though.

 

[rob666]

Lots of canal trust work is done in bits though, hoping to join them up...including that canal bridge over the M6 toll at Lichworth...got the bridge, just need the canal back...
I will turn up with my big spade if you do Mr Zola.
Just to discuss your barefoot runner fetish.

 

[Blackrock]

If they could do the stretch of canal from somewhere beyond Alton Station down to Crumpwood Weir that would be pretty cool. Not for transport, just for pleasure and aesthetics. Might be a bit pointless without connecting it to the rest of the existing canal network first though.

That’s their plan.

Alton to Denstone | Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust

www.cuct.org.uk

A lot of the old canal infrastructure is still in place down that way, even up the railway track towards oakamoor and in oakamoor itself you can see remnants of it.

If you sit in the Cricketers beer garden for example you can see the old bricked up canal tunnel

 

[flyingguitar]

As said several times, there used to be a more frequent service, but it was underused outside peak times, and uneconomic overall.
Universal will not make them change a thing...why would they?
Other public transport facilities would be nice, but nobody wants to fund them, and Merlin certainly won't when the car parks are rarely full, and a complete cash cow.

the problem was that as far as I can tell it was rarely advertised, and when speaking to people without cars a lot of them want to come to AT but can't because of how much of a pain it is to get there, their options are essentially pay out the nose for a taxi, or don't go.

also people don't like driving down country roads, I know a few people who have only ever driven down city style roads and never even gone on the motorway for them going to the centre of the country in a car is a very scary idea.

if it was advertised, with price discounts (most people going would be on a sunday, an often very quiet time for trains) I would look to see if deals could be made with train fares, it could be made easier as the train companies get renationalised (e.g 2 for 1 train tickets going to AT, etc)

Universal may change things because you will have a very good park close to a lot of AT market (such as Bham) currently AT are missing out completely on the public transport guests, when universal opens you will have a lot of themepark fans visiting, most won't have cars, that market of public transport guests will grow much larger (especially if the people want to visit more of the UK, they could take a trip up to manchester, etc.

I said AT would need it Sooner rather than later, as their market gets eaten into by uni, they could have the opportunity to expand their market, attracting more guests, they could sit back and continue to collect car parking but as guest numbers drop as more people go to uni.

 

[Blackrock]

It’d just be easier to trial coaches from Milton Keynes/Bedford itself wouldn’t it really. It’s not difficult to get to Alton Towers from those locations as it’s straight up the M1 to East Midlands Airport then along the A50 to Towers

 

[rob666]

... people without cars a lot of them want to come to AT but can't because of how much of a pain it is to get there, their options are essentially pay out the nose for a taxi, or don't go...

Or, again, they go on coach trips in the school holidays, as day trippers, or on overnight coach packages...like a couple of hundred thousand others.
Including me.
Giving up on this one now, I can only go on repeat so many times since the skyride refurbishment...

 

[DistortAMG]

Lots of canal trust work is done in bits though, hoping to join them up...including that canal bridge over the M6 toll at Lichworth...got the bridge, just need the canal back...
I will turn up with my big spade if you do Mr Zola.
Just to discuss your barefoot runner fetish.

Lichfield...

 

[jon81uk]

It’d just be easier to trial coaches from Milton Keynes/Bedford itself wouldn’t it really. It’s not difficult to get to Alton Towers from those locations as it’s straight up the M1 to East Midlands Airport then along the A50 to Towers

It already exists, every other Sunday in the summer can get the coach from London, via Milton Keynes and Bedford. £52 for an adult including park admission.

https://altontowers.thecoachcompany.co.uk/coachtrip/?page=bookingaquote&trip_type_id=10&trip_cate_id=&trip_group_id=1#ecm-trip-booking-page

 

[rob666]

Lichfield...

Yeah, they moved the whole bridge from Lichworth on the back of a big lorry didn't they?
(Help if the bloody place existed...but I knew there was the weird bridge though...somewhere.

 

[Squiggs]

Have we reached the stage of suggesting canal excursions to Alton Towers yet?

If so, I'm in!

 

[John]

Ten years ago it was nearly possible. You could take a trip along the Caldon canal to Froghall and then get the 14 or 15 bus to the park (only one of them though, I don't remember which). The problem with this idea was that I foolishly asked the driver when the last bus was and he told me the time of the one that DIDN'T go near Froghall. Turns out that whilst Froghall is technically walkable from the park, you don't really want to do it after a full day.

 

[DistortAMG]

Yeah, they moved the whole bridge from Lichworth on the back of a big lorry didn't they?
(Help if the bloody place existed...but I knew there was the weird bridge though...somewhere.

Oh yes, apologies they did, I had a blonde moment there.

Have we reached the stage of suggesting canal excursions to Alton Towers yet?

If so, I'm in!

We can get a lock system built by voulenteers, not to dissimilar to the photo below. The perfect solution to tackle the hill next to the back of the park. It should only take a day or two to traverse. Lovely.

 

[rob666]

Leave all the lock gates open...river rapids...for at least thirty seconds.
I'm in.

 

[Squiggs]

On a more vaguely on topic note (apologies).

I did public transport to the Towers a couple of weeks back when I did the House and Garden Tours.

It all works pretty smoothly so long as you can get to Uttoxeter station by 9:15 (or Stafford/Stoke by 8:30, I guess). The X41 potters through the countryside and deposits you at the park entrance about ten minutes before park opening.

So long as everything is running on time it's pretty straightforward. And given it was a pretty lazy Wednesday when I did it, the bus was full.

The main issue is the lack of choice, one bus there, one bus back pretty much. It definitely felt like at least a second time option should be economically viable, and would encourage additional usage.

 

[NuttySquirrel]

Ten years ago it was nearly possible. You could take a trip along the Caldon canal to Froghall and then get the 14 or 15 bus to the park (only one of them though, I don't remember which). The problem with this idea was that I foolishly asked the driver when the last bus was and he told me the time of the one that DIDN'T go near Froghall. Turns out that whilst Froghall is technically walkable from the park, you don't really want to do it after a full day.

Especially if you haven't got a decent map or smartphone with you and end up angering local farmers and ending up on the wrong side of the Churnet Valley Railway...

 

[owenstreet7]

On a more vaguely on topic note (apologies).

I did public transport to the Towers a couple of weeks back when I did the House and Garden Tours.

It all works pretty smoothly so long as you can get to Uttoxeter station by 9:15 (or Stafford/Stoke by 8:30, I guess). The X41 potters through the countryside and deposits you at the park entrance about ten minutes before park opening.

So long as everything is running on time it's pretty straightforward. And given it was a pretty lazy Wednesday when I did it, the bus was full.

The main issue is the lack of choice, one bus there, one bus back pretty much. It definitely felt like at least a second time option should be economically viable, and would encourage additional usage.

That is something I completely agree on, a second or a few more time options.

I would also add a Sunday and Bank Holiday service and dynamic return times depending on park closing time is also crucial for such a service.

A once a day service isn't good enough for Alton Towers and isn't reachable by people from the South on time.

I'm not meaning to complain but what we have isn't acceptable at all for today's day and age with climate and how big Alton Towers is.

 

[Steve Minor]

It might be worth pointing out that the service is operated by D&G, they don't quite have the budget of some of the bigger bus operators and therefore if a second departure doesn't work out financially then this could really effect their general day to day operations.
In a previous job I had I did look at the feasibility of operating essentially a competitive service against D&G however the figures didn't quite add up to it being profitable and you would have to achieve about 80% market share just to break even.

 

[Bert2theSpark]

The status quo of transport to Alton Towers needs to change. With Universal having a massive push for modal shift and how people are transported to theme parks, Alton Towers/local council need to follow suit and have a long-term plan. A Bus Rapid Transit system seems like a relatively feasible system that can be achieved over the medium term, the current staff and public busses are inadequate for capacity and frequency, they should supplemental to transport options, not dependent upon.

There will be funding options that Towers and the Council can explore, particularly as local councils at the moment are getting a lot of funding from Transforming Cities/Transforming Towns fund that was setup by national government. Getting people out of cars and pushing for more convenient and sustainable transport should be a policy priority with one of the West Midlands’ largest hotspots.

Improving connections to the park at scale would also mean that Towers has a larger customer base to appeal to, not everyone has access to private transport. Especially with young families and teenagers being such a critical part of Alton Towers’ visitor base. Newer attractions in the UK are considering this, and Alton Towers needs something if it wants to stay competitive. This has to be a public/private partnership though as I’d imagine at the moment it would be particularly unappealing to Merlin at the moment if they can’t make a business case alone for it.

The bypass needs to be re-explored as the amount of accidents, caused by the country rods, that occur due the sheer volume of traffic generated by Towers is totally unacceptable both from the Alton/Uttoxeter and Cheadle/Farley approaches. Not to mention that this completely kills the guest experience, even if it occurs outside of the park.

 

[Ash]

The status quo of transport to Alton Towers needs to change. With Universal having a massive push for modal shift and how people are transported to theme parks, Alton Towers/local council need to follow suit and have a long-term plan. A Bus Rapid Transit system seems like a relatively feasible system that can be achieved over the medium term, the current staff and public busses are inadequate for capacity and frequency, they should supplemental to transport options, not dependent upon.

There will be funding options that Towers and the Council can explore, particularly as local councils at the moment are getting a lot of funding from Transforming Cities/Transforming Towns fund that was setup by national government. Getting people out of cars and pushing for more convenient and sustainable transport should be a policy priority with one of the West Midlands’ largest hotspots.

Improving connections to the park at scale would also mean that Towers has a larger customer base to appeal to, not everyone has access to private transport. Especially with young families and teenagers being such a critical part of Alton Towers’ visitor base. Newer attractions in the UK are considering this, and Alton Towers needs something if it wants to stay competitive. This has to be a public/private partnership though as I’d imagine at the moment it would be particularly unappealing to Merlin at the moment if they can’t make a business case alone for it.

The bypass needs to be re-explored as the amount of accidents, caused by the country rods, that occur due the sheer volume of traffic generated by Towers is totally unacceptable both from the Alton/Uttoxeter and Cheadle/Farley approaches. Not to mention that this completely kills the guest experience, even if it occurs outside of the park.

I honestly can’t believe the CEO hasn’t been on tv complaining about transport infrastructure for “British” owned theme parks. It seems far more palatable than tax/vat breaks etc.

Alton and Chessington are prime for transport improvements. Particularly Alton. It’s a simple message, that would garner a large amount of support from the public, and could be explained to locals about getting traffic off local roads.

The problem with the bypass is that it would need by in from JCB, which just isn’t going to happen. And if it was forced i imagine would get extremely litigious.

Not that I’m bias, but the railway remains the more useful option…