Just Checking The Timetable?
Readers may remember when the seasoned passenger could buy one of the above. For a modest outlay, you had a whole enquiry office on your bookshelf. It never closed, did not run out of battery power and never needed a good WiFi signal.
It enabled you to plan your journey and, as a bonus, add back-up trains to your little notebook in case anything went wrong or if you changed your mind.
Your ticket would always be valid and would be a different colour to remind you if it were a special offer.
Nowadays the rail companies do, usually, admit that they run trains to a timetable and, with a diligent search, you can often find the timetable “leaflets” on-line.
But you cannot find them on paper.
So what about No 3 son seeking to take the train from Cannes to Nice St Augustin which, as is obvious from the map (NOT), is the stop at Nice Airport.
So, the simple question for fbb from No 3 Son; how frequent are the trains? What does the timetable tell us?
There isn’t one.
The service is operated by KEOLIS (owned by SNCF), branded ZOU, for TER, a division of SNCF, the nationalised French railway operator.
fbb has found a ZOU timetable …
… but not for trains between Cannes and Nice. He could find no others!
Elsewhere there appeared a variety of single journey “timetable columns” ….
Also available were lists of departures from Cannes with their arrivals at Nice stations (samples below).
After a slightly sweaty time, fbb was able to work out that TER trains ran every 30 minutes (approx), with extras, and the journey took about 35 minutes. Journeys were (again approx) at 08 and 38 minutes past each hour.
fbb was able to suggest suitable trains for a planned arrival at the Airport by 2000.
fbb further suggested that his boy would be well advised to call at Cannes station to double check. Which he did!
It turned out that fbb had found the right answer.
With A Proper Printed Timtable
So now, off he goes to Cannes station to buy a ticket.
Surely THAT will be EASY?
We will find out on the evening of All Saints’ Day !
Meanwhile Mega Morphs Into Micro
Perhaps not quite – YET!
It has been known in the Industry for some time that Megabus is a bit of a disaster busuness-wise. It looks as is Stagecoach’s new Corporate owners are beginning to flex their investment muscles.
How long before the rest of it goes? Falcon back to Stagecoach Southwest, Scotland to Citylink and the rest to the recycling bin.
It seemed a good idea at the time!
Next Nuclear Blog : Weds 30th Oct