Peshwari Naan
Peshwari Naan shows that Salsabil is not on her own. National Express does not operate as well as the company wants the public to believe. In this blog Salsabil republishes material that she has found on the internet to demonstrate that she is not the only one who knows just how badly National Express operates it's coach services in the UK.Saturday, December 19, 2009
Eknoreda writes about the worst of road travel in Nigeria but ends her post on 13th December 2009 with...
So now really, who am I to say I cant take the coach from London to NewCastle??
National Express here I come!!! what is a few annonying stops at service stations and annonying old white women trying to show you the pictures of all of their 13 grandchildren when ive endured far worse? and i did not break??
Life of a National Express Driver reports on 28th November 2009...
Bath Traffic.
Overnight last night and for the first time ever had to take a break at Heathrow. First problem was in Bath on the trip to the Uni, this put a 20min delay before we even started. Why can no one in NX see the problems this stop causes? Especially when up to 20 buses an hour come and go!! So with a 20 min delay off we went. All OK until J15 and then 'M4 Closed J10' came up. I had to go to reading at J12 to pick up 2 so was planning to go to J10 and then go down the M3. Approached J10 and the traffic was heavy but not the end of the world. Most traffic was going down towards the M3 so asked the Police man where the M4 was closed. he advised me to use the A4 and rejoin the M4 at J8/9. So that is what I did. We then arrived at Heathrow at 2130 which did not give enough time to get to VCS so 45 min break had to be taken. Most of the passengers got on the 501 or caught the tube so was empty into VCS. Finally arrived at 2311 which even with a 9 hour break meant I could not leave until 0830. Today was Ok until Bath. It took nearly an hour to get from the A46 into the Bus station. It is 2 miles!! Had the '5's' after my break and it took 45 mins to get from the Bus Station to Sainsbury's, 1mile. The cause of all this is the Christmas Market and our local councils complete inability to grasp the gravity of the situation. Maybe they think if it looks busy it will bring people in!!!
So now really, who am I to say I cant take the coach from London to NewCastle??
National Express here I come!!! what is a few annonying stops at service stations and annonying old white women trying to show you the pictures of all of their 13 grandchildren when ive endured far worse? and i did not break??
Life of a National Express Driver reports on 28th November 2009...
Bath Traffic.
Overnight last night and for the first time ever had to take a break at Heathrow. First problem was in Bath on the trip to the Uni, this put a 20min delay before we even started. Why can no one in NX see the problems this stop causes? Especially when up to 20 buses an hour come and go!! So with a 20 min delay off we went. All OK until J15 and then 'M4 Closed J10' came up. I had to go to reading at J12 to pick up 2 so was planning to go to J10 and then go down the M3. Approached J10 and the traffic was heavy but not the end of the world. Most traffic was going down towards the M3 so asked the Police man where the M4 was closed. he advised me to use the A4 and rejoin the M4 at J8/9. So that is what I did. We then arrived at Heathrow at 2130 which did not give enough time to get to VCS so 45 min break had to be taken. Most of the passengers got on the 501 or caught the tube so was empty into VCS. Finally arrived at 2311 which even with a 9 hour break meant I could not leave until 0830. Today was Ok until Bath. It took nearly an hour to get from the A46 into the Bus station. It is 2 miles!! Had the '5's' after my break and it took 45 mins to get from the Bus Station to Sainsbury's, 1mile. The cause of all this is the Christmas Market and our local councils complete inability to grasp the gravity of the situation. Maybe they think if it looks busy it will bring people in!!!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Hospital Porters Against the New World Order posts on 3rd November 2009...
I Now KNOW Who The Illuminati Are!
Yes, I have finally solved the mystery once and for all. I have irrefutable proof of the identity of the Illuminati! People have been asking for years: “Is it the Bilderbergers?” “Is it the Skull-and-Bones?” “Is it the Masons?“ etc etc. Well it’s none of them. The Illuminati are National Express. It’s true! The Antichrist doesn’t sit in the capstone of a pyramid in a sub-basement of Area 51… He can be found in the driving seat of a white coach.
This revelation came to me from an experience I had last week. I was on a National Express coach on a long distance no-change journey from Oxford to Nottingham. I intensely dislike travelling by coach and I normally pay the extra £10 and get the train, but I wanted to use up some surplus return train tickets I had. Anyway just after leaving Oxford I got up to go to the little toilet cubicle at the back to relieve myself of the cup of coffee, spring water and orange juice I had in Cafe Nero before boarding, and to my horror the door to the coach bog was locked and there was an "OUT OF ORDER" sign on it. That's it! No apology no alternative recommendations; nothing! "What shall I do?" I asked myself. The journey was almost 5 hours with no toilet! I looked around myself. How would my fellow passengers cope? Could I follow their lead? What if I was the only one suffering? It made me realize that because I’d booked my ticket in advance, the Illuminati, knew which coach I’d be on and so purposefully sabotaged the toilet as part of their campaign against me.
My first thought was to ask the driver if I could quickly go to the toilet at the various places we stopped at, but I didn't trust him not to drive away and leave me behind. National Express have a notorious reputation for that kind of cock-up as well as being... generally crap in every other respect! So there was only one thing for it. I'd have to make alternative washroom arrangements... on the coach! Luckily every seat on the coach was supplied with a plastic bag for rubbish and I was relieved to see that it had no air-holes in it. The next problem was how to actually use the bag for the impromptu purpose for which I'd designated it. If I'd had a quiet corner seat at the back I could just have kneeled on the floor behind the seat in front, but I was in the centre of the cabin right next to a very prim-looking middle-aged woman. I stealthily draped my jumper over my lap and equally stealthy picked up the rubbish bag, trying not to make it rustle. Over the course of the next 10 minutes I moved it closer and closer to my waistline, pausing every time the woman turned a page on her paper. I eventually managed to slip the bag under the jumper covering and inside my trousers. The problem then was how to fit it over the end of my willy, in a way that I could piss into it cleanly, with just one hand. If I shoved both hands inside my trousers then my attempt at discretion would be blown. I realized that it would be much easier if I had a slight erection so I tried to think of lustful thoughts, but it didn't work. I was too nervous and self conscious. I let fly with a few "test drops" but they sponged straight into my trousers. So I had to abandon that plan.
Then I had another brainwave. I shoved half of the jumper itself inside my trousers. Once again I had to do this very slowly and carefully, keeping the other half of my jumper disguising what I was doing as it had before. Once I achieved this and manoeuvred the scrunched up jumper into the best position, I opened the floodgates. Warm wetness soaked into the jumper and I felt the pressure on my bladder blissfully easing. Mission accomplished! But then I had two further problems to contend with, and no way to go back! My jumper... overflowed slightly, into my trousers and the seat cushion! Also, how was I to get it out of my trousers discreetly? I waited until the woman had shifted in her seat and the young bloke in the seat behind me was asleep then I just whipped it out and bundled it into the rubbish bag. I tied it up and hoped that the smell wasn't too bad and that the wet patch on my trousers wasn't too prominent. The women beside me wrinkled her nose a bit, but then to my relief she glanced behind her at the sleeping man! The girl in the seat in front of me kept looking at me though! Unfortunately a bit later I could no longer pretend that the stench of urine was not wafting away from me in concentric circles. "God, let this journey be over soon!" I prayed. "Let there be no traffic jams!"
When I finally alighted from the coach in Nottingham I went to the bus station stop and bought a small toy model of a National Express coach. Then I made a pentacle on the ground with salt and burned it as an effigy. I hope that my virulent curse reaches every corner of the National Express organization. Hopefully even the company’s director will break out in boils.
I Now KNOW Who The Illuminati Are!
Yes, I have finally solved the mystery once and for all. I have irrefutable proof of the identity of the Illuminati! People have been asking for years: “Is it the Bilderbergers?” “Is it the Skull-and-Bones?” “Is it the Masons?“ etc etc. Well it’s none of them. The Illuminati are National Express. It’s true! The Antichrist doesn’t sit in the capstone of a pyramid in a sub-basement of Area 51… He can be found in the driving seat of a white coach.
This revelation came to me from an experience I had last week. I was on a National Express coach on a long distance no-change journey from Oxford to Nottingham. I intensely dislike travelling by coach and I normally pay the extra £10 and get the train, but I wanted to use up some surplus return train tickets I had. Anyway just after leaving Oxford I got up to go to the little toilet cubicle at the back to relieve myself of the cup of coffee, spring water and orange juice I had in Cafe Nero before boarding, and to my horror the door to the coach bog was locked and there was an "OUT OF ORDER" sign on it. That's it! No apology no alternative recommendations; nothing! "What shall I do?" I asked myself. The journey was almost 5 hours with no toilet! I looked around myself. How would my fellow passengers cope? Could I follow their lead? What if I was the only one suffering? It made me realize that because I’d booked my ticket in advance, the Illuminati, knew which coach I’d be on and so purposefully sabotaged the toilet as part of their campaign against me.
My first thought was to ask the driver if I could quickly go to the toilet at the various places we stopped at, but I didn't trust him not to drive away and leave me behind. National Express have a notorious reputation for that kind of cock-up as well as being... generally crap in every other respect! So there was only one thing for it. I'd have to make alternative washroom arrangements... on the coach! Luckily every seat on the coach was supplied with a plastic bag for rubbish and I was relieved to see that it had no air-holes in it. The next problem was how to actually use the bag for the impromptu purpose for which I'd designated it. If I'd had a quiet corner seat at the back I could just have kneeled on the floor behind the seat in front, but I was in the centre of the cabin right next to a very prim-looking middle-aged woman. I stealthily draped my jumper over my lap and equally stealthy picked up the rubbish bag, trying not to make it rustle. Over the course of the next 10 minutes I moved it closer and closer to my waistline, pausing every time the woman turned a page on her paper. I eventually managed to slip the bag under the jumper covering and inside my trousers. The problem then was how to fit it over the end of my willy, in a way that I could piss into it cleanly, with just one hand. If I shoved both hands inside my trousers then my attempt at discretion would be blown. I realized that it would be much easier if I had a slight erection so I tried to think of lustful thoughts, but it didn't work. I was too nervous and self conscious. I let fly with a few "test drops" but they sponged straight into my trousers. So I had to abandon that plan.
Then I had another brainwave. I shoved half of the jumper itself inside my trousers. Once again I had to do this very slowly and carefully, keeping the other half of my jumper disguising what I was doing as it had before. Once I achieved this and manoeuvred the scrunched up jumper into the best position, I opened the floodgates. Warm wetness soaked into the jumper and I felt the pressure on my bladder blissfully easing. Mission accomplished! But then I had two further problems to contend with, and no way to go back! My jumper... overflowed slightly, into my trousers and the seat cushion! Also, how was I to get it out of my trousers discreetly? I waited until the woman had shifted in her seat and the young bloke in the seat behind me was asleep then I just whipped it out and bundled it into the rubbish bag. I tied it up and hoped that the smell wasn't too bad and that the wet patch on my trousers wasn't too prominent. The women beside me wrinkled her nose a bit, but then to my relief she glanced behind her at the sleeping man! The girl in the seat in front of me kept looking at me though! Unfortunately a bit later I could no longer pretend that the stench of urine was not wafting away from me in concentric circles. "God, let this journey be over soon!" I prayed. "Let there be no traffic jams!"
When I finally alighted from the coach in Nottingham I went to the bus station stop and bought a small toy model of a National Express coach. Then I made a pentacle on the ground with salt and burned it as an effigy. I hope that my virulent curse reaches every corner of the National Express organization. Hopefully even the company’s director will break out in boils.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Ad Nauseum writes on 26th October 2009...
National Express – Window Seat
I guess this advert can be filed under either wild optimism or outright deceit.
Anyone – anyone! – who has ever taken a ride on a National Express coach knows that this is an utter-fabrication. The presented image is so far removed from the reality it could almost be a spoof. The seats aren’t comfy and the legroom certainly isn’t ample – it’s a rough, unpleasant and frequently disgusting journey that is only undertaken if you can’t afford the train.
“After all – you’ve got other things to worry about…” – too fucking right. There’s the person snoring at the back, the couple arguing over the aisle, the child kicking the seat, the loud iPod, the aggressive driver, the shit smell, the slow speed of the coach, the rough treatment of your luggage, the filthy floor, the stained seats, the needlessly extended 3am service station breaks, the highly dubious intercity routes and the constant wondering why they never do anything to improve it.
Come on guys. I know that advertising isn’t meant to be the honest truth but this is taking the piss. National Express is one of the worst fucking services in the country and you’re presenting it as some idyllic cross-country jaunt. I guess this campaign is aimed at those who haven’t used it before because no-one with experience would believe it for a second.
dearohdearclo writes on 23rd October 2009...
National Express rant.
...The Departure area was full of the usual types,tourists,OAP'S & men who wear disgusting trainers. I noticed that it didn't display Liverpool's departure gate & my face complete dropped, then it come up. Finally get's to the driver, he lets me on, the bus is full. GREAT. So i asked this girl who looked around my age,whether i could sit by her. She looked up at me like she wanted to spit in my face. To be fair like if anyone ever even tries to sit next to me on the coach home i give them daggers, or pretend i'm deaf. So i sit down & realise she smells of CHEESE, shit.... there was no empty seats left so i spent the whole journey sitting next to Wotsit girl, who by the way loves the Kaiser Chiefs,Ting tings & other really talented bands. HAHA argh. I'm being nasty i know,but honestly. WORST COACH JOURNEY EVER. It gets worse though, at milton keynes, sniffy mc sniffson gets on, rams one of those inhaler thingy's up his nose, snorts & then coughs the bus up.We stop at road chef or something as Original & the driver states that we've only got 15 minutes. I get off the bus & see that it's OAP central & it become obvious that it'd take me about 15 mins to get through all the rinses & comfortable shoes....it didn't i'm exaggerating. But still, i tried to get a sandwich but realised i need the loo more-The line was round the corner full of bus pass owners & i could have cried. Had the fasted fag i've ever had whilst being in a MOOD, get on the bus & then basically the journey went tits up because the driver decided to drive under the speed limit by miles. Stuck in traffic FOREVER in stoke on trent. bla bla bla.
My ma waited in the station for me, for like two hours. I felt like crying for her as she text to tell me there was a 'friggin pigeon' by her. Speaking of birds i was reading I-D before & Karl Lagerfeld is scared of them, just like me.Anyways I felt like punching the girl infront of me for speaking in an exaggerated liverpudlian accent, really loudly on the phone to her mum, her nan, her dad & her fella. She's only been in london two days so the fact that her family were ringing up All the time just so shows how fucked up she must be. Rantathon deary me, i'm getting really blunt. Pulls into the station fucking finally, see my ma & i want to cry. I then come home & make the best omelette i have ever made.
the end.
The Retail Bulletin reports on 21st October 2009...
Research suggests that 75% of customer feedback remains unread
Warwick Business School reveals that companies are unable to manage increasing volume and complexity of customer insight
Research by Warwick Business School reveals that companies receiving a minimum of 1,000 pieces of customer feedback per month are unable to analyse it in a meaningful way. The sheer volume and variety of customer feedback prohibits its full use to help provide better customer service and aid management decision making.
3,000 pieces of actual customer feedback in total from Asda, Audi and National Express were used in the study, which was the result of a £3000 academic award granted to Rapide Communication by the INDEX (Innovation Delivers Expansion) scheme.
With large multinational companies encouraging feedback via multiple sources, such as text and voice messages, contact forms, letters and increasingly social media platforms, internal marketing teams are simply unable to analyse all customer feedback received, due to time constraints and fatigue encountered when reading and processing customer comments.
Chris Worth, an associate of Warwick Business School brought in as an independent researcher appointed by Warwick Business School's Dr Temi Abimbola, said:"Faced with a mass of data, human beings will make a rational choice: cut down the complexity to something manageable. When dealing with thousands of customer comments, that led to 75% of the data being tossed and the focus narrowing to a few key categories. That's dangerous, because the most profitable opportunities are often hidden in little gems of data hidden in dark corners.... which companies appear to be missing."
The research replicates the situation within the majority of UK customer facing companies where human analysts try to understand and analyse customers’ feedback. The research pitted three human analysts against Rant & Rave, a sophisticated text analysis technology, which has been developed by Rapide Communication in association with The University of Birmingham, to analyse customer feedback.
1,000 pieces represents the minimum average amount of feedback a national high street company can expect per month. When companies are running special promotions actively asking for feedback, the number can even reach 100,000 pieces of feedback per month. In a major company, the feedback would need to be analysed, and used as the basis of concrete recommendations to remedy any issues raised within the feedback. The analysis is then further collated to provide information which is critical to improving the overall customer experience from the company.
Each human analyst spent 30-50 hours (132 in total) looking at 750 pieces of feedback (250 from each company). They all did the same set of 750. i.e. a quarter of the total (3000 comments) and had to discard 75% of the data due to time constraints.Even handling 750 comments each was difficult to manage along with other work responsibilities which they were expected to handle to replicate a typical customer feedback analyst’s role.
The analysts needed to sort the feedback into 15 different categories and rank each piece of feedback according to the positive or negative sentiment expressed within it. The analysts were also asked to provide suggestions and risks related to the feedback. The humans, however, were unable to spot trends or provide meaningful recommendations or risks as the human brain simply cannot process such large data sets.
Rant & Rave, the customer feedback analysing software processed (categorised, ranked and made recommendations) the full 3,000 pieces of feedback in less than five minutes. The categories that the software selected were similar to those selected by the analysts. However, more significantly, the artificial intelligence engine understood and correctly interpreted the range of sentiment in the feedback, while the human analysts tended to use a narrower range in their interpretation of feedback. The analysts regularly used 3 – 4 categories to tag the feedback, demonstrating feedback fatigue and the creation of a comfort zone. Rant & Rave used a broader range of categories to classify the data.
Rant & Rave on the other hand took the unstructured text - in this case, 3, 000 customer comments - and reduced it to quantifiable form, "understanding" the linguistics of each comment, "scoring" the sentiment, and deriving relationships between ideas. Its output, in addition to its analysis, is a SWOT report that extracts sample comments identifying Suggestions and Risks.
Nigel Shanahan, MD of Rapide Communication: “Getting to the heart of what a customer wants is critical today as high street brands fight even harder to keep their customer base loyal. By asking for and then failing to analyse customer feedback, companies are unable to create a complete picture of their performance and their customers’ attitudes towards them. 1,000 pieces of feedback per month is a manageable number but human analysts are facing increasingly complex feedback which is not uniform, for instance a text message will use different language to a social media entry or a formal letter. As companies strive to gain more customer insight, they will increasingly be faced with a growing amount of unmanageable data. This is where Rant & Rant can analyse the data and leave the actual higher value activity of recommending how to change a business to the human analyst.”
Cassar writes on 20th October 2009...
day 0:
London Victoria to Canterbery by bus (National express bus service is THE CRAPPIEST EVER BTW – drivers are EXTREMELY RUDE and UNCOOPERATIVE)...
...day 9:
Went back home:
National express again, CRAP SERVICE!! Bus driver (total idiot) left early so I had to pay again for another ticket ….. (that will consist of yet another blog titled (Nation Express – National Crap) only to find a mess of shopping bags and clothes. My family had gone to a shopping spree in London!!
Bournemouth Daily Echo reports on 8th October 2009...
Coach driver photographed reading at the wheel
FRIGHTENING: A woman passenger from Poole snapped a series of pictures on her iPhone of a National Express bus driver reading while driving on a motorway between Bournemouth and London
A HORRIFIED passenger took a picture of a coach driver reading at the wheel while travelling on a busy motorway.
National Express has suspended the driver while it investigates the incident.
The Poole woman took photos on three occasions as the man read a logbook while driving.
The incident happened on board the number 35 4.10pm National Express service from Poole to London’s Victoria coach station on October 1.
The woman said the driver looked at the book on the A338 near Bournemouth, the M3 near Winchester, and on the busy streets of Knightsbridge in central London.
She said: “I couldn’t believe when I saw him do it the first time. He opened the book up and put it across his steering wheel, then he kept looking up and down at it as he drove along. Last lasted for a few minutes, maybe five.
“He did the same thing again on the M3 then again in Knightsbridge. At one point he was steering with just his arm while he held on to the book with his hand.
“I felt very unsafe during those moments because it was rush-hour and the road ahead of you can change very suddenly so you have to have full concentration.
“He is a coach driver and has got people’s lives in his hands.
A National Express spokesman said: “The driver has been suspended while we carry out a full investigation into this incident.
“Our priority is always the safety of our passengers and we would encourage anyone who sees an incident to report it to us immediately.”
The Willesden Herald reports on 8th October 2009...
National Express jobsworth makes pensioners leave food
I hope National Express are very happy that the driver of their coach from Newquay to Victoria, which departed at 3 p.m. on Sunday October 5th, forced three lady pensioners to leave seven Cornish pasties behind at the coach station in Newquay because of a rule about not allowing hot food on the coach. One lady lost £12 worth and with another two as well, about £15 worth of good food was wasted - or did somebody else get it?
National Express – Window Seat
I guess this advert can be filed under either wild optimism or outright deceit.
Anyone – anyone! – who has ever taken a ride on a National Express coach knows that this is an utter-fabrication. The presented image is so far removed from the reality it could almost be a spoof. The seats aren’t comfy and the legroom certainly isn’t ample – it’s a rough, unpleasant and frequently disgusting journey that is only undertaken if you can’t afford the train.
“After all – you’ve got other things to worry about…” – too fucking right. There’s the person snoring at the back, the couple arguing over the aisle, the child kicking the seat, the loud iPod, the aggressive driver, the shit smell, the slow speed of the coach, the rough treatment of your luggage, the filthy floor, the stained seats, the needlessly extended 3am service station breaks, the highly dubious intercity routes and the constant wondering why they never do anything to improve it.
Come on guys. I know that advertising isn’t meant to be the honest truth but this is taking the piss. National Express is one of the worst fucking services in the country and you’re presenting it as some idyllic cross-country jaunt. I guess this campaign is aimed at those who haven’t used it before because no-one with experience would believe it for a second.
dearohdearclo writes on 23rd October 2009...
National Express rant.
...The Departure area was full of the usual types,tourists,OAP'S & men who wear disgusting trainers. I noticed that it didn't display Liverpool's departure gate & my face complete dropped, then it come up. Finally get's to the driver, he lets me on, the bus is full. GREAT. So i asked this girl who looked around my age,whether i could sit by her. She looked up at me like she wanted to spit in my face. To be fair like if anyone ever even tries to sit next to me on the coach home i give them daggers, or pretend i'm deaf. So i sit down & realise she smells of CHEESE, shit.... there was no empty seats left so i spent the whole journey sitting next to Wotsit girl, who by the way loves the Kaiser Chiefs,Ting tings & other really talented bands. HAHA argh. I'm being nasty i know,but honestly. WORST COACH JOURNEY EVER. It gets worse though, at milton keynes, sniffy mc sniffson gets on, rams one of those inhaler thingy's up his nose, snorts & then coughs the bus up.We stop at road chef or something as Original & the driver states that we've only got 15 minutes. I get off the bus & see that it's OAP central & it become obvious that it'd take me about 15 mins to get through all the rinses & comfortable shoes....it didn't i'm exaggerating. But still, i tried to get a sandwich but realised i need the loo more-The line was round the corner full of bus pass owners & i could have cried. Had the fasted fag i've ever had whilst being in a MOOD, get on the bus & then basically the journey went tits up because the driver decided to drive under the speed limit by miles. Stuck in traffic FOREVER in stoke on trent. bla bla bla.
My ma waited in the station for me, for like two hours. I felt like crying for her as she text to tell me there was a 'friggin pigeon' by her. Speaking of birds i was reading I-D before & Karl Lagerfeld is scared of them, just like me.Anyways I felt like punching the girl infront of me for speaking in an exaggerated liverpudlian accent, really loudly on the phone to her mum, her nan, her dad & her fella. She's only been in london two days so the fact that her family were ringing up All the time just so shows how fucked up she must be. Rantathon deary me, i'm getting really blunt. Pulls into the station fucking finally, see my ma & i want to cry. I then come home & make the best omelette i have ever made.
the end.
The Retail Bulletin reports on 21st October 2009...
Research suggests that 75% of customer feedback remains unread
Warwick Business School reveals that companies are unable to manage increasing volume and complexity of customer insight
Research by Warwick Business School reveals that companies receiving a minimum of 1,000 pieces of customer feedback per month are unable to analyse it in a meaningful way. The sheer volume and variety of customer feedback prohibits its full use to help provide better customer service and aid management decision making.
3,000 pieces of actual customer feedback in total from Asda, Audi and National Express were used in the study, which was the result of a £3000 academic award granted to Rapide Communication by the INDEX (Innovation Delivers Expansion) scheme.
With large multinational companies encouraging feedback via multiple sources, such as text and voice messages, contact forms, letters and increasingly social media platforms, internal marketing teams are simply unable to analyse all customer feedback received, due to time constraints and fatigue encountered when reading and processing customer comments.
Chris Worth, an associate of Warwick Business School brought in as an independent researcher appointed by Warwick Business School's Dr Temi Abimbola, said:"Faced with a mass of data, human beings will make a rational choice: cut down the complexity to something manageable. When dealing with thousands of customer comments, that led to 75% of the data being tossed and the focus narrowing to a few key categories. That's dangerous, because the most profitable opportunities are often hidden in little gems of data hidden in dark corners.... which companies appear to be missing."
The research replicates the situation within the majority of UK customer facing companies where human analysts try to understand and analyse customers’ feedback. The research pitted three human analysts against Rant & Rave, a sophisticated text analysis technology, which has been developed by Rapide Communication in association with The University of Birmingham, to analyse customer feedback.
1,000 pieces represents the minimum average amount of feedback a national high street company can expect per month. When companies are running special promotions actively asking for feedback, the number can even reach 100,000 pieces of feedback per month. In a major company, the feedback would need to be analysed, and used as the basis of concrete recommendations to remedy any issues raised within the feedback. The analysis is then further collated to provide information which is critical to improving the overall customer experience from the company.
Each human analyst spent 30-50 hours (132 in total) looking at 750 pieces of feedback (250 from each company). They all did the same set of 750. i.e. a quarter of the total (3000 comments) and had to discard 75% of the data due to time constraints.Even handling 750 comments each was difficult to manage along with other work responsibilities which they were expected to handle to replicate a typical customer feedback analyst’s role.
The analysts needed to sort the feedback into 15 different categories and rank each piece of feedback according to the positive or negative sentiment expressed within it. The analysts were also asked to provide suggestions and risks related to the feedback. The humans, however, were unable to spot trends or provide meaningful recommendations or risks as the human brain simply cannot process such large data sets.
Rant & Rave, the customer feedback analysing software processed (categorised, ranked and made recommendations) the full 3,000 pieces of feedback in less than five minutes. The categories that the software selected were similar to those selected by the analysts. However, more significantly, the artificial intelligence engine understood and correctly interpreted the range of sentiment in the feedback, while the human analysts tended to use a narrower range in their interpretation of feedback. The analysts regularly used 3 – 4 categories to tag the feedback, demonstrating feedback fatigue and the creation of a comfort zone. Rant & Rave used a broader range of categories to classify the data.
Rant & Rave on the other hand took the unstructured text - in this case, 3, 000 customer comments - and reduced it to quantifiable form, "understanding" the linguistics of each comment, "scoring" the sentiment, and deriving relationships between ideas. Its output, in addition to its analysis, is a SWOT report that extracts sample comments identifying Suggestions and Risks.
Nigel Shanahan, MD of Rapide Communication: “Getting to the heart of what a customer wants is critical today as high street brands fight even harder to keep their customer base loyal. By asking for and then failing to analyse customer feedback, companies are unable to create a complete picture of their performance and their customers’ attitudes towards them. 1,000 pieces of feedback per month is a manageable number but human analysts are facing increasingly complex feedback which is not uniform, for instance a text message will use different language to a social media entry or a formal letter. As companies strive to gain more customer insight, they will increasingly be faced with a growing amount of unmanageable data. This is where Rant & Rant can analyse the data and leave the actual higher value activity of recommending how to change a business to the human analyst.”
Cassar writes on 20th October 2009...
day 0:
London Victoria to Canterbery by bus (National express bus service is THE CRAPPIEST EVER BTW – drivers are EXTREMELY RUDE and UNCOOPERATIVE)...
...day 9:
Went back home:
National express again, CRAP SERVICE!! Bus driver (total idiot) left early so I had to pay again for another ticket ….. (that will consist of yet another blog titled (Nation Express – National Crap) only to find a mess of shopping bags and clothes. My family had gone to a shopping spree in London!!
Bournemouth Daily Echo reports on 8th October 2009...
Coach driver photographed reading at the wheel
FRIGHTENING: A woman passenger from Poole snapped a series of pictures on her iPhone of a National Express bus driver reading while driving on a motorway between Bournemouth and London
A HORRIFIED passenger took a picture of a coach driver reading at the wheel while travelling on a busy motorway.
National Express has suspended the driver while it investigates the incident.
The Poole woman took photos on three occasions as the man read a logbook while driving.
The incident happened on board the number 35 4.10pm National Express service from Poole to London’s Victoria coach station on October 1.
The woman said the driver looked at the book on the A338 near Bournemouth, the M3 near Winchester, and on the busy streets of Knightsbridge in central London.
She said: “I couldn’t believe when I saw him do it the first time. He opened the book up and put it across his steering wheel, then he kept looking up and down at it as he drove along. Last lasted for a few minutes, maybe five.
“He did the same thing again on the M3 then again in Knightsbridge. At one point he was steering with just his arm while he held on to the book with his hand.
“I felt very unsafe during those moments because it was rush-hour and the road ahead of you can change very suddenly so you have to have full concentration.
“He is a coach driver and has got people’s lives in his hands.
A National Express spokesman said: “The driver has been suspended while we carry out a full investigation into this incident.
“Our priority is always the safety of our passengers and we would encourage anyone who sees an incident to report it to us immediately.”
The Willesden Herald reports on 8th October 2009...
National Express jobsworth makes pensioners leave food
I hope National Express are very happy that the driver of their coach from Newquay to Victoria, which departed at 3 p.m. on Sunday October 5th, forced three lady pensioners to leave seven Cornish pasties behind at the coach station in Newquay because of a rule about not allowing hot food on the coach. One lady lost £12 worth and with another two as well, about £15 worth of good food was wasted - or did somebody else get it?
Thursday, October 01, 2009
lost soul writes on 29th September 2009...
...I spent about 12 hours on a coach in the past 24hours. I left Belfast at about 5ish yesterday and got into Leciester at about 7ish this morning. It was a long journey, made worse by the fact that the bloke in the seat in front of me was pissed and flirting with the 17yo beside him. Fun times. Not...
Oxford Mail reports on 18th September 2009...
Barriers 'not safe enough', say dead OAP's family
THE family of a pensioner crushed by several buses after falling through roadwork barriers said safety measures around the site were not good enough.
Fred Carter, 74, of Vicarage Road, Oxford, was found dead in February at the junction of Speedwell Street and St Aldates in Oxford, where work was being carried out on the road.
Witnesses yesterday told an inquest at Oxford Coroners’ Court they saw two buses drive over Mr Carter’s head as he lay on the ground.
Between 30 and 40 vehicles passed father-of-three Mr Carter, but the hearing could not determine how many drove over him.
Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict of accidental death and said there was no indication of a problem with the roadworks.
But after the hearing, Mr Carter’s son Andrew, 56, said he believed Oxfordshire County Council was at fault for not installing safe roadwork barriers.
He said: “The bus drivers knew they were cutting the corner and a ramp was even put by the kerb to make it easier for the drivers’ wheels to cut the corner.
“Because of the tightness of the corner extra precautions should have been put in place to make it safe for pedestrians.
“It took the death of my father to have the extra barriers put in. This is a health and safety issue.”
After Mr Carter’s death, the three-foot high plastic barriers were moved back and replaced with secured higher metal fences, his son told the inquest.
A statement by taxi driver Andrew Lacey, which was read to the inquest, described driving behind an Oxford Bus Company bus and seeing a “sack” lying half on the road and half on the pavement.
He added: “I remember thinking: ‘that’s not a sack it’s a body and the bus is going to run over the head’.
“There was nothing I could do and its back wheel went over where the head should be.”
Chef Paddy Gervers described finding Mr Carter on the ground then watching a National Express coach driving over his head.
He said: “I looked at his face and there was a large pool of blood coming from it. As the bus drove off a man said ‘he’s dead’.”
Pc Terry Anderson, a collision investigator, said studies showed three-quarters of buses which turned the corner had to mount the kerb because it was too tight.
Mr Carter had been drinking in the hours before his death at The Crown, in High Street, and pathologist Dr Fegan Earle said he was the equivalent of almost four times the legal limit to drive when he died.
None of the bus companies were asked to provide evidence, but an Oxford Bus Company representative attended the hearing.
Passing his verdict, Mr Gardiner added Mr Carter either had fallen through the barriers or tried to remove them.
A county council spokesman said: “This was a tragic accident.
“Neither the police or the coroner has given any indication that there was any problem with council roadworks as regards this accident.
“Had there been a problem, they would have been duty bound to highlight it.”
South Wales Echo reports on 12th September 2009...
Family call for bright colours at crash victim’s funeral
MOURNERS are being asked to wear bright colours to the funeral of a young mum who died in a crash at Gatwick Airport.
Melanie Wisden, 34, was killed when her black Ford Ka collided with a National Express coach on Friday, September 4, as she left the airport’s North Terminal.
The service for the “happy, bubbly, smiley person” who “would make anyone smile”, of Dunraven Street, Leckwith, Cardiff, is due to take place next Friday at the Church of the Resurrection, Ely, Cardiff, from 1.15pm, followed by a cremation at Thornhill Crematorium.
Heartbroken mum Valerie, 56, dad Jeff, 60, a driver at RAF St Athan, and sisters sister Maxine, 32, Melissa, 31, and Jessica, 17, and brother Mark, 37, have requested those attending wear Melanie’s favourite colours, which were red, yellow, white and black, to reflect her bright personality.
Melanie had taken a day off from her job at the city centre branch of Starbucks in Queen Street, Cardiff, to take her newlywed friend Samantha Macatangay to the airport from her Valleys home so she could begin her honeymoon in Tenerife.
...I spent about 12 hours on a coach in the past 24hours. I left Belfast at about 5ish yesterday and got into Leciester at about 7ish this morning. It was a long journey, made worse by the fact that the bloke in the seat in front of me was pissed and flirting with the 17yo beside him. Fun times. Not...
Oxford Mail reports on 18th September 2009...
Barriers 'not safe enough', say dead OAP's family
THE family of a pensioner crushed by several buses after falling through roadwork barriers said safety measures around the site were not good enough.
Fred Carter, 74, of Vicarage Road, Oxford, was found dead in February at the junction of Speedwell Street and St Aldates in Oxford, where work was being carried out on the road.
Witnesses yesterday told an inquest at Oxford Coroners’ Court they saw two buses drive over Mr Carter’s head as he lay on the ground.
Between 30 and 40 vehicles passed father-of-three Mr Carter, but the hearing could not determine how many drove over him.
Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict of accidental death and said there was no indication of a problem with the roadworks.
But after the hearing, Mr Carter’s son Andrew, 56, said he believed Oxfordshire County Council was at fault for not installing safe roadwork barriers.
He said: “The bus drivers knew they were cutting the corner and a ramp was even put by the kerb to make it easier for the drivers’ wheels to cut the corner.
“Because of the tightness of the corner extra precautions should have been put in place to make it safe for pedestrians.
“It took the death of my father to have the extra barriers put in. This is a health and safety issue.”
After Mr Carter’s death, the three-foot high plastic barriers were moved back and replaced with secured higher metal fences, his son told the inquest.
A statement by taxi driver Andrew Lacey, which was read to the inquest, described driving behind an Oxford Bus Company bus and seeing a “sack” lying half on the road and half on the pavement.
He added: “I remember thinking: ‘that’s not a sack it’s a body and the bus is going to run over the head’.
“There was nothing I could do and its back wheel went over where the head should be.”
Chef Paddy Gervers described finding Mr Carter on the ground then watching a National Express coach driving over his head.
He said: “I looked at his face and there was a large pool of blood coming from it. As the bus drove off a man said ‘he’s dead’.”
Pc Terry Anderson, a collision investigator, said studies showed three-quarters of buses which turned the corner had to mount the kerb because it was too tight.
Mr Carter had been drinking in the hours before his death at The Crown, in High Street, and pathologist Dr Fegan Earle said he was the equivalent of almost four times the legal limit to drive when he died.
None of the bus companies were asked to provide evidence, but an Oxford Bus Company representative attended the hearing.
Passing his verdict, Mr Gardiner added Mr Carter either had fallen through the barriers or tried to remove them.
A county council spokesman said: “This was a tragic accident.
“Neither the police or the coroner has given any indication that there was any problem with council roadworks as regards this accident.
“Had there been a problem, they would have been duty bound to highlight it.”
South Wales Echo reports on 12th September 2009...
Family call for bright colours at crash victim’s funeral
MOURNERS are being asked to wear bright colours to the funeral of a young mum who died in a crash at Gatwick Airport.
Melanie Wisden, 34, was killed when her black Ford Ka collided with a National Express coach on Friday, September 4, as she left the airport’s North Terminal.
The service for the “happy, bubbly, smiley person” who “would make anyone smile”, of Dunraven Street, Leckwith, Cardiff, is due to take place next Friday at the Church of the Resurrection, Ely, Cardiff, from 1.15pm, followed by a cremation at Thornhill Crematorium.
Heartbroken mum Valerie, 56, dad Jeff, 60, a driver at RAF St Athan, and sisters sister Maxine, 32, Melissa, 31, and Jessica, 17, and brother Mark, 37, have requested those attending wear Melanie’s favourite colours, which were red, yellow, white and black, to reflect her bright personality.
Melanie had taken a day off from her job at the city centre branch of Starbucks in Queen Street, Cardiff, to take her newlywed friend Samantha Macatangay to the airport from her Valleys home so she could begin her honeymoon in Tenerife.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Jay Shukla writes on 10th September 2009...
We missed our coach by about 10 minutes which sucked, so we phoned National Express and the person on the phone told us we could hop on another coach from Reading town centre with no problems. So we got a minicab there and waited for the next coach to London, in the meantime we decided to ring up again to double check, and the other person on the phone said we couldn't do that and we'd have to pay an extra £20 each to get home! But me and Patrick turned on our manly charm and managed to convince a coach driver going to London to let us on :D seriously that guy was a legend, he saved us!
Julie - a passenger weighing 300 lbs writes on 8th September 2009...
O/T slightly, but is there such a thing as fatism?
This weekend i went to London with friends to a big girls night out (most excellent night with good company may i add).
Anyhow our hotel did not provide breakfast (last time it did) so before getting on our National Express coach to come home we all went and brought bacon sandwiches n cups of tea. I had about three sips of my tea it was quite hot and left it at Victoria and happily boarded the bus with my sandwich neatly tucked in my sarnie bag. When i sat down i started to tuck in when the driver doing a head count asked me (in a not quiet voice) what i was eating. So i told him a bacon sandwich to which he replied you can't eat hot food on the coach, you have 5 seconds to get off the coach and eat it or it gets binned. I explained to the driver that my sandwich was not in fact hot (it had been made nearly 30 minutes earlier) and that i was diabetic and had not eaten. At which point he gave me the company policy lecture so i gave him the sandwich in the bag and told him to shove it (in the bin). Now see i could understand if a) it was hot soup i was carrying on board that could slip out of my hand and scald someone. But my complaint is this.... My partner was sat next to me with his cup of tea and sandwich bag in his hand, my friend sat in front chewing on a mouthful of sandwich and another friend had a sandwich bag on the seat next to her. Funnily enough he didn't ask them about their food or beverages but he asked the fattest person on the bus if she wanted to squeeze n waddle down the aisle then stand outside shovelling a sandwich down her neck while everyone waited and watched.... wonder why???
Am looking forward to hearing what the coach company have to say! Oh yes and he spent less time telling us to put our seat belts on than ridding me of my much needed breakfast...
Wales Online reports on 8th September 2009...
Friends in Facebook tribute to tragic Mel
A FACEBOOK group dedicated to the young mum who died in a crash at Gatwick has gained more than 700 members in just 24 hours.
The site called Melanie Wisdens (Memorable) Group has been set up by a close friend of 34-year-old Melanie, who was killed in a collision with a National Express coach on Friday. Her body will be brought back to Cardiff today.
The friend, who did not wish to be named, said: “I only set up the group at 2.30pm on Sunday and it’s just typical Mel to have all these people paying tribute.
“She would do anything for anyone and the whole time I knew her I never saw her upset. It’s devastating; it just doesn’t seem real.”
Popular Melanie had friends from all walks of life, and the group was created for them to share their stories about her.
Vicky Williams wrote on the message board: “There is so much I could say about Mel, I really don’t know where to start. I met Mel in 1992, and we clicked straight away. She was in Cocos with Laura doing the ‘heel step heel’ dance to Apparently Nothin.
“We had so much fun – 18th birthday parties, 21st birthday parties, 30th birthday parties! Carnivals, nights out in Bristol (we thought that was so adventurous!), even just a coffee in the Capitol centre, we always have things to say, and we would always be laughing. Mel had this unique ability to bring out the best side of anyone she met. Even if we were being told off for something.”
Terry Cooper said: “Vivacious was a word that could’ve been invented for Mel. What a fun lady and a happy soul.”
And Martine Hopkins wrote: “Very shocked and saddened for Melanie’s family. I didn’t know her personally, but remember her from the days of Lloyds and Liberties where I thought of her as the Cardiff Dancehall queen because of her clothes, figure and dance moves, and would often pass her through Grange as she rode her bike. Condolences to the family through this difficult time. RIP Melanie.”
Sussex Police are still investigating the cause of the crash.
No date has yet been set for a funeral.
never argue with an idiot writes on 7th September 2009...
National Express Coach Driver Announcement
The bus moves off from Victoria Coach Station in London and the driver in a very lazy dire voice:
“Ping pong! This bus is to Liverpool and Manchester.” Pause…Passengers are puzzled and getting uncomfortable in their seats.
“I am only joking this bus is to Leeds. Now I have your attention, can I please quickly tell you about safety rules? Wear you seatbelt, it is for your own safety. There are emergency exits in the front and at the back, also two on the roof.” Chuckle…
“Please be considered to fellow passengers and make your phone calls short and sweet. We don’t want to know about your love life! Same goes for laptops, music players. Keep the volume down for others’ comfort. There is a toilet at the back, do use it seated! In case of emergency braking you wouldn’t want to walk down the aisle with your pants down. I hope you will enjoy your journey with National Express, if not you can always use Megabus.”
Chuckle… “Thank you.”
Wales Online reports on 7th September 2009...
Mum ‘laughing and joking’ minutes before crash
A WELSH mum who died in a crash on her way home from Gatwick Airport was “laughing and joking” minutes before she died, her best friend said yesterday.
Melanie Wisden’s best friend spoke to the Western Mail from Tenerife where she had flown after the 34-year-old mum of one dropped her off at Gatwick Airport.
As she drove away from the Sussex airport on Friday afternoon, her Ford Ka was in collision with a National Express coach. The coach came to rest on top of Mrs Wisden’s car.
After the accident, traffic around the airport came to a standstill, with tailbacks stretching to the M25, more than seven miles away.
Travellers were seen leaving their vehicles and running towards the airport with suitcases.
Highways staff worked until 8pm to clear the roads, which were reported to be littered with abandoned vehicles.
Melanie’s family said yesterday that the Cardiff mum had only passed her test 10 months ago and had never before driven further afield than Bristol. Best friend Samantha Macatangay, of Porth, Rhondda, did not hear about the accident until after she arrived in Tenerife.
Speaking from her hotel, the mother of four said: “We had a wonderful journey up to Gatwick, we had a good laugh reminiscing; she was my best friend.
“Mel was speaking about us going on a girly holiday next year.
“It was a very close, good friendship. I have siblings but there isn’t much communication between us. Mel was more like a sister to me.
The pair met some 15 years ago while out clubbing in Cardiff, and have been close ever since, meeting up for lunch and looking after each other’s children.
Melanie’s daughter Mia, 11, was a bridesmaid at Samantha’s wedding just a couple of weeks ago.
“You can’t describe how it feels to lose someone. I feel hollow and empty at losing someone so close.”
Mrs Macatangay is trying to book flights home, but said all she has done on her honeymoon is cry.
“My husband Dean has been very supportive, he knows how close my children and I were to Mel. He is devastated for me,” she said.
“My children grew up with Mel, they are all devastated.
“I just want everyone to know how much I loved and adored her.”
Mrs Wisden, of Ely, Cardiff, had taken a day off from her job at Starbucks in Queen Street to drive her friend to the airport.
Her family, who did not know about the trip, said they initially thought the police phone call telling them about the accident was a prank call.
Mother Valerie, 56, who works at the Regency House Care Home in Ely, said: “All that went through our minds was: it’s not going to be Melanie.
“We thought Mel’s car must have been stolen because there’s no way she should’ve gone up there on her own.
“She only passed her test 10 months ago and she didn’t like motorways.
“Mel’s a big fitness fanatic, and I was telling everyone that she was going to walk through the door after being to the gym and ask why we’re all sitting around crying and worrying.”
Melanie’s sister Maxine added that Melanie had never driven further than Bristol before.
Dad Jeff, 60, a driver at RAF St Athan, her other sisters Melissa, 31, and Jessica, 17, and brother Mark, 37, are also coming to terms with losing their loved one.
Just days earlier, on Monday, Melanie had returned from her first ever holiday to Turkey.
There, she stayed in a private villa near Fethiye with her daughter Mia and neighbours from her home in Dunraven Street, next to Cardiff City FC’s former ground at Ninian Park.
A funeral date has yet to be set, but the family plan to hold a service at the Church of the Resurrection in Ely and are expecting hundreds to attend.
Wales Online reports on 7th September 2009...
Bus crash victim Melanie Wisden’s family describe their heartbreak
THE heartbroken family of bus crash mum Melanie Wisden said they initially thought the call from police telling them about the tragedy was a prank call.
None of 34-year-old mum Melanie’s immediate family knew she had driven to Gatwick to drop off her newly-wed friend Samantha Macatangay for her honeymoon flight to Tenerife.
Soon after pulling out of the North Terminal at 1.30pm on Friday, a National Express coach struck the side of Melanie’s black Ka before coming to rest on top of it. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her heartbroken sister Maxine, 32, of Ely, Cardiff, said the telephone call from police telling them about the tragedy had sent the family into shock.
“The first thing I thought was it’s not her,” she said. “I went into shock and I didn’t believe it. I thought it was a prank call.”
Melanie and Maxine’s mum Valerie, 56, said Melanie had only passed her driving test 10 months ago.
“All that went through our minds was: ‘It’s not going to be Melanie.’”
Valerie, who works at the Regency House Care Home in Ely, said they hoped her car had been stolen.
“We thought Mel’s car must have been stolen because there’s no way she should’ve gone up there on her own.
“She only passed her test 10 months ago and she didn’t like motorways.
“Mel’s a big fitness fanatic and I was telling everyone that she was going to walk through the door after being to the gym and ask why we’re all sitting around crying and worrying.”
She added that Melanie had never driven further than Bristol before.
Melanie’s dad Jeff, 60, a driver at RAF St Athan, her other sisters Melissa, 31, and Jessica, 17, and brother Mark, 37, are also coming to terms with losing their loved one.
Just days earlier, on Monday, Melanie had returned from her first-ever holiday to Turkey.
She had stayed in a private villa near Fethiye with her daughter Mia and neighbours from her home in Dunraven Street, next to Cardiff City FC’s former ground at Ninian Park.
On Friday, Melanie had taken a day off from her job at Starbucks in Queen Street to take Samantha to the airport from her Valleys home.
The two were close pals. Melanie would often look after Samantha’s children and Samantha had given Melanie the money to buy her car.
At Samantha’s wedding just two weeks ago, Melanie was proud when her daughter Mia, 11, was one of the bridesmaids.
After the accident, traffic around the airport came to a standstill, with tailbacks stretching to the M25, more than seven miles away. Travellers were even seen leaving their vehicles and running towards the airport with suitcases.
Highways staff worked until 8pm to clear the roads, which were reported to be littered with abandoned vehicles.
Mia is now living with her father Mark Dacosta, Melanie’s former partner of seven years, at his home in Llanedeyrn.
Valerie said: “What happens now is totally up to Mia. I hope she’ll come and see us every couple of weekends at least.
“This has broken her heart. They were such a lovely mother-and-daughter couple.”
Valerie added: “It’s such a waste of a life – it’s just all gone.”
In addition to her job at Starbucks, Melanie also worked at the Frankie and Benny’s restaurant in Cardiff Bay. She eventually became a shift manager at the coffee shop, where she worked alongside sister Maxine.
A funeral date has yet to be set but the family plan to hold a service at the Church of the Resurrection in Ely and are expecting hundreds to attend.
It is the second tragedy to hit Valerie’s family. When Melanie was just six months old in 1975, her sister Melinda died, aged 21 months, when she developed peritonitis after an accident in a high chair.
Mel’s best friend recalls their journey
TRAGIC Melanie’s best friend said her last memory of her would be laughing and joking together as they drove to Gatwick Airport.
Tearful Samantha Macatangay spoke to the Echo from her hotel in Tenerife, to where she flew on honeymoon after Melanie dropped her off, moments before her death.
“I can’t accept that she’s gone. We had a wonderful journey up to Gatwick; we had a good laugh reminiscing. She was my best friend,” said the mum of four.
“Mel was speaking about us going on a girly holiday next year.”
The pair met some 15 years ago while out clubbing in Cardiff, and have been close ever since, meeting up for lunch and looking after each other’s children.
Melanie’s daughter Mia, 11, was a bridesmaid at Samantha’s wedding just a couple of weeks ago.
“It was a very close friendship. I have siblings but there isn’t much communication between us. Mel was more like a sister to me. You can’t describe how it feels to lose someone so close. I feel hollow and empty.”
Mrs Macatangay, who lives in Porth, is trying to book flights home, but said all she has done on her honeymoon is cry.
“My husband Dean has been very supportive; he knows how close my children and I were to Mel. He is devastated for me,” she said. “I just want everyone to know how much I loved and adored her.”
Redhill and Reigate Life reports on 7th September 2009...
Woman dies in airport coach collision
A woman died instantly when her car was crushed by a coach in a collision at Gatwick Airport.
Melanie Wisden, 34, from Cardiff, was driving a Ford Ka when the accident happened outside the airport's North Terminal last Friday, just after 1.30pm.
The National Express coach ended up on top of the Ford at the North Terminal roundabout in Airport Way.
Emergency teams and the Sussex Air Ambulance went to the scene.
The coach driver suffered shock and was taken to hospital along with a passenger who sustained a wrist injury.
The coach was carrying about 40 passengers, who were bussed from the scene to the airport where officers took accounts from them, before they were allowed to continue their journeys.
The accident caused severe tailbacks stretching beyond the M25 and people reported seeing some flight-bound passengers walking with suitcases along the M23 and A23 to the terminal.
Inspector Keith Ellis from Sussex Police's road policing unit said: “We appreciate the frustration of road travellers caught up with this incident but the circumstances are very unusual in that the collision happened on a very busy roundabout, and also, that it involved a coach that ended up on top of the car.
“However, we must not lose sight of the fact that, sadly, a woman died, and it is essential that her death is fully investigated to meet the needs of the coroner and any subsequent court case that may arise.”
He said: “The investigative work cannot begin until the needs of those involved in the collision are attended to, and in this case, the recovery work that followed the investigation was particularly complex.
“Repairs were also needed to the road and crash barrier.”
Police are appealing for witnesses to call them on 0845 6070 999, quoting Operation Tilstone.
Rye and Battle Observer reports on 7th September 2009...
Inquiries continue into fatal car accident
POLICE are today (Monday) continuing to investigate the road accident at Gatwick on Friday when a 34-year-old woman was killed after her car was crushed under a National Express Coach.
The tragic accident caused long delays in the area including on the M23 and A23 as police interviewed the coach's 40 passengers about how the accident happened before allowing them to continue their journeys and flights from the airport.
The collision occurred on the North Terminal roundabout on Airport Way just after 1.30pm on Friday (September 4) leaving the coach on top of the woman's Ford Ka.
She was declared dead at the scene. She is believed to have come from South Wales. The coach's driver was taken to hospital suffering from shock.
Police apologised for the lengthy delays for motorists.
Inspector Keith Ellis from Sussex Police's Road Policing Unit added: "We must not lose sight of the fact that, sadly, a woman died and it is essential that her death is fully investigated to meet the needs of the coroner and any subsequent court case that may arise."
He said recovery of the vehicles was particularly complex and repairs also had to be made to the road and crash barrier.
Any witnesses should call police on 0845 60 70 999 quoting Operation Tilstone.
Wales Online reports on 6th September 2009...
Coach crash victim's family remember beautiful mum
YOUNG mum Melanie Wisden had just waved her newlywed friend off on honeymoon and was looking forward to spending the weekend with her 11-year-old daughter.
But as she drove away from Gatwick Airport and headed back to Cardiff, tragedy struck.
As she left the airport’s North Terminal at 1.30pm on Friday, a National Express coach collided with the side of her tiny black Ford Ka before coming to rest on top of it.
Melanie, 34, mum to 11-year-old Mia, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Traffic around the airport came to a standstill, with tailbacks stretching to the M25, more than seven miles away.
Travellers were even seen leaving their vehicles and running towards the airport with suitcases.
Highways staff worked until 8pm to clear the roads, which were reported to be littered with abandoned vehicles.
At home in Ely, Cardiff, her stunned family could not believe the news when police called to tell them hard-working mum Melanie was dead.
Her heartbroken sister Maxine, 32, told Wales On Sunday she originally though the phone call was a sick joke.
“The first thing I thought was it’s not her,” she said. “I went into shock and I didn’t believe it. I thought it was a prank call.”
Melanie and Maxine’s mum Valerie, 56, added: “All that went through our minds was: it’s not going to be Melanie.”
Melanie’s dad Jeff, 60, a driver at RAF St Athan, her other sisters Melissa, 31, and Jessica, 17, and brother Mark, 37, are also coming to terms with losing their loved one.
Melanie had taken a day off from her job at the city centre branch of Starbucks in Queen Street to take her newlywed friend Samantha Macatangay to the airport from her Valleys home so she could begin her honeymoon in Tenerife.
The two were close pals – Melanie would often look after Samantha’s children and Samantha had given Melanie the money to buy her car.
At Samantha’s wedding just two weeks ago, Melanie was so proud when her daughter Mia was one of the bridesmaids.
Melanie’s family said Samantha was “heartbroken” when they told her the news and was planning to return to the UK on the next available flight.
Just days earlier, on Monday, Melanie had returned from her first ever holiday to Turkey.
There, she stayed in a private villa near Fethiye with her daughter Mia and neighbours from her home in Dunraven Street, next to Cardiff City FC’s former ground at Ninian Park.
Valerie said her daughter had caught the travel bug on her very first trip abroad.
Maxine added: “I’d been bugging her for years to get a passport and go on holiday.
“We’d already planned a trip to Ayia Napa for next year. It was going to be party time!”
The two would regularly hit the town together – often heading to the Club 3000 bingo hall – and Maxine said friends would sometimes mistake one of them for the other.
“A lot of people got the names confused,” she said. “Some didn’t know which was which.
Valerie added: “Melanie was so attractive and stunning when she was all made-up to go out. She could have been a model, she had so much confidence in herself.”
“It’s such a waste of a life – it’s just all gone”
Daughter Mia is now living with her father, Mark Dacosta, Melanie’s former partner of seven years, at his home in Llanedeyrn.
Valerie said: “What happens now is totally up to Mia. I hope she’ll come and see us every couple of weekends at least.
“This has broken her heart. They were such a lovely mother and daughter couple.”
Valerie added: “It’s such a waste of a life – it’s just all gone.” Paying an emotional tribute to her daughter, she said: “We’re going to miss her so much. She will always be in our hearts for ever and ever.”
Maxine said of her sister: “She was a happy, bubbly, smiley person and she would make anyone smile.”
In addition to her job at Starbucks, Melanie also worked at the Frankie and Benny’s restaurant in Cardiff Bay and had worked at various branches of Pizza Hut in the city for around 10 years.
She eventually became a shift manager at the city’s Queen Street branch, where she worked alongside Maxine.
Sammy Dicken, who worked with the sisters around 10 years ago, said: “She always made us laugh no matter what the situation.
“Her personality was infectious and working with her was always a pleasure, especially when Maxine was working alongside.”
Melanie was also a familiar face to drivers from Cardiff Bus, whose main Sloper Road depot is just yards from her home.
“She was well-known to them,” said Valerie. “They would honk at her when they saw her riding her bike.”
Further tributes have poured in via Maxine’s page on social networking website Facebook.
More than 100 messages have been left by friends and acquaintances from as far away as America.
Maxine said: “I was having so many phone calls that I just thought: I need to get on Facebook, confirm it’s happened and let everyone know.”
A funeral date has yet to be set, but the family plan to hold a service at the Church of the Resurrection in Ely and are expecting hundreds to attend.
It is the second tragedy to hit Valerie’s family. When Melanie was just six months old, in 1975, her sister Melinda died, aged 21 months, when she developed peritonitis after an accident in a high chair.
BBC News reports on 6th September 2009...
Gatwick crash woman's lift favour
A woman who died when her car was in a collision with a coach at Gatwick airport had just dropped her friend off for a flight, it has been revealed.
Melanie Wisden, 34, from Cardiff, was killed instantly when her Ford Ka was crushed by a National Express coach just after 1330 BST on Friday.
Ms Wisden, who worked at a cafe, had an 11-year-old daughter, Mia.
Her mother Valerie told the Wales on Sunday newspaper: "It's such a waste of life - it's all just gone."
She added: "We're going to miss her so much. She will always be in our hearts for ever and ever."
She had taken the day off work from her job at Starbucks to carry out the trip to the second busiest airport in the country.
More than 100 people have left tribute messages on a Facebook page set up in memory of Ms Wisden by her sister Maxine.
The collision on Airport Way caused severe delays as access to the North Terminal was not possible from junction 9 of the M23 while collision investigators worked at the scene.
The coach driver was taken to hospital suffering from shock while a passenger had a wrist injury.
All roads were reopened by 2000 BST by which time there were several abandoned cars in the roads approaching the airport.
BBC Sussex radio reported people getting out of their vehicles and running towards the airport with their suitcases.
Passengers using the airport were advised to allow extra time for their journeys.
Wales Online reports on 5th September 2009...
Woman killed in Gatwick coach crash named
A SOUTH Wales woman killed when her car collided with a coach at Gatwick Airport has been named.
Melanie Wisden, 34, was killed instantly following the smash on the North Terminal roundabout at 1.30pm yesterday.
The National Express coach ended up on top of her Ford Ka.
It is understood Ms Wisden, of Dunraven Street, Cardiff, had dropped off a friend at the airport and was returning to South Wales when the crash happened.
Roads for miles around were seized up, with local radio reporting people getting out of their vehicles and running towards the airport with suitcases.
Friends and family have left more than 100 tributes to Ms Wisden on her sister Maxine’s Facebook page.
Sammy Dicken, who worked with Melanie at Pizza Hut 10 years ago, said: "Her smile and happiness on life will never be forgotten. If there’s one thing she taught us was live your life to the full and enjoy it."
BBC News reports on 4th September 2009...
Crash leads to Gatwick congestion
A woman motorist has died in a collision involving a coach and a car at Gatwick Airport in West Sussex.
Emergency teams including the Sussex Air Ambulance were called to the North Terminal shortly after 1330 BST.
Police said the victim was a 34-year-old woman from South Wales. The coach driver was taken to hospital with shock while a passenger had a wrist injury.
Witnesses told of seeing people delayed by road closures walking with suitcases along the M23 and A23 to the terminal.
Severe tailbacks
Sussex Police said the woman's Ford Ka collided with the National Express coach which ended up on top of her vehicle at the North Terminal roundabout.
Passengers using the airport, which is the second busiest in the country, were advised to allow extra time for their journeys.
A Highways Agency spokesman said all roads including Airport Way were reopened by 2000 BST.
But he said it would be some time before the congestion was cleared with severe tailbacks still stretching as far back as the M25 and beyond.
He also said there were several abandoned cars in the roads approaching the airport.
Transit system
Following the accident, Sussex Police had said access to the North Terminal was not possible from junction nine of the M23.
There was also the warning of delays on roads around the airport, with the closure of a slip road on the A23.
People who needed to get to the North Terminal from the M23 were advised to go to the South Terminal and use the passenger transit system, an airport spokeswoman said.
She said Gatwick Airport's website and Twitter account were carrying regular updates on the situation.
Extra airport staff were also drafted in to help passengers who may have missed flights or were running late because of the traffic congestion.
Crawley News reports on 4th September 2009...
UPDATED: Woman dies after car is in collision with coach near Gatwick
A WOMAN has died after her car was involved in a collision with a National Express coach near Gatwick Airport.
The 34-year-old woman, from south Wales, was pronounced dead at the scene after her Ford Ka was in collision with the coach outside the airport's North Terminal at around 1.30pm on Friday.
Around 40 passengers were on the coach, which ended up on top of the car. One passenger suffered a minor wrist injury.
The driver of the coach was taken to hospital suffering from shock. All the passengers were bussed to the airport where they gave their version of events to police.
The dead woman's next of kin have been informed, but she has not yet been named by police.
The crash caused traffic chaos and delays for several hours on surrounding roads including the M23 and A23, with people struggling to make their way to the airport.
Inspector Keith Ellis, from Sussex Police's Road Policing Unit, said: "We appreciate the frustration of road travellers caught up with this incident, but the circumstances are very unusual in that the collision happened on a very busy roundabout and also that it involved a coach that ended up on top of the car.
"However, we must not lose sight of the fact that, sadly, a woman died and it is essential that her death is fully investigated to meet the needs of the coroner and any subsequent court case that may arise.
"We do work as swiftly as possible and our investigating officers are very experienced in their role, but once the scene is cleared we don't get a chance to revisit it.
"The investigative work cannot begin until the needs of those involved in the collision are attended to and in this case, the recovery work that followed the investigation was particularly complex.
"Repairs were also needed to the road and crash barrier."
The Highways Agency confirmed that all roads around the airport were re-opened by 8pm on Friday.
Extra airport staff were drafted in to help passengers who may have missed flights or were running late because of traffic congestion.
Police are appealing for any witnesses to the collision to contact them on 0845 60 70 999, quoting Operation Tilstone.
Weston and Somerset Mercury reports on 3rd September 2009...
Passengers flee flaming bus
PANICKED passengers pleaded to be allowed off a smoking bus moments before it burst into flames, a Weston survivor has told the Mercury.
Filmmaker Rhys Hayward was on his way to London from Bristol when smoke prompted screams from the back of the National Express vehicle he was travelling in.
Luckily the driver responded to his passengers' pleas and everyone was able to disembark before the bus caught alight at the side of the M4 motorway.
Now an investigation into the cause of the fire has begun amid Mr Hayward's claims that the bus driver failed to implement the company's 'strict safety procedures'.
The 38-year-old, of Clevedon Road, said: "About 25 minutes into the journey there was shouting from the back of the bus about smoke coming from the engine.
"A group of Somali women and their children were screaming and smoke began to filter down the bus prompting passengers to ask the driver to stop.
"In my opinion it took a long time for the driver to pull up and people were just relieved that he opened the door to be let off."
Mr Hayward was on his way to a film meeting in the capital he had arranged two days before his trip on Wednesday last week.
He caught the 040 from Bristol Bus Station to London Victoria at 9.45am, before the mayhem ensued.
Pictures taken by Mr Hayward on the M4 hard shoulder show the severity of the situation the passengers found themselves in.
He added: "Fire could be seen shortly afterwards, and the extent of the danger began to sink in.
"The driver failed to issue any safety instructions to those on board, and neither he nor the National Express drivers who stopped on the hard shoulder did a head count of the passengers involved."
Two passing National Express coaches took all 48 passengers to the service station close by. Those people without luggage travelled immediately onwards to London. Others who had belongings waited for the fire brigade to release their luggage and then travelled on a replacement coach to London.
A National Express spokesperson said: "All customers were safely directed off the coach by the driver before travelling to their onward destination by replacement services.
"They were met by customer service staff at London Victoria.
"In being prepared for this type of emergency situation we follow strict procedures, with the priority of moving people off the motorway."
The spokesman added that compensation would be discussed with passengers on an individual basis.
Bristol Evening Post reports on 27th August 2009...
Anger over 'jammed door' as Bristol coach catches fire
A passenger fears someone could have been seriously hurt after he tried – and failed – to open an emergency exit when the coach he was travelling on caught fire in Bristol.
Colin Walkington was on yesterday's 9.25am 040 Bristol to London National Express coach, on his way to watch Arsenal take on Celtic at the Emirates Stadium in the Champions League.
But at about 10.30am, as the coach containing 48 passengers travelled along the M4 between junctions 18 and 17, he sensed all was not well.
"I was sat one row from the back and I started to smell some fumes," said the 43-year-old, of The Clifford, Lawrence Weston. "At first I thought it was just coming from a lorry or something.
"I opened the toilet door and thick black smoke started coming out so I shouted to the bus driver to pull over."
The support worker added: "There was a mother and her two kids sitting nearby and people started to scream.
"I tried to open the emergency exit near the toilet to let the smoke out but I couldn't.
"I booted it twice but it still wouldn't open. It was jammed shut."
Everyone got off the 49-seater safely through the front door, but shortly afterwards it went up in flames and smoke continued to billow into the air as the vehicle stood on the hard shoulder.
Mr Walkington added: "Thank God the fire was not at the front or we could have been trapped on the coach."
The Arsenal fan complained that when the coach was evacuated and passengers got on to two passing National Express coaches, there was no head done to see if everyone had got off safely.
He is also unhappy with what he saw as a lack of communication when, at nearby Leigh Delamere services, he says passengers were told another coach would come to pick them up later, but no time was given.
Mr Walkington decided to call off his trip and got his friend Reg Perkins to pick him up and take him home, where he watched the football match on TV last night.
He said he was going to contact National Express to ask for compensation for the £52 match ticket and £8 coach fare.
A spokeswoman for National Express said an engineer tried the rear fire exit after the fire had been put out and had no problem opening it.
She said: "All customers were safely directed off the coach by the driver before all, but Mr Walkington, travelled to their onward destination by replacement services.
"Customers were met by National Express customer service staff at London Victoria.
"In being prepared for this type of emergency situation we follow strict procedures, with the priority of moving people off the motorway. We have started an investigation into the cause of the fire."
...This story attracted 47 reader comments and here they are...
#
This must have been a frightening experience for anyone on the coach! I cetainly don't understand the personal abuse directed at the passengers?! What's that all about?
I imagine that the emergency door wouldn't open as the gentleman involved was in a state of panic, and from what I've read it's probably just as well that he couldn''t as it sounds as if it wouldn't have been safe anyway!
The headline should be one more along the lines of 'All passengers get off coach safely after fire scare!'
Mr Walkington should be grateful no one was injured, not moaning about getting his match ticket money back, it was his choice not to continue his journey, everyone else seems to have managed to!
AL, Bristol
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commented on 28-Aug-2009 10:13
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For anyone wanting to see this footage, search for VIDEO 002 on youtube
rob, Bristol
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commented on 28-Aug-2009 08:24
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Steve, that was said tongue in cheek and was not meant to cause offence to yourself. Apologies if it came across as such :)
rob, Bristol
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commented on 28-Aug-2009 07:59
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Reading your comments on this story I am trying to remain calm - but its hard to do that so...
I was on the coach and for all you people - this was a shocker but whilst everyone was inhailing smoke at the back of the coach the driver was at the front of the coach on the phone to the fire service - mmmm safety first - get everyone off - someone else done that so thank god there was some one at the front that knew how to handle the situation and took control because the driver didn't, and anyone that calls us a bunch of idiots (I mean there really is no need for that) when his mates turn up in other coaches is going to get a mouthful from me (mr driver) - oh and by the way drivers -can you count as well?
The fire was not the drivers fault and maybe the emergency door wasnt opened properly which was probably a blessing as we could have ended up under a car or lorr or worse a National Express Coach! the driver was in pure shock and it showed, no emergancy procedure was followed and it was a very poor standard of service.
Oh yeah and for anyone that doesnt know what they are talking about its on you tube.
Jacquie, yate
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commented on 28-Aug-2009 00:00
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You can whistle for your £52 compensation mate, onward travel was available
Driver, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 23:15
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Dont call me stupid Rob!!!!!
Steve, bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 22:55
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Steve, dont be stupid, if the facts were reported, there would be no news and that would not be good (for BEP)
rob, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 22:45
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Dont be daft Driver, the truth might come out that we actually work hard for a living, despite what the general public and BEP would be led to believe.
Right, i have had enough of defending the company that i enjoy working for, im off out to change my float from the £25 in loose change to a £20 and a fiver so i can dish out change tickets tomorrow (oh no, hang on, i cant do that lol)
rob, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 22:42
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OK Walkington, youve had your 5 minutes of fame, now lets have the facts!
With regard to the "alleged" non operation of the rear emergency exit, the police and fire services who attended this incident, both checked the door and found it to be fully operational. It is a good job that you did not manage to kick it open or the police would had the job of knocking on peoples doors to tell them that a family member or members had been fatally injured by jumping from a coach into lane 1 of a busy motorway!!!! After the vehicle was recovered, the door was checked again by, the fitters, the engineering director and officials from VOSA. It was found to be functioning correctly. Why papers are allowed to publish unverified "facts" is a mystery to me. I suppose an apology from the BEP and Mr Walkington would be too much to ask for!! Lets be thankful that there were no serious injuries, and all except one person were able to complete their journeys in safety. That one person went home to watch the football!!!!!!
Steve, bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 22:39
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Dear boss of bep
why not speak to the press relations department at enterprise house and get one of your reporters to work a shift shadowing a driver to see what happens throughout a shift and then do a article about it
Driver, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 22:22
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Driver, i think its down to the general conception that all we do is drive around all day, running late or not at all, carry next to no passengers and have some kind of control over the traffic which means we are the devil's incarnate.
To all those that catch a bus/coach maybe twice a day, how about you spend an entire day with a driver and see just exactly what we deal with in a day because im pretty sure all you see is maybe an hour or so when you are sat in the bus.
I know this will cause a million and one comments about First drivers being arrogant, ignorant, rude etc etc but if you can sit behind the wheel of a 40ft vehicle for upwards of 11 hours a day, dealing with the traffic in an antiquated road system, people that have no idea that we can't fly over traffic, have had 20 £20 note and don't actually have the time to get change because even though you were stood outside a newsagent for 5 minutes, you could not be bothered to help the driver a little bit.
I have driven buses and coaches in the 6 years i have been with First and most of the time, its been great.
The majority of of my time has been really enjoyable and most of my passengers have been really nice but there seems to be this die hard section of the public that will only be happy if a bus can run every 5 minutes with a full load and a driver that carries £500 in spare change, has the answer to every question in the world, can repair a vehicle by clicking his fingers and have 24hr bus lanes running throughout Bristol on every road.
Look at the big picture people, Arriva and Stagecoach have both said no way to running a bus service in Bristol and even Richard Branson has said he would run at a loss if he tried so thank yourselves lucky that you even have a bus service.
rob, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 21:53
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Alright rob,
bullsh!t like this sales papers which is what the bep want. Some numpty can't open a simple door. Hold the front page, we can spin this.
Useless idiot passengers and the general public of Bristol have got little respect for what drivers have to do and deal with. I am fed up with the lot of them. Commenting on things they know nothing about making assumptions based on other peoples assumptions.
Sort it out Bristol
Driver, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 21:00
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So, lets get this straight. A possible fire started at the back of the coach and the obvious thing to do was to try and exit from the back of the coach into the middle of the m4? Dear lord, these people give birth to future generations??? Oh, the volcano is about to erupt, lets walk closer to the lava just in case (for those that dont understand sarcasm, this will be lost on you)
I happen to know the driver in question very well and believe me, he did check the emergency exit, as we all have to. The punishment a driver could get if found not to be doing his regular checks would be, as you would expect carrying passengers, extremely hard. If the emergency door had not opened on his checks, the vehicle would have been taken off the road straight away.
All of First coaches vehicle have 3 emergency hammers (and like the emergency exit, have an idiot guide on how to use them)
So, in all the comments, we have 2 completely different versions of how Mr Walkington tried to open the emergency exit, so rather than the obvious easy target of slating First Coaches, how about actually waiting for the official report?
Oh, and because after the vehicle had been recovered back to the depot, the engineer was able to open it, he was obviously lying? Do you really think he would risk his livelyhood and reputation?
Maybe, just maybe, Mr Walkington didnt use the handle which is signed by the way, and just decided brute force and ignorance was the order of the day and is now playing on it in aid of a bit of compensation?
As i said earlier, dont fling wild accusations about the coach being unroadworthy and the mechanic lying about the state of the door becuase i can guarantee that 98% of the replies to this article were not on the coach and have not seen it in the aftermath so unless you are actually dealing with the incident in person, may i suggest you keep your accusations to yourself rather than sully the name of the people that keep this service on the road.
Yes i am a coach driver and yes, i work for First Coaches, hence i probably know a little more than most of the posters in this article. Its not biased opinion, just pure and simple fact.
Rob, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 20:47
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Wrong. It's a first group coach
Driver, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 20:43
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More likely the bloke wasn't trying to open the door properly than it not opening. Kicking the door wouldn't open it as you have to open the door with the lever. Also at the rear of the vehicle are hammer which could of been used to smash the near side rear window to escape through.
The headline should be 49 people safely evacuated from coach after it catches fire on the m4. I expect the engineer was able to open just as anyone on board would of been able to if they operated the mechanism correctly
Driver, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 20:24
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I was on the coach with my daughter an her friend. We were sat where the smoke was coming from. I would like to thank the guy who tried the emergency door. As other people near the front paniced they blocked the isle. All of us at the back who were in the thick of the smoke had to stand waiting while they got off first.
kirstie, bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 20:07
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Nobody was hurt, National Express will learn from this and let's be honest what other service in the UK comes close to matching National Express for reliability, price, efficiency and customer service in general.
Good news that all are safe!
Richard, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 19:38
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Mike Bailey
Loved your comment, very funny. Where is Mike Ford though, comments are getting funnier as its getting later!
Mike, North Somerset
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 17:42
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I was on the coach that caught fire, the guy did try to open the emergencey door but was unable to do so. Good job as it would have meant people exiting into the first lane of the M4 which was still in use. No heroes about, some panicked and screamed some kept their heads, we all got off ok. In general it was a shambles but then what do you expect, it is not something we are used to dealing with on a daily basis. Until you are faced with something like this who knows how you will react be happy no one was seriously hurt.
collin field, Yate
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 17:41
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If the 'hero' that saved the coach by finding a fire would like to explain how he attempted to open the fire exit and whether the vehicle was still in motion when he tried to open it.
I drive vehicles like this one regularly and the door can only be locked to prevent it being open from the outside.
Me thinks this guy is trying to make national express look bad
Driver, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 17:14
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i was on that bus Michelle, and he didnt give it a good kick.
he panicked like a three year old running around and that.
then threw a hissy fit and went home.
When we needed heroes we got zeroes.
How he is in the paper I do not know.
Mike Bailey, Hengrove
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 17:13
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KB-I bet the National express engineer said that. He doesn't want the company to get into trouble. Why didn't they get an independant company to look at it? It was quite a serious incident since the bus actually caught fire. I'm pretty sure Mr Walkington gave that door a good kick ESPECIALLY if he was in a state of panic.
michelle, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 16:53
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KB,
I'll think you'll find that on the model RD/332-A buses as operated by National Express 040 service to London, the sign on the emergency door does in fact read ... 'In case of emergency - boot here twice'
What more could the gentleman have done in this situation
wibble, Hang on, give me a shot at it ... hoof
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 16:32
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Michelle, National Express' engineer tried the door later and had no problem opening it. I would suggest that perhaps in a state of panic, Mr Walkington failed to operate the opening mechanism properly. After all, by opening the door withouit a proper evacuation route set up, he could have caused the fire to spread
KB, Bristol, England
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 16:01
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If the BEP is looking for a proof reader I'll do it. I'm looking for work & have 25 years experience in the print industry.
Lawrence, BS6
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 15:54
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Safety or not , having a fire door locked is a breach of the fire code. This bus company could be in alot of trouble.
michelle, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 15:30
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ANGER?!!
Gotta love the BEP
George, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 15:18
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I'm so glad I'm not the only one immature enough to have a snigger at the 'head' comment. Shame on the National Express for not making sure that everyone 'got off' safely! BEP, seriously, get someone who can proof read. It was an innocent comment made to look a little smutty this time but could actually cause offence if a similar mistake was made in a more serious story.
Old enough to know better, Trying to keep a straight face at my desk
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 15:15
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if he hasnt i guess he'll be trying to get compo on that aswell.. haha
Rodge the Dodge, bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 14:20
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I wonder if the "court" man in the McDonald's ants story had his head done.
Lawrence, BS6
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 14:18
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inappropriate for you maybe! im glad i didnt miss the chance to get my 'head done'
hahaha, should definately invest in some proof reading BEP
Rodge the Dodge, bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 14:13
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Obviously a reporter with a hearing problem, it's De Clifford Rd not The Clifford.
Chris, Bristle
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 14:09
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......passengers got on to two passing National Express coaches, there was no head done to see if everyone had got off safely.
Glad to hear there was no head done. That would've certainly been inappropriate.
Lawrence, BS6
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 14:06
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Colin, Sam talks sense. A few years back, a high speed train caught fire and several passengers were killed because they climbed out of the train on the wrong side and were struck by another train. This could have been a story about passengers being killed on the motorway, rather than a bit of a non-story about an alleged failure of the emergency door to open.
KB, Bristol, England
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 13:50
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solomon, well done the driver was one of your comments? are you sure you wasnt the driver? and sam from longwell green, are you an expert on coach fires by any chance.
colin, L.dub
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 13:11
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pete bs1 wat a poor fella has to go back today, but thank you for your input. i think your reading the wrong story. bless.
colin, l.dub
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 13:03
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Reg Perkiiiins, tayk me 'oommme
too the plaaace, ahhh beeloonng
Lawrewnce Weston, open prison
Reg Perkins, take me home..
(apologies to John Denver... and the good old folk from LW)
wibble, Back seat having a crafty ciggie
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 12:53
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Colin W...... Sorry to disappoint you but I actually work for a rival coach firm, hence my unsocial working hours and being able to correct you on here during 'normal' working hours!!!
Strange that you were the only passenger not to continue your journey - but thankfully your match was live on TV so you didn't miss it. God bless.
Solomon, Posh end of Artcliffe
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 11:11
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The lights did work numpty!
Pete, BS1
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 10:42
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I would have thought that the drivers would have to go through a check list before leaving the depot. Things like do the lights work, do the doors open etc. Very poor!
Dave, The Downs
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 10:33
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No Colin
You are incorrect
Samantha creed, Longwell green
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 09:56
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i would just like to comment on what afew people have said about the fire on the 040 coach yesterday to london, which i was on, sounds like JB has had claims turned down in the past and SOLOMON works for national express, its a shame you both wasnt on the coach yesterday? anyway thank you evening post for making people aware of slack safety checks on so called SAFE coaches.
colin walkington, bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 09:44
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er...motorway pile up not pilot
Samantha Creed, longwell green
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 09:40
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Lawrence Weston/Compo etc...
It is such a shame that nowadays in the time of adversity everyone thinks of themselves.
Smell fumes/panic/open wrong door/cause motorway pilot.
is this really headline news?
Samantha Creed, longwell green
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 09:39
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Looks like someone wants to make a claim, much ado about nowt.
Even the report is flawed, it states that the fire was in Bristol, no, it was on the M4.
JG, Bristle
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 08:36
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Emergency exits are usually situate on the offside of coaches to facilitate exiting if the coach rolls onto it's nearside.
Just as well that they couldn't open the door in this case as passengers - especially young children - would have spilled out onto the busy motorway. Perhaps the driver used his common sense and prevented egress via this door for passenger safety reasons. Well done drive!!!
Solomon, Posh end of Artcliffe
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 08:32
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Elsewhere on the coach would have been some hammers with which to hit the windows out if necessary, this facility is there as a back up in case the emergency door fails. As part of a drivers daily walk round inspection, the emergency exit should have been checked and recorded if it was not up to scratch. Glad everyone was safe and well.
A person, Not on a coach
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 07:39
Omnisounduk posted this video on You Tube on 26th August 2009...
We missed our coach by about 10 minutes which sucked, so we phoned National Express and the person on the phone told us we could hop on another coach from Reading town centre with no problems. So we got a minicab there and waited for the next coach to London, in the meantime we decided to ring up again to double check, and the other person on the phone said we couldn't do that and we'd have to pay an extra £20 each to get home! But me and Patrick turned on our manly charm and managed to convince a coach driver going to London to let us on :D seriously that guy was a legend, he saved us!
Julie - a passenger weighing 300 lbs writes on 8th September 2009...
O/T slightly, but is there such a thing as fatism?
This weekend i went to London with friends to a big girls night out (most excellent night with good company may i add).
Anyhow our hotel did not provide breakfast (last time it did) so before getting on our National Express coach to come home we all went and brought bacon sandwiches n cups of tea. I had about three sips of my tea it was quite hot and left it at Victoria and happily boarded the bus with my sandwich neatly tucked in my sarnie bag. When i sat down i started to tuck in when the driver doing a head count asked me (in a not quiet voice) what i was eating. So i told him a bacon sandwich to which he replied you can't eat hot food on the coach, you have 5 seconds to get off the coach and eat it or it gets binned. I explained to the driver that my sandwich was not in fact hot (it had been made nearly 30 minutes earlier) and that i was diabetic and had not eaten. At which point he gave me the company policy lecture so i gave him the sandwich in the bag and told him to shove it (in the bin). Now see i could understand if a) it was hot soup i was carrying on board that could slip out of my hand and scald someone. But my complaint is this.... My partner was sat next to me with his cup of tea and sandwich bag in his hand, my friend sat in front chewing on a mouthful of sandwich and another friend had a sandwich bag on the seat next to her. Funnily enough he didn't ask them about their food or beverages but he asked the fattest person on the bus if she wanted to squeeze n waddle down the aisle then stand outside shovelling a sandwich down her neck while everyone waited and watched.... wonder why???
Am looking forward to hearing what the coach company have to say! Oh yes and he spent less time telling us to put our seat belts on than ridding me of my much needed breakfast...
Wales Online reports on 8th September 2009...
Friends in Facebook tribute to tragic Mel
A FACEBOOK group dedicated to the young mum who died in a crash at Gatwick has gained more than 700 members in just 24 hours.
The site called Melanie Wisdens (Memorable) Group has been set up by a close friend of 34-year-old Melanie, who was killed in a collision with a National Express coach on Friday. Her body will be brought back to Cardiff today.
The friend, who did not wish to be named, said: “I only set up the group at 2.30pm on Sunday and it’s just typical Mel to have all these people paying tribute.
“She would do anything for anyone and the whole time I knew her I never saw her upset. It’s devastating; it just doesn’t seem real.”
Popular Melanie had friends from all walks of life, and the group was created for them to share their stories about her.
Vicky Williams wrote on the message board: “There is so much I could say about Mel, I really don’t know where to start. I met Mel in 1992, and we clicked straight away. She was in Cocos with Laura doing the ‘heel step heel’ dance to Apparently Nothin.
“We had so much fun – 18th birthday parties, 21st birthday parties, 30th birthday parties! Carnivals, nights out in Bristol (we thought that was so adventurous!), even just a coffee in the Capitol centre, we always have things to say, and we would always be laughing. Mel had this unique ability to bring out the best side of anyone she met. Even if we were being told off for something.”
Terry Cooper said: “Vivacious was a word that could’ve been invented for Mel. What a fun lady and a happy soul.”
And Martine Hopkins wrote: “Very shocked and saddened for Melanie’s family. I didn’t know her personally, but remember her from the days of Lloyds and Liberties where I thought of her as the Cardiff Dancehall queen because of her clothes, figure and dance moves, and would often pass her through Grange as she rode her bike. Condolences to the family through this difficult time. RIP Melanie.”
Sussex Police are still investigating the cause of the crash.
No date has yet been set for a funeral.
never argue with an idiot writes on 7th September 2009...
National Express Coach Driver Announcement
The bus moves off from Victoria Coach Station in London and the driver in a very lazy dire voice:
“Ping pong! This bus is to Liverpool and Manchester.” Pause…Passengers are puzzled and getting uncomfortable in their seats.
“I am only joking this bus is to Leeds. Now I have your attention, can I please quickly tell you about safety rules? Wear you seatbelt, it is for your own safety. There are emergency exits in the front and at the back, also two on the roof.” Chuckle…
“Please be considered to fellow passengers and make your phone calls short and sweet. We don’t want to know about your love life! Same goes for laptops, music players. Keep the volume down for others’ comfort. There is a toilet at the back, do use it seated! In case of emergency braking you wouldn’t want to walk down the aisle with your pants down. I hope you will enjoy your journey with National Express, if not you can always use Megabus.”
Chuckle… “Thank you.”
Wales Online reports on 7th September 2009...
Mum ‘laughing and joking’ minutes before crash
A WELSH mum who died in a crash on her way home from Gatwick Airport was “laughing and joking” minutes before she died, her best friend said yesterday.
Melanie Wisden’s best friend spoke to the Western Mail from Tenerife where she had flown after the 34-year-old mum of one dropped her off at Gatwick Airport.
As she drove away from the Sussex airport on Friday afternoon, her Ford Ka was in collision with a National Express coach. The coach came to rest on top of Mrs Wisden’s car.
After the accident, traffic around the airport came to a standstill, with tailbacks stretching to the M25, more than seven miles away.
Travellers were seen leaving their vehicles and running towards the airport with suitcases.
Highways staff worked until 8pm to clear the roads, which were reported to be littered with abandoned vehicles.
Melanie’s family said yesterday that the Cardiff mum had only passed her test 10 months ago and had never before driven further afield than Bristol. Best friend Samantha Macatangay, of Porth, Rhondda, did not hear about the accident until after she arrived in Tenerife.
Speaking from her hotel, the mother of four said: “We had a wonderful journey up to Gatwick, we had a good laugh reminiscing; she was my best friend.
“Mel was speaking about us going on a girly holiday next year.
“It was a very close, good friendship. I have siblings but there isn’t much communication between us. Mel was more like a sister to me.
The pair met some 15 years ago while out clubbing in Cardiff, and have been close ever since, meeting up for lunch and looking after each other’s children.
Melanie’s daughter Mia, 11, was a bridesmaid at Samantha’s wedding just a couple of weeks ago.
“You can’t describe how it feels to lose someone. I feel hollow and empty at losing someone so close.”
Mrs Macatangay is trying to book flights home, but said all she has done on her honeymoon is cry.
“My husband Dean has been very supportive, he knows how close my children and I were to Mel. He is devastated for me,” she said.
“My children grew up with Mel, they are all devastated.
“I just want everyone to know how much I loved and adored her.”
Mrs Wisden, of Ely, Cardiff, had taken a day off from her job at Starbucks in Queen Street to drive her friend to the airport.
Her family, who did not know about the trip, said they initially thought the police phone call telling them about the accident was a prank call.
Mother Valerie, 56, who works at the Regency House Care Home in Ely, said: “All that went through our minds was: it’s not going to be Melanie.
“We thought Mel’s car must have been stolen because there’s no way she should’ve gone up there on her own.
“She only passed her test 10 months ago and she didn’t like motorways.
“Mel’s a big fitness fanatic, and I was telling everyone that she was going to walk through the door after being to the gym and ask why we’re all sitting around crying and worrying.”
Melanie’s sister Maxine added that Melanie had never driven further than Bristol before.
Dad Jeff, 60, a driver at RAF St Athan, her other sisters Melissa, 31, and Jessica, 17, and brother Mark, 37, are also coming to terms with losing their loved one.
Just days earlier, on Monday, Melanie had returned from her first ever holiday to Turkey.
There, she stayed in a private villa near Fethiye with her daughter Mia and neighbours from her home in Dunraven Street, next to Cardiff City FC’s former ground at Ninian Park.
A funeral date has yet to be set, but the family plan to hold a service at the Church of the Resurrection in Ely and are expecting hundreds to attend.
Wales Online reports on 7th September 2009...
Bus crash victim Melanie Wisden’s family describe their heartbreak
THE heartbroken family of bus crash mum Melanie Wisden said they initially thought the call from police telling them about the tragedy was a prank call.
None of 34-year-old mum Melanie’s immediate family knew she had driven to Gatwick to drop off her newly-wed friend Samantha Macatangay for her honeymoon flight to Tenerife.
Soon after pulling out of the North Terminal at 1.30pm on Friday, a National Express coach struck the side of Melanie’s black Ka before coming to rest on top of it. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her heartbroken sister Maxine, 32, of Ely, Cardiff, said the telephone call from police telling them about the tragedy had sent the family into shock.
“The first thing I thought was it’s not her,” she said. “I went into shock and I didn’t believe it. I thought it was a prank call.”
Melanie and Maxine’s mum Valerie, 56, said Melanie had only passed her driving test 10 months ago.
“All that went through our minds was: ‘It’s not going to be Melanie.’”
Valerie, who works at the Regency House Care Home in Ely, said they hoped her car had been stolen.
“We thought Mel’s car must have been stolen because there’s no way she should’ve gone up there on her own.
“She only passed her test 10 months ago and she didn’t like motorways.
“Mel’s a big fitness fanatic and I was telling everyone that she was going to walk through the door after being to the gym and ask why we’re all sitting around crying and worrying.”
She added that Melanie had never driven further than Bristol before.
Melanie’s dad Jeff, 60, a driver at RAF St Athan, her other sisters Melissa, 31, and Jessica, 17, and brother Mark, 37, are also coming to terms with losing their loved one.
Just days earlier, on Monday, Melanie had returned from her first-ever holiday to Turkey.
She had stayed in a private villa near Fethiye with her daughter Mia and neighbours from her home in Dunraven Street, next to Cardiff City FC’s former ground at Ninian Park.
On Friday, Melanie had taken a day off from her job at Starbucks in Queen Street to take Samantha to the airport from her Valleys home.
The two were close pals. Melanie would often look after Samantha’s children and Samantha had given Melanie the money to buy her car.
At Samantha’s wedding just two weeks ago, Melanie was proud when her daughter Mia, 11, was one of the bridesmaids.
After the accident, traffic around the airport came to a standstill, with tailbacks stretching to the M25, more than seven miles away. Travellers were even seen leaving their vehicles and running towards the airport with suitcases.
Highways staff worked until 8pm to clear the roads, which were reported to be littered with abandoned vehicles.
Mia is now living with her father Mark Dacosta, Melanie’s former partner of seven years, at his home in Llanedeyrn.
Valerie said: “What happens now is totally up to Mia. I hope she’ll come and see us every couple of weekends at least.
“This has broken her heart. They were such a lovely mother-and-daughter couple.”
Valerie added: “It’s such a waste of a life – it’s just all gone.”
In addition to her job at Starbucks, Melanie also worked at the Frankie and Benny’s restaurant in Cardiff Bay. She eventually became a shift manager at the coffee shop, where she worked alongside sister Maxine.
A funeral date has yet to be set but the family plan to hold a service at the Church of the Resurrection in Ely and are expecting hundreds to attend.
It is the second tragedy to hit Valerie’s family. When Melanie was just six months old in 1975, her sister Melinda died, aged 21 months, when she developed peritonitis after an accident in a high chair.
Mel’s best friend recalls their journey
TRAGIC Melanie’s best friend said her last memory of her would be laughing and joking together as they drove to Gatwick Airport.
Tearful Samantha Macatangay spoke to the Echo from her hotel in Tenerife, to where she flew on honeymoon after Melanie dropped her off, moments before her death.
“I can’t accept that she’s gone. We had a wonderful journey up to Gatwick; we had a good laugh reminiscing. She was my best friend,” said the mum of four.
“Mel was speaking about us going on a girly holiday next year.”
The pair met some 15 years ago while out clubbing in Cardiff, and have been close ever since, meeting up for lunch and looking after each other’s children.
Melanie’s daughter Mia, 11, was a bridesmaid at Samantha’s wedding just a couple of weeks ago.
“It was a very close friendship. I have siblings but there isn’t much communication between us. Mel was more like a sister to me. You can’t describe how it feels to lose someone so close. I feel hollow and empty.”
Mrs Macatangay, who lives in Porth, is trying to book flights home, but said all she has done on her honeymoon is cry.
“My husband Dean has been very supportive; he knows how close my children and I were to Mel. He is devastated for me,” she said. “I just want everyone to know how much I loved and adored her.”
Redhill and Reigate Life reports on 7th September 2009...
Woman dies in airport coach collision
A woman died instantly when her car was crushed by a coach in a collision at Gatwick Airport.
Melanie Wisden, 34, from Cardiff, was driving a Ford Ka when the accident happened outside the airport's North Terminal last Friday, just after 1.30pm.
The National Express coach ended up on top of the Ford at the North Terminal roundabout in Airport Way.
Emergency teams and the Sussex Air Ambulance went to the scene.
The coach driver suffered shock and was taken to hospital along with a passenger who sustained a wrist injury.
The coach was carrying about 40 passengers, who were bussed from the scene to the airport where officers took accounts from them, before they were allowed to continue their journeys.
The accident caused severe tailbacks stretching beyond the M25 and people reported seeing some flight-bound passengers walking with suitcases along the M23 and A23 to the terminal.
Inspector Keith Ellis from Sussex Police's road policing unit said: “We appreciate the frustration of road travellers caught up with this incident but the circumstances are very unusual in that the collision happened on a very busy roundabout, and also, that it involved a coach that ended up on top of the car.
“However, we must not lose sight of the fact that, sadly, a woman died, and it is essential that her death is fully investigated to meet the needs of the coroner and any subsequent court case that may arise.”
He said: “The investigative work cannot begin until the needs of those involved in the collision are attended to, and in this case, the recovery work that followed the investigation was particularly complex.
“Repairs were also needed to the road and crash barrier.”
Police are appealing for witnesses to call them on 0845 6070 999, quoting Operation Tilstone.
Rye and Battle Observer reports on 7th September 2009...
Inquiries continue into fatal car accident
POLICE are today (Monday) continuing to investigate the road accident at Gatwick on Friday when a 34-year-old woman was killed after her car was crushed under a National Express Coach.
The tragic accident caused long delays in the area including on the M23 and A23 as police interviewed the coach's 40 passengers about how the accident happened before allowing them to continue their journeys and flights from the airport.
The collision occurred on the North Terminal roundabout on Airport Way just after 1.30pm on Friday (September 4) leaving the coach on top of the woman's Ford Ka.
She was declared dead at the scene. She is believed to have come from South Wales. The coach's driver was taken to hospital suffering from shock.
Police apologised for the lengthy delays for motorists.
Inspector Keith Ellis from Sussex Police's Road Policing Unit added: "We must not lose sight of the fact that, sadly, a woman died and it is essential that her death is fully investigated to meet the needs of the coroner and any subsequent court case that may arise."
He said recovery of the vehicles was particularly complex and repairs also had to be made to the road and crash barrier.
Any witnesses should call police on 0845 60 70 999 quoting Operation Tilstone.
Wales Online reports on 6th September 2009...
Coach crash victim's family remember beautiful mum
YOUNG mum Melanie Wisden had just waved her newlywed friend off on honeymoon and was looking forward to spending the weekend with her 11-year-old daughter.
But as she drove away from Gatwick Airport and headed back to Cardiff, tragedy struck.
As she left the airport’s North Terminal at 1.30pm on Friday, a National Express coach collided with the side of her tiny black Ford Ka before coming to rest on top of it.
Melanie, 34, mum to 11-year-old Mia, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Traffic around the airport came to a standstill, with tailbacks stretching to the M25, more than seven miles away.
Travellers were even seen leaving their vehicles and running towards the airport with suitcases.
Highways staff worked until 8pm to clear the roads, which were reported to be littered with abandoned vehicles.
At home in Ely, Cardiff, her stunned family could not believe the news when police called to tell them hard-working mum Melanie was dead.
Her heartbroken sister Maxine, 32, told Wales On Sunday she originally though the phone call was a sick joke.
“The first thing I thought was it’s not her,” she said. “I went into shock and I didn’t believe it. I thought it was a prank call.”
Melanie and Maxine’s mum Valerie, 56, added: “All that went through our minds was: it’s not going to be Melanie.”
Melanie’s dad Jeff, 60, a driver at RAF St Athan, her other sisters Melissa, 31, and Jessica, 17, and brother Mark, 37, are also coming to terms with losing their loved one.
Melanie had taken a day off from her job at the city centre branch of Starbucks in Queen Street to take her newlywed friend Samantha Macatangay to the airport from her Valleys home so she could begin her honeymoon in Tenerife.
The two were close pals – Melanie would often look after Samantha’s children and Samantha had given Melanie the money to buy her car.
At Samantha’s wedding just two weeks ago, Melanie was so proud when her daughter Mia was one of the bridesmaids.
Melanie’s family said Samantha was “heartbroken” when they told her the news and was planning to return to the UK on the next available flight.
Just days earlier, on Monday, Melanie had returned from her first ever holiday to Turkey.
There, she stayed in a private villa near Fethiye with her daughter Mia and neighbours from her home in Dunraven Street, next to Cardiff City FC’s former ground at Ninian Park.
Valerie said her daughter had caught the travel bug on her very first trip abroad.
Maxine added: “I’d been bugging her for years to get a passport and go on holiday.
“We’d already planned a trip to Ayia Napa for next year. It was going to be party time!”
The two would regularly hit the town together – often heading to the Club 3000 bingo hall – and Maxine said friends would sometimes mistake one of them for the other.
“A lot of people got the names confused,” she said. “Some didn’t know which was which.
Valerie added: “Melanie was so attractive and stunning when she was all made-up to go out. She could have been a model, she had so much confidence in herself.”
“It’s such a waste of a life – it’s just all gone”
Daughter Mia is now living with her father, Mark Dacosta, Melanie’s former partner of seven years, at his home in Llanedeyrn.
Valerie said: “What happens now is totally up to Mia. I hope she’ll come and see us every couple of weekends at least.
“This has broken her heart. They were such a lovely mother and daughter couple.”
Valerie added: “It’s such a waste of a life – it’s just all gone.” Paying an emotional tribute to her daughter, she said: “We’re going to miss her so much. She will always be in our hearts for ever and ever.”
Maxine said of her sister: “She was a happy, bubbly, smiley person and she would make anyone smile.”
In addition to her job at Starbucks, Melanie also worked at the Frankie and Benny’s restaurant in Cardiff Bay and had worked at various branches of Pizza Hut in the city for around 10 years.
She eventually became a shift manager at the city’s Queen Street branch, where she worked alongside Maxine.
Sammy Dicken, who worked with the sisters around 10 years ago, said: “She always made us laugh no matter what the situation.
“Her personality was infectious and working with her was always a pleasure, especially when Maxine was working alongside.”
Melanie was also a familiar face to drivers from Cardiff Bus, whose main Sloper Road depot is just yards from her home.
“She was well-known to them,” said Valerie. “They would honk at her when they saw her riding her bike.”
Further tributes have poured in via Maxine’s page on social networking website Facebook.
More than 100 messages have been left by friends and acquaintances from as far away as America.
Maxine said: “I was having so many phone calls that I just thought: I need to get on Facebook, confirm it’s happened and let everyone know.”
A funeral date has yet to be set, but the family plan to hold a service at the Church of the Resurrection in Ely and are expecting hundreds to attend.
It is the second tragedy to hit Valerie’s family. When Melanie was just six months old, in 1975, her sister Melinda died, aged 21 months, when she developed peritonitis after an accident in a high chair.
BBC News reports on 6th September 2009...
Gatwick crash woman's lift favour
A woman who died when her car was in a collision with a coach at Gatwick airport had just dropped her friend off for a flight, it has been revealed.
Melanie Wisden, 34, from Cardiff, was killed instantly when her Ford Ka was crushed by a National Express coach just after 1330 BST on Friday.
Ms Wisden, who worked at a cafe, had an 11-year-old daughter, Mia.
Her mother Valerie told the Wales on Sunday newspaper: "It's such a waste of life - it's all just gone."
She added: "We're going to miss her so much. She will always be in our hearts for ever and ever."
She had taken the day off work from her job at Starbucks to carry out the trip to the second busiest airport in the country.
More than 100 people have left tribute messages on a Facebook page set up in memory of Ms Wisden by her sister Maxine.
The collision on Airport Way caused severe delays as access to the North Terminal was not possible from junction 9 of the M23 while collision investigators worked at the scene.
The coach driver was taken to hospital suffering from shock while a passenger had a wrist injury.
All roads were reopened by 2000 BST by which time there were several abandoned cars in the roads approaching the airport.
BBC Sussex radio reported people getting out of their vehicles and running towards the airport with their suitcases.
Passengers using the airport were advised to allow extra time for their journeys.
Wales Online reports on 5th September 2009...
Woman killed in Gatwick coach crash named
A SOUTH Wales woman killed when her car collided with a coach at Gatwick Airport has been named.
Melanie Wisden, 34, was killed instantly following the smash on the North Terminal roundabout at 1.30pm yesterday.
The National Express coach ended up on top of her Ford Ka.
It is understood Ms Wisden, of Dunraven Street, Cardiff, had dropped off a friend at the airport and was returning to South Wales when the crash happened.
Roads for miles around were seized up, with local radio reporting people getting out of their vehicles and running towards the airport with suitcases.
Friends and family have left more than 100 tributes to Ms Wisden on her sister Maxine’s Facebook page.
Sammy Dicken, who worked with Melanie at Pizza Hut 10 years ago, said: "Her smile and happiness on life will never be forgotten. If there’s one thing she taught us was live your life to the full and enjoy it."
BBC News reports on 4th September 2009...
Crash leads to Gatwick congestion
A woman motorist has died in a collision involving a coach and a car at Gatwick Airport in West Sussex.
Emergency teams including the Sussex Air Ambulance were called to the North Terminal shortly after 1330 BST.
Police said the victim was a 34-year-old woman from South Wales. The coach driver was taken to hospital with shock while a passenger had a wrist injury.
Witnesses told of seeing people delayed by road closures walking with suitcases along the M23 and A23 to the terminal.
Severe tailbacks
Sussex Police said the woman's Ford Ka collided with the National Express coach which ended up on top of her vehicle at the North Terminal roundabout.
Passengers using the airport, which is the second busiest in the country, were advised to allow extra time for their journeys.
A Highways Agency spokesman said all roads including Airport Way were reopened by 2000 BST.
But he said it would be some time before the congestion was cleared with severe tailbacks still stretching as far back as the M25 and beyond.
He also said there were several abandoned cars in the roads approaching the airport.
Transit system
Following the accident, Sussex Police had said access to the North Terminal was not possible from junction nine of the M23.
There was also the warning of delays on roads around the airport, with the closure of a slip road on the A23.
People who needed to get to the North Terminal from the M23 were advised to go to the South Terminal and use the passenger transit system, an airport spokeswoman said.
She said Gatwick Airport's website and Twitter account were carrying regular updates on the situation.
Extra airport staff were also drafted in to help passengers who may have missed flights or were running late because of the traffic congestion.
Crawley News reports on 4th September 2009...
UPDATED: Woman dies after car is in collision with coach near Gatwick
A WOMAN has died after her car was involved in a collision with a National Express coach near Gatwick Airport.
The 34-year-old woman, from south Wales, was pronounced dead at the scene after her Ford Ka was in collision with the coach outside the airport's North Terminal at around 1.30pm on Friday.
Around 40 passengers were on the coach, which ended up on top of the car. One passenger suffered a minor wrist injury.
The driver of the coach was taken to hospital suffering from shock. All the passengers were bussed to the airport where they gave their version of events to police.
The dead woman's next of kin have been informed, but she has not yet been named by police.
The crash caused traffic chaos and delays for several hours on surrounding roads including the M23 and A23, with people struggling to make their way to the airport.
Inspector Keith Ellis, from Sussex Police's Road Policing Unit, said: "We appreciate the frustration of road travellers caught up with this incident, but the circumstances are very unusual in that the collision happened on a very busy roundabout and also that it involved a coach that ended up on top of the car.
"However, we must not lose sight of the fact that, sadly, a woman died and it is essential that her death is fully investigated to meet the needs of the coroner and any subsequent court case that may arise.
"We do work as swiftly as possible and our investigating officers are very experienced in their role, but once the scene is cleared we don't get a chance to revisit it.
"The investigative work cannot begin until the needs of those involved in the collision are attended to and in this case, the recovery work that followed the investigation was particularly complex.
"Repairs were also needed to the road and crash barrier."
The Highways Agency confirmed that all roads around the airport were re-opened by 8pm on Friday.
Extra airport staff were drafted in to help passengers who may have missed flights or were running late because of traffic congestion.
Police are appealing for any witnesses to the collision to contact them on 0845 60 70 999, quoting Operation Tilstone.
Weston and Somerset Mercury reports on 3rd September 2009...
Passengers flee flaming bus
PANICKED passengers pleaded to be allowed off a smoking bus moments before it burst into flames, a Weston survivor has told the Mercury.
Filmmaker Rhys Hayward was on his way to London from Bristol when smoke prompted screams from the back of the National Express vehicle he was travelling in.
Luckily the driver responded to his passengers' pleas and everyone was able to disembark before the bus caught alight at the side of the M4 motorway.
Now an investigation into the cause of the fire has begun amid Mr Hayward's claims that the bus driver failed to implement the company's 'strict safety procedures'.
The 38-year-old, of Clevedon Road, said: "About 25 minutes into the journey there was shouting from the back of the bus about smoke coming from the engine.
"A group of Somali women and their children were screaming and smoke began to filter down the bus prompting passengers to ask the driver to stop.
"In my opinion it took a long time for the driver to pull up and people were just relieved that he opened the door to be let off."
Mr Hayward was on his way to a film meeting in the capital he had arranged two days before his trip on Wednesday last week.
He caught the 040 from Bristol Bus Station to London Victoria at 9.45am, before the mayhem ensued.
Pictures taken by Mr Hayward on the M4 hard shoulder show the severity of the situation the passengers found themselves in.
He added: "Fire could be seen shortly afterwards, and the extent of the danger began to sink in.
"The driver failed to issue any safety instructions to those on board, and neither he nor the National Express drivers who stopped on the hard shoulder did a head count of the passengers involved."
Two passing National Express coaches took all 48 passengers to the service station close by. Those people without luggage travelled immediately onwards to London. Others who had belongings waited for the fire brigade to release their luggage and then travelled on a replacement coach to London.
A National Express spokesperson said: "All customers were safely directed off the coach by the driver before travelling to their onward destination by replacement services.
"They were met by customer service staff at London Victoria.
"In being prepared for this type of emergency situation we follow strict procedures, with the priority of moving people off the motorway."
The spokesman added that compensation would be discussed with passengers on an individual basis.
Bristol Evening Post reports on 27th August 2009...
Anger over 'jammed door' as Bristol coach catches fire
A passenger fears someone could have been seriously hurt after he tried – and failed – to open an emergency exit when the coach he was travelling on caught fire in Bristol.
Colin Walkington was on yesterday's 9.25am 040 Bristol to London National Express coach, on his way to watch Arsenal take on Celtic at the Emirates Stadium in the Champions League.
But at about 10.30am, as the coach containing 48 passengers travelled along the M4 between junctions 18 and 17, he sensed all was not well.
"I was sat one row from the back and I started to smell some fumes," said the 43-year-old, of The Clifford, Lawrence Weston. "At first I thought it was just coming from a lorry or something.
"I opened the toilet door and thick black smoke started coming out so I shouted to the bus driver to pull over."
The support worker added: "There was a mother and her two kids sitting nearby and people started to scream.
"I tried to open the emergency exit near the toilet to let the smoke out but I couldn't.
"I booted it twice but it still wouldn't open. It was jammed shut."
Everyone got off the 49-seater safely through the front door, but shortly afterwards it went up in flames and smoke continued to billow into the air as the vehicle stood on the hard shoulder.
Mr Walkington added: "Thank God the fire was not at the front or we could have been trapped on the coach."
The Arsenal fan complained that when the coach was evacuated and passengers got on to two passing National Express coaches, there was no head done to see if everyone had got off safely.
He is also unhappy with what he saw as a lack of communication when, at nearby Leigh Delamere services, he says passengers were told another coach would come to pick them up later, but no time was given.
Mr Walkington decided to call off his trip and got his friend Reg Perkins to pick him up and take him home, where he watched the football match on TV last night.
He said he was going to contact National Express to ask for compensation for the £52 match ticket and £8 coach fare.
A spokeswoman for National Express said an engineer tried the rear fire exit after the fire had been put out and had no problem opening it.
She said: "All customers were safely directed off the coach by the driver before all, but Mr Walkington, travelled to their onward destination by replacement services.
"Customers were met by National Express customer service staff at London Victoria.
"In being prepared for this type of emergency situation we follow strict procedures, with the priority of moving people off the motorway. We have started an investigation into the cause of the fire."
...This story attracted 47 reader comments and here they are...
#
This must have been a frightening experience for anyone on the coach! I cetainly don't understand the personal abuse directed at the passengers?! What's that all about?
I imagine that the emergency door wouldn't open as the gentleman involved was in a state of panic, and from what I've read it's probably just as well that he couldn''t as it sounds as if it wouldn't have been safe anyway!
The headline should be one more along the lines of 'All passengers get off coach safely after fire scare!'
Mr Walkington should be grateful no one was injured, not moaning about getting his match ticket money back, it was his choice not to continue his journey, everyone else seems to have managed to!
AL, Bristol
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commented on 28-Aug-2009 10:13
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For anyone wanting to see this footage, search for VIDEO 002 on youtube
rob, Bristol
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commented on 28-Aug-2009 08:24
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Steve, that was said tongue in cheek and was not meant to cause offence to yourself. Apologies if it came across as such :)
rob, Bristol
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commented on 28-Aug-2009 07:59
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Reading your comments on this story I am trying to remain calm - but its hard to do that so...
I was on the coach and for all you people - this was a shocker but whilst everyone was inhailing smoke at the back of the coach the driver was at the front of the coach on the phone to the fire service - mmmm safety first - get everyone off - someone else done that so thank god there was some one at the front that knew how to handle the situation and took control because the driver didn't, and anyone that calls us a bunch of idiots (I mean there really is no need for that) when his mates turn up in other coaches is going to get a mouthful from me (mr driver) - oh and by the way drivers -can you count as well?
The fire was not the drivers fault and maybe the emergency door wasnt opened properly which was probably a blessing as we could have ended up under a car or lorr or worse a National Express Coach! the driver was in pure shock and it showed, no emergancy procedure was followed and it was a very poor standard of service.
Oh yeah and for anyone that doesnt know what they are talking about its on you tube.
Jacquie, yate
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commented on 28-Aug-2009 00:00
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You can whistle for your £52 compensation mate, onward travel was available
Driver, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 23:15
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Dont call me stupid Rob!!!!!
Steve, bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 22:55
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Steve, dont be stupid, if the facts were reported, there would be no news and that would not be good (for BEP)
rob, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 22:45
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Dont be daft Driver, the truth might come out that we actually work hard for a living, despite what the general public and BEP would be led to believe.
Right, i have had enough of defending the company that i enjoy working for, im off out to change my float from the £25 in loose change to a £20 and a fiver so i can dish out change tickets tomorrow (oh no, hang on, i cant do that lol)
rob, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 22:42
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OK Walkington, youve had your 5 minutes of fame, now lets have the facts!
With regard to the "alleged" non operation of the rear emergency exit, the police and fire services who attended this incident, both checked the door and found it to be fully operational. It is a good job that you did not manage to kick it open or the police would had the job of knocking on peoples doors to tell them that a family member or members had been fatally injured by jumping from a coach into lane 1 of a busy motorway!!!! After the vehicle was recovered, the door was checked again by, the fitters, the engineering director and officials from VOSA. It was found to be functioning correctly. Why papers are allowed to publish unverified "facts" is a mystery to me. I suppose an apology from the BEP and Mr Walkington would be too much to ask for!! Lets be thankful that there were no serious injuries, and all except one person were able to complete their journeys in safety. That one person went home to watch the football!!!!!!
Steve, bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 22:39
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Dear boss of bep
why not speak to the press relations department at enterprise house and get one of your reporters to work a shift shadowing a driver to see what happens throughout a shift and then do a article about it
Driver, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 22:22
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Driver, i think its down to the general conception that all we do is drive around all day, running late or not at all, carry next to no passengers and have some kind of control over the traffic which means we are the devil's incarnate.
To all those that catch a bus/coach maybe twice a day, how about you spend an entire day with a driver and see just exactly what we deal with in a day because im pretty sure all you see is maybe an hour or so when you are sat in the bus.
I know this will cause a million and one comments about First drivers being arrogant, ignorant, rude etc etc but if you can sit behind the wheel of a 40ft vehicle for upwards of 11 hours a day, dealing with the traffic in an antiquated road system, people that have no idea that we can't fly over traffic, have had 20 £20 note and don't actually have the time to get change because even though you were stood outside a newsagent for 5 minutes, you could not be bothered to help the driver a little bit.
I have driven buses and coaches in the 6 years i have been with First and most of the time, its been great.
The majority of of my time has been really enjoyable and most of my passengers have been really nice but there seems to be this die hard section of the public that will only be happy if a bus can run every 5 minutes with a full load and a driver that carries £500 in spare change, has the answer to every question in the world, can repair a vehicle by clicking his fingers and have 24hr bus lanes running throughout Bristol on every road.
Look at the big picture people, Arriva and Stagecoach have both said no way to running a bus service in Bristol and even Richard Branson has said he would run at a loss if he tried so thank yourselves lucky that you even have a bus service.
rob, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 21:53
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Alright rob,
bullsh!t like this sales papers which is what the bep want. Some numpty can't open a simple door. Hold the front page, we can spin this.
Useless idiot passengers and the general public of Bristol have got little respect for what drivers have to do and deal with. I am fed up with the lot of them. Commenting on things they know nothing about making assumptions based on other peoples assumptions.
Sort it out Bristol
Driver, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 21:00
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So, lets get this straight. A possible fire started at the back of the coach and the obvious thing to do was to try and exit from the back of the coach into the middle of the m4? Dear lord, these people give birth to future generations??? Oh, the volcano is about to erupt, lets walk closer to the lava just in case (for those that dont understand sarcasm, this will be lost on you)
I happen to know the driver in question very well and believe me, he did check the emergency exit, as we all have to. The punishment a driver could get if found not to be doing his regular checks would be, as you would expect carrying passengers, extremely hard. If the emergency door had not opened on his checks, the vehicle would have been taken off the road straight away.
All of First coaches vehicle have 3 emergency hammers (and like the emergency exit, have an idiot guide on how to use them)
So, in all the comments, we have 2 completely different versions of how Mr Walkington tried to open the emergency exit, so rather than the obvious easy target of slating First Coaches, how about actually waiting for the official report?
Oh, and because after the vehicle had been recovered back to the depot, the engineer was able to open it, he was obviously lying? Do you really think he would risk his livelyhood and reputation?
Maybe, just maybe, Mr Walkington didnt use the handle which is signed by the way, and just decided brute force and ignorance was the order of the day and is now playing on it in aid of a bit of compensation?
As i said earlier, dont fling wild accusations about the coach being unroadworthy and the mechanic lying about the state of the door becuase i can guarantee that 98% of the replies to this article were not on the coach and have not seen it in the aftermath so unless you are actually dealing with the incident in person, may i suggest you keep your accusations to yourself rather than sully the name of the people that keep this service on the road.
Yes i am a coach driver and yes, i work for First Coaches, hence i probably know a little more than most of the posters in this article. Its not biased opinion, just pure and simple fact.
Rob, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 20:47
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Wrong. It's a first group coach
Driver, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 20:43
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More likely the bloke wasn't trying to open the door properly than it not opening. Kicking the door wouldn't open it as you have to open the door with the lever. Also at the rear of the vehicle are hammer which could of been used to smash the near side rear window to escape through.
The headline should be 49 people safely evacuated from coach after it catches fire on the m4. I expect the engineer was able to open just as anyone on board would of been able to if they operated the mechanism correctly
Driver, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 20:24
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I was on the coach with my daughter an her friend. We were sat where the smoke was coming from. I would like to thank the guy who tried the emergency door. As other people near the front paniced they blocked the isle. All of us at the back who were in the thick of the smoke had to stand waiting while they got off first.
kirstie, bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 20:07
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Nobody was hurt, National Express will learn from this and let's be honest what other service in the UK comes close to matching National Express for reliability, price, efficiency and customer service in general.
Good news that all are safe!
Richard, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 19:38
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Mike Bailey
Loved your comment, very funny. Where is Mike Ford though, comments are getting funnier as its getting later!
Mike, North Somerset
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 17:42
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I was on the coach that caught fire, the guy did try to open the emergencey door but was unable to do so. Good job as it would have meant people exiting into the first lane of the M4 which was still in use. No heroes about, some panicked and screamed some kept their heads, we all got off ok. In general it was a shambles but then what do you expect, it is not something we are used to dealing with on a daily basis. Until you are faced with something like this who knows how you will react be happy no one was seriously hurt.
collin field, Yate
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 17:41
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If the 'hero' that saved the coach by finding a fire would like to explain how he attempted to open the fire exit and whether the vehicle was still in motion when he tried to open it.
I drive vehicles like this one regularly and the door can only be locked to prevent it being open from the outside.
Me thinks this guy is trying to make national express look bad
Driver, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 17:14
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i was on that bus Michelle, and he didnt give it a good kick.
he panicked like a three year old running around and that.
then threw a hissy fit and went home.
When we needed heroes we got zeroes.
How he is in the paper I do not know.
Mike Bailey, Hengrove
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 17:13
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KB-I bet the National express engineer said that. He doesn't want the company to get into trouble. Why didn't they get an independant company to look at it? It was quite a serious incident since the bus actually caught fire. I'm pretty sure Mr Walkington gave that door a good kick ESPECIALLY if he was in a state of panic.
michelle, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 16:53
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KB,
I'll think you'll find that on the model RD/332-A buses as operated by National Express 040 service to London, the sign on the emergency door does in fact read ... 'In case of emergency - boot here twice'
What more could the gentleman have done in this situation
wibble, Hang on, give me a shot at it ... hoof
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 16:32
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Michelle, National Express' engineer tried the door later and had no problem opening it. I would suggest that perhaps in a state of panic, Mr Walkington failed to operate the opening mechanism properly. After all, by opening the door withouit a proper evacuation route set up, he could have caused the fire to spread
KB, Bristol, England
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 16:01
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If the BEP is looking for a proof reader I'll do it. I'm looking for work & have 25 years experience in the print industry.
Lawrence, BS6
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 15:54
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Safety or not , having a fire door locked is a breach of the fire code. This bus company could be in alot of trouble.
michelle, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 15:30
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ANGER?!!
Gotta love the BEP
George, Bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 15:18
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I'm so glad I'm not the only one immature enough to have a snigger at the 'head' comment. Shame on the National Express for not making sure that everyone 'got off' safely! BEP, seriously, get someone who can proof read. It was an innocent comment made to look a little smutty this time but could actually cause offence if a similar mistake was made in a more serious story.
Old enough to know better, Trying to keep a straight face at my desk
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 15:15
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if he hasnt i guess he'll be trying to get compo on that aswell.. haha
Rodge the Dodge, bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 14:20
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I wonder if the "court" man in the McDonald's ants story had his head done.
Lawrence, BS6
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 14:18
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inappropriate for you maybe! im glad i didnt miss the chance to get my 'head done'
hahaha, should definately invest in some proof reading BEP
Rodge the Dodge, bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 14:13
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Obviously a reporter with a hearing problem, it's De Clifford Rd not The Clifford.
Chris, Bristle
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 14:09
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......passengers got on to two passing National Express coaches, there was no head done to see if everyone had got off safely.
Glad to hear there was no head done. That would've certainly been inappropriate.
Lawrence, BS6
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 14:06
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Colin, Sam talks sense. A few years back, a high speed train caught fire and several passengers were killed because they climbed out of the train on the wrong side and were struck by another train. This could have been a story about passengers being killed on the motorway, rather than a bit of a non-story about an alleged failure of the emergency door to open.
KB, Bristol, England
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 13:50
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solomon, well done the driver was one of your comments? are you sure you wasnt the driver? and sam from longwell green, are you an expert on coach fires by any chance.
colin, L.dub
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 13:11
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pete bs1 wat a poor fella has to go back today, but thank you for your input. i think your reading the wrong story. bless.
colin, l.dub
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 13:03
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Reg Perkiiiins, tayk me 'oommme
too the plaaace, ahhh beeloonng
Lawrewnce Weston, open prison
Reg Perkins, take me home..
(apologies to John Denver... and the good old folk from LW)
wibble, Back seat having a crafty ciggie
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 12:53
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Colin W...... Sorry to disappoint you but I actually work for a rival coach firm, hence my unsocial working hours and being able to correct you on here during 'normal' working hours!!!
Strange that you were the only passenger not to continue your journey - but thankfully your match was live on TV so you didn't miss it. God bless.
Solomon, Posh end of Artcliffe
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 11:11
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The lights did work numpty!
Pete, BS1
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 10:42
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I would have thought that the drivers would have to go through a check list before leaving the depot. Things like do the lights work, do the doors open etc. Very poor!
Dave, The Downs
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 10:33
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No Colin
You are incorrect
Samantha creed, Longwell green
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 09:56
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i would just like to comment on what afew people have said about the fire on the 040 coach yesterday to london, which i was on, sounds like JB has had claims turned down in the past and SOLOMON works for national express, its a shame you both wasnt on the coach yesterday? anyway thank you evening post for making people aware of slack safety checks on so called SAFE coaches.
colin walkington, bristol
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 09:44
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er...motorway pile up not pilot
Samantha Creed, longwell green
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 09:40
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Lawrence Weston/Compo etc...
It is such a shame that nowadays in the time of adversity everyone thinks of themselves.
Smell fumes/panic/open wrong door/cause motorway pilot.
is this really headline news?
Samantha Creed, longwell green
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 09:39
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Looks like someone wants to make a claim, much ado about nowt.
Even the report is flawed, it states that the fire was in Bristol, no, it was on the M4.
JG, Bristle
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 08:36
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Emergency exits are usually situate on the offside of coaches to facilitate exiting if the coach rolls onto it's nearside.
Just as well that they couldn't open the door in this case as passengers - especially young children - would have spilled out onto the busy motorway. Perhaps the driver used his common sense and prevented egress via this door for passenger safety reasons. Well done drive!!!
Solomon, Posh end of Artcliffe
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 08:32
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Elsewhere on the coach would have been some hammers with which to hit the windows out if necessary, this facility is there as a back up in case the emergency door fails. As part of a drivers daily walk round inspection, the emergency exit should have been checked and recorded if it was not up to scratch. Glad everyone was safe and well.
A person, Not on a coach
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commented on 27-Aug-2009 07:39
Omnisounduk posted this video on You Tube on 26th August 2009...
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Oxford Mail reports on 14th August 2009...
Disabled man slams coach firm after being stranded
A DISABLED man from Oxford is threatening to take legal action against National Express after what he called a “diabolical” series of blunders.
Robert Light, who uses an electric wheelchair, has accused the coach company of letting down disabled people, because its system to help disabled passengers had constantly let him down.
Mr Light, 66, of Colemans Hill, Headington, said he had to turn around and come home again on an abortive trip to Bradford, West Yorkshire, and was left on his own in London to pay for a taxi and train to his destination on another occasion.
Disabled people can call a National Express helpline at least 24 hours before departure so that the company can ensure a suitably-adapted coach is available for their journey.
Mr Light’s problems began on May 21, when the wheelchair user caught an Oxford Tube service to London to board a pre-booked National Express coach to Bradford.
He said: “I got to London, to be told by the duty manager, after she phoned head office in Birmingham, that I was not booked – but I had a ticket.
“She told me that she could not get me on the next bus, because it was also not for the disabled and that there was nothing more she could do, so I had to go straight home on the Oxford Tube I had just come up on.”
On June 25, the same situation arose when Mr Light, who had pre-booked a ticket, was told he was not due to be on the coach.
He said: “I was told there were no disabled buses on the Bradford route at all that day and they asked me if I would make my own way to my destination.”
After paying £22 for a taxi from Victoria to King’s Cross and £57 on a rail ticket to Brighouse, near Bradford, Mr Light — who has severe sciatica, arthritis and osteoporosis in his spine, pelvis and hips – met two National Express customer relations representatives the following week. He said: “They told me that National Express had failed on this occasion.
“They said they would reimburse me for the cost of travel and I would hear from them in four weeks. That was six weeks ago and I’ve had nothing.”
He also suffered problems booking tickets with National Express in July, when he says a string of calls were not returned.
Mr Light said he had consulted a solicitor about legal action under legislation to prevent discrimination. He added: “To leave me in London like they did was just diabolical.
“I’m looking into legal action. I’m not going to stand for it. It’s not about compensation, they shouldn’t be able to do this to disabled people.”
A National Express spokes-man said Mr Light would be reimbursed for his train and taxi fares and added: “We offer our sincere apologies to Mr Light for his experiences.
“We will stay in contact with Mr Light to ensure future journeys are as smooth as possible.”
Disabled man slams coach firm after being stranded
A DISABLED man from Oxford is threatening to take legal action against National Express after what he called a “diabolical” series of blunders.
Robert Light, who uses an electric wheelchair, has accused the coach company of letting down disabled people, because its system to help disabled passengers had constantly let him down.
Mr Light, 66, of Colemans Hill, Headington, said he had to turn around and come home again on an abortive trip to Bradford, West Yorkshire, and was left on his own in London to pay for a taxi and train to his destination on another occasion.
Disabled people can call a National Express helpline at least 24 hours before departure so that the company can ensure a suitably-adapted coach is available for their journey.
Mr Light’s problems began on May 21, when the wheelchair user caught an Oxford Tube service to London to board a pre-booked National Express coach to Bradford.
He said: “I got to London, to be told by the duty manager, after she phoned head office in Birmingham, that I was not booked – but I had a ticket.
“She told me that she could not get me on the next bus, because it was also not for the disabled and that there was nothing more she could do, so I had to go straight home on the Oxford Tube I had just come up on.”
On June 25, the same situation arose when Mr Light, who had pre-booked a ticket, was told he was not due to be on the coach.
He said: “I was told there were no disabled buses on the Bradford route at all that day and they asked me if I would make my own way to my destination.”
After paying £22 for a taxi from Victoria to King’s Cross and £57 on a rail ticket to Brighouse, near Bradford, Mr Light — who has severe sciatica, arthritis and osteoporosis in his spine, pelvis and hips – met two National Express customer relations representatives the following week. He said: “They told me that National Express had failed on this occasion.
“They said they would reimburse me for the cost of travel and I would hear from them in four weeks. That was six weeks ago and I’ve had nothing.”
He also suffered problems booking tickets with National Express in July, when he says a string of calls were not returned.
Mr Light said he had consulted a solicitor about legal action under legislation to prevent discrimination. He added: “To leave me in London like they did was just diabolical.
“I’m looking into legal action. I’m not going to stand for it. It’s not about compensation, they shouldn’t be able to do this to disabled people.”
A National Express spokes-man said Mr Light would be reimbursed for his train and taxi fares and added: “We offer our sincere apologies to Mr Light for his experiences.
“We will stay in contact with Mr Light to ensure future journeys are as smooth as possible.”
Friday, July 24, 2009
Ruth Ellen writes on 23rd July 2009...
They may have been carting frugal travellers around since 1972, but I have only recently cottoned on to just how much cheapness there is to be enjoyed with National Express coaches.
Sinking back into a leathery black seat, as concrete high-rise and urban bustle gave way sweeping Home Counties’ green, I spent the two hours from Victoria to Brighton smug in the knowledge that my £5 return ticket cost considerably less than the box of diabetic Thorntons chocolates I demolished at lunch. (I’m not diabetic – just figured they must be healthier.) With surprisingly clear roads, and my fellow Friday-evening passengers few and sleepy, this seemed like an all-in-all bargainous way to travel.
...Snip...
my return Sunday journey began with boarding the coach deep in ponderings on whether to become a happy Brighton person, and so completely blind to the substantial deterioration in vehicle standards from my previous National Express encounter.
Beginning to register the coarsely covered and decidedly hard seat, my knees jammed right up against the seatback in front of me, I suddenly became aware that a) the back of a very hairy man’s head is less than three inches from my face, and b) I’m engulfed in the stench of fried food.
Clearly, National Express coaches are not all made from the same mould. And, under the direction of the karma god of bargain transport, I was now paying for Friday’s First Class service. As if being close enough to lick a stranger’s head whilst crammed in to bruising point was not enough, surrounding me now, filling nearly every other seat, were gabbling Spanish students eating with much gusto from greasy orange boxes of chicken.
After two looong hours of shrieking teenagers, and having to move my head to the side every time hairy-man felt the need to service his head with a thorough scratching (which was about every other minute), the madness of Victoria station was welcome relief.
They may have been carting frugal travellers around since 1972, but I have only recently cottoned on to just how much cheapness there is to be enjoyed with National Express coaches.
Sinking back into a leathery black seat, as concrete high-rise and urban bustle gave way sweeping Home Counties’ green, I spent the two hours from Victoria to Brighton smug in the knowledge that my £5 return ticket cost considerably less than the box of diabetic Thorntons chocolates I demolished at lunch. (I’m not diabetic – just figured they must be healthier.) With surprisingly clear roads, and my fellow Friday-evening passengers few and sleepy, this seemed like an all-in-all bargainous way to travel.
...Snip...
my return Sunday journey began with boarding the coach deep in ponderings on whether to become a happy Brighton person, and so completely blind to the substantial deterioration in vehicle standards from my previous National Express encounter.
Beginning to register the coarsely covered and decidedly hard seat, my knees jammed right up against the seatback in front of me, I suddenly became aware that a) the back of a very hairy man’s head is less than three inches from my face, and b) I’m engulfed in the stench of fried food.
Clearly, National Express coaches are not all made from the same mould. And, under the direction of the karma god of bargain transport, I was now paying for Friday’s First Class service. As if being close enough to lick a stranger’s head whilst crammed in to bruising point was not enough, surrounding me now, filling nearly every other seat, were gabbling Spanish students eating with much gusto from greasy orange boxes of chicken.
After two looong hours of shrieking teenagers, and having to move my head to the side every time hairy-man felt the need to service his head with a thorough scratching (which was about every other minute), the madness of Victoria station was welcome relief.
Monday, July 13, 2009
travel rat writes on 10th July 2009...
In the past, I’ve often ranted … nay, fulminated … about the squalid tip that was the Digbeth Street Coach Station in Birmingham. The armpit of the universe, I once called it, a place with all the charm of an abandoned multi-storey car park. A seedy cafeteria, manned by a runny-nosed immigrant who spoke little English, and 20p. to use the toilet.
The only good thing there was ‘Katie’s’, a bright, cheerful pie and sandwich shop just around the corner; truly a rose among the thistles! But, that only catered to the lunchtime trade, and closed about 2 pm.
So, imagine my surprise when my northbound National Express bus pulled into a new facility. A light, airy hall, information boards, a shop and an Upper Crust franchise. Thins were looking up … the only fly in the ointment was you still have to pay 20p. to use the khasi. You could, of course, use the one in the bus before you get to Birmingham … but, try it when the bus is schlepping down the motorway at 60 mph. That’s why most experienced bus-riders keep it for the gravest emergencies.
Pleasant as this is … it’s only temporary, while they build a new, purpose-built coach terminal on the site of the old Digbeth Street terminal. And, if the model in the temporary facility is to be believed, that’s going to be quite something!
On the way home, our coach broke down in Chester. I was impressed with the way the driver dealt with it, and ensured we all got to Birmingham in time to make our connections.
And, here is a picture of our replacement coach … only joking; it just happened to be at the bus stop when we limped in. But, it was working; our state-of-the-art, four year old coach wasn’t … and it is rather good, isn’t it?
nutty al writes on 2nd July 2009...
Travelled to Heathrow on National Express coach with one change in Birmingham. Unfortunately, we had a female member of the Russian Mafia in a seat adjacent to us who made more phone calls on her mobile than I make in months. Felt like taking out the Kalashnikov and giving her a quick burst! Changed seats to get away from her but only managed to find yet another female (Asian this time) who was using TWO mobiles at once....................I give up!!
what would henry rollins do writes on 1st July 2009...
...One the way down I also puked within about 15 minutes of being on the coach, much to the dismay of the girl I was sitting next to. The thing is though, national express coaches are too hot, they have leather seats, and it’s impossible for me to ever be comfortable on a coach seat unless I can put my feet in the aisle, thanks to my freakishly long but sleek, slender, supple legs. And I was sitting in the window seat. Due to this sickness I spent around 10 minutes leaning up against the wall in the toilet, which smelled pretty bad, trying to catch a breeze through an air vent and puking up the contents of my stomach, which at that point was limited to water and bile. The rest of the journey was comparatively ok, but I think the only thing I said for around half an hour was a pathetic, comedic ‘oh god’… I find people’s reactions to their own misfortune are often funnier than the misfortune itself...
In the past, I’ve often ranted … nay, fulminated … about the squalid tip that was the Digbeth Street Coach Station in Birmingham. The armpit of the universe, I once called it, a place with all the charm of an abandoned multi-storey car park. A seedy cafeteria, manned by a runny-nosed immigrant who spoke little English, and 20p. to use the toilet.
The only good thing there was ‘Katie’s’, a bright, cheerful pie and sandwich shop just around the corner; truly a rose among the thistles! But, that only catered to the lunchtime trade, and closed about 2 pm.
So, imagine my surprise when my northbound National Express bus pulled into a new facility. A light, airy hall, information boards, a shop and an Upper Crust franchise. Thins were looking up … the only fly in the ointment was you still have to pay 20p. to use the khasi. You could, of course, use the one in the bus before you get to Birmingham … but, try it when the bus is schlepping down the motorway at 60 mph. That’s why most experienced bus-riders keep it for the gravest emergencies.
Pleasant as this is … it’s only temporary, while they build a new, purpose-built coach terminal on the site of the old Digbeth Street terminal. And, if the model in the temporary facility is to be believed, that’s going to be quite something!
On the way home, our coach broke down in Chester. I was impressed with the way the driver dealt with it, and ensured we all got to Birmingham in time to make our connections.
And, here is a picture of our replacement coach … only joking; it just happened to be at the bus stop when we limped in. But, it was working; our state-of-the-art, four year old coach wasn’t … and it is rather good, isn’t it?
nutty al writes on 2nd July 2009...
Travelled to Heathrow on National Express coach with one change in Birmingham. Unfortunately, we had a female member of the Russian Mafia in a seat adjacent to us who made more phone calls on her mobile than I make in months. Felt like taking out the Kalashnikov and giving her a quick burst! Changed seats to get away from her but only managed to find yet another female (Asian this time) who was using TWO mobiles at once....................I give up!!
what would henry rollins do writes on 1st July 2009...
...One the way down I also puked within about 15 minutes of being on the coach, much to the dismay of the girl I was sitting next to. The thing is though, national express coaches are too hot, they have leather seats, and it’s impossible for me to ever be comfortable on a coach seat unless I can put my feet in the aisle, thanks to my freakishly long but sleek, slender, supple legs. And I was sitting in the window seat. Due to this sickness I spent around 10 minutes leaning up against the wall in the toilet, which smelled pretty bad, trying to catch a breeze through an air vent and puking up the contents of my stomach, which at that point was limited to water and bile. The rest of the journey was comparatively ok, but I think the only thing I said for around half an hour was a pathetic, comedic ‘oh god’… I find people’s reactions to their own misfortune are often funnier than the misfortune itself...
Friday, June 26, 2009
A consumer newbie posts on 16th June 2009...
Advice needed on a botched National Express issue
Sorry, this story is a long one and to be honest I am fuming with the company and will not accept this treatment, not only do I want a full refund of the ticket price but I want a letter of apology to my wife for the treatment she experienced.
I have posted this same story on a different forum but sadly not received any advice yet and hope members of this forum might be able to help
Can I ask please for your help and advise on this matter. Even please tell me if I am "flogging a dead donkey" and wasting my time.
Sunday 14th June 2009 my wife had to travel from one location to another, for various reasons she chose to travel on National Express coaches. She had to be at her destination because our son (at boarding school) was having an operation the next morning and wanted he mum to be with him (understandably, he is a little nervous and frightened). Anyway, her journey involved a transfer at Heathrow from one coach to another, with the first leg uneventful and she reported it was quite relaxing.
On arrival at Heathrow she located the next coach, loaded her baggage and took her seat. Several minutes later the coach left. Within minutes of leaving the coach broke down, they spent some time while the driver and mechanic spoke on the telephone. It resulted in the coach returning to the depot. On arrival the driver asked the passengers to disembark. But not to go to far as he needed to get on the road (I suspect he was running short of driver hours). My wife TOLD the driver she needed to go to the bathroom and would be back shortly. On her return to the bay where she disembarked (no more than 5 minutes) she recognised another women off the same coach who informed her that the coach had left.
Obviously my wife did not believe this initially as all of her belongings for the week were on the bus. Within seconds the realisation set in and she was mortified, she was panicking and worried about how she could get to see our son before the Monday morning. Now I will explain, my wife is a very nervous person who panics at the simplest thing, she can get tearful very easily. The other lady (the only thing my wife and this other lady have in common was they were on the same coach and both left behind, other than this they do not know each other, nor are they friends/family.) told my wife to follow her and she will sort it. Nervously my wife followed into the main bus depot to explain their plight. It was then they were both told, sorry, you have missed it, you did not answer to tanoy calls so the driver left. They claim to have made 5 tanoy announcements. Despite the two women being stranded and the coach leaving only seconds before National they refused to contact the driver to tell him to return. At this moment my wife became visibly upset and the other women lost her temper, shouting ranting and raving, using abusive language. At was at this time my wife called me for help, all i had was the internet and a phone. Naturally I tried to call the Heathrow office but as it the normal with everything its all central. So was put through to someone in Birmingham. I explained my wife’s issue and he said he would assist, investigate and call me back immediately. It was after this call my wife called me back to tell me the other women had assaulted a member of staff by going behind the counter and grabbing her by the throat and that the police had been called. I advised her to stay well away and not to associate herself with this women because they my think you know each other and refuse you to travel. A couple of moments later a second member of staff approached my wife to ask her destination saying she could getting on a second coach due to leaving shortly that way they will drop her off a close as possible to her destination. After 45 minute the central office had not called so I called them, I asked for the individual and was transferred, kept on hold for 15 minutes, before I hung up and tried again, this time transferred to him immediately. To my horror he said due to the assault on his member of staff my wife was not allowed to travel and was being arrested for abusive language. I couldn’t believe my ears and did become slightly agitated and frustrated thanking him using the following "well thanks for sod all, if this is they way you treat paying customers then I will never use your service again" I rang my wife back to find out the police had attended and spoke to her, they escorted the other lady off the premises saying she was banned form travelling and to wait for her boyfriend to collect her. For my wife she was told that she had been unfortunate and because the tanoy system does not work in the toilet she missed her bus, but because of the other persons actions you too are banned from travelling. The police were frustrated for her and offered to help get her to a tube to get into central London to catch a train. They gave her their details to allow her to use them if she wishes to complain. One even said, if she was his partner he would have driven to the location himself to speak to them.
On speaking to my wife after she boarded a train and has settled down it was then she told me, the lady who was assaulted was the manager and has instructed all her staff not to speak to my wife. When she attempted to ask for help this manager held her hand up to my wife’s face and walked away. She then spoke to the other women that had offered to help get her on a second coach, but this women said she was able to transfer her but her manager had cancelled it, tell all the staff not to help her as she was a friend of this women and will be arrested.
After I had calmed down but still frustrated I called the central office again to ask what they intend to do with unaccompanied baggage? (which in my opinion in today’s world is a security risk and should never be allowed to happen, I don’t care if it’s a plane, coach or train) They said this was normal practice and I would need to speak to someone in a different office then they attempted to transfer me. A few moments later I was told the other office refused to speak to me for being abusive and swearing, remember all I said was "thanks for sod all" I understand I will have come across as agitated, but to claim I was abusive and offensive is down right slander. Then the guy told me, once her luggage can be identified by the driver they will unload it and leave it somewhere.
Thankfully a friend was able to be at the location of drop off and collected her bags, he spoke to the driver explained what had happened. His response I found was unbelievable. This is not my words, but words of their drivers (who was not the one at Heathrow, they had swapped en-route.) "Oh not again, the bloody staff at Heathrow are always doing this, they don’t understand basic English and as soon as someone shows frustration or gets upset, they always call to police and say they were swearing. I was witness an old lady whose luggage had gone missing, the lady was hard of hearing and was shouting, so loud those around her could hear her words clearly and felt sorry. The staff refused to help her, called to police saying she was using foul and threatening behaviour, the lady must have been 80 and no one heard any language other than her asking for help and advice. The Police arrived and were going to take to word of the staff and escort the lady away, until other member of public and drivers intervened informing the police of what actually occurred. Even then the staff refused to talk to her, demanding the police remove her as she was being racist." This I couldn’t believe, any other time I would have said never, no way would someone treat a lady like that. But having experienced the incident yesterday I can now see it happening and I hate to say it, but I think it is disgusting that people act this way and get away with it.
Sorry to have gone on slightly, but I appeal to you all for advice and guidance.
Many thanks
Advice needed on a botched National Express issue
Sorry, this story is a long one and to be honest I am fuming with the company and will not accept this treatment, not only do I want a full refund of the ticket price but I want a letter of apology to my wife for the treatment she experienced.
I have posted this same story on a different forum but sadly not received any advice yet and hope members of this forum might be able to help
Can I ask please for your help and advise on this matter. Even please tell me if I am "flogging a dead donkey" and wasting my time.
Sunday 14th June 2009 my wife had to travel from one location to another, for various reasons she chose to travel on National Express coaches. She had to be at her destination because our son (at boarding school) was having an operation the next morning and wanted he mum to be with him (understandably, he is a little nervous and frightened). Anyway, her journey involved a transfer at Heathrow from one coach to another, with the first leg uneventful and she reported it was quite relaxing.
On arrival at Heathrow she located the next coach, loaded her baggage and took her seat. Several minutes later the coach left. Within minutes of leaving the coach broke down, they spent some time while the driver and mechanic spoke on the telephone. It resulted in the coach returning to the depot. On arrival the driver asked the passengers to disembark. But not to go to far as he needed to get on the road (I suspect he was running short of driver hours). My wife TOLD the driver she needed to go to the bathroom and would be back shortly. On her return to the bay where she disembarked (no more than 5 minutes) she recognised another women off the same coach who informed her that the coach had left.
Obviously my wife did not believe this initially as all of her belongings for the week were on the bus. Within seconds the realisation set in and she was mortified, she was panicking and worried about how she could get to see our son before the Monday morning. Now I will explain, my wife is a very nervous person who panics at the simplest thing, she can get tearful very easily. The other lady (the only thing my wife and this other lady have in common was they were on the same coach and both left behind, other than this they do not know each other, nor are they friends/family.) told my wife to follow her and she will sort it. Nervously my wife followed into the main bus depot to explain their plight. It was then they were both told, sorry, you have missed it, you did not answer to tanoy calls so the driver left. They claim to have made 5 tanoy announcements. Despite the two women being stranded and the coach leaving only seconds before National they refused to contact the driver to tell him to return. At this moment my wife became visibly upset and the other women lost her temper, shouting ranting and raving, using abusive language. At was at this time my wife called me for help, all i had was the internet and a phone. Naturally I tried to call the Heathrow office but as it the normal with everything its all central. So was put through to someone in Birmingham. I explained my wife’s issue and he said he would assist, investigate and call me back immediately. It was after this call my wife called me back to tell me the other women had assaulted a member of staff by going behind the counter and grabbing her by the throat and that the police had been called. I advised her to stay well away and not to associate herself with this women because they my think you know each other and refuse you to travel. A couple of moments later a second member of staff approached my wife to ask her destination saying she could getting on a second coach due to leaving shortly that way they will drop her off a close as possible to her destination. After 45 minute the central office had not called so I called them, I asked for the individual and was transferred, kept on hold for 15 minutes, before I hung up and tried again, this time transferred to him immediately. To my horror he said due to the assault on his member of staff my wife was not allowed to travel and was being arrested for abusive language. I couldn’t believe my ears and did become slightly agitated and frustrated thanking him using the following "well thanks for sod all, if this is they way you treat paying customers then I will never use your service again" I rang my wife back to find out the police had attended and spoke to her, they escorted the other lady off the premises saying she was banned form travelling and to wait for her boyfriend to collect her. For my wife she was told that she had been unfortunate and because the tanoy system does not work in the toilet she missed her bus, but because of the other persons actions you too are banned from travelling. The police were frustrated for her and offered to help get her to a tube to get into central London to catch a train. They gave her their details to allow her to use them if she wishes to complain. One even said, if she was his partner he would have driven to the location himself to speak to them.
On speaking to my wife after she boarded a train and has settled down it was then she told me, the lady who was assaulted was the manager and has instructed all her staff not to speak to my wife. When she attempted to ask for help this manager held her hand up to my wife’s face and walked away. She then spoke to the other women that had offered to help get her on a second coach, but this women said she was able to transfer her but her manager had cancelled it, tell all the staff not to help her as she was a friend of this women and will be arrested.
After I had calmed down but still frustrated I called the central office again to ask what they intend to do with unaccompanied baggage? (which in my opinion in today’s world is a security risk and should never be allowed to happen, I don’t care if it’s a plane, coach or train) They said this was normal practice and I would need to speak to someone in a different office then they attempted to transfer me. A few moments later I was told the other office refused to speak to me for being abusive and swearing, remember all I said was "thanks for sod all" I understand I will have come across as agitated, but to claim I was abusive and offensive is down right slander. Then the guy told me, once her luggage can be identified by the driver they will unload it and leave it somewhere.
Thankfully a friend was able to be at the location of drop off and collected her bags, he spoke to the driver explained what had happened. His response I found was unbelievable. This is not my words, but words of their drivers (who was not the one at Heathrow, they had swapped en-route.) "Oh not again, the bloody staff at Heathrow are always doing this, they don’t understand basic English and as soon as someone shows frustration or gets upset, they always call to police and say they were swearing. I was witness an old lady whose luggage had gone missing, the lady was hard of hearing and was shouting, so loud those around her could hear her words clearly and felt sorry. The staff refused to help her, called to police saying she was using foul and threatening behaviour, the lady must have been 80 and no one heard any language other than her asking for help and advice. The Police arrived and were going to take to word of the staff and escort the lady away, until other member of public and drivers intervened informing the police of what actually occurred. Even then the staff refused to talk to her, demanding the police remove her as she was being racist." This I couldn’t believe, any other time I would have said never, no way would someone treat a lady like that. But having experienced the incident yesterday I can now see it happening and I hate to say it, but I think it is disgusting that people act this way and get away with it.
Sorry to have gone on slightly, but I appeal to you all for advice and guidance.
Many thanks
Sunday, June 14, 2009
BBC News website reports on 9th June 2009...
Coach bursts into flames on m-way.
A coach driver led 49 passengers to safety after their vehicle burst into flames on the M1.
The London to Nottingham coach pulled on to the hard shoulder of the motorway in Leicestershire after developing mechanical problems on Monday night.
Driver Don Edwards got the passengers off the National Express coach and firefighters put out the flames.
Passenger Heather Savage from Ilkeston, Derbyshire, described the driver as an "absolute hero".
The incident happened near junction 22, the Coalville turn off.
Ms Savage said: "Within a few minutes the bus was (full of) thick, black smoke - and that's a killer, more than the flames.
"It could have been terrible but the driver got everybody calmly off the bus. He was amazing."
Mr Edwards said: "I have safety training so I remained calm and reassured the customers while a replacement coach arrived.
"I'm pleased to have helped people on board."
A spokesperson for National Express said: "All customers and staff were safely removed from the vehicle.
"Safety is always our number one priority and we are currently investigating the cause of the issue."
A replacement coach arrived two hours later and passengers were able to complete their journey.
BBC News website shows a 27 second video without sound of the above National Express coach fire. Click this link to watch the thick black smoke.
Coach bursts into flames on m-way.
A coach driver led 49 passengers to safety after their vehicle burst into flames on the M1.
The London to Nottingham coach pulled on to the hard shoulder of the motorway in Leicestershire after developing mechanical problems on Monday night.
Driver Don Edwards got the passengers off the National Express coach and firefighters put out the flames.
Passenger Heather Savage from Ilkeston, Derbyshire, described the driver as an "absolute hero".
The incident happened near junction 22, the Coalville turn off.
Ms Savage said: "Within a few minutes the bus was (full of) thick, black smoke - and that's a killer, more than the flames.
"It could have been terrible but the driver got everybody calmly off the bus. He was amazing."
Mr Edwards said: "I have safety training so I remained calm and reassured the customers while a replacement coach arrived.
"I'm pleased to have helped people on board."
A spokesperson for National Express said: "All customers and staff were safely removed from the vehicle.
"Safety is always our number one priority and we are currently investigating the cause of the issue."
A replacement coach arrived two hours later and passengers were able to complete their journey.
BBC News website shows a 27 second video without sound of the above National Express coach fire. Click this link to watch the thick black smoke.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
James Kirkup writes on 27th May 2009...
Whoa there, I almost forgot to go into severe detail about my troubles with National Express the other week.
Let me start of by saying how mega the coach is, it’s brilliant. I’ve found myself traveling up to Leeds every couple of weeks and if I book far enough in advance I can get a return journey to Leeds from London for about a tenner – quids in! However the journey truly sucks balls, I’m a pretty tall fella and there isn’t much room for me pins, along side the fact the lights always screw up so reading is a no no and there’s no power to help my laptop survive an episode of the wire.
So she ain’t near perfect but it get’s me up north for the weekend for next to nothing which is the main thing. However last week when I was going up late friday evening I decided to make the not so wise decision of sitting at the front of the coach for leg room related purposes. What a mistake this turned out to be though as I caught the driver not only texting his beloved but playing the death trap of all mind games, tetris, whilst driving in the wet! What the douche.. this guy was mixing some pretty wobbly driving, whilst trying to rack up a top score. I thought I was going to die.
I tried to capture the exact moment on me camera and I’m waiting on National Express for a good bit of compensation.. until next time Death Coach!
Whoa there, I almost forgot to go into severe detail about my troubles with National Express the other week.
Let me start of by saying how mega the coach is, it’s brilliant. I’ve found myself traveling up to Leeds every couple of weeks and if I book far enough in advance I can get a return journey to Leeds from London for about a tenner – quids in! However the journey truly sucks balls, I’m a pretty tall fella and there isn’t much room for me pins, along side the fact the lights always screw up so reading is a no no and there’s no power to help my laptop survive an episode of the wire.
So she ain’t near perfect but it get’s me up north for the weekend for next to nothing which is the main thing. However last week when I was going up late friday evening I decided to make the not so wise decision of sitting at the front of the coach for leg room related purposes. What a mistake this turned out to be though as I caught the driver not only texting his beloved but playing the death trap of all mind games, tetris, whilst driving in the wet! What the douche.. this guy was mixing some pretty wobbly driving, whilst trying to rack up a top score. I thought I was going to die.
I tried to capture the exact moment on me camera and I’m waiting on National Express for a good bit of compensation.. until next time Death Coach!
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Bus Pass Pilgrims reports on 24th April 2009...
We all slept well at our various hosts homes. We met at the York train station at 9.30am and after leaving our luggage in the left luggage office we went off to explore York. Colin and Ken decided to visit the railway museum, Di went for a walk around the walls and by the river to take some photographs. Sue, Gina and Joyce went to the Jorvic centre and spent time around the Shambles.
Pat, Rennie and Maggie made for the shops. We all met at 1.30pm for lunch together and then after more walking around the walls and through the town, we finally met at the train station, collected our bags and waited at the bus stop for our 16.25 national express coach to arrive. We waited and we waited and eventually it arrived 1 hour later. Due to this we missed our X5 connection at Milton keynes, so instead of finishing in the manner we had become used to, by using our passes, we had to hire a mini bus and a car to bring us all back to Bicester. At least it took us all home to our own homes. We were all grateful to see Bicester again, but on the whole everyone said it was well worth doing and we all got on together so well, it made it all worthwhile.
We all slept well at our various hosts homes. We met at the York train station at 9.30am and after leaving our luggage in the left luggage office we went off to explore York. Colin and Ken decided to visit the railway museum, Di went for a walk around the walls and by the river to take some photographs. Sue, Gina and Joyce went to the Jorvic centre and spent time around the Shambles.
Pat, Rennie and Maggie made for the shops. We all met at 1.30pm for lunch together and then after more walking around the walls and through the town, we finally met at the train station, collected our bags and waited at the bus stop for our 16.25 national express coach to arrive. We waited and we waited and eventually it arrived 1 hour later. Due to this we missed our X5 connection at Milton keynes, so instead of finishing in the manner we had become used to, by using our passes, we had to hire a mini bus and a car to bring us all back to Bicester. At least it took us all home to our own homes. We were all grateful to see Bicester again, but on the whole everyone said it was well worth doing and we all got on together so well, it made it all worthwhile.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Richard McAuliffe writes on 7th April 2009...
All aboard the Bhangra Bus!
So I said I went to London for the weekend, yeah?
As we are a bit skint we got the bus up, not the train which was all cool enough till the trip back.
We got on the National Express coach, all fine. And then the driver started his engine to leave, and also put on his music. Now this is a bit odd... usually on these coaches the driver gives you the spiel about consideration to others with regards ipods etc and if he does have a radio on you'd struggle to hear it in the front seat. Not our lovely Indian driver.
I was about 5 rows back, and the volume to me, on a moving coach, was about the same as the volume I'd have the television on. For him it must have been on "Im in the car alone and I dont want to hear myself as I sing along" volume. And it was BAAAAAD shit too.
Im not gonna pretend to like any Indian music, even roll my eyes when George Harrison whips out the sitar on a Beatles album, but this was the stuff that sounds like 4 old men being tortured while two other cunts accompany them on a kazoo and a triangle. Just fucking horrible. And he only had the one 60 minute cd... and it was a three and a half hour journey... so he looped it.
But that wasnt the most fucked up bit. What was, was that I noticed we were doing sudden swerves every 10-15 minutes. So being in an aisle I was checking the driver out in his rear view mirror and realised every now and then he had a Turban Procedure (tm).
This would involve patting the sides, patting the back, patting the sides again. A double tap on the front. Then a full slide from the back TO the front.
All this two handed
All while driving a bus full of people at 70 mph.... without any hands on the wheel
All ending in a "Oh dear, I have now drifted into the other lane" swerve.
Fun stuff. Luckily I had a cool book with me so kinda lost myself in that and tuned his shit out. Iz slept through most of it but I couldnt do that coz with the background "music" playing Im pretty sure I woulda had nightmares about that fucker from Temple of Doom coming to rip my heart out with a bit of KHALI-MAAARRR!
All aboard the Bhangra Bus!
So I said I went to London for the weekend, yeah?
As we are a bit skint we got the bus up, not the train which was all cool enough till the trip back.
We got on the National Express coach, all fine. And then the driver started his engine to leave, and also put on his music. Now this is a bit odd... usually on these coaches the driver gives you the spiel about consideration to others with regards ipods etc and if he does have a radio on you'd struggle to hear it in the front seat. Not our lovely Indian driver.
I was about 5 rows back, and the volume to me, on a moving coach, was about the same as the volume I'd have the television on. For him it must have been on "Im in the car alone and I dont want to hear myself as I sing along" volume. And it was BAAAAAD shit too.
Im not gonna pretend to like any Indian music, even roll my eyes when George Harrison whips out the sitar on a Beatles album, but this was the stuff that sounds like 4 old men being tortured while two other cunts accompany them on a kazoo and a triangle. Just fucking horrible. And he only had the one 60 minute cd... and it was a three and a half hour journey... so he looped it.
But that wasnt the most fucked up bit. What was, was that I noticed we were doing sudden swerves every 10-15 minutes. So being in an aisle I was checking the driver out in his rear view mirror and realised every now and then he had a Turban Procedure (tm).
This would involve patting the sides, patting the back, patting the sides again. A double tap on the front. Then a full slide from the back TO the front.
All this two handed
All while driving a bus full of people at 70 mph.... without any hands on the wheel
All ending in a "Oh dear, I have now drifted into the other lane" swerve.
Fun stuff. Luckily I had a cool book with me so kinda lost myself in that and tuned his shit out. Iz slept through most of it but I couldnt do that coz with the background "music" playing Im pretty sure I woulda had nightmares about that fucker from Temple of Doom coming to rip my heart out with a bit of KHALI-MAAARRR!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Luke Rowe wrote on Sunday 29th March 2009...
I am still mulling over a harrowing last hour in London on Saturday, running through the streets with an unimpressed Miss P in tow attempting to get to Victoria coach station (itself an absolute mess of logistics, two separate buildings? really?). The Victoria line was shut for the weekend at our link and never ask for directions to Victoria coach station ether, everyone directs you to the train station and when you have zero seconds to spare, this is not useful.
We got some decent directions at Buck house from the bobby with the big gun and made it with a minute to spare. We then learnt our coach would be late anyways. I was told only once did my face ever fall into panic , and only because I didn't wanna be stuck in London with no means. The National Express back to Bristol was cold and shit and all I could picture was Queen Victoria's miserable fucking face.
gornal wolf writes on Sunday 29th March 2009...
Wembley (sat)
Went to wembley yesterday to watch england.Saw 6 wolves fans in a matter of 4 mins when i arrived.Separate families too.If the family from telford come on here who's son is the jinx in the steve bull stand (you will know) i say hi to you and good to meet you.
Anyway got the coach from dudley and we had to pick up at digbeth in brum.Quite a few brummies got on.There were 4 oldish guys (60-65) who got on at brum.Now 1 of them was very confident in himself.Shouting so everyone else could here him,1 or 2 swear words.Anyway all was going good and about 1 hour from stadium he goes to the toilet on coach.In there for good few mins then opens the door and you could wreak SMOKE.He walked past us going back to his seat and he stunk of it.Nobody said anything.
Well on the way back we were about 5 mile from oxford services when he goes to the toilet again.Was in and out in bout 90 seconds,stunk of fags again as he walked back to his seat.The coach driver pulls up on the hard shoulder and goes up to this guy and said you just bin to the toilet? Chap says might have.Driver said you've been smoking! Brummy said i aint.Coach driver says you have cus you set the alarm off in my cab.I'm driving to oxford services and your off the coach,you bin smoking in the toilet,broke the law and i'm calling the police.
This brummy bloke said "there aint no signs up to say you cant smoke on here!!!
Coach driver just laughed along with half the coach passengers who heard it.Anyway we pulled up at services and credit to driver he stuck to his guns and threw him off.Must of been about 9.30pm aswell.No police were called but if he didnt get off the coach they would of.
Went with national express
So dont ever take the risk if you do smoke it could be you next.
Ken Gregory writes on Saturday 28th March 2009...
From next wednesday (April 1st although its no joke) bus passes, so loudly shouted as available for travel across the whole country, will not be valid on any service where 51% of the seats CAN be booked in advance. This effectively rules out loads of national express routes. Governments comment is that ' bus passes were only intended for local use'. My point being, little or no publicity has been given to the implications of this new legislation.
Ben Webster writes on 28th March 2009...
End of the road for free go-anywhere bus pass for the over-60s
Are you 60 or over and do you fancy a free trip to the seaside? Grab your coat because this weekend is your last opportunity to take advantage of a benefit that the Government is quietly withdrawing.
From next Wednesday - April Fool's Day - bus passes issued to the elderly and disabled will no longer be valid on hundreds of services.
A year ago, ministers trumpeted the Government's generosity in giving 11 million people free travel on all local buses and coaches in England. Now pass holders will once again have to pay on coaches, park-and-ride buses, open-top bus tours and any services intended “primarily for tourism”.
Since last April, the Government has spent more than £1 billion funding the passes. But there is still a shortfall in many areas and dozens of local authorities have had to increase council tax or cut services to reimburse bus companies.
The bus pass has been so successful in popular tourist destinations, such as North Norfolk and along the South Coast, that bus companies have had to put on extra services. Paying passengers on services into Swanage, Dorset, have complained of having to stand all the way because all the seats on double deckers were taken by over-60s pass holders.
Under the existing rules, any bus or coach service with stops less than 15 miles apart is considered a local service and the operator must accept bus passes. But the Government has rewritten the rules and, from April 1, passes will not be eligible on any service on which more than half the seats can be booked.
Passes will no longer be valid on dozens of National Express coaches, including from London to Brighton, Eastbourne to Portsmouth, Plymouth to Penzance, Hereford to Swindon, Blackpool to Preston, and Newark to Grimsby.
It will become much harder for holders to travel from one end of England to the other without paying, a feat already achieved by dozens of pensioners. Pat Towle, a grandmother of five from Chudleigh, Devon, spent a fortnight last summer travelling free for almost 1,000 miles from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Land's End.
Campaigners for the elderly and disabled fear that local authorities and bus companies will reclassify many more services to make pensioners pay.
David Sinclair, the head of policy at Help the Aged, said: “We are extremely concerned that what was supposed to be a national scheme may be being whittled away. These changes to the rules should not be exploited to withdraw the right to concessionary travel on services on which the elderly rely. One in eight older people describe themselves as often or always lonely and access to transport is vital to tackling that isolation.”
On Monday the Liberal Democrats will try to block the new rules in Parliament by challenging the statutory instrument laid by Paul Clark, the junior Transport Minister.
John Leech, the Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, said: “The Government seems to be trying to cut down on the use of free bus passes by the back door without any parliamentary scrutiny. It says that local authorities could choose to fund these services themselves but many ... cannot afford it.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said that the bus pass was intended for use only on local services, not on longer routes. “These changes will clarify which types of service are outside of the spirit of the national concession, reducing potential for any confusion over whether a service is eligible.”
Travel by numbers
11 million the number of bus pass holders in England
£1billion the annual amount spent by the Government on the bus pass
£600,000 the average shortfall in bus pass funding among 70 local authorities
9.30am-11pm the times passes are valid Monday to Friday (they can be used at any time at weekends and on public holidays)
39 the number of buses that a holder would need to catch to travel free from Land's End to Berwick-upon-Tweed
Sources: DfT; Lib Dems; bus timetables
Stroud News and Journal reports on 24th March 2009...
Stonehouse widow left traumatised by London pick-pockets
A CLERGY widow from Stonehouse was left shaken and traumatised after she was targeted by thieves during a trip to visit her son in London.
Great grandmother Paddi Spruyt, who regularly volunteers at a Stroud day care centre, lost almost £170 in cash, a bank card and family photographs when she was pick-pocketed in a café at Heathrow Central bus and coach station.
Mrs Spruyt, whose husband the Rev John Spruyt died several years ago, was travelling alone by National Express coach to visit her son in Essex last month.
"It has left me very traumatised," she said.
"I find it hard to sleep now, I see the man who stole from me vividly all the time.
"Going by coach is the only way I can visit my son, and I will go back soon but it has left me feeling scared and vulnerable around strangers."
National Express has since posted her some of her treasured photographs and other items from her stolen wallet after they were found abandoned on one of their coaches.
Police in London are continuing their investigations.
I am still mulling over a harrowing last hour in London on Saturday, running through the streets with an unimpressed Miss P in tow attempting to get to Victoria coach station (itself an absolute mess of logistics, two separate buildings? really?). The Victoria line was shut for the weekend at our link and never ask for directions to Victoria coach station ether, everyone directs you to the train station and when you have zero seconds to spare, this is not useful.
We got some decent directions at Buck house from the bobby with the big gun and made it with a minute to spare. We then learnt our coach would be late anyways. I was told only once did my face ever fall into panic , and only because I didn't wanna be stuck in London with no means. The National Express back to Bristol was cold and shit and all I could picture was Queen Victoria's miserable fucking face.
gornal wolf writes on Sunday 29th March 2009...
Wembley (sat)
Went to wembley yesterday to watch england.Saw 6 wolves fans in a matter of 4 mins when i arrived.Separate families too.If the family from telford come on here who's son is the jinx in the steve bull stand (you will know) i say hi to you and good to meet you.
Anyway got the coach from dudley and we had to pick up at digbeth in brum.Quite a few brummies got on.There were 4 oldish guys (60-65) who got on at brum.Now 1 of them was very confident in himself.Shouting so everyone else could here him,1 or 2 swear words.Anyway all was going good and about 1 hour from stadium he goes to the toilet on coach.In there for good few mins then opens the door and you could wreak SMOKE.He walked past us going back to his seat and he stunk of it.Nobody said anything.
Well on the way back we were about 5 mile from oxford services when he goes to the toilet again.Was in and out in bout 90 seconds,stunk of fags again as he walked back to his seat.The coach driver pulls up on the hard shoulder and goes up to this guy and said you just bin to the toilet? Chap says might have.Driver said you've been smoking! Brummy said i aint.Coach driver says you have cus you set the alarm off in my cab.I'm driving to oxford services and your off the coach,you bin smoking in the toilet,broke the law and i'm calling the police.
This brummy bloke said "there aint no signs up to say you cant smoke on here!!!
Coach driver just laughed along with half the coach passengers who heard it.Anyway we pulled up at services and credit to driver he stuck to his guns and threw him off.Must of been about 9.30pm aswell.No police were called but if he didnt get off the coach they would of.
Went with national express
So dont ever take the risk if you do smoke it could be you next.
Ken Gregory writes on Saturday 28th March 2009...
From next wednesday (April 1st although its no joke) bus passes, so loudly shouted as available for travel across the whole country, will not be valid on any service where 51% of the seats CAN be booked in advance. This effectively rules out loads of national express routes. Governments comment is that ' bus passes were only intended for local use'. My point being, little or no publicity has been given to the implications of this new legislation.
Ben Webster writes on 28th March 2009...
End of the road for free go-anywhere bus pass for the over-60s
Are you 60 or over and do you fancy a free trip to the seaside? Grab your coat because this weekend is your last opportunity to take advantage of a benefit that the Government is quietly withdrawing.
From next Wednesday - April Fool's Day - bus passes issued to the elderly and disabled will no longer be valid on hundreds of services.
A year ago, ministers trumpeted the Government's generosity in giving 11 million people free travel on all local buses and coaches in England. Now pass holders will once again have to pay on coaches, park-and-ride buses, open-top bus tours and any services intended “primarily for tourism”.
Since last April, the Government has spent more than £1 billion funding the passes. But there is still a shortfall in many areas and dozens of local authorities have had to increase council tax or cut services to reimburse bus companies.
The bus pass has been so successful in popular tourist destinations, such as North Norfolk and along the South Coast, that bus companies have had to put on extra services. Paying passengers on services into Swanage, Dorset, have complained of having to stand all the way because all the seats on double deckers were taken by over-60s pass holders.
Under the existing rules, any bus or coach service with stops less than 15 miles apart is considered a local service and the operator must accept bus passes. But the Government has rewritten the rules and, from April 1, passes will not be eligible on any service on which more than half the seats can be booked.
Passes will no longer be valid on dozens of National Express coaches, including from London to Brighton, Eastbourne to Portsmouth, Plymouth to Penzance, Hereford to Swindon, Blackpool to Preston, and Newark to Grimsby.
It will become much harder for holders to travel from one end of England to the other without paying, a feat already achieved by dozens of pensioners. Pat Towle, a grandmother of five from Chudleigh, Devon, spent a fortnight last summer travelling free for almost 1,000 miles from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Land's End.
Campaigners for the elderly and disabled fear that local authorities and bus companies will reclassify many more services to make pensioners pay.
David Sinclair, the head of policy at Help the Aged, said: “We are extremely concerned that what was supposed to be a national scheme may be being whittled away. These changes to the rules should not be exploited to withdraw the right to concessionary travel on services on which the elderly rely. One in eight older people describe themselves as often or always lonely and access to transport is vital to tackling that isolation.”
On Monday the Liberal Democrats will try to block the new rules in Parliament by challenging the statutory instrument laid by Paul Clark, the junior Transport Minister.
John Leech, the Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, said: “The Government seems to be trying to cut down on the use of free bus passes by the back door without any parliamentary scrutiny. It says that local authorities could choose to fund these services themselves but many ... cannot afford it.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said that the bus pass was intended for use only on local services, not on longer routes. “These changes will clarify which types of service are outside of the spirit of the national concession, reducing potential for any confusion over whether a service is eligible.”
Travel by numbers
11 million the number of bus pass holders in England
£1billion the annual amount spent by the Government on the bus pass
£600,000 the average shortfall in bus pass funding among 70 local authorities
9.30am-11pm the times passes are valid Monday to Friday (they can be used at any time at weekends and on public holidays)
39 the number of buses that a holder would need to catch to travel free from Land's End to Berwick-upon-Tweed
Sources: DfT; Lib Dems; bus timetables
Stroud News and Journal reports on 24th March 2009...
Stonehouse widow left traumatised by London pick-pockets
A CLERGY widow from Stonehouse was left shaken and traumatised after she was targeted by thieves during a trip to visit her son in London.
Great grandmother Paddi Spruyt, who regularly volunteers at a Stroud day care centre, lost almost £170 in cash, a bank card and family photographs when she was pick-pocketed in a café at Heathrow Central bus and coach station.
Mrs Spruyt, whose husband the Rev John Spruyt died several years ago, was travelling alone by National Express coach to visit her son in Essex last month.
"It has left me very traumatised," she said.
"I find it hard to sleep now, I see the man who stole from me vividly all the time.
"Going by coach is the only way I can visit my son, and I will go back soon but it has left me feeling scared and vulnerable around strangers."
National Express has since posted her some of her treasured photographs and other items from her stolen wallet after they were found abandoned on one of their coaches.
Police in London are continuing their investigations.
Monday, March 23, 2009
The Argus (Brighton and Hove) reports on 22nd March 2009...
Pensioners' free bus travel to be curbed
Thousands of pensioners entitled to free bus travel will have their wanderlust curbed.
The Government has ruled that some companies will now be exempt from the controversial concessionary bus fares scheme.
Travel firms such as National Express and Megabus will now be allowed to opt out.
A Department for Transport spokesman said the move would close loopholes which allowed free travel on routes that were never intended to be in the scheme.
But Eastbourne MP Nigel Waterson, the shadow minister for older people, criticised the changes.
He said they made a nonsense of the scheme if some companies were allowed to pull out as they pleased.
Mr Waterson said: "It is another blow for hard-pressed pensioners who have seen their cost of living rocket and the income from their savings plummet."
Since last April pensioners and disabled people have been able to use their bus passes to travel for free on all local buses in the UK.
This has included more than 100 services run by National Express which runs coaches from Brighton, Eastbourne and Chichester to London, from Brighton to Gatwick, and from Eastbourne to Portsmouth.
The Argus exclusively revealed in January that the DfT was conducting a review after lobbying from operators.
The DfT spokesman said the review had now been concluded and had successfully found ways of "tightening up" the legislation around coaches, tour buses and park-and-ride services.
He said: "These kinds of services were never intended to be included and we have now amended that."
National Express will start charging again on April 1.
A spokeswoman for the firm said the move would simplify what had become a difficult situation.
She said: "Our services are supposed to be pre-booked so the only time people were able to use them for free was if they waited at a stop and a coach arrived which was not fully booked.
"This often provided a problem with people having to be turned away at the roadside. That was not good for the people who were waiting or for our drivers who had to turn them away."
In January statistics showed 22,500 free trips had been taken on coaches.
It had yet to be clarified whether National Express would still be able to claim the fuel subsidy it received for operating services designated as local.
Pensioners' free bus travel to be curbed
Thousands of pensioners entitled to free bus travel will have their wanderlust curbed.
The Government has ruled that some companies will now be exempt from the controversial concessionary bus fares scheme.
Travel firms such as National Express and Megabus will now be allowed to opt out.
A Department for Transport spokesman said the move would close loopholes which allowed free travel on routes that were never intended to be in the scheme.
But Eastbourne MP Nigel Waterson, the shadow minister for older people, criticised the changes.
He said they made a nonsense of the scheme if some companies were allowed to pull out as they pleased.
Mr Waterson said: "It is another blow for hard-pressed pensioners who have seen their cost of living rocket and the income from their savings plummet."
Since last April pensioners and disabled people have been able to use their bus passes to travel for free on all local buses in the UK.
This has included more than 100 services run by National Express which runs coaches from Brighton, Eastbourne and Chichester to London, from Brighton to Gatwick, and from Eastbourne to Portsmouth.
The Argus exclusively revealed in January that the DfT was conducting a review after lobbying from operators.
The DfT spokesman said the review had now been concluded and had successfully found ways of "tightening up" the legislation around coaches, tour buses and park-and-ride services.
He said: "These kinds of services were never intended to be included and we have now amended that."
National Express will start charging again on April 1.
A spokeswoman for the firm said the move would simplify what had become a difficult situation.
She said: "Our services are supposed to be pre-booked so the only time people were able to use them for free was if they waited at a stop and a coach arrived which was not fully booked.
"This often provided a problem with people having to be turned away at the roadside. That was not good for the people who were waiting or for our drivers who had to turn them away."
In January statistics showed 22,500 free trips had been taken on coaches.
It had yet to be clarified whether National Express would still be able to claim the fuel subsidy it received for operating services designated as local.
Friday, March 13, 2009
A Transport of Delight reports on 13th March 2009...
Driver's unusual announcement
A couple of days ago I travelled to Sheffield by National Express coach Service 350 from Nottingham. I've read on this blog, which I very much enjoy contributing to, about humerous coach driver announcements, though have not encountered any such examples myself. "If only the coach drivers would use their microphone more!" is usually my opinion!!
However, my trip aboard a Stagecoach in Mansfield Volvo B12M recently, Liverpool-bound, was my first introduction to a driver that I'd describe as a "right character". I don't want any of his superiors to read this and him to get into trouble, so I won't mention his name or the date I was travelling, but his opening gambit to a half-full coach was to stand in the centre of the aisle and exclaim "Now, we don't permit you to defaecate in the toilet, solids are for bus stations!"
He then went through a load of legislation about seat belt-wearing, which simply was not true. He physically forced the people sat in the front two seats to wear theirs as apparently he was responsible as those seats were in his line of vision and "if a Policeman gets on and sees you're not wearing them, I get an £80 fine and so do you!"
Quite what he'd make of Stagecoach in Bedford's new Volvo B9Rs for use on Service X5 (Cambridge-Oxford) that do not have seat belts fitted to any seats except the front one on each side, is anyone's guess.
We were then all treated to a personal story of his about how he knows the law and wasn't happy with the attitude of an employee of BT who was doing work at his house and so escorted him off the premises and is in consultation with his Uncle Alan, who's a barrister, hoping to seek some sort of financial compensation. Knowing the dubious rights that strangers have in our own homes, I remember chuckling to myself that the BT employee probably had more of a case for action to be taken - but I wonder if British Telecom has an Uncle Alan??
The coach was spotlessly clean and driven well in both directions but all four drivers that I came into contact with during my return trip (drivers changed over in both directions at Mansfield). There was a fairly negative article in March's BUSES magazine about the recent journeys the article writer had undertaken on board NX coaches, and my journey represented excellent value for money and it also introduced me to the wonderful world of driver announcements.
Driver's unusual announcement
A couple of days ago I travelled to Sheffield by National Express coach Service 350 from Nottingham. I've read on this blog, which I very much enjoy contributing to, about humerous coach driver announcements, though have not encountered any such examples myself. "If only the coach drivers would use their microphone more!" is usually my opinion!!
However, my trip aboard a Stagecoach in Mansfield Volvo B12M recently, Liverpool-bound, was my first introduction to a driver that I'd describe as a "right character". I don't want any of his superiors to read this and him to get into trouble, so I won't mention his name or the date I was travelling, but his opening gambit to a half-full coach was to stand in the centre of the aisle and exclaim "Now, we don't permit you to defaecate in the toilet, solids are for bus stations!"
He then went through a load of legislation about seat belt-wearing, which simply was not true. He physically forced the people sat in the front two seats to wear theirs as apparently he was responsible as those seats were in his line of vision and "if a Policeman gets on and sees you're not wearing them, I get an £80 fine and so do you!"
Quite what he'd make of Stagecoach in Bedford's new Volvo B9Rs for use on Service X5 (Cambridge-Oxford) that do not have seat belts fitted to any seats except the front one on each side, is anyone's guess.
We were then all treated to a personal story of his about how he knows the law and wasn't happy with the attitude of an employee of BT who was doing work at his house and so escorted him off the premises and is in consultation with his Uncle Alan, who's a barrister, hoping to seek some sort of financial compensation. Knowing the dubious rights that strangers have in our own homes, I remember chuckling to myself that the BT employee probably had more of a case for action to be taken - but I wonder if British Telecom has an Uncle Alan??
The coach was spotlessly clean and driven well in both directions but all four drivers that I came into contact with during my return trip (drivers changed over in both directions at Mansfield). There was a fairly negative article in March's BUSES magazine about the recent journeys the article writer had undertaken on board NX coaches, and my journey represented excellent value for money and it also introduced me to the wonderful world of driver announcements.
Monday, March 09, 2009
notes from the big fug reports on 8th March 2009...
Just saw a National Express coach racing down Buckingham Palace Road with it’s full luggage hold door wide open. Right turn = bag disaster.
Just saw a National Express coach racing down Buckingham Palace Road with it’s full luggage hold door wide open. Right turn = bag disaster.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Jules writes on 1st March 2009...
...Got the National Express coach up to Cheltenham. Several student types were my coachmates. Not in a good way. One was asleep across two seats in front of me, another was eating a cold pasta salad whose hideous aroma wafted across two rows and entered my nose. I was like WTFFFF? It was quarter to eleven in the morning. Not nap time, not lunch time. I doubt these miscreants would be sleeping or lunching at home, so why do it on the National Express?...
...Got the National Express coach up to Cheltenham. Several student types were my coachmates. Not in a good way. One was asleep across two seats in front of me, another was eating a cold pasta salad whose hideous aroma wafted across two rows and entered my nose. I was like WTFFFF? It was quarter to eleven in the morning. Not nap time, not lunch time. I doubt these miscreants would be sleeping or lunching at home, so why do it on the National Express?...
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Hannah writes on 17th February 2009...
so basically my suprise for oli was seeing alkaline trio again in london, we went to get the national express at 9.45, but it was delayed by 2 hours because the brakes werent working... so we got there at about 2.30, and oli was being real weird obviously because i told him we were getting the bus back home at 6.30, so it kinda seemed like a pointless trip to london, especially when he had no money.
barnacle 101 writes on 16th February 2009...
This past weekend I found myself venturing to Bath for a break from the busy city of London, to soak up the culture of the English country side and try to bubble some of the stress away.
Arriving at noon on Friday was exhilarating, finally to be away from the city and finally to get a chance to just enjoy myself without worrying about passport applications, school work or the plague of joblessness. The moment I stepped off the bus, the fresh air of Bath blew across my chest, and the car sickness caused by the rash driving of the polish national express coachman seemed to lessen as we walked to our bed and breakfast.
Bournemouth Echo reports on 14th February 2009...
Passenger's chicken dinner falls ‘fowl’ of coach driver
A NATIONAL Express coach driver has been criticised for refusing to let a couple take food with them on a journey between Ringwood and Bournemouth – even though they wanted it carried in the underfloor luggage area.
Vicki Botto and partner Nabeel Al-Humaidan, both 20, had been given a lift from Vicki’s parents’ home in Alderholt to Ringwood where they caught the 035 National Express to Bournemouth.
They wanted to get off at Bournemouth Travel Interchange before making their way home to Winton.
But before they got on at Ringwood coach station, the driver saw they had a package and asked if it had meat in it.
Vicki told him it was some chicken and tomato sauce. But the driver refused to allow it on board, or even put it in the underfloor luggage space, saying it was against the rules.
“We were going to eat it when we got home,” said Vicki, a nursery nurse.
“But instead we had to give it back to mum.
“When we’ve been on the bus before there have been people eating sandwiches and stuff.
“We were going to put it in the luggage compartment under the coach.
“Then, when we got off the coach the driver said: ‘If you’re asked again if you’ve got meat, just say no’.
“It was so frustrating.”
Vicki’s father Andrew said: “I pity anyone on a long journey who can’t now even take a bag of crisps or a sandwich on a long trip, or a student returning to uni with a bag of goodies from mum and dad to help them out.”
A spokesperson for National Express said: “We have asked the customer to contact us so we can investigate further.
“Our terms and conditions of travel inform customers that they are welcome to bring cold food on board all our coaches.”
The Express and Star - Wolverhampton reports on 11th February 2009...
Coach is halted as driver reaches limit
Coach passengers travelling from the West Midlands to Stansted Airport had to take a 50-minute taxi ride to finish their journey because the driver had reached his allotted time limit for driving says one of the passengers.
Peter Hughes said he almost missed his flight yesterday after a National Express driver parked in a lay-by and refused to move. Mr Hughes, on his way to catch a flight to Grenoble, France, for a snowboarding holiday, says he was told to share a taxi with fellow passengers for the last few miles.
He said that once they were dropped off the taxi driver then picked up people waiting at the airport for the coach back to Birmingham, driving them back to the coach, which was still parked in the lay-by near Luton.
“It was all a bit strange really,” said Mr Hughes, aged 37, of Almond Croft, Great Barr.
“He just pulled up and turfed us out and we had to wait for 15 minutes for this taxi to arrive.
“I think the snow had meant we got stuck in traffic so he ended up driving for five hours, by which time he had to stop.
“No-one looked particularly happy about it.
“We’d got on the coach at Digbeth at 5.30am and I just wanted to sleep.”
European laws regulating hours of work say drivers must have a 45-minute break after driving for four hours and 30 minutes.
Mr Hughes added: “He dropped us in Luton so it was about a 40-mile trip I would say. The the taxi did it back the other way to the coach. It must be costing them a bomb.
“We were meant to arrive at 9.30am but we got there about 11. At least I haven’t missed my flight.”
National Express spokeswoman Carly O’Donnell, said: “Our Stansted service was delayed by adverse weather. Our team arranged for several customers to continue their journey by taxi to help them meet their connecting flights.
“We are committed to delivering the best customer service possible and will always do everything we can to get our customers to their destination.”
NZ Barry writes on 8th February 2009...
So, part of the forward planning I did way back in September was to book a Travelodge in Oxford for a weekend. This involved another tedius bus trip. National Express this time - we stopped for half an hour in Stratford, not to honour Shakespeare, but to let some woman who had a ticket to somewhere north of Birmingham argue her way onto our bus (heading SOUTH from Birmingham). This gave the bus driver and his offsider half an hour's worth of speculation as to what she was up to.
so basically my suprise for oli was seeing alkaline trio again in london, we went to get the national express at 9.45, but it was delayed by 2 hours because the brakes werent working... so we got there at about 2.30, and oli was being real weird obviously because i told him we were getting the bus back home at 6.30, so it kinda seemed like a pointless trip to london, especially when he had no money.
barnacle 101 writes on 16th February 2009...
This past weekend I found myself venturing to Bath for a break from the busy city of London, to soak up the culture of the English country side and try to bubble some of the stress away.
Arriving at noon on Friday was exhilarating, finally to be away from the city and finally to get a chance to just enjoy myself without worrying about passport applications, school work or the plague of joblessness. The moment I stepped off the bus, the fresh air of Bath blew across my chest, and the car sickness caused by the rash driving of the polish national express coachman seemed to lessen as we walked to our bed and breakfast.
Bournemouth Echo reports on 14th February 2009...
Passenger's chicken dinner falls ‘fowl’ of coach driver
A NATIONAL Express coach driver has been criticised for refusing to let a couple take food with them on a journey between Ringwood and Bournemouth – even though they wanted it carried in the underfloor luggage area.
Vicki Botto and partner Nabeel Al-Humaidan, both 20, had been given a lift from Vicki’s parents’ home in Alderholt to Ringwood where they caught the 035 National Express to Bournemouth.
They wanted to get off at Bournemouth Travel Interchange before making their way home to Winton.
But before they got on at Ringwood coach station, the driver saw they had a package and asked if it had meat in it.
Vicki told him it was some chicken and tomato sauce. But the driver refused to allow it on board, or even put it in the underfloor luggage space, saying it was against the rules.
“We were going to eat it when we got home,” said Vicki, a nursery nurse.
“But instead we had to give it back to mum.
“When we’ve been on the bus before there have been people eating sandwiches and stuff.
“We were going to put it in the luggage compartment under the coach.
“Then, when we got off the coach the driver said: ‘If you’re asked again if you’ve got meat, just say no’.
“It was so frustrating.”
Vicki’s father Andrew said: “I pity anyone on a long journey who can’t now even take a bag of crisps or a sandwich on a long trip, or a student returning to uni with a bag of goodies from mum and dad to help them out.”
A spokesperson for National Express said: “We have asked the customer to contact us so we can investigate further.
“Our terms and conditions of travel inform customers that they are welcome to bring cold food on board all our coaches.”
The Express and Star - Wolverhampton reports on 11th February 2009...
Coach is halted as driver reaches limit
Coach passengers travelling from the West Midlands to Stansted Airport had to take a 50-minute taxi ride to finish their journey because the driver had reached his allotted time limit for driving says one of the passengers.
Peter Hughes said he almost missed his flight yesterday after a National Express driver parked in a lay-by and refused to move. Mr Hughes, on his way to catch a flight to Grenoble, France, for a snowboarding holiday, says he was told to share a taxi with fellow passengers for the last few miles.
He said that once they were dropped off the taxi driver then picked up people waiting at the airport for the coach back to Birmingham, driving them back to the coach, which was still parked in the lay-by near Luton.
“It was all a bit strange really,” said Mr Hughes, aged 37, of Almond Croft, Great Barr.
“He just pulled up and turfed us out and we had to wait for 15 minutes for this taxi to arrive.
“I think the snow had meant we got stuck in traffic so he ended up driving for five hours, by which time he had to stop.
“No-one looked particularly happy about it.
“We’d got on the coach at Digbeth at 5.30am and I just wanted to sleep.”
European laws regulating hours of work say drivers must have a 45-minute break after driving for four hours and 30 minutes.
Mr Hughes added: “He dropped us in Luton so it was about a 40-mile trip I would say. The the taxi did it back the other way to the coach. It must be costing them a bomb.
“We were meant to arrive at 9.30am but we got there about 11. At least I haven’t missed my flight.”
National Express spokeswoman Carly O’Donnell, said: “Our Stansted service was delayed by adverse weather. Our team arranged for several customers to continue their journey by taxi to help them meet their connecting flights.
“We are committed to delivering the best customer service possible and will always do everything we can to get our customers to their destination.”
NZ Barry writes on 8th February 2009...
So, part of the forward planning I did way back in September was to book a Travelodge in Oxford for a weekend. This involved another tedius bus trip. National Express this time - we stopped for half an hour in Stratford, not to honour Shakespeare, but to let some woman who had a ticket to somewhere north of Birmingham argue her way onto our bus (heading SOUTH from Birmingham). This gave the bus driver and his offsider half an hour's worth of speculation as to what she was up to.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Jen Jen writes on 5th February 2009...
Finally I got on my coach and El could go home. I noticed that a lot of people who didn’t have tickets wanted to get on the coach and were pestering the driver. Apparently the entire national express ticketing service had crashed and thus people were really upset. The driver could only take on people who had the exact money for a ticket since he didn’t have any change, but he had to repeat this fact about 30 times.
He dropped his bag on his drivers seat and exclaimed: “Jesus wept!”
Some people still tried to get on for free whilst he was standing in the isle of the coach (I was sitting just a few seats from the front). He looked at them and then straight at me with a resigned expression. I smiled back at him, attempting to be reassuring.
He nodded at me: “Cover your ears sweetheart, because I’m gonna start swearin’.”
Me: “oh oh.” I covered my ears.
The driver was absolutely hilarious. I loved him to bits. He was a big man with graying hair and reminded me of my dad.
Finally the near anarchy was settled and the people who had money got on the coach. They were all smiling. The mood in the coach was good all around. The driver began his safety talk. He made the people laugh many times while explaining the rules, for example the emergency exits, one being in the ceiling in case the bus were to roll over. I let out a little gasp when he mentioned this. He looked at me and said: “Don’t worry, we’re not gonna roll over today!” People giggled.
When the safety talk was finished, he exclaimed: “Lets get the heck outta here!”, while some of the passengers (including me) let out a little “Yaaay” :D
I think most people were just happy to find a working coach.
And so my journey home began. I slept and coughed most of the way.
Finally I got on my coach and El could go home. I noticed that a lot of people who didn’t have tickets wanted to get on the coach and were pestering the driver. Apparently the entire national express ticketing service had crashed and thus people were really upset. The driver could only take on people who had the exact money for a ticket since he didn’t have any change, but he had to repeat this fact about 30 times.
He dropped his bag on his drivers seat and exclaimed: “Jesus wept!”
Some people still tried to get on for free whilst he was standing in the isle of the coach (I was sitting just a few seats from the front). He looked at them and then straight at me with a resigned expression. I smiled back at him, attempting to be reassuring.
He nodded at me: “Cover your ears sweetheart, because I’m gonna start swearin’.”
Me: “oh oh.” I covered my ears.
The driver was absolutely hilarious. I loved him to bits. He was a big man with graying hair and reminded me of my dad.
Finally the near anarchy was settled and the people who had money got on the coach. They were all smiling. The mood in the coach was good all around. The driver began his safety talk. He made the people laugh many times while explaining the rules, for example the emergency exits, one being in the ceiling in case the bus were to roll over. I let out a little gasp when he mentioned this. He looked at me and said: “Don’t worry, we’re not gonna roll over today!” People giggled.
When the safety talk was finished, he exclaimed: “Lets get the heck outta here!”, while some of the passengers (including me) let out a little “Yaaay” :D
I think most people were just happy to find a working coach.
And so my journey home began. I slept and coughed most of the way.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Ross Levere writes on 3rd February 2009...
I woke up early, hitched a lift to the station and purchased a ticket to London Victoria where I was to board a coach to Cardiff and then basically get drunk. Simple, easy, I wish. Arriving at Victoria I follow the signs to the coach area and find the National Express no.509 that I need. I stand there in the cold waiting and watching the driver consume a packed lunch of vile looking sandwichs, he saw me shivering and read his paper. With the coach due to leave at 12.30 I was confused as to why I was still not aboard by 12.28 and decided to ask what the plan was. The answer was not what I wanted to hear!!!! I'm told that the departure area is over the road and that I've been waiting in the arrivals park, now had I taken stupid pills or was I misled by the fact that the SIGNS at the station told me this was where I needed to be. Running over the road I find my coach as the bastard starts up and leaves without me. Even my frantic attempt to flag him down and show him my ticket through the large glass door was met with a shake of the head and tough luck expression. Returning to the ticket office I'm then informed that I cannot simply board the next coach, the ticket applies to one coach only. I'm going to have to pay for a new ticket. £36 lighter in the bank account I wait an hour for the next coach and finally get on my way to Wales, a little late but on route. Relaxing a little I listen to the new Ricky Gervais audiobook I downloaded that morning and watch as london passes me by.
After 3 1/2 hours my legs ache but I'm able to stretch them for a few minutes as we arrive in Cardiff and I call Benedict so that he can come pick me up. Wrong again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After 15 minutes he still hasn't found me despite being at the coach station as planned, it turns out the coach had made stop somewhere else and I was miles away from him. Where was I????? I walk into the centre of a town so vile and run down it makes Barking look nice and ask a woman in a newsagent where I am. Confused she (eventually) answers my question - 'Newport'. Luckily there's a train station, not where the sign says but after 5 minutes I find it and have to pay another £3.40 to get to Cardiff.
Liam Mullone writes on 31st January 2009...
Mangabus v Nashanu Esprezamu
It’s the fight of the year! For I have arrived home safely via Megabus: my first Megabus adventure. I am now in a position to compare the relative merits of Megabus with those of National Express. To anyone with a car, or train fare, this will seem like trying to decide between two piles of parrot poo, but for the sake of anyone as poor and as mobility-retarded as me, I’ll go ahead anyway. I’m awarding shite points: the higher the score, the shitter the service:
First, COMFORT:
Filthiness of toilet: Megabus 5 National Express 3
Poo and bogey smeared on seats: Megabus 3 National Expess 2
Degree of overpopulation with maniacs Megabus 4 National Express 2
As you can see, National Express is streaming ahead with only 7 shite points to Megabus’s 12. The sheer cheapness of Megabus has meant that its services are always teeming, meaning a greater number of people wiping their kids’ bums on the seats. And at £3 a ticket, where is Megabus going to find the cash to pay a toilet cleaner? It’s not. Can Megabus catch up? Exciting isn’t it?
Second, SPEED AND ECONOMY
Expense Megabus 1 National Express 2
Pointless stops at revolting shithole towns where nobody even gets on Megabus 1 National Express 4
Pointless one-hour rest stops at service stations that are three minutes from your intended destination Megabus 1 National Express 5
Tendency to stop dead on the motorway and tell the passengers you’ve run out of petrol Megabus 0 National Express 5
Crikey, what a turn-around!Megabus is holding fast at 15, National Express is racking up the shite points at 23. If they cared, National Express management would surely be wondering whether it’s wise for EVERY bus going north to stop at Milton Fucking Keynes, and whether they need that Health and Safety law that requires them to change drivers every 40 miles, or as soon as he runs out of racist comments (whichever is sooner). Moreover, that little trip to Birmingham last year when the passengers had to offer to pay for petrol has really hit the company hard this round. It’s just a mercy that the management don’t actually give a flying fuck about people, or this scoreboard could really sting. Can National Express turn it round in the last chukka? I, for one, simply cannot WAIT to find out!!
Third, DRIVER’S ATTITUDE
Need to tell people about the seatbelt law 40 times in a series of incomprehensible guttural snorts: Megabus 1 National Express 5
Need to talk to bus full of adults as if they are five and behaving naughtily Megabus 0 National Express 5
Need to swagger about bus imposing will on helpless passengers regarding their luggage, hot food, phones or anything else that occurs to them Megabus 0 National Express 4
Need to scrutinise ticket, shake head, say it’s not compatible with me own list, like, make people at front of queue wait til the bus is full, then make them sit near the toilet Megabus 0 National Express 3
FINAL SHITE POINT SCORES: Megabus 16 National Express 40
Fuck me with an over-sixties Funfare, Megabus has walked home. A lifetime of comments such as “A BOTTLE of POP has just flown past my head. This bus is NOT a skip! I will stop it by the roadside and you can all clean it for me if THAT’S going to be your attitude!” have made National Express the company to avoid for any poor traveller with even a microgram of self-respect remaining. The extraordinary behaviour of Megabus drivers - just getting on, closing the door and driving the fucking bus - has pretty much handed them this competition in a hubcap. An extra mention must surely be made for them not demanding that anything larger than a handbag must go in the luggage hold, where it can be stolen by a junkie in Doncaster.
On the whole, I’ll take the crowds and toilet whiff just for the pleasure of being allowed to pretend, for the first hundred miles anyway, that it’s okay to be on a coach in one’s late thirties. That it’s not demeaning and horrible. And that my faith in humankind won’t be whittled down to a bleeding quick before I face 200 strange faces in the glare of an unforgiving spotlight.
NELL FRIZZELL writes on 28th January 2009...
The Megadeath, The Nazi-onal Express, Cagecoach – they’re all hell on wheels.
As if it wasn’t punishment enough to have to spend five-and-a-half hours sitting in a chair designed for a dwarf amputee, with the person in front leaning so far back they might as well be using my cunt for a cushion, while the person next to me munches through a sandwich that smells like putrefying maggots mixed with cheese and onion crisps, I had the misfortune this weekend of being driven by a total psychopath.
Peter, my Neanderthal National Express driver, was covered in home-drawn tattoos (I didn’t get close enough to read them but I imagine they said stuff like “Live by the road, die by the road”), walked with the kind of limp usually reserved for shell shock victims, drove like a blind man and had a voice like a drain full of tar. When he breathed, it was like a hydraulic engine full of soup.
He steered like someone had just poured molten Marmite on his lap. Which was ironic, really, because as soon as the other driver had taken over, Peter promptly spilt his garage-bought coffee all over his legs and spent the rest of the journey loudly and obscenely rubbing his crotch and arse with a tissue right at my eye level, wheezing on about how “everything is sticking to me legs now”.
When the new driver asked Peter why he hadn’t turned his lights on (so we had, in effect, been driving like an invisible 5 tonne stealth juggernaut since Golders Green) he mumbled that he’d spent ages scrabbling around but just couldn’t find the switch. Oh great.
By this point I, and several other passengers, were muttering low, whimpered prayers to the effect that God was indeed great for sparing us a bloody and painful death in the middle lane of the M1.
Now, if this was an isolated event it would be one thing. But the coaches of Britain are, almost universally, like Dante’s lost circle of hell. The toilets never close, so the smell of stagnant piss permeates everywhere, anyone over five foot tall will end up welding their joints together from sitting like Quasimodo, and they are miserably, grindingly slow and you usually get dribbled on by the person sleeping next to you.
I’m not saying murder is right or anything - I’ve never yet had the urge to saw off someone’s head and eat it - but I can sort of see why people are driven to acts of wild and animalistic violence during these journeys (if you never want to sleep happily again, then read this).
And as Britain’s economy sinks and the recession hits Britain, you can be sure many of us will soon be Megabus customers. I’m going to go and write my will.
NELL FRIZZELL
I woke up early, hitched a lift to the station and purchased a ticket to London Victoria where I was to board a coach to Cardiff and then basically get drunk. Simple, easy, I wish. Arriving at Victoria I follow the signs to the coach area and find the National Express no.509 that I need. I stand there in the cold waiting and watching the driver consume a packed lunch of vile looking sandwichs, he saw me shivering and read his paper. With the coach due to leave at 12.30 I was confused as to why I was still not aboard by 12.28 and decided to ask what the plan was. The answer was not what I wanted to hear!!!! I'm told that the departure area is over the road and that I've been waiting in the arrivals park, now had I taken stupid pills or was I misled by the fact that the SIGNS at the station told me this was where I needed to be. Running over the road I find my coach as the bastard starts up and leaves without me. Even my frantic attempt to flag him down and show him my ticket through the large glass door was met with a shake of the head and tough luck expression. Returning to the ticket office I'm then informed that I cannot simply board the next coach, the ticket applies to one coach only. I'm going to have to pay for a new ticket. £36 lighter in the bank account I wait an hour for the next coach and finally get on my way to Wales, a little late but on route. Relaxing a little I listen to the new Ricky Gervais audiobook I downloaded that morning and watch as london passes me by.
After 3 1/2 hours my legs ache but I'm able to stretch them for a few minutes as we arrive in Cardiff and I call Benedict so that he can come pick me up. Wrong again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After 15 minutes he still hasn't found me despite being at the coach station as planned, it turns out the coach had made stop somewhere else and I was miles away from him. Where was I????? I walk into the centre of a town so vile and run down it makes Barking look nice and ask a woman in a newsagent where I am. Confused she (eventually) answers my question - 'Newport'. Luckily there's a train station, not where the sign says but after 5 minutes I find it and have to pay another £3.40 to get to Cardiff.
Liam Mullone writes on 31st January 2009...
Mangabus v Nashanu Esprezamu
It’s the fight of the year! For I have arrived home safely via Megabus: my first Megabus adventure. I am now in a position to compare the relative merits of Megabus with those of National Express. To anyone with a car, or train fare, this will seem like trying to decide between two piles of parrot poo, but for the sake of anyone as poor and as mobility-retarded as me, I’ll go ahead anyway. I’m awarding shite points: the higher the score, the shitter the service:
First, COMFORT:
Filthiness of toilet: Megabus 5 National Express 3
Poo and bogey smeared on seats: Megabus 3 National Expess 2
Degree of overpopulation with maniacs Megabus 4 National Express 2
As you can see, National Express is streaming ahead with only 7 shite points to Megabus’s 12. The sheer cheapness of Megabus has meant that its services are always teeming, meaning a greater number of people wiping their kids’ bums on the seats. And at £3 a ticket, where is Megabus going to find the cash to pay a toilet cleaner? It’s not. Can Megabus catch up? Exciting isn’t it?
Second, SPEED AND ECONOMY
Expense Megabus 1 National Express 2
Pointless stops at revolting shithole towns where nobody even gets on Megabus 1 National Express 4
Pointless one-hour rest stops at service stations that are three minutes from your intended destination Megabus 1 National Express 5
Tendency to stop dead on the motorway and tell the passengers you’ve run out of petrol Megabus 0 National Express 5
Crikey, what a turn-around!Megabus is holding fast at 15, National Express is racking up the shite points at 23. If they cared, National Express management would surely be wondering whether it’s wise for EVERY bus going north to stop at Milton Fucking Keynes, and whether they need that Health and Safety law that requires them to change drivers every 40 miles, or as soon as he runs out of racist comments (whichever is sooner). Moreover, that little trip to Birmingham last year when the passengers had to offer to pay for petrol has really hit the company hard this round. It’s just a mercy that the management don’t actually give a flying fuck about people, or this scoreboard could really sting. Can National Express turn it round in the last chukka? I, for one, simply cannot WAIT to find out!!
Third, DRIVER’S ATTITUDE
Need to tell people about the seatbelt law 40 times in a series of incomprehensible guttural snorts: Megabus 1 National Express 5
Need to talk to bus full of adults as if they are five and behaving naughtily Megabus 0 National Express 5
Need to swagger about bus imposing will on helpless passengers regarding their luggage, hot food, phones or anything else that occurs to them Megabus 0 National Express 4
Need to scrutinise ticket, shake head, say it’s not compatible with me own list, like, make people at front of queue wait til the bus is full, then make them sit near the toilet Megabus 0 National Express 3
FINAL SHITE POINT SCORES: Megabus 16 National Express 40
Fuck me with an over-sixties Funfare, Megabus has walked home. A lifetime of comments such as “A BOTTLE of POP has just flown past my head. This bus is NOT a skip! I will stop it by the roadside and you can all clean it for me if THAT’S going to be your attitude!” have made National Express the company to avoid for any poor traveller with even a microgram of self-respect remaining. The extraordinary behaviour of Megabus drivers - just getting on, closing the door and driving the fucking bus - has pretty much handed them this competition in a hubcap. An extra mention must surely be made for them not demanding that anything larger than a handbag must go in the luggage hold, where it can be stolen by a junkie in Doncaster.
On the whole, I’ll take the crowds and toilet whiff just for the pleasure of being allowed to pretend, for the first hundred miles anyway, that it’s okay to be on a coach in one’s late thirties. That it’s not demeaning and horrible. And that my faith in humankind won’t be whittled down to a bleeding quick before I face 200 strange faces in the glare of an unforgiving spotlight.
NELL FRIZZELL writes on 28th January 2009...
The Megadeath, The Nazi-onal Express, Cagecoach – they’re all hell on wheels.
As if it wasn’t punishment enough to have to spend five-and-a-half hours sitting in a chair designed for a dwarf amputee, with the person in front leaning so far back they might as well be using my cunt for a cushion, while the person next to me munches through a sandwich that smells like putrefying maggots mixed with cheese and onion crisps, I had the misfortune this weekend of being driven by a total psychopath.
Peter, my Neanderthal National Express driver, was covered in home-drawn tattoos (I didn’t get close enough to read them but I imagine they said stuff like “Live by the road, die by the road”), walked with the kind of limp usually reserved for shell shock victims, drove like a blind man and had a voice like a drain full of tar. When he breathed, it was like a hydraulic engine full of soup.
He steered like someone had just poured molten Marmite on his lap. Which was ironic, really, because as soon as the other driver had taken over, Peter promptly spilt his garage-bought coffee all over his legs and spent the rest of the journey loudly and obscenely rubbing his crotch and arse with a tissue right at my eye level, wheezing on about how “everything is sticking to me legs now”.
When the new driver asked Peter why he hadn’t turned his lights on (so we had, in effect, been driving like an invisible 5 tonne stealth juggernaut since Golders Green) he mumbled that he’d spent ages scrabbling around but just couldn’t find the switch. Oh great.
By this point I, and several other passengers, were muttering low, whimpered prayers to the effect that God was indeed great for sparing us a bloody and painful death in the middle lane of the M1.
Now, if this was an isolated event it would be one thing. But the coaches of Britain are, almost universally, like Dante’s lost circle of hell. The toilets never close, so the smell of stagnant piss permeates everywhere, anyone over five foot tall will end up welding their joints together from sitting like Quasimodo, and they are miserably, grindingly slow and you usually get dribbled on by the person sleeping next to you.
I’m not saying murder is right or anything - I’ve never yet had the urge to saw off someone’s head and eat it - but I can sort of see why people are driven to acts of wild and animalistic violence during these journeys (if you never want to sleep happily again, then read this).
And as Britain’s economy sinks and the recession hits Britain, you can be sure many of us will soon be Megabus customers. I’m going to go and write my will.
NELL FRIZZELL
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The Slough and Langley Observer reports on 7th January 2009...
Lucky escape for trainee driver as bus smashes into tree
A TRAINEE bus driver ended a lesson in disastrous style after smashing his vehicle into a tree.
The National Express trainee, who has not been named, was taking part in a lesson with a trainer at the company's training site off Wexham Road when he lost control and collided with the tree.
Firefighters and police arrived at the scene shortly after 12pm today (Wednesday) and temporarily closed the road off as a precaution.
A spokeswoman for Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue said: “A pump from Langley attended the scene at 12.05pm after there were reports of heavy fuel spillage. No other vehicles were involved in the collision and no injuries were reported. The vehicle was made safe by the crew within 40 minutes.”
A spokeswoman for National Express added: "An incident occurred today involving a trainee vehicle. There were no passengers on board and we have launched an internal investigation.”
Ron Broxted is rather slow off the mark but writes on 7th January 2009...
It was in October last year that I had the misfortune to have to travel by National Express coach from London to Liverpool. Being skint I couldnt afford a train and thus at Noon stood in line to ascend the bus. Carrying an overnight bag, I went to get on. The driver grabbed it, I automatically pulled it back, explaining that it was fragile. "Tough" the driver said throwing it in the hold. It was against regulations to have a bag inside. Yet there was no problem before. Enquiring who National Express used as solicitors brought forward a fairly sharp retort. Before starting the coach we had to listen as the driver said everyone must be wearing safety belts. In almost half a century I have managed to sit in a cramped coach without incident. Yet more rules and regulations. What is it about the British psyche? Would the rest of Europe be so bovine? Upon reaching Liverpool I discovered a damaged camera,antique clock and optical equpiment. I received a brief reply from National Express but nothing further. News that there are to be lay-offs amongst staff has not reduced me to a lachrymose state.
Lucky escape for trainee driver as bus smashes into tree
A TRAINEE bus driver ended a lesson in disastrous style after smashing his vehicle into a tree.
The National Express trainee, who has not been named, was taking part in a lesson with a trainer at the company's training site off Wexham Road when he lost control and collided with the tree.
Firefighters and police arrived at the scene shortly after 12pm today (Wednesday) and temporarily closed the road off as a precaution.
A spokeswoman for Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue said: “A pump from Langley attended the scene at 12.05pm after there were reports of heavy fuel spillage. No other vehicles were involved in the collision and no injuries were reported. The vehicle was made safe by the crew within 40 minutes.”
A spokeswoman for National Express added: "An incident occurred today involving a trainee vehicle. There were no passengers on board and we have launched an internal investigation.”
Ron Broxted is rather slow off the mark but writes on 7th January 2009...
It was in October last year that I had the misfortune to have to travel by National Express coach from London to Liverpool. Being skint I couldnt afford a train and thus at Noon stood in line to ascend the bus. Carrying an overnight bag, I went to get on. The driver grabbed it, I automatically pulled it back, explaining that it was fragile. "Tough" the driver said throwing it in the hold. It was against regulations to have a bag inside. Yet there was no problem before. Enquiring who National Express used as solicitors brought forward a fairly sharp retort. Before starting the coach we had to listen as the driver said everyone must be wearing safety belts. In almost half a century I have managed to sit in a cramped coach without incident. Yet more rules and regulations. What is it about the British psyche? Would the rest of Europe be so bovine? Upon reaching Liverpool I discovered a damaged camera,antique clock and optical equpiment. I received a brief reply from National Express but nothing further. News that there are to be lay-offs amongst staff has not reduced me to a lachrymose state.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
The Evening Post - Nottingham reports on 1st January 2009...
Gran's lost luggage hell over Christmas
A GRANDMOTHER was left without any clothes or presents over Christmas after her suitcase was taken by mistake.
Rachel Sabin was travelling from Nottingham to Manchester on December 23 when her suitcase – containing clothes, presents from her family and presents for her friends – was mistakenly taken from the coach.
Rachel discovered the suitcase had been taken when she arrived in Manchester. This was eventually traced back to a couple who had taken the wrong luggage in Chesterfield.
But despite the couple contacting Rachel, of Lauriston Drive, Basford, the next day to tell her they had put the suitcase back on a coach at Sheffield to be returned to her in Manchester, she still has not got it back.
"I'm absolutely mortified," said the 42-year-old grandmother of two.
Click here!
"I have got no clothes and nothing. All I had was the clothes that I stood up in.
"I'm not working at the moment so I had to go to charity shops to get new clothes."
Rachel said she was also unable to speak to her grandchildren – aged two and four months – over Christmas, because her mobile phone charger was also in the suitcase.
Rachel was travelling on the National Express service to Manchester to stay with friends for Christmas and was planning to go from there to Leeds to celebrate the New Year – but is still unsure if she will get her luggage back in time.
She said National Express contacted her on Christmas Eve to say they were unable to confirm whether her luggage would be on the coach because they couldn't get hold of her driver, who had actually taken over the coach at Nottingham after the scheduled coach had a burst tyre en route to Nottingham.
Rachel added: "At first I wasn't too worried, I thought 'these things happen' and someone has taken it off at Chesterfield.
"But National Express couldn't even tell me if was going to be there on Christmas Eve because they said they couldn't get hold of the driver.
"When I told them it would cost me a lot of money to get into Manchester to get it I thought they would courier it over, but they said there was nothing they could do and I would have to wait until after Christmas.
"It ruined my Christmas and now I'm worried that I won't get it back."
A spokesperson from National Express said: "We received a record of Miss Sabin's lost luggage on December 24 and are currently investigating. We have a dedicated team who work to reunite customers with their left and lost luggage and will be in touch with Miss Sabin."
Gran's lost luggage hell over Christmas
A GRANDMOTHER was left without any clothes or presents over Christmas after her suitcase was taken by mistake.
Rachel Sabin was travelling from Nottingham to Manchester on December 23 when her suitcase – containing clothes, presents from her family and presents for her friends – was mistakenly taken from the coach.
Rachel discovered the suitcase had been taken when she arrived in Manchester. This was eventually traced back to a couple who had taken the wrong luggage in Chesterfield.
But despite the couple contacting Rachel, of Lauriston Drive, Basford, the next day to tell her they had put the suitcase back on a coach at Sheffield to be returned to her in Manchester, she still has not got it back.
"I'm absolutely mortified," said the 42-year-old grandmother of two.
Click here!
"I have got no clothes and nothing. All I had was the clothes that I stood up in.
"I'm not working at the moment so I had to go to charity shops to get new clothes."
Rachel said she was also unable to speak to her grandchildren – aged two and four months – over Christmas, because her mobile phone charger was also in the suitcase.
Rachel was travelling on the National Express service to Manchester to stay with friends for Christmas and was planning to go from there to Leeds to celebrate the New Year – but is still unsure if she will get her luggage back in time.
She said National Express contacted her on Christmas Eve to say they were unable to confirm whether her luggage would be on the coach because they couldn't get hold of her driver, who had actually taken over the coach at Nottingham after the scheduled coach had a burst tyre en route to Nottingham.
Rachel added: "At first I wasn't too worried, I thought 'these things happen' and someone has taken it off at Chesterfield.
"But National Express couldn't even tell me if was going to be there on Christmas Eve because they said they couldn't get hold of the driver.
"When I told them it would cost me a lot of money to get into Manchester to get it I thought they would courier it over, but they said there was nothing they could do and I would have to wait until after Christmas.
"It ruined my Christmas and now I'm worried that I won't get it back."
A spokesperson from National Express said: "We received a record of Miss Sabin's lost luggage on December 24 and are currently investigating. We have a dedicated team who work to reunite customers with their left and lost luggage and will be in touch with Miss Sabin."
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Most of the press this week has been concerned with David Ross, the National Express Chairman, who did not inform the rest of the board he had used his shares in the business as security for a multi-million pound loan.
Rather than copy/paste the enormous press coverage that this scandal has generated, Salsabil will just post one story to outline the end of his role with National Express.
The Guardian reports on 9th December 2008...
David Ross resigns from Olympics panel and National Express board
Boris Johnson's administration rocked by fifth resignation since election as Tory donor resigns from Games committee
The embattled businessman David Ross has resigned from his post as chairman of bus company National Express, just hours after giving up his role on the 2012 Olympics organising committee.
The co-founder of Carphone Warehouse and a well-known Tory donor was forced to give up his role at the transport company after admitting on Monday he forgot to inform the rest of the board he had used his shares in the business as security for a multi-million pound loan.
Richard Bowker, the company's chief executive, said Ross had "made a significant and positive contribution" to the business since he joined in 2001.
But his position at the company had become increasingly untenable after it emerged over the weekend he had used his shares in National Express and three other companies as security for a series of personal loans and forgotten to inform his fellow directors of his actions.
On Monday, Ross resigned as deputy chairman of Carphone Warehouse, Europe's leading independent mobile phone retailer, which he helped found with his schoolfriend Charles Dunstone, after admitting he had used his stake in the business to back up a series of personal loans.
Under stock exchange rules he should have informed the rest of the board of his actions, which date back as far as March 2006.
The Financial Services Authority is currently investigating and has the power to impose a massive financial penalty on Ross, who was recently ranked as the UK's 87th richest person with a personal fortune of almost £900m.
Ross is also a significant supporter of the Conservative party and was appointed by London's mayor, Boris Johnson, as an adviser on the long-term impact of the 2012 Olympics.
But earlier today, Ross quit bringing the tally of Johnson's aides who have resigned or been sacked to five since he became mayor of London on May 1.
Ross informed both Johnson and Tessa Jowell, the Olympics minister, of his decision to quit in an email.
He wrote: "I reach this decision with sadness, as I have very much enjoyed making this contribution to British sport, which has been a lifelong passion. However, given the present circumstances, and while they are not connected to the Olympics, I must now devote my full attention to my private business interests.
"I also do not wish to distract others from the important work still to do in making 2012 the success I know it will be."
Johnson personally selected Ross, who has links to David Cameron, to represent him on the board of the Olympic organising committee to ensure the 2012 games are delivered within the £9.3bn budget.
Johnson's spokesman confirmed the mayor had "reluctantly accepted" Ross's resignation from the Board of Locog, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, and as chair of the Legacy Board of Advisers.
Johnson described Ross's decision to go as a "loss". The Conservative mayor said: "I am particularly grateful to him for identifying serious issues with the 2012 Olympic Games that needed to be urgently addressed. His report into planning the delivery of the legacy of the games helped the entire Olympic family to focus on a range of pressing concerns, including security, budget and legacy.
"I chose David Ross for his track record in establishing a hugely successful business and for his work on the boards of Sport England, Wembley stadium and the Olympic Lottery Distributor. He had also clearly impressed the government with his work on the review into the legal aid system and I am immensely grateful for all his advice to me. I wish him well in the future."
Jowell told MPs of Ross's resignation as she gave evidence in a prescheduled session on the Olympics held by the Commons culture, media and sport select committee earlier today.
She informed the panel of MPs Ross had resigned from all of his "Olympic-related positions" before paying tribute to his contribution to the games.
Jowell said: "I would like to place on record my gratitude and recognition of the significant role he has played in relation to the Olympic lottery distributor and setting up legacy planning for the Olympic park."
Rather than copy/paste the enormous press coverage that this scandal has generated, Salsabil will just post one story to outline the end of his role with National Express.
The Guardian reports on 9th December 2008...
David Ross resigns from Olympics panel and National Express board
Boris Johnson's administration rocked by fifth resignation since election as Tory donor resigns from Games committee
The embattled businessman David Ross has resigned from his post as chairman of bus company National Express, just hours after giving up his role on the 2012 Olympics organising committee.
The co-founder of Carphone Warehouse and a well-known Tory donor was forced to give up his role at the transport company after admitting on Monday he forgot to inform the rest of the board he had used his shares in the business as security for a multi-million pound loan.
Richard Bowker, the company's chief executive, said Ross had "made a significant and positive contribution" to the business since he joined in 2001.
But his position at the company had become increasingly untenable after it emerged over the weekend he had used his shares in National Express and three other companies as security for a series of personal loans and forgotten to inform his fellow directors of his actions.
On Monday, Ross resigned as deputy chairman of Carphone Warehouse, Europe's leading independent mobile phone retailer, which he helped found with his schoolfriend Charles Dunstone, after admitting he had used his stake in the business to back up a series of personal loans.
Under stock exchange rules he should have informed the rest of the board of his actions, which date back as far as March 2006.
The Financial Services Authority is currently investigating and has the power to impose a massive financial penalty on Ross, who was recently ranked as the UK's 87th richest person with a personal fortune of almost £900m.
Ross is also a significant supporter of the Conservative party and was appointed by London's mayor, Boris Johnson, as an adviser on the long-term impact of the 2012 Olympics.
But earlier today, Ross quit bringing the tally of Johnson's aides who have resigned or been sacked to five since he became mayor of London on May 1.
Ross informed both Johnson and Tessa Jowell, the Olympics minister, of his decision to quit in an email.
He wrote: "I reach this decision with sadness, as I have very much enjoyed making this contribution to British sport, which has been a lifelong passion. However, given the present circumstances, and while they are not connected to the Olympics, I must now devote my full attention to my private business interests.
"I also do not wish to distract others from the important work still to do in making 2012 the success I know it will be."
Johnson personally selected Ross, who has links to David Cameron, to represent him on the board of the Olympic organising committee to ensure the 2012 games are delivered within the £9.3bn budget.
Johnson's spokesman confirmed the mayor had "reluctantly accepted" Ross's resignation from the Board of Locog, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, and as chair of the Legacy Board of Advisers.
Johnson described Ross's decision to go as a "loss". The Conservative mayor said: "I am particularly grateful to him for identifying serious issues with the 2012 Olympic Games that needed to be urgently addressed. His report into planning the delivery of the legacy of the games helped the entire Olympic family to focus on a range of pressing concerns, including security, budget and legacy.
"I chose David Ross for his track record in establishing a hugely successful business and for his work on the boards of Sport England, Wembley stadium and the Olympic Lottery Distributor. He had also clearly impressed the government with his work on the review into the legal aid system and I am immensely grateful for all his advice to me. I wish him well in the future."
Jowell told MPs of Ross's resignation as she gave evidence in a prescheduled session on the Olympics held by the Commons culture, media and sport select committee earlier today.
She informed the panel of MPs Ross had resigned from all of his "Olympic-related positions" before paying tribute to his contribution to the games.
Jowell said: "I would like to place on record my gratitude and recognition of the significant role he has played in relation to the Olympic lottery distributor and setting up legacy planning for the Olympic park."
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Daily Mail reports on 4th December 2008...
Traffic lights were faulty, says grieving husband after wife is crushed by coach
A grieving husband left distraught after the death of his wife on a pedestrian crossing launched a one-man fight to prove the traffic lights were faulty, an inquest heard yesterday.
Iveta Iravanian, 33, was killed when she ran out while the red man showed.
But her widower, Leo, became convinced that pedestrians were not given enough time to cross the road, he hired a private detective to prove it.
His investigation found that the traffic lights gave pedestrians as little as five seconds to cross a three-lane junction. Department for Transport guidelines recommend a minimum 12-second time gap to allow for safe crossing.
Yesterday an inquest into Mrs Iravanian's death heard that she was crushed by a National Express coach when she ran into the road and slipped over at a busy junction.
The Hungarian-born solicitor died of multiple injuries on February 23 last year on her way to work as a paralegal secretary.
Mr Iravanian, a 43-year-old estate agent, has battled for one and a half years with Transport for London (TFL), which is responsible for the traffic signals at a major crossroads near Victoria Station, in central London.
TFL engineer Mark Beasley admitted that the timings of the lights did not comply with current safety standards. When the signal system was put in place in 1984, it did comply with safety standards, the inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court heard.
Mr Beasley said: 'There was a lack of funding so lights were not modernised as quickly as we would have hoped. There has been a slippage of five to 10 years before TFL took over in 2000.'
Independent civil engineer Steven Hall, who works for road safety specialists Morgan Tucker, said pedestrians were in danger if they crossed while the green man was showing.
He said: 'No matter when you cross on the green phase there should be sufficient time to reach the other side - even on the last second, even for slow pedestrians. Five seconds was not enough.'
When the signal system was put in place in 1984, it did comply with safety standards, the inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court heard.
Coroner Paul Knapman asked Mr Beasley: 'Couldn't the timings have been changed at any time since TFL took over?'
'They could have been,' Mr Beasley said.
The inquest also heard how lights at the busy junction had become twisted causing potential confusion to pedestrians.
Witnesses described how Mrs Iravanian had run out while a red man light was showing.
One witness, Miles Cresswell-Turner described how she hesitated at a traffic island before running and falling.
Mr Cresswell-Turner said: 'She had a "do I or don't I" moment... on crossing she slipped and I thought "she's going to die"... it was impossible for the driver to stop.'
The coach was travelling at 29mph when it struck Mrs Iravanian, police said.
The junction of Grosvenor Gardens has had its timing increased since the accident and complete changes to the crossroads are planned.
The verdict is expected today.
Hampstead and Highgate Express reports on 4th December 2008...
Husband's anger after Suburb wife dies under wheels of bus
A HUSBAND kissed his wife goodbye and watched in horror as she died under the wheels of a bus, an inquest heard this week.
Iveta Iravanian, 33, of Willifield Way, was struck by a National Express coach as she crossed Grosvenor Gardens in Victoria last February and died of multiple injuries.
A coroner this week recorded a narrative verdict on her death.
Born in Hungary, Ms Iravanian moved to the UK in 1993 to work as a nanny. She changed jobs several times before studying hard to become a solicitor which she had been doing for three months before she died.
Her husband Leo waved goodbye to her less than a minute before she was killed.
He said: "I am really angry that my wife is gone and nothing is going to bring her back. She was a very special lady and a wonderful wife.
"She loved helping charities and reading and she was extremely organised. She started studying law which she loved and often stayed up until three o'clock in the morning working hard.
"She loved life. I miss her a lot, all the time, she was so special to me."
Ms Iravanian made it safely across to the traffic island in the middle of the road but was struck by the bus, travelling at an estimated 29mph, as she tried to reach the pavement on the other side.
The jury inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court highlighted serious issues at the crossing, but witnesses said better safety wouldn't have saved Ms Iravanian.
The court was told there was a gap of only five seconds after the green pedestrian man went off and the amber light came on signalling traffic to go - below Department for Transport regulations of a 12 second minimum.
The jury also heard on the day of Ms Iravanian's death the traffic signal for vehicles turning right had been dislodged and was facing pedestrians - causing confusion about when to cross.
After the accident a police officer remained at the junction all day until the lights could be realigned and said many people had to be stopped from crossing on the wrong signal.
However, witnesses said Ms Iravanian was killed because she crossed when it was clear she shouldn't, not because of the problems on the junction.
They said Ms Iravanian had attempted to cross the two-lane road when the pedestrian man was on red.
One of them was Miles Cresswell-Turner, a cyclist on his way to work.
He said: "I could see her looking to her left and as she reached the island she stopped as a car passed in front of her.
"She swayed from stopping and I could see from the expression on her face that she was deciding whether or not to continue crossing the road.
"At that moment she ran across the first lane and now I think to myself that is a close call and she might not make it.
"I could see the approaching bus which I must say wasn't travelling very fast. As she reached the second lane she slipped on the wet surface and I straight away thought to myself oh no, she's going to die.
"It was impossible for the driver to stop in time. I remember looking at the pedestrian lights and could see the red man showing."
But Mr Iravanian believes his wife was misled by the lights.
Outside court he said: "I am convinced she looked at the lights and got confused because they were in the wrong place."
TfL engineer Mark Beasley admitted that the timings of the lights did not comply with safety standards.
In October last year Transport for London changed the crossing timings and installed a smaller traffic light box in the right hand lane to stop it being so easily dislodged.
TfL have now pledged to completely modernise the crossing and change the layout of the road once funding becomes available.
Daily Telegraph reports on 3rd December 2008...
Woman died at crossing that only gave pedestrians five seconds
A woman was run over by a coach and died after trying to cross at a pedestrian crossing which gave people as little as five seconds to make it over, an inquest heard.
Iveta Iravanian, 33, was killed when she ran out into the busy three-lane road while the red man showed.
Her widower Leo, 43, found the lights near Victoria Station in London sometimes gave pedestrians less than half the 12 seconds to cross recommended by the Department for Transport.
Mrs Iravanian, a paralegal secretary, died of multiple injures after slipping while crossing the road at Grosvenor Gardens on February 23 last year.
Witness Miles Cresswell-Turner said she had a "Do I or don't I?" moment.
He added: "On crossing she slipped and I thought 'She's going to die". It was impossible for the driver to stop."
The National Express coach was travelling at 29mph when it struck her, police said.
An inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court heard that Transport for London (TfL) admitted the junction did not comply with current safety standards.
Coroner Paul Knapman asked Mark Beasley, a TfL engineer: "Couldn't the timings have been changed at any time since TfL took over?"
Mr Beasley replied: "They could have been."
When the signal system was installed in 1984, it did comply with safety standards, the inquest heard.
TfL was planning on modernising the crossing, said Mr Beasley, but he said a project to modernise 5,000 lights across the capital had slipped by five to 10 years because of a "lack of funding".
Steven Hall, an independent civil engineer and road safety specialist, said: "No matter when you cross on the green phase there should be sufficient time to reach the other side - even on the last second, even for slow pedestrians. Five seconds was not enough."
Timings at the crossing were changed after Mrs Iravanian's death.
The inquest continues.
Traffic lights were faulty, says grieving husband after wife is crushed by coach
A grieving husband left distraught after the death of his wife on a pedestrian crossing launched a one-man fight to prove the traffic lights were faulty, an inquest heard yesterday.
Iveta Iravanian, 33, was killed when she ran out while the red man showed.
But her widower, Leo, became convinced that pedestrians were not given enough time to cross the road, he hired a private detective to prove it.
His investigation found that the traffic lights gave pedestrians as little as five seconds to cross a three-lane junction. Department for Transport guidelines recommend a minimum 12-second time gap to allow for safe crossing.
Yesterday an inquest into Mrs Iravanian's death heard that she was crushed by a National Express coach when she ran into the road and slipped over at a busy junction.
The Hungarian-born solicitor died of multiple injuries on February 23 last year on her way to work as a paralegal secretary.
Mr Iravanian, a 43-year-old estate agent, has battled for one and a half years with Transport for London (TFL), which is responsible for the traffic signals at a major crossroads near Victoria Station, in central London.
TFL engineer Mark Beasley admitted that the timings of the lights did not comply with current safety standards. When the signal system was put in place in 1984, it did comply with safety standards, the inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court heard.
Mr Beasley said: 'There was a lack of funding so lights were not modernised as quickly as we would have hoped. There has been a slippage of five to 10 years before TFL took over in 2000.'
Independent civil engineer Steven Hall, who works for road safety specialists Morgan Tucker, said pedestrians were in danger if they crossed while the green man was showing.
He said: 'No matter when you cross on the green phase there should be sufficient time to reach the other side - even on the last second, even for slow pedestrians. Five seconds was not enough.'
When the signal system was put in place in 1984, it did comply with safety standards, the inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court heard.
Coroner Paul Knapman asked Mr Beasley: 'Couldn't the timings have been changed at any time since TFL took over?'
'They could have been,' Mr Beasley said.
The inquest also heard how lights at the busy junction had become twisted causing potential confusion to pedestrians.
Witnesses described how Mrs Iravanian had run out while a red man light was showing.
One witness, Miles Cresswell-Turner described how she hesitated at a traffic island before running and falling.
Mr Cresswell-Turner said: 'She had a "do I or don't I" moment... on crossing she slipped and I thought "she's going to die"... it was impossible for the driver to stop.'
The coach was travelling at 29mph when it struck Mrs Iravanian, police said.
The junction of Grosvenor Gardens has had its timing increased since the accident and complete changes to the crossroads are planned.
The verdict is expected today.
Hampstead and Highgate Express reports on 4th December 2008...
Husband's anger after Suburb wife dies under wheels of bus
A HUSBAND kissed his wife goodbye and watched in horror as she died under the wheels of a bus, an inquest heard this week.
Iveta Iravanian, 33, of Willifield Way, was struck by a National Express coach as she crossed Grosvenor Gardens in Victoria last February and died of multiple injuries.
A coroner this week recorded a narrative verdict on her death.
Born in Hungary, Ms Iravanian moved to the UK in 1993 to work as a nanny. She changed jobs several times before studying hard to become a solicitor which she had been doing for three months before she died.
Her husband Leo waved goodbye to her less than a minute before she was killed.
He said: "I am really angry that my wife is gone and nothing is going to bring her back. She was a very special lady and a wonderful wife.
"She loved helping charities and reading and she was extremely organised. She started studying law which she loved and often stayed up until three o'clock in the morning working hard.
"She loved life. I miss her a lot, all the time, she was so special to me."
Ms Iravanian made it safely across to the traffic island in the middle of the road but was struck by the bus, travelling at an estimated 29mph, as she tried to reach the pavement on the other side.
The jury inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court highlighted serious issues at the crossing, but witnesses said better safety wouldn't have saved Ms Iravanian.
The court was told there was a gap of only five seconds after the green pedestrian man went off and the amber light came on signalling traffic to go - below Department for Transport regulations of a 12 second minimum.
The jury also heard on the day of Ms Iravanian's death the traffic signal for vehicles turning right had been dislodged and was facing pedestrians - causing confusion about when to cross.
After the accident a police officer remained at the junction all day until the lights could be realigned and said many people had to be stopped from crossing on the wrong signal.
However, witnesses said Ms Iravanian was killed because she crossed when it was clear she shouldn't, not because of the problems on the junction.
They said Ms Iravanian had attempted to cross the two-lane road when the pedestrian man was on red.
One of them was Miles Cresswell-Turner, a cyclist on his way to work.
He said: "I could see her looking to her left and as she reached the island she stopped as a car passed in front of her.
"She swayed from stopping and I could see from the expression on her face that she was deciding whether or not to continue crossing the road.
"At that moment she ran across the first lane and now I think to myself that is a close call and she might not make it.
"I could see the approaching bus which I must say wasn't travelling very fast. As she reached the second lane she slipped on the wet surface and I straight away thought to myself oh no, she's going to die.
"It was impossible for the driver to stop in time. I remember looking at the pedestrian lights and could see the red man showing."
But Mr Iravanian believes his wife was misled by the lights.
Outside court he said: "I am convinced she looked at the lights and got confused because they were in the wrong place."
TfL engineer Mark Beasley admitted that the timings of the lights did not comply with safety standards.
In October last year Transport for London changed the crossing timings and installed a smaller traffic light box in the right hand lane to stop it being so easily dislodged.
TfL have now pledged to completely modernise the crossing and change the layout of the road once funding becomes available.
Daily Telegraph reports on 3rd December 2008...
Woman died at crossing that only gave pedestrians five seconds
A woman was run over by a coach and died after trying to cross at a pedestrian crossing which gave people as little as five seconds to make it over, an inquest heard.
Iveta Iravanian, 33, was killed when she ran out into the busy three-lane road while the red man showed.
Her widower Leo, 43, found the lights near Victoria Station in London sometimes gave pedestrians less than half the 12 seconds to cross recommended by the Department for Transport.
Mrs Iravanian, a paralegal secretary, died of multiple injures after slipping while crossing the road at Grosvenor Gardens on February 23 last year.
Witness Miles Cresswell-Turner said she had a "Do I or don't I?" moment.
He added: "On crossing she slipped and I thought 'She's going to die". It was impossible for the driver to stop."
The National Express coach was travelling at 29mph when it struck her, police said.
An inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court heard that Transport for London (TfL) admitted the junction did not comply with current safety standards.
Coroner Paul Knapman asked Mark Beasley, a TfL engineer: "Couldn't the timings have been changed at any time since TfL took over?"
Mr Beasley replied: "They could have been."
When the signal system was installed in 1984, it did comply with safety standards, the inquest heard.
TfL was planning on modernising the crossing, said Mr Beasley, but he said a project to modernise 5,000 lights across the capital had slipped by five to 10 years because of a "lack of funding".
Steven Hall, an independent civil engineer and road safety specialist, said: "No matter when you cross on the green phase there should be sufficient time to reach the other side - even on the last second, even for slow pedestrians. Five seconds was not enough."
Timings at the crossing were changed after Mrs Iravanian's death.
The inquest continues.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Michael Legge blogs on 29th November 2008...
On the same day as my religious experience I travelled upon a National Express coach, surely all the proof we need that there is no God. It was cramped, it was smelly and everyone on it looked odd. It was like they hadn't quite formed yet. The worst one was the driver who had tattoos of skulls on fire and a woman with blood coming out of her tit on one arm and on the other just one that said I Miss You, Mum. What a tribute. She must have been lovely. Not only did he look bizarre but he sang the whole fucking way to Leicester constantly turning to a passenger near him and saying "Don't you know that one?" Of course she doesn't know that one. No one knows that one because the words and tunes coming out of your broken mouth have never been put in that spastic an order before. More annoying than him was the lady sitting in front of me who not only shouted while using her phone but put it on speaker-phone so we could all hear the other shouting prick she was talking to. Once again it was up to me to ask her to speak a little quieter but all she did was give me information that I already knew. She said "You don't even know me", which is true but irrelevant and after three times of asking her to be quiet and her saying that, I finally said "Yes, I do know you. You're that annoying fucker on the bus" which made some people near me laugh out loud. She hung up, put her phone on vibrate and never answered it again for the rest of the journey. I hate the bus but I hate the bus because people who go on buses are cunts. If they'd just stick them in the same asylum as religious people I might start to get a bit happier. Hey-Ho.
The Press and Journal of Aberdeen reports on 27th November 2008...
driver sentenced
Safety of coach passengers
Published: 27/11/2008
THE carefully-crafted words of National Express Group chief executive Richard Bowker following the jailing of driver Philip Rooney look rather hollow when set alongside the full circumstances of the crash which killed three people on a London to Aberdeen coach in January last year.
Mr Bowker, in a statement bearing all the hallmarks of having been put together by a public-relations adviser specialising in damage limitation, expressed condolences to relatives of the dead and injured, thanked the emergency services for their help and stressed the importance the company placed on safety. It ended, predictably, with the “lessons will be learned” promise.
We have no doubt that Mr Bowker’s regret is entirely sincere and that the company will, indeed, review its safety procedures in the light of the incident and the remarks of the judge who yesterday sentenced Rooney to five years in jail.
What the families and public would like to know, however, is why Rooney was on the road in the first place, at the wheel of a coach carrying nearly 70 people on a journey covering more than 500 miles, almost exclusively of motorway and dual carriageway. For a start, he had five convictions for speeding and, although they were while driving private cars, they demonstrate a total lack of regard for motoring laws and, crucially, road safety.
If that were not bad enough, Rooney had also previously been warned by his employer for disabling a speed limiter on his vehicle so that he could drive faster. And in a touch of supreme, tragic irony, at the time of the accident he was taking a bend too fast while broadcasting over the vehicle loudspeaker system. None of these is the action of a man personifying his company’s commitment to the safety of its passengers.
The Times reports on 27th November 2008...
Coach driver jailed for fatal crash on motorway
A National Express bus driver was sentenced to five years in prison after causing an accident in which three passengers were killed. Philip Rooney, 49, was driving at 55mph around a bend with a 40mph speed limit and giving a safety announcement when he lost control of the vehicle, Oxford Crown Court was told. One passenger said that Rooney was driving like he was “possessed” before the crash, on the M25/M4 sliproad in January last year.
Rooney, of Carluke, South Lanarkshire, pleaded guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving. He was also banned from driving for three years.
* Have your say
Some time ago, I was on a NE coach tail-gating at speed up the M1. The driver was in a foul mood (refusing requests to switch on the air-con on what was a hot day). I reported all this to NE after this crash, but apart from ringing once when I was out, NE never followed up, despite my calls.
steve moxon, Sheffield,
Daily Record - Scotland reports on 27th November 2008...
Fury as five previous speeding raps of Scots driver jailed for fatal coach smash are revealed
A BUS driver who caused the death of three passengers had FIVE previous convictions for speeding, it was revealed yesterday.
Details of Philip Rooney's record were revealed as he was jailed for five years.
The family of one of the victims said they were amazed Rooney had been allowed to continue driving.
Christina Toner died on the National Express coach which skidded on to its side after Rooney lost control on January 3, 2007.
Her daughter, Gail Light, said: "I have been feeling guilty for feeling sorry for the man but the evidence I heard today changed my mind."
Gail's husband Matt added: "We were surprised National Express would employ someone with that level of convictions."
Rooney had also been in trouble with his company for tampering with a speed-limiter on a bus.
Rooney, 49, of Carluke, Lanarkshire, admitted three counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
The dad-of-three was speaking over the bus's intercom and doing 55mph on a 40mph bend when the accident happened on the M4/M25 slip road near Heathrow airport.
Oxford Crown Court heard Rooney was driving like he was "possessed" and also "going like the clappers" before the crash.
He was probably trying to make up for lost time following a delay caused by a luggage problem.
Many of those on the overnight London to Aberdeen service had to be cut from the wreckage.
Christina, 76, from Dundee, and 30-year-old Chinese national Yi Di Lin died just after the crash. John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died months later in hospital.
Another 65 people were injured, including four who had to have amputations.
Rooney had been driving coaches for 15 years. The court heard Rooney, with a co-driver, had set off from Victoria bus station in London in the new 82-seater bus just after 10.30pm .
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said tachograph readings showed that he consistently broke speed limits as the coach went to pick up again at Heathrow airport.
His driving caused luggage to fall from the shelf as he took a corner and the vehicle clipped a kerb.
A lot of passengers were returning home from Christmas holidays and the coach was heavily laden.
Rooney had to call a taxi to transport one family's luggage because there was no room - causing a 30-minute delay.
Mr Latham said: "A number of passengers noted the vehicle was being driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time."
The coach clipped a barrier and Rooney tried to correct its path but lost control.
The double-decker skidded and began travelling sideways before striking a crash barrier and flipping over. Seconds before the crash, Rooney had been giving a safety announcement.
Passengers recalled hearing screams and the microphone crackling before his voice stopped. One said: "After Heathrow, the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers."
Among the victims on the coach was an Albanian woman, Samia Berbiche, who was with her three-year-old son and eight-month-old daughter.
She lost part of her right leg, her son lost part of his right leg and lower left arm, and her daughter lost one of her lower legs.
Mohammed Khamisa QC, defending Rooney, said he was an experienced driver and a hardworking family man who drove in excess of 1000 miles a week in his job.
He offered his "heart felt apologies" to those who lost loved ones or who were injured.
He added: "He has been very traumatised by the enormity of the incident. The events have crushed him and continue to haunt him."
He said Rooney had helped the injured at the scene despite being hurt himself. Rooney has suffered post-traumatic stress.
Judge Mr Justice Gross also banned Rooney from driving for three years and ordered him to take an extended driving test before he was allowed back on the road again.
The Guardian reports on 27th November 2008...
Coach driver jailed over Heathrow death crash
A coach driver who caused a crash near Heathrow which killed three people and injured more than 60 others was jailed yesterday for five years.
Philip Rooney, 49, was making a public safety announcement over the vehicle's public address system while speeding round a bend when the crash happened.
The double-decker National Express coach, carrying 69 passengers, overturned and skidded along on its side on the M4/M25 slip road near the airport.
Rooney was trying to negotiate a 40mph bend at 55mph when he lost control. He was driving like he was "possessed" - probably in an attempt to make up for lost time following a delay caused by a luggage problem, Oxford crown court was told.
Many of those on the overnight London to Aberdeen service had to be cut from the wreckage on January 3 last year.
Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and Yi Di Lin, 30, a Chinese national, died following the crash. John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died six months later.
Another 65 people were injured, including four who had to have amputations and 19 who suffered fractures.
The victims included an Albanian woman, Samia Berbiche. Berbiche lost part of her right leg, her three-year-old son lost part of his right leg and lower left arm, and her eight-month-old daughter lost one of her lower legs.
Rooney, a father of three from Carluke in Lanarkshire, was jailed for five years and banned from driving for three years after pleading guilty at a previous hearing to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving. He was also ordered to take an extended driving test.
Rooney, who had been driving coaches for 15 years, had been caught speeding in passenger vehicles on five occasions.
He was also disciplined by his employer in December 2004 for tampering with a speed limiter so he could drive faster.
Following the sentence, Toner's family said they were astonished that Rooney was allowed to keep his job after his previous speeding convictions.
"We were surprised that somebody would employ someone with that level of convictions in a public service," said her son-in-law Matt Light.
The court heard that the coach had been delayed by an hour and a half after Rooney had to call a taxi to transport one family's luggage because there was no room in the heavily laden vehicle.
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said: "A number of passengers noted the vehicle was being driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time."
One passenger said: "After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers."
Mohammed Khamisa QC, defending, said Rooney had offered his "heartfelt apologies" to those who lost loved ones or who were injured.
He added: "The events have crushed him and continue to haunt him."
natural yogurt blogs on 27th November 2008...
Five years for causing death by dangerous driving
After a very long wait the case concerning Philip Rooney, the driver whose double-decker National Express coach flipped onto its side and skidded along the M4 slip road off the M25 near Heathrow Airport on January 3 last year, has come to a close. The story in the Telegraph reads...
Coach driver 'giving safety talk when he crashed'
A coach driver responsible for a crash which killed three passengers and injured dozens of others was giving a safety talk as he took a corner too fast and lost control, a court heard. Philip Rooney, 49, was speaking over the vehicle's tannoy system while trying to negotiate a 40mph bend at 55mph. Terrified passengers recalled hearing screams and the microphone crackling before the voice stopped.
The double-decker National Express coach flipped onto its side and skidded along the M4 slip road off the M25 near Heathrow Airport on January 3 last year. The damage to the vehicle was so great that many of the 69 passengers on board had to be cut out of the wreckage.
Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and 30-year-old Yi Di Lin, a Chinese national, died in the crash, while John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died six months later in hospital. A further 65 people were injured, including four who needed amputations and 19 who suffered fractures.
Oxford Crown Court heard how Rooney, from Carluke in Scotland, was driving as though he was "possessed". The father-of-three, who pleaded guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving, was jailed for five years and disqualified from driving for three years.
The court heard that Rooney set off from Victoria bus station in central London, bound for Aberdeen, in the almost new 82-seater vehicle just after 10.30pm. Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said he consistently broke speed limits as he made his way to the next pick-up point at Heathrow Airport. Luggage fell from the shelf as Rooney took corners too fast and the vehicle clipped a kerb coming into the airport, the court heard. There was a delay of half an hour as Rooney sorted out a problem with the luggage before leaving Heathrow. Mr Latham said: "A number of passengers noted the vehicle was being driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time." One passenger account said: "After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers."
As the coach made its way towards a bend in the slip road for the M25, it was travelling at 55mph - 15mph above the speed limit - the court heard. The vehicle clipped a barrier and as Rooney tried to steer the right path he lost control, skidding sideways before striking a crash barrier and flipping over. The court was told that a number of passengers recalled that, in the seconds before the crash, the driver had been giving a safety announcement over the public address system.
Rooney, who had been driving coaches for 15 years, had previously been caught speeding in passenger vehicles on five occasions and been disciplined by his employer for tampering with a speed limiter on his vehicle so he could drive faster.
After sentencing, Mrs Toner's daughter Gail Light said she was astonished to hear about Rooney's driving record. She said: "I have been feeling guilty for feeling sorry for the man but the evidence I heard changed my mind on that because of the previous convictions he had for speeding."
...Okay, so that was the outcome of the court case, now what can natural yogurt say about it?
I think that justice has been done and the custodial sentence of 5 years is the right one in this case. On 2nd November 2007 Scott Easton a van driver was jailed for seven years after killing a Tyneside family of four in a crash in North Yorkshire. He had pleaded guilty just like Philip. What was in my opinion incredibly lenient was the case of Anne Foster-Chia , who was jailed for two years after killing an 80-year-old pedestrian while trying to answer her mobile phone. Foster-Chia, who was on her way to collect her disabled son, was seen moments earlier cradling the phone in her neck. She was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving and banned from driving for two years. Judge Robert Moore said he would have been more lenient had she accepted her guilt. He said: "You told the police, jury and presumably yourself, and repeated to me that you knocked the phone to the floor. The jury disbelieved you and so do I. " There is no doubt the phone rang. It was your joiner, although you thought it was the school."
The accident happened in Sheffield in December 2005. Michael Slater, prosecuting, told Sheffield Crown Court: "The defendant failed to stop and give way because she was paying more attention to her telephone rather than keeping a proper look-out for the traffic conditions unfolding in front of her."
What was Philip doing driving along at 55mph whilst talking on the microphone? This is the actions of a cowboy. We all know that men cannot multitask and the only time to use the microphone on a coach is when the Park Brake is applied. Also this accident happened a long way from Heathrow airport so it is safe to assume that his safety announcement was one of those weary, long winded speeches that I find a total embarrassment. There are some drivers on the National Express network who drone on and on with the microphone in their so-called safety announcement whilst driving along. As this case proves, this microphone use can become dangerous. All safety announcements should be made whilst stationary, they should be short. Tell the passengers where the coach is going, that seat belts must be worn, the location of emergency exits and the toilet. Anything more is driver vanity. The same applies to coach stops, when parked simply announce the current location.
We all know that most driver announcements are ignored by the passengers. It is not just on coaches but on planes too . If the passengers are not talking amongst themselves, they are listening to personal stereos or droning into mobile phones for minutes on end. However, all National Express coaches display the seat belt pictograms on the windows to inform passengers that they must wear a seat belt.
Luggage is a problem on double decker coaches and National Express have been aware of this for a long time. This is not a problem for the driver because he can bounce the problem to Service Support who will resolve the issue. The terms and conditions clearly states that each passenger can bring 2 medium size suitcases. So the coach departs Heathrow 30 minutes late, it is no big deal. At £7 an hour that means that Philip was looking at another £3.50 in his wage packet. The driver is on the sharp end of the coach and to put your own safety at risk by cornering fast is foolish.
The CCTV images from inside the coach were not made public but I cannot see how anyone could have been killed if they were wearing their seat belt. As I wrote in this blog on 6th January 2007 ...
I do not believe that the deaths and injuries sustained would have happened had all the passengers been wearing their seatbelts. The photographs in the press of the coach show relatively little damage to the outside body of the coach. A broken mirror and windows should not lead to the death of 2 passengers and amputation of limbs.
...So there you have it. I believe that Philip Rooney has caused death by dangerous driving. It was his own fault, he was right to plead guilty and his sentence of 5 years was right. Sadly if all the passengers had warn their seat belts then those deaths and injuries would have been avoided. Looking back at the case of Scott Easton who got 7 years after pleading guilty to killing 4 people, Philip who also pleaded guilty, was given a discount of 2 years because of the seat belt issue. This seems fair in the circumstances and I believe that justice has finally been done.
Remember, you have only one chance to get it right. You can never get the time back and we are all paid by the hour to do the best of a bad job. Always make a safety announcement but only when stationary.
The Independent reports on 26th November 2008...
Death crash driver 'made announcement while speeding on bend'
A National Express coach driver caused a terrifying crash which killed three passengers and injured dozens of others as he gave a safety announcement while speeding around a bend, a court heard today.
Philip Rooney, 49, was speaking over the vehicle's public address system while trying to negotiate a 40mph bend at 55mph when he lost control.
It caused the double-decker coach, carrying 69 passengers, to overturn and skid along its side on the M4/M25 slip road near Heathrow Airport.
Rooney was driving like he was "possessed" before the crash - probably in a bid to make up for lost time following a delay caused by a luggage problem, a judge was told.
Many of those on the overnight London to Aberdeen service had to be cut from the wreckage on 3 January last year.
Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and 30-year-old Yi Di Lin, a Chinese national, died following the crash.
John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died six months later in hospital.
Another 65 people were injured, including four who had to have amputations and 19 who suffered fractures.
Father-of-three Rooney, of Larkshill Drive, Carluke, Scotland, was appearing for sentence at Oxford Crown Court today after pleading guilty at a previous hearing to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
The court heard that Rooney, who had a co-driver, set off from Victoria bus station in central London, bound for Scotland, in the almost new 82-seater vehicle just after 10.30pm on 3 January.
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said tachograph readings showed he consistently broke speed limits as the coach made its way to the next pick-up point at Heathrow Airport.
Rooney's driving caused luggage to fall from the shelf as he took a corner and the vehicle clipped a kerb coming into the airport, said Mr Latham.
A number of passengers were returning home from Christmas holidays and, the court heard, the coach was heavily laden.
Rooney had to call a taxi to transport one family's luggage because there was no room on the coach - causing a delay of more than half an hour before it set off again.
Mr Latham said: "A number of passengers noted the vehicle was being driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time."
The court heard that, as the coach made its way towards the slip road for the M25, there was a warning sign indicating that the maximum speed for the bend should be 40mph.
At the vehicle took the bend it was travelling at 55mph, the tachograph showed.
The coach clipped a barrier and Rooney tried to correct its path by steering away but lost control.
Mr Latham said the vehicle skidded around and began travelling sideways before striking a crash barrier and flipping over.
The court was told that a number of passengers recalled that, in the seconds before the crash, the driver had been giving a safety announcement over the tannoy.
Mr Latham said passengers recalled hearing screams and the microphone crackling before the voice stopped.
Other passenger accounts read to the court by Mr Latham stated that luggage was being dislodged by heavy braking as Rooney sped along.
One said: "After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers."
Telegraph reports on 26th November 2008...
Coach driver 'giving safety talk when he crashed'
A coach driver responsible for a crash which killed three passengers and injured dozens of others was giving a safety talk as he took a corner too fast and lost control, a court heard.
Philip Rooney, 49, was speaking over the vehicle's tannoy system while trying to negotiate a 40mph bend at 55mph.
Terrified passengers recalled hearing screams and the microphone crackling before the voice stopped.
The double-decker National Express coach flipped onto its side and skidded along the M4 slip road off the M25 near Heathrow Airport on January 3 last year.
The damage to the vehicle was so great that many of the 69 passengers on board had to be cut out of the wreckage.
Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and 30-year-old Yi Di Lin, a Chinese national, died in the crash, while John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died six months later in hospital.
A further 65 people were injured, including four who needed amputations and 19 who suffered fractures.
Oxford Crown Court heard how Rooney, from Carluke in Scotland, was driving as though he was "possessed".
The father-of-three, who pleaded guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving, was jailed for five years and disqualified from driving for three years.
The court heard that Rooney set off from Victoria bus station in central London, bound for Aberdeen, in the almost new 82-seater vehicle just after 10.30pm.
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said he consistently broke speed limits as he made his way to the next pick-up point at Heathrow Airport.
Luggage fell from the shelf as Rooney took corners too fast and the vehicle clipped a kerb coming into the airport, the court heard.
There was a delay of half an hour as Rooney sorted out a problem with the luggage before leaving Heathrow.
Mr Latham said: "A number of passengers noted the vehicle was being driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time."
One passenger account said: "After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers."
As the coach made its way towards a bend in the slip road for the M25, it was travelling at 55mph - 15mph above the speed limit - the court heard.
The vehicle clipped a barrier and as Rooney tried to steer the right path he lost control, skidding sideways before striking a crash barrier and flipping over.
The court was told that a number of passengers recalled that, in the seconds before the crash, the driver had been giving a safety announcement over the public address system.
Rooney, who had been driving coaches for 15 years, had previously been caught speeding in passenger vehicles on five occasions and been disciplined by his employer for tampering with a speed limiter on his vehicle so he could drive faster.
After sentencing, Mrs Toner's daughter Gail Light said she was astonished to hear about Rooney's driving record.
She said: "I have been feeling guilty for feeling sorry for the man but the evidence I heard changed my mind on that because of the previous convictions he had for speeding."
The Times reports on 26th November 2008...
Heathrow death crash coach driver Philip Rooney jailed for 5 years
National Express man Philip Rooney did 55mph on bend while giving safety announcement and 'trying to make up lost time'
A speeding National Express coach driver was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday for causing a fatal motorway accident in which three people were killed and dozens more were left with serious injuries.
Philip Rooney, 49, was driving at 55mph around the bend on the M25/M4 slip road, 15 miles above the recommended speed limit, and was also giving a safety announcement over the tannoy when he lost control of the coach, hitting a safety barrier and causing the vehicle to turn over.
Three people died after the accident, and many of those that were injured had to be cut from the wreckage.
The accident occurred near Heathrow airport on January 3 last year, and many of those on board the overnight service from London to Aberdeen were heading home after the Christmas break.
The court heard that Mr Rooney had been caught speeding in passenger vehicles five times before the accident, and had also been disciplined by his employer in December 2004 for tampering with a device that limits a coach’s speed.
A passenger on the coach said that Mr Rooney was driving like like he was “possessed”, and the vehicle’s tachograph, which records the vehicle's speed, showed the speed limit had been broken on a number of occasions during the journey.
Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and 30-year-old Yi Di Lin, a Chinese national, died following the crash. John Carruthers, 78, from Surrey, died six months later in hospital from his injuries.
One family on board, who had to be cut from the wreckage, suffered multiple injuries; Samia Berbiche, from Albania, lost part of her right leg, her three-year-old son lost part of his right leg and lower left arm, and her eight-month-old daughter lost one of her lower legs.
None of the 69 passengers on board escaped unhurt after the double-decker bus clipped a safety barrier, overturned and skid along its side.
The court heard that Rooney tried to correct the coach’s path after first hitting the barrier but the vehicle overturned after he lost control.
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said that Rooney’s driving earlier in the journey had caused luggage to fall from the shelf as the driver tried to make up for their delayed departure.
“A number of passengers noted the vehicle was being driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time,” he said.
One passenger told the court: “After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers.”
The coach, which left London’s Victoria station at 10.30pm, crashed shortly after leaving Heathrow airport. The court heard that Mr Rooney might have been trying to make up for lost time after problems fitting in all the luggage onto the vehicle caused a delayed departure.
A subsequent investigation found that taking the bend at any speed over 45mph would be dangerous and posed a serious risk to the vehicle becoming unstable and the driver losing control.
Mr Rooney's lawyer said his client was "deeply sorry" for the accident.
The father of three, from South Lanarkshire in Scotland, pleaded guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving. He was also banned from driving for three years at Oxford Crown Court.
* Have your say
5 years for causing death on the roads. He should be in prison for at least 30 years. If he had shot and killed someone that would have been his sentence.
Adrian Hilton, Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire
On the same day as my religious experience I travelled upon a National Express coach, surely all the proof we need that there is no God. It was cramped, it was smelly and everyone on it looked odd. It was like they hadn't quite formed yet. The worst one was the driver who had tattoos of skulls on fire and a woman with blood coming out of her tit on one arm and on the other just one that said I Miss You, Mum. What a tribute. She must have been lovely. Not only did he look bizarre but he sang the whole fucking way to Leicester constantly turning to a passenger near him and saying "Don't you know that one?" Of course she doesn't know that one. No one knows that one because the words and tunes coming out of your broken mouth have never been put in that spastic an order before. More annoying than him was the lady sitting in front of me who not only shouted while using her phone but put it on speaker-phone so we could all hear the other shouting prick she was talking to. Once again it was up to me to ask her to speak a little quieter but all she did was give me information that I already knew. She said "You don't even know me", which is true but irrelevant and after three times of asking her to be quiet and her saying that, I finally said "Yes, I do know you. You're that annoying fucker on the bus" which made some people near me laugh out loud. She hung up, put her phone on vibrate and never answered it again for the rest of the journey. I hate the bus but I hate the bus because people who go on buses are cunts. If they'd just stick them in the same asylum as religious people I might start to get a bit happier. Hey-Ho.
The Press and Journal of Aberdeen reports on 27th November 2008...
driver sentenced
Safety of coach passengers
Published: 27/11/2008
THE carefully-crafted words of National Express Group chief executive Richard Bowker following the jailing of driver Philip Rooney look rather hollow when set alongside the full circumstances of the crash which killed three people on a London to Aberdeen coach in January last year.
Mr Bowker, in a statement bearing all the hallmarks of having been put together by a public-relations adviser specialising in damage limitation, expressed condolences to relatives of the dead and injured, thanked the emergency services for their help and stressed the importance the company placed on safety. It ended, predictably, with the “lessons will be learned” promise.
We have no doubt that Mr Bowker’s regret is entirely sincere and that the company will, indeed, review its safety procedures in the light of the incident and the remarks of the judge who yesterday sentenced Rooney to five years in jail.
What the families and public would like to know, however, is why Rooney was on the road in the first place, at the wheel of a coach carrying nearly 70 people on a journey covering more than 500 miles, almost exclusively of motorway and dual carriageway. For a start, he had five convictions for speeding and, although they were while driving private cars, they demonstrate a total lack of regard for motoring laws and, crucially, road safety.
If that were not bad enough, Rooney had also previously been warned by his employer for disabling a speed limiter on his vehicle so that he could drive faster. And in a touch of supreme, tragic irony, at the time of the accident he was taking a bend too fast while broadcasting over the vehicle loudspeaker system. None of these is the action of a man personifying his company’s commitment to the safety of its passengers.
The Times reports on 27th November 2008...
Coach driver jailed for fatal crash on motorway
A National Express bus driver was sentenced to five years in prison after causing an accident in which three passengers were killed. Philip Rooney, 49, was driving at 55mph around a bend with a 40mph speed limit and giving a safety announcement when he lost control of the vehicle, Oxford Crown Court was told. One passenger said that Rooney was driving like he was “possessed” before the crash, on the M25/M4 sliproad in January last year.
Rooney, of Carluke, South Lanarkshire, pleaded guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving. He was also banned from driving for three years.
* Have your say
Some time ago, I was on a NE coach tail-gating at speed up the M1. The driver was in a foul mood (refusing requests to switch on the air-con on what was a hot day). I reported all this to NE after this crash, but apart from ringing once when I was out, NE never followed up, despite my calls.
steve moxon, Sheffield,
Daily Record - Scotland reports on 27th November 2008...
Fury as five previous speeding raps of Scots driver jailed for fatal coach smash are revealed
A BUS driver who caused the death of three passengers had FIVE previous convictions for speeding, it was revealed yesterday.
Details of Philip Rooney's record were revealed as he was jailed for five years.
The family of one of the victims said they were amazed Rooney had been allowed to continue driving.
Christina Toner died on the National Express coach which skidded on to its side after Rooney lost control on January 3, 2007.
Her daughter, Gail Light, said: "I have been feeling guilty for feeling sorry for the man but the evidence I heard today changed my mind."
Gail's husband Matt added: "We were surprised National Express would employ someone with that level of convictions."
Rooney had also been in trouble with his company for tampering with a speed-limiter on a bus.
Rooney, 49, of Carluke, Lanarkshire, admitted three counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
The dad-of-three was speaking over the bus's intercom and doing 55mph on a 40mph bend when the accident happened on the M4/M25 slip road near Heathrow airport.
Oxford Crown Court heard Rooney was driving like he was "possessed" and also "going like the clappers" before the crash.
He was probably trying to make up for lost time following a delay caused by a luggage problem.
Many of those on the overnight London to Aberdeen service had to be cut from the wreckage.
Christina, 76, from Dundee, and 30-year-old Chinese national Yi Di Lin died just after the crash. John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died months later in hospital.
Another 65 people were injured, including four who had to have amputations.
Rooney had been driving coaches for 15 years. The court heard Rooney, with a co-driver, had set off from Victoria bus station in London in the new 82-seater bus just after 10.30pm .
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said tachograph readings showed that he consistently broke speed limits as the coach went to pick up again at Heathrow airport.
His driving caused luggage to fall from the shelf as he took a corner and the vehicle clipped a kerb.
A lot of passengers were returning home from Christmas holidays and the coach was heavily laden.
Rooney had to call a taxi to transport one family's luggage because there was no room - causing a 30-minute delay.
Mr Latham said: "A number of passengers noted the vehicle was being driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time."
The coach clipped a barrier and Rooney tried to correct its path but lost control.
The double-decker skidded and began travelling sideways before striking a crash barrier and flipping over. Seconds before the crash, Rooney had been giving a safety announcement.
Passengers recalled hearing screams and the microphone crackling before his voice stopped. One said: "After Heathrow, the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers."
Among the victims on the coach was an Albanian woman, Samia Berbiche, who was with her three-year-old son and eight-month-old daughter.
She lost part of her right leg, her son lost part of his right leg and lower left arm, and her daughter lost one of her lower legs.
Mohammed Khamisa QC, defending Rooney, said he was an experienced driver and a hardworking family man who drove in excess of 1000 miles a week in his job.
He offered his "heart felt apologies" to those who lost loved ones or who were injured.
He added: "He has been very traumatised by the enormity of the incident. The events have crushed him and continue to haunt him."
He said Rooney had helped the injured at the scene despite being hurt himself. Rooney has suffered post-traumatic stress.
Judge Mr Justice Gross also banned Rooney from driving for three years and ordered him to take an extended driving test before he was allowed back on the road again.
The Guardian reports on 27th November 2008...
Coach driver jailed over Heathrow death crash
A coach driver who caused a crash near Heathrow which killed three people and injured more than 60 others was jailed yesterday for five years.
Philip Rooney, 49, was making a public safety announcement over the vehicle's public address system while speeding round a bend when the crash happened.
The double-decker National Express coach, carrying 69 passengers, overturned and skidded along on its side on the M4/M25 slip road near the airport.
Rooney was trying to negotiate a 40mph bend at 55mph when he lost control. He was driving like he was "possessed" - probably in an attempt to make up for lost time following a delay caused by a luggage problem, Oxford crown court was told.
Many of those on the overnight London to Aberdeen service had to be cut from the wreckage on January 3 last year.
Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and Yi Di Lin, 30, a Chinese national, died following the crash. John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died six months later.
Another 65 people were injured, including four who had to have amputations and 19 who suffered fractures.
The victims included an Albanian woman, Samia Berbiche. Berbiche lost part of her right leg, her three-year-old son lost part of his right leg and lower left arm, and her eight-month-old daughter lost one of her lower legs.
Rooney, a father of three from Carluke in Lanarkshire, was jailed for five years and banned from driving for three years after pleading guilty at a previous hearing to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving. He was also ordered to take an extended driving test.
Rooney, who had been driving coaches for 15 years, had been caught speeding in passenger vehicles on five occasions.
He was also disciplined by his employer in December 2004 for tampering with a speed limiter so he could drive faster.
Following the sentence, Toner's family said they were astonished that Rooney was allowed to keep his job after his previous speeding convictions.
"We were surprised that somebody would employ someone with that level of convictions in a public service," said her son-in-law Matt Light.
The court heard that the coach had been delayed by an hour and a half after Rooney had to call a taxi to transport one family's luggage because there was no room in the heavily laden vehicle.
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said: "A number of passengers noted the vehicle was being driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time."
One passenger said: "After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers."
Mohammed Khamisa QC, defending, said Rooney had offered his "heartfelt apologies" to those who lost loved ones or who were injured.
He added: "The events have crushed him and continue to haunt him."
natural yogurt blogs on 27th November 2008...
Five years for causing death by dangerous driving
After a very long wait the case concerning Philip Rooney, the driver whose double-decker National Express coach flipped onto its side and skidded along the M4 slip road off the M25 near Heathrow Airport on January 3 last year, has come to a close. The story in the Telegraph reads...
Coach driver 'giving safety talk when he crashed'
A coach driver responsible for a crash which killed three passengers and injured dozens of others was giving a safety talk as he took a corner too fast and lost control, a court heard. Philip Rooney, 49, was speaking over the vehicle's tannoy system while trying to negotiate a 40mph bend at 55mph. Terrified passengers recalled hearing screams and the microphone crackling before the voice stopped.
The double-decker National Express coach flipped onto its side and skidded along the M4 slip road off the M25 near Heathrow Airport on January 3 last year. The damage to the vehicle was so great that many of the 69 passengers on board had to be cut out of the wreckage.
Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and 30-year-old Yi Di Lin, a Chinese national, died in the crash, while John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died six months later in hospital. A further 65 people were injured, including four who needed amputations and 19 who suffered fractures.
Oxford Crown Court heard how Rooney, from Carluke in Scotland, was driving as though he was "possessed". The father-of-three, who pleaded guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving, was jailed for five years and disqualified from driving for three years.
The court heard that Rooney set off from Victoria bus station in central London, bound for Aberdeen, in the almost new 82-seater vehicle just after 10.30pm. Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said he consistently broke speed limits as he made his way to the next pick-up point at Heathrow Airport. Luggage fell from the shelf as Rooney took corners too fast and the vehicle clipped a kerb coming into the airport, the court heard. There was a delay of half an hour as Rooney sorted out a problem with the luggage before leaving Heathrow. Mr Latham said: "A number of passengers noted the vehicle was being driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time." One passenger account said: "After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers."
As the coach made its way towards a bend in the slip road for the M25, it was travelling at 55mph - 15mph above the speed limit - the court heard. The vehicle clipped a barrier and as Rooney tried to steer the right path he lost control, skidding sideways before striking a crash barrier and flipping over. The court was told that a number of passengers recalled that, in the seconds before the crash, the driver had been giving a safety announcement over the public address system.
Rooney, who had been driving coaches for 15 years, had previously been caught speeding in passenger vehicles on five occasions and been disciplined by his employer for tampering with a speed limiter on his vehicle so he could drive faster.
After sentencing, Mrs Toner's daughter Gail Light said she was astonished to hear about Rooney's driving record. She said: "I have been feeling guilty for feeling sorry for the man but the evidence I heard changed my mind on that because of the previous convictions he had for speeding."
...Okay, so that was the outcome of the court case, now what can natural yogurt say about it?
I think that justice has been done and the custodial sentence of 5 years is the right one in this case. On 2nd November 2007 Scott Easton a van driver was jailed for seven years after killing a Tyneside family of four in a crash in North Yorkshire. He had pleaded guilty just like Philip. What was in my opinion incredibly lenient was the case of Anne Foster-Chia , who was jailed for two years after killing an 80-year-old pedestrian while trying to answer her mobile phone. Foster-Chia, who was on her way to collect her disabled son, was seen moments earlier cradling the phone in her neck. She was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving and banned from driving for two years. Judge Robert Moore said he would have been more lenient had she accepted her guilt. He said: "You told the police, jury and presumably yourself, and repeated to me that you knocked the phone to the floor. The jury disbelieved you and so do I. " There is no doubt the phone rang. It was your joiner, although you thought it was the school."
The accident happened in Sheffield in December 2005. Michael Slater, prosecuting, told Sheffield Crown Court: "The defendant failed to stop and give way because she was paying more attention to her telephone rather than keeping a proper look-out for the traffic conditions unfolding in front of her."
What was Philip doing driving along at 55mph whilst talking on the microphone? This is the actions of a cowboy. We all know that men cannot multitask and the only time to use the microphone on a coach is when the Park Brake is applied. Also this accident happened a long way from Heathrow airport so it is safe to assume that his safety announcement was one of those weary, long winded speeches that I find a total embarrassment. There are some drivers on the National Express network who drone on and on with the microphone in their so-called safety announcement whilst driving along. As this case proves, this microphone use can become dangerous. All safety announcements should be made whilst stationary, they should be short. Tell the passengers where the coach is going, that seat belts must be worn, the location of emergency exits and the toilet. Anything more is driver vanity. The same applies to coach stops, when parked simply announce the current location.
We all know that most driver announcements are ignored by the passengers. It is not just on coaches but on planes too . If the passengers are not talking amongst themselves, they are listening to personal stereos or droning into mobile phones for minutes on end. However, all National Express coaches display the seat belt pictograms on the windows to inform passengers that they must wear a seat belt.
Luggage is a problem on double decker coaches and National Express have been aware of this for a long time. This is not a problem for the driver because he can bounce the problem to Service Support who will resolve the issue. The terms and conditions clearly states that each passenger can bring 2 medium size suitcases. So the coach departs Heathrow 30 minutes late, it is no big deal. At £7 an hour that means that Philip was looking at another £3.50 in his wage packet. The driver is on the sharp end of the coach and to put your own safety at risk by cornering fast is foolish.
The CCTV images from inside the coach were not made public but I cannot see how anyone could have been killed if they were wearing their seat belt. As I wrote in this blog on 6th January 2007 ...
I do not believe that the deaths and injuries sustained would have happened had all the passengers been wearing their seatbelts. The photographs in the press of the coach show relatively little damage to the outside body of the coach. A broken mirror and windows should not lead to the death of 2 passengers and amputation of limbs.
...So there you have it. I believe that Philip Rooney has caused death by dangerous driving. It was his own fault, he was right to plead guilty and his sentence of 5 years was right. Sadly if all the passengers had warn their seat belts then those deaths and injuries would have been avoided. Looking back at the case of Scott Easton who got 7 years after pleading guilty to killing 4 people, Philip who also pleaded guilty, was given a discount of 2 years because of the seat belt issue. This seems fair in the circumstances and I believe that justice has finally been done.
Remember, you have only one chance to get it right. You can never get the time back and we are all paid by the hour to do the best of a bad job. Always make a safety announcement but only when stationary.
The Independent reports on 26th November 2008...
Death crash driver 'made announcement while speeding on bend'
A National Express coach driver caused a terrifying crash which killed three passengers and injured dozens of others as he gave a safety announcement while speeding around a bend, a court heard today.
Philip Rooney, 49, was speaking over the vehicle's public address system while trying to negotiate a 40mph bend at 55mph when he lost control.
It caused the double-decker coach, carrying 69 passengers, to overturn and skid along its side on the M4/M25 slip road near Heathrow Airport.
Rooney was driving like he was "possessed" before the crash - probably in a bid to make up for lost time following a delay caused by a luggage problem, a judge was told.
Many of those on the overnight London to Aberdeen service had to be cut from the wreckage on 3 January last year.
Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and 30-year-old Yi Di Lin, a Chinese national, died following the crash.
John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died six months later in hospital.
Another 65 people were injured, including four who had to have amputations and 19 who suffered fractures.
Father-of-three Rooney, of Larkshill Drive, Carluke, Scotland, was appearing for sentence at Oxford Crown Court today after pleading guilty at a previous hearing to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
The court heard that Rooney, who had a co-driver, set off from Victoria bus station in central London, bound for Scotland, in the almost new 82-seater vehicle just after 10.30pm on 3 January.
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said tachograph readings showed he consistently broke speed limits as the coach made its way to the next pick-up point at Heathrow Airport.
Rooney's driving caused luggage to fall from the shelf as he took a corner and the vehicle clipped a kerb coming into the airport, said Mr Latham.
A number of passengers were returning home from Christmas holidays and, the court heard, the coach was heavily laden.
Rooney had to call a taxi to transport one family's luggage because there was no room on the coach - causing a delay of more than half an hour before it set off again.
Mr Latham said: "A number of passengers noted the vehicle was being driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time."
The court heard that, as the coach made its way towards the slip road for the M25, there was a warning sign indicating that the maximum speed for the bend should be 40mph.
At the vehicle took the bend it was travelling at 55mph, the tachograph showed.
The coach clipped a barrier and Rooney tried to correct its path by steering away but lost control.
Mr Latham said the vehicle skidded around and began travelling sideways before striking a crash barrier and flipping over.
The court was told that a number of passengers recalled that, in the seconds before the crash, the driver had been giving a safety announcement over the tannoy.
Mr Latham said passengers recalled hearing screams and the microphone crackling before the voice stopped.
Other passenger accounts read to the court by Mr Latham stated that luggage was being dislodged by heavy braking as Rooney sped along.
One said: "After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers."
Telegraph reports on 26th November 2008...
Coach driver 'giving safety talk when he crashed'
A coach driver responsible for a crash which killed three passengers and injured dozens of others was giving a safety talk as he took a corner too fast and lost control, a court heard.
Philip Rooney, 49, was speaking over the vehicle's tannoy system while trying to negotiate a 40mph bend at 55mph.
Terrified passengers recalled hearing screams and the microphone crackling before the voice stopped.
The double-decker National Express coach flipped onto its side and skidded along the M4 slip road off the M25 near Heathrow Airport on January 3 last year.
The damage to the vehicle was so great that many of the 69 passengers on board had to be cut out of the wreckage.
Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and 30-year-old Yi Di Lin, a Chinese national, died in the crash, while John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died six months later in hospital.
A further 65 people were injured, including four who needed amputations and 19 who suffered fractures.
Oxford Crown Court heard how Rooney, from Carluke in Scotland, was driving as though he was "possessed".
The father-of-three, who pleaded guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving, was jailed for five years and disqualified from driving for three years.
The court heard that Rooney set off from Victoria bus station in central London, bound for Aberdeen, in the almost new 82-seater vehicle just after 10.30pm.
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said he consistently broke speed limits as he made his way to the next pick-up point at Heathrow Airport.
Luggage fell from the shelf as Rooney took corners too fast and the vehicle clipped a kerb coming into the airport, the court heard.
There was a delay of half an hour as Rooney sorted out a problem with the luggage before leaving Heathrow.
Mr Latham said: "A number of passengers noted the vehicle was being driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time."
One passenger account said: "After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers."
As the coach made its way towards a bend in the slip road for the M25, it was travelling at 55mph - 15mph above the speed limit - the court heard.
The vehicle clipped a barrier and as Rooney tried to steer the right path he lost control, skidding sideways before striking a crash barrier and flipping over.
The court was told that a number of passengers recalled that, in the seconds before the crash, the driver had been giving a safety announcement over the public address system.
Rooney, who had been driving coaches for 15 years, had previously been caught speeding in passenger vehicles on five occasions and been disciplined by his employer for tampering with a speed limiter on his vehicle so he could drive faster.
After sentencing, Mrs Toner's daughter Gail Light said she was astonished to hear about Rooney's driving record.
She said: "I have been feeling guilty for feeling sorry for the man but the evidence I heard changed my mind on that because of the previous convictions he had for speeding."
The Times reports on 26th November 2008...
Heathrow death crash coach driver Philip Rooney jailed for 5 years
National Express man Philip Rooney did 55mph on bend while giving safety announcement and 'trying to make up lost time'
A speeding National Express coach driver was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday for causing a fatal motorway accident in which three people were killed and dozens more were left with serious injuries.
Philip Rooney, 49, was driving at 55mph around the bend on the M25/M4 slip road, 15 miles above the recommended speed limit, and was also giving a safety announcement over the tannoy when he lost control of the coach, hitting a safety barrier and causing the vehicle to turn over.
Three people died after the accident, and many of those that were injured had to be cut from the wreckage.
The accident occurred near Heathrow airport on January 3 last year, and many of those on board the overnight service from London to Aberdeen were heading home after the Christmas break.
The court heard that Mr Rooney had been caught speeding in passenger vehicles five times before the accident, and had also been disciplined by his employer in December 2004 for tampering with a device that limits a coach’s speed.
A passenger on the coach said that Mr Rooney was driving like like he was “possessed”, and the vehicle’s tachograph, which records the vehicle's speed, showed the speed limit had been broken on a number of occasions during the journey.
Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and 30-year-old Yi Di Lin, a Chinese national, died following the crash. John Carruthers, 78, from Surrey, died six months later in hospital from his injuries.
One family on board, who had to be cut from the wreckage, suffered multiple injuries; Samia Berbiche, from Albania, lost part of her right leg, her three-year-old son lost part of his right leg and lower left arm, and her eight-month-old daughter lost one of her lower legs.
None of the 69 passengers on board escaped unhurt after the double-decker bus clipped a safety barrier, overturned and skid along its side.
The court heard that Rooney tried to correct the coach’s path after first hitting the barrier but the vehicle overturned after he lost control.
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said that Rooney’s driving earlier in the journey had caused luggage to fall from the shelf as the driver tried to make up for their delayed departure.
“A number of passengers noted the vehicle was being driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time,” he said.
One passenger told the court: “After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers.”
The coach, which left London’s Victoria station at 10.30pm, crashed shortly after leaving Heathrow airport. The court heard that Mr Rooney might have been trying to make up for lost time after problems fitting in all the luggage onto the vehicle caused a delayed departure.
A subsequent investigation found that taking the bend at any speed over 45mph would be dangerous and posed a serious risk to the vehicle becoming unstable and the driver losing control.
Mr Rooney's lawyer said his client was "deeply sorry" for the accident.
The father of three, from South Lanarkshire in Scotland, pleaded guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving. He was also banned from driving for three years at Oxford Crown Court.
* Have your say
5 years for causing death on the roads. He should be in prison for at least 30 years. If he had shot and killed someone that would have been his sentence.
Adrian Hilton, Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The Press Association reports on 26th November 2008...
Death crash coach driver jailed
A National Express coach driver who caused a terrifying crash which left three passengers dead while giving a safety announcement as he sped around a bend has been jailed for five years.
Philip Rooney, 49, was speaking over the vehicle's public address system while trying to negotiate a 40mph bend at 55mph when he lost control.
Father of three Rooney, of Larkshill Drive, Carluke, Scotland, was also banned from driving for three years at Oxford Crown Court after pleading guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
The court heard the double-decker coach carrying 69 passengers overturned and skidded along on its side on the M4/M25 slip road near Heathrow Airport.
Rooney was driving like he was "possessed" before the crash - probably in a bid to make up for lost time following a delay caused by a luggage problem, a judge was told.
Many of those on the overnight London to Aberdeen service had to be cut from the wreckage on January 3 last year.
Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and 30-year-old Yi Di Lin, a Chinese national, died following the crash.
John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died six months later in hospital.
Another 65 people were injured, including four who had to have amputations and 19 who suffered fractures.
BBC News reports on 26th November 2008...
M25 coach death driver is jailed
A coach driver who admitted causing the deaths of three passengers by dangerous driving in a crash near Heathrow Airport has been jailed for five years.
Oxford Crown Court heard that Philip Rooney was making a safety announcement while speeding round a bend when he lost control of the coach.
The London-to-Aberdeen National Express service overturned on the M4/M25 slip road on 3 January 2007.
Rooney, 49, of Lanarkshire, drove like a "possessed" man, the court was told.
Christina Toner, 76, from Monifieth, and Yi Di Lin, 30, a Chinese national, died in the crash while John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died in hospital on 1 July.
Four passengers had to have limbs amputated, while 61 others were injured. Many had to be cut from the wreckage by emergency services.
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said the driver, from Carluke, kept breaking speed limits, as evident in the tachograph readings, as he left Victoria coach station for Heathrow.
Rooney's driving and heavy braking of the double-decker bus caused bags to fall off the luggage shelf, passengers said.
The court heard Rooney was delayed for half-an-hour when one family's luggage could not fit into the coach and he had to call a taxi to carry it.
As he reached the slip road for the M25, Rooney ignored the 40mph speed limit and was driving at 55mph.
Mr Latham said passengers noted the bus was being "driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time".
When the bus clipped a barrier after leaving Heathrow the driver lost control resulting in the bus skidding and travelling sideways before striking a crash barrier and overturning.
One passenger had said: "After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers."
Referring to the extent of injuries Mr Latham gave the example of Samia Berbiche, an Albanian national, who was with her three-year-old son and eight-month-old daughter.
In the crash she lost part of her right leg, her son lost part of his right leg and lower left arm, and her baby daughter lost one of her lower legs.
During an earlier hearing the court that Rooney had been caught speeding in passenger vehicles on five other occasions.
He was also disciplined by his employer in December 2004 for tampering with a speed limiter on his vehicle so he could drive faster.
Oxford Crown Court also banned the father-of-three from driving for three years.
Death crash coach driver jailed
A National Express coach driver who caused a terrifying crash which left three passengers dead while giving a safety announcement as he sped around a bend has been jailed for five years.
Philip Rooney, 49, was speaking over the vehicle's public address system while trying to negotiate a 40mph bend at 55mph when he lost control.
Father of three Rooney, of Larkshill Drive, Carluke, Scotland, was also banned from driving for three years at Oxford Crown Court after pleading guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
The court heard the double-decker coach carrying 69 passengers overturned and skidded along on its side on the M4/M25 slip road near Heathrow Airport.
Rooney was driving like he was "possessed" before the crash - probably in a bid to make up for lost time following a delay caused by a luggage problem, a judge was told.
Many of those on the overnight London to Aberdeen service had to be cut from the wreckage on January 3 last year.
Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and 30-year-old Yi Di Lin, a Chinese national, died following the crash.
John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died six months later in hospital.
Another 65 people were injured, including four who had to have amputations and 19 who suffered fractures.
BBC News reports on 26th November 2008...
M25 coach death driver is jailed
A coach driver who admitted causing the deaths of three passengers by dangerous driving in a crash near Heathrow Airport has been jailed for five years.
Oxford Crown Court heard that Philip Rooney was making a safety announcement while speeding round a bend when he lost control of the coach.
The London-to-Aberdeen National Express service overturned on the M4/M25 slip road on 3 January 2007.
Rooney, 49, of Lanarkshire, drove like a "possessed" man, the court was told.
Christina Toner, 76, from Monifieth, and Yi Di Lin, 30, a Chinese national, died in the crash while John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died in hospital on 1 July.
Four passengers had to have limbs amputated, while 61 others were injured. Many had to be cut from the wreckage by emergency services.
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said the driver, from Carluke, kept breaking speed limits, as evident in the tachograph readings, as he left Victoria coach station for Heathrow.
Rooney's driving and heavy braking of the double-decker bus caused bags to fall off the luggage shelf, passengers said.
The court heard Rooney was delayed for half-an-hour when one family's luggage could not fit into the coach and he had to call a taxi to carry it.
As he reached the slip road for the M25, Rooney ignored the 40mph speed limit and was driving at 55mph.
Mr Latham said passengers noted the bus was being "driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time".
When the bus clipped a barrier after leaving Heathrow the driver lost control resulting in the bus skidding and travelling sideways before striking a crash barrier and overturning.
One passenger had said: "After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers."
Referring to the extent of injuries Mr Latham gave the example of Samia Berbiche, an Albanian national, who was with her three-year-old son and eight-month-old daughter.
In the crash she lost part of her right leg, her son lost part of his right leg and lower left arm, and her baby daughter lost one of her lower legs.
During an earlier hearing the court that Rooney had been caught speeding in passenger vehicles on five other occasions.
He was also disciplined by his employer in December 2004 for tampering with a speed limiter on his vehicle so he could drive faster.
Oxford Crown Court also banned the father-of-three from driving for three years.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Daily Record reports on 25th November 2008...
Fury of bus smash victim's family after driver works as trucker while awaiting trial.
A BUS driver who killed three people in a horror crash was allowed to work as a trucker while awaiting trial.
Philip Rooney, 49, was taken on as a driver for a dairy near his home in Lanarkshire, it emerged yesterday.
Last night, the husband of one of the victims of the crash, Dundee gran Chris Toner, said he was "amazed" at the news.
Rooney had at first denied any blame for the crash which killed Chris, 76, and two other people near Heathrow airport in January 2007.
But last month, just days before the trial was due to start, he admitted causing the deaths by dangerous driving.
Rooney, who was sacked by National Express after the crash, will be sentenced tomorrow at Oxford Crown Court.
The father of one, from Carluke, has been warned he faces a substantial jail term.
Jimmy Toner, 84, from Monifieth, near Dundee, said: "I would have thought he'd have been banned until they sorted it all out. But the law is the law and we have to abide by whatever decision is made."
A police source said: "You might think there's no way someone like this should be working as a driver.
"But in the case of a truck or van driver, there's nothing to stop it unless a judge makes it a condition of his bail."
At the interview for the driving job at Quothquan Farms Dairy, Rooney moaned he was "innocent until proven guilty".
Transport manager Bob Mooney said yesterday he gave him the benefit of the doubt - and added: "If I'd known he was going to plead guilty, it would have changed things. "
More than 30 people, mostly Scots, were taken to hospital, several of them seriously injured, after Rooney crashed the London to Aberdeen coach on an M25 slip road.
UK 1884 blogs on 24th November 2008...
National Express..Wins-British Tax-payers-Lose Again all round!
Immigration ‘heaven’ for National Express at London’s Victoria Coach Station…
* But Hell for British people during the worst credit crisis in history as National Express creams off vast profits from the British taxpayer
On any day of the week at London’s Victoria Coach Station an invasion of staggering proportions is taking place and the only benefactor is National Express, creaming off millions each year from the long suffering British taxpayer.
Over two dozen times in the last year, News Alliance investigators have travelled on several different coaches from London Victoria Coach Station to different parts of the country. On each coach, particularly at peak times, half of the ‘passengers’ are immigrants being redistributed to relocation centres around the country.
The cost to the British taxpayer runs into millions of pounds for the cost of subsidised travel tickets to relocation centres around the UK and National Express is the only winner, financially.
But the rest of the nation, particularly the indigenous population, has to pay not just a heavy price in terms of subsidised travel tickets but an even greater strain and burden on public-funded resources. The British taxpayer is being screwed both ways by the corrupt New Labour regime and only a General Election will stop this outrageous waste of money.
News Alliance contacted National Express to ascertain if any figures have been collated to show the number of immigrants carried in one year on National Express coaches. But in a fashion so typical of modern ‘Britain’, we were told “no such figures exist and have never been collected by National Express. We operate an equal opportunites policy and collecting the figures you mention could be seen as racist and damage the image of the company.”
Even transport companies under the spell the New Labour regime have adopted the ‘policies’ of the Marxist thought police who have transformed the art of political lying into a commonplace professional practice.
Of course, the denial of National Express that such figures are kept and they would have no idea how to collect such figures is another symptom of the spread of professional lying. There is no doubt that National Express has exact figures for the numbers of immigrants using subsidised tickets to travel on coaches around the country.
The Home Office and the Treasury pick up the bill on ‘behalf’ of the British taxpayer and all costs incurred for subsidised tickets are then paid each quarter to National Express. This is a simple fact of basic economics but the ongoing credit crisis proves that New Labour has no idea how to manage what is left of the ‘British’ branch of the collapsing global economy.
Having received no joy from National Express employees at London Victoria, and having telephoned the head office in Birmingham to be greeted with another bucket of pig-swill, we set off for the Passport and Immigration Service office on Belgrave Road in Pimlico.
We were told in no uncertain terms by ‘foreign-born’ employees at the office that if we attempted to take any photographs of the building we would be “arrested under anti-terror laws”. We explained that the building is paid for by the British taxpayer and is a public place and no law in England prevents an individual from taking photographs in a public place.
We refused not to take photographs of the building and went outside to take photographs whereupon the foreign-born security guards from the Far East, called on other security teams to call the Metropolitan political police to come and arrest us.
Having made our point for the day we retired to a safe distance and determined to return at a later date with long-range telephoto lenses to put the building under daytime surveillance to determine what the Passport and Immigration Service has to hide?
Once this operation has been carried out, we will publish the details of what we uncover together with the entire surveillance product in the public interest. We also intend to send in undercover activists wearing concealed pinhole cameras to ascertain why such secrecy is required….
The message that comes out of this latest engagement against the bent forces of HMG and its army of foreign employees is that they can watch us 24 hours a day but we cannot and must never be allowed to watch them.
Together with the wretched money-making scam that is National Express [immigrant] coach ’services’, yesterday proved to be a thoroughly productive day on the frontline against the Police State and its crooked economic assets.
We have also advised the British National Party’s Richard Barnbrook of our investigation so that he can raise the matter on behald of Londoners in the GLA.
Hat Tip News-Alliance
Martin Ferguson blogs on 20th November 2008...
Stop the bus?
There is a nasty myth that Scotsmen are tight [with money].
You’ve probably heard the yarns: copper wire was invented by two Aberdonians fighting over a penny; Jock McTavish dropped a 20p, bent down to pick it up and it hit him on the back of the head. And so on.
I am Scottish. And while I wouldn’t consider myself a tight-arse with cash, I do like a bargain.
Whenever I travel north from London (where I work) to Glasgow or Manchester I fly or take the train. But unless you book years in advance, both can be pricey excursions.
However, this week I was lured by an £8 National Express bus fare from London Victoria to Manchester, saving about £100 on the cheapest available air and rail fare.
Incredible. Right? Well, yes and no. For pure price, the inter city bus can’t be beaten. But I’m struggling to think of a more disappointing and incomfortable travel experience.
The five-hour journey (which would have been two-and-a-half hours on the train) was arduous. There was just enough room to read a tabloid newspaper. But no room for a laptop (or a power point in which to plug one) ruling out as a modern day business travel option.
Even in these tough economic times I can’t envisage any company encouraging its staff to travel by bus. It’s just too bloody time consuming, no matter how cheap the fare.
I have the return journey in a few days. I’m not looking forward to it. But I think it will be the last time.
Fury of bus smash victim's family after driver works as trucker while awaiting trial.
A BUS driver who killed three people in a horror crash was allowed to work as a trucker while awaiting trial.
Philip Rooney, 49, was taken on as a driver for a dairy near his home in Lanarkshire, it emerged yesterday.
Last night, the husband of one of the victims of the crash, Dundee gran Chris Toner, said he was "amazed" at the news.
Rooney had at first denied any blame for the crash which killed Chris, 76, and two other people near Heathrow airport in January 2007.
But last month, just days before the trial was due to start, he admitted causing the deaths by dangerous driving.
Rooney, who was sacked by National Express after the crash, will be sentenced tomorrow at Oxford Crown Court.
The father of one, from Carluke, has been warned he faces a substantial jail term.
Jimmy Toner, 84, from Monifieth, near Dundee, said: "I would have thought he'd have been banned until they sorted it all out. But the law is the law and we have to abide by whatever decision is made."
A police source said: "You might think there's no way someone like this should be working as a driver.
"But in the case of a truck or van driver, there's nothing to stop it unless a judge makes it a condition of his bail."
At the interview for the driving job at Quothquan Farms Dairy, Rooney moaned he was "innocent until proven guilty".
Transport manager Bob Mooney said yesterday he gave him the benefit of the doubt - and added: "If I'd known he was going to plead guilty, it would have changed things. "
More than 30 people, mostly Scots, were taken to hospital, several of them seriously injured, after Rooney crashed the London to Aberdeen coach on an M25 slip road.
UK 1884 blogs on 24th November 2008...
National Express..Wins-British Tax-payers-Lose Again all round!
Immigration ‘heaven’ for National Express at London’s Victoria Coach Station…
* But Hell for British people during the worst credit crisis in history as National Express creams off vast profits from the British taxpayer
On any day of the week at London’s Victoria Coach Station an invasion of staggering proportions is taking place and the only benefactor is National Express, creaming off millions each year from the long suffering British taxpayer.
Over two dozen times in the last year, News Alliance investigators have travelled on several different coaches from London Victoria Coach Station to different parts of the country. On each coach, particularly at peak times, half of the ‘passengers’ are immigrants being redistributed to relocation centres around the country.
The cost to the British taxpayer runs into millions of pounds for the cost of subsidised travel tickets to relocation centres around the UK and National Express is the only winner, financially.
But the rest of the nation, particularly the indigenous population, has to pay not just a heavy price in terms of subsidised travel tickets but an even greater strain and burden on public-funded resources. The British taxpayer is being screwed both ways by the corrupt New Labour regime and only a General Election will stop this outrageous waste of money.
News Alliance contacted National Express to ascertain if any figures have been collated to show the number of immigrants carried in one year on National Express coaches. But in a fashion so typical of modern ‘Britain’, we were told “no such figures exist and have never been collected by National Express. We operate an equal opportunites policy and collecting the figures you mention could be seen as racist and damage the image of the company.”
Even transport companies under the spell the New Labour regime have adopted the ‘policies’ of the Marxist thought police who have transformed the art of political lying into a commonplace professional practice.
Of course, the denial of National Express that such figures are kept and they would have no idea how to collect such figures is another symptom of the spread of professional lying. There is no doubt that National Express has exact figures for the numbers of immigrants using subsidised tickets to travel on coaches around the country.
The Home Office and the Treasury pick up the bill on ‘behalf’ of the British taxpayer and all costs incurred for subsidised tickets are then paid each quarter to National Express. This is a simple fact of basic economics but the ongoing credit crisis proves that New Labour has no idea how to manage what is left of the ‘British’ branch of the collapsing global economy.
Having received no joy from National Express employees at London Victoria, and having telephoned the head office in Birmingham to be greeted with another bucket of pig-swill, we set off for the Passport and Immigration Service office on Belgrave Road in Pimlico.
We were told in no uncertain terms by ‘foreign-born’ employees at the office that if we attempted to take any photographs of the building we would be “arrested under anti-terror laws”. We explained that the building is paid for by the British taxpayer and is a public place and no law in England prevents an individual from taking photographs in a public place.
We refused not to take photographs of the building and went outside to take photographs whereupon the foreign-born security guards from the Far East, called on other security teams to call the Metropolitan political police to come and arrest us.
Having made our point for the day we retired to a safe distance and determined to return at a later date with long-range telephoto lenses to put the building under daytime surveillance to determine what the Passport and Immigration Service has to hide?
Once this operation has been carried out, we will publish the details of what we uncover together with the entire surveillance product in the public interest. We also intend to send in undercover activists wearing concealed pinhole cameras to ascertain why such secrecy is required….
The message that comes out of this latest engagement against the bent forces of HMG and its army of foreign employees is that they can watch us 24 hours a day but we cannot and must never be allowed to watch them.
Together with the wretched money-making scam that is National Express [immigrant] coach ’services’, yesterday proved to be a thoroughly productive day on the frontline against the Police State and its crooked economic assets.
We have also advised the British National Party’s Richard Barnbrook of our investigation so that he can raise the matter on behald of Londoners in the GLA.
Hat Tip News-Alliance
Martin Ferguson blogs on 20th November 2008...
Stop the bus?
There is a nasty myth that Scotsmen are tight [with money].
You’ve probably heard the yarns: copper wire was invented by two Aberdonians fighting over a penny; Jock McTavish dropped a 20p, bent down to pick it up and it hit him on the back of the head. And so on.
I am Scottish. And while I wouldn’t consider myself a tight-arse with cash, I do like a bargain.
Whenever I travel north from London (where I work) to Glasgow or Manchester I fly or take the train. But unless you book years in advance, both can be pricey excursions.
However, this week I was lured by an £8 National Express bus fare from London Victoria to Manchester, saving about £100 on the cheapest available air and rail fare.
Incredible. Right? Well, yes and no. For pure price, the inter city bus can’t be beaten. But I’m struggling to think of a more disappointing and incomfortable travel experience.
The five-hour journey (which would have been two-and-a-half hours on the train) was arduous. There was just enough room to read a tabloid newspaper. But no room for a laptop (or a power point in which to plug one) ruling out as a modern day business travel option.
Even in these tough economic times I can’t envisage any company encouraging its staff to travel by bus. It’s just too bloody time consuming, no matter how cheap the fare.
I have the return journey in a few days. I’m not looking forward to it. But I think it will be the last time.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Felixstowe Radio blogs on 18th November 2008...
Had a lovely start to the day yesterday. Left home early to take the National Express bus to London. It's cheap, convenient and comfortable. The outward journey was lovely. A beautiful Germanic lady who used the service every week explained it all to me at the bus stop. That was extremely useful because there was no information at the stop about the service at all.
The bus arrived, a little late, but she explained that was because the timetable at Chelmsford had not changed, so we would have to wait 30 minutes once we got there - so we just ambled along at the start.
The driver was extremely helpful. There was some discussion about the fare and he hauled out a huge book full of fare tables, which left me quite faint. Finally a fare was agreed, I paid, he issued me with a receipt and a piece of yellow paper that said Return Fare (or something similar).
The driver gave us all very clear instructions before we left, and so we were all safely strapped in, knowing what to do in an emergency and off we went.
The atmosphere was cordial. The lovely lady kept us informed of possible problems ahead and I relaxed, read a book, looked out of the window, enjoyed the journey.
I had a wonderful day in London, visiting several old haunts.
Arriving early at Victoria Coach Station in the afternoon for my journey home I took a look around. It is a disgusting place. The toilets stunk from 20 feet away, and passengers are compelled to pay 20p for the service. Not a place to impress visitors. I left, crossed the road, enjoyed a proper coffee, and some relief, in a cafe nearby.
Our coach arrived at Exit 5. A different driver. I'd been told by my Germanic beauty he was a Geordie and called everyone Pet.
Not so.
I handed him my yellow return ticket, and started to climb aboard.
'Just a minute. You're supposed to have exchanged this at the office.'
'What do you mean? It's a return ticket?' I said as I continued to climb the steps into the coach.
'Hold on pal, don't walk off, you're going nowhere with this.'
I'm not easily upset, but I was now.
'Look, I was sold a ticket by the driver this morning. As he handed me the two pieces of paper he said, 'the top one, the blue is your receipt, the yellow one is your return ticket. If I was supposed to exchange it he should have told me. I'm not going to do what you say now.'
'Well, you can't travel on this.'
' Try and stop me.' I said.
'He shouldn't have sold you a day return, we don't do day returns.'
By this time I'd had enough, and sat down.
My lovely day had been ruined by this driver's attitude. I sat in the coach fuming all the way home. By this morning, as I write this blog, I'd hoped this silly incident would have passed but it hasn't.
Ironically I'd planned to make a radio programme about my day, travelling to London by coach, doing my business, then taking a slow walk through parts of London that I'd known in the past. I'll still do that, but before I do I'll need to get an explanation from National Express, partly about the training in customer relations their drivers receive.
The customer is always right. That's a basic precept. If he's wrong then that should be pointed out to avoid it happening again, and some way found to get round the problem. In this case the problem was not mine. I'd presented what I believed to be a valid ticket to the driver. He'd then blamed me - for some reason that did not make sense.
Whatever happened it ruined my day. I was extremely upset. It was the injustice that really hurt. When you behave correctly and are then falsely accused it can be very painful.
Let's see what National Express have to say. I'll report back.
Gazette Live (Teesside, Middlesbrough and the North East) reports on 17th November 2008...
Abandoned at service station Sharni was left shaky and very scared
A TEENAGE girl was stranded at a service station in the early hours and left to cross a busy motorway after a mix-up over her National Express coach.
Sharni Courtley-Russell, 19, of Guisborough, was on her way back to Sheffield Hallam University on Sunday when she noticed her bus had gone past the Sheffield turn off.
She immediately informed the driver who pulled into Tibshelf Services in Derbyshire and left her there alone at 1.10am.
Sharni claims the driver told her she would have to get to the other side of the motorway to wait for another coach even though there was no bridge.
“It would have been really dangerous to cross six lanes of traffic in the pitch black,” said the student who ended up getting into a car with a stranger to get to the other side of the road.
Sharni, who is studying her first year of Environmental Management, said she was on the second leg of her journey from Leeds to Sheffield when it turned into a nightmare.
“Basically we were going down the motorway and we went straight past the Sheffield turn off.
“I woke up the second driver and he said they were going straight to London.
“The drivers were totally unsympathetic. They practically accused me of getting on the wrong coach even though they had checked me onto it, it was the right number, in the right bay at Leeds depot and they’d checked my name off the passenger list and seen my ticket clearly showing I was going to Sheffield.”
The coach dropped the former Laurence Jackson School pupil off at Tibshelf Services, 27 miles from Sheffield.
Sharni, who appeared in the Gazette three years ago when she broke her back in a sledging accident, said: “I was really shaky and scared, I did not know where I was.
“I look really quite young for my age. But they did not ask how old I was. I could have been a minor for all they knew.
“There was one woman there and as soon as she asked if I was OK I just broke down in tears.
“She said I did not want to be crossing the motorway. It was pitch black.
“Luckily this woman found a member of staff to drive me over.”
Sharni said she waited an hour and 30 minutes before National Express called her about another bus but by that time her mum was so worried about her she had phoned her uncle, who lived nearby, to go and pick her up.
The next day Stephen Kenneth Blagg, eight, from Whinney Banks, Middlesbrough died after being hit by a BMW as he ran across the A19 near Teesside Leisure Park.
His story prompted Sharni to contact the Gazette as she says she too could have been killed if she had tried to cross the motorway on foot.
A spokeswoman for National Express said they would refund Sharni’s ticket and her uncle’s petrol costs.
Had a lovely start to the day yesterday. Left home early to take the National Express bus to London. It's cheap, convenient and comfortable. The outward journey was lovely. A beautiful Germanic lady who used the service every week explained it all to me at the bus stop. That was extremely useful because there was no information at the stop about the service at all.
The bus arrived, a little late, but she explained that was because the timetable at Chelmsford had not changed, so we would have to wait 30 minutes once we got there - so we just ambled along at the start.
The driver was extremely helpful. There was some discussion about the fare and he hauled out a huge book full of fare tables, which left me quite faint. Finally a fare was agreed, I paid, he issued me with a receipt and a piece of yellow paper that said Return Fare (or something similar).
The driver gave us all very clear instructions before we left, and so we were all safely strapped in, knowing what to do in an emergency and off we went.
The atmosphere was cordial. The lovely lady kept us informed of possible problems ahead and I relaxed, read a book, looked out of the window, enjoyed the journey.
I had a wonderful day in London, visiting several old haunts.
Arriving early at Victoria Coach Station in the afternoon for my journey home I took a look around. It is a disgusting place. The toilets stunk from 20 feet away, and passengers are compelled to pay 20p for the service. Not a place to impress visitors. I left, crossed the road, enjoyed a proper coffee, and some relief, in a cafe nearby.
Our coach arrived at Exit 5. A different driver. I'd been told by my Germanic beauty he was a Geordie and called everyone Pet.
Not so.
I handed him my yellow return ticket, and started to climb aboard.
'Just a minute. You're supposed to have exchanged this at the office.'
'What do you mean? It's a return ticket?' I said as I continued to climb the steps into the coach.
'Hold on pal, don't walk off, you're going nowhere with this.'
I'm not easily upset, but I was now.
'Look, I was sold a ticket by the driver this morning. As he handed me the two pieces of paper he said, 'the top one, the blue is your receipt, the yellow one is your return ticket. If I was supposed to exchange it he should have told me. I'm not going to do what you say now.'
'Well, you can't travel on this.'
' Try and stop me.' I said.
'He shouldn't have sold you a day return, we don't do day returns.'
By this time I'd had enough, and sat down.
My lovely day had been ruined by this driver's attitude. I sat in the coach fuming all the way home. By this morning, as I write this blog, I'd hoped this silly incident would have passed but it hasn't.
Ironically I'd planned to make a radio programme about my day, travelling to London by coach, doing my business, then taking a slow walk through parts of London that I'd known in the past. I'll still do that, but before I do I'll need to get an explanation from National Express, partly about the training in customer relations their drivers receive.
The customer is always right. That's a basic precept. If he's wrong then that should be pointed out to avoid it happening again, and some way found to get round the problem. In this case the problem was not mine. I'd presented what I believed to be a valid ticket to the driver. He'd then blamed me - for some reason that did not make sense.
Whatever happened it ruined my day. I was extremely upset. It was the injustice that really hurt. When you behave correctly and are then falsely accused it can be very painful.
Let's see what National Express have to say. I'll report back.
Gazette Live (Teesside, Middlesbrough and the North East) reports on 17th November 2008...
Abandoned at service station Sharni was left shaky and very scared
A TEENAGE girl was stranded at a service station in the early hours and left to cross a busy motorway after a mix-up over her National Express coach.
Sharni Courtley-Russell, 19, of Guisborough, was on her way back to Sheffield Hallam University on Sunday when she noticed her bus had gone past the Sheffield turn off.
She immediately informed the driver who pulled into Tibshelf Services in Derbyshire and left her there alone at 1.10am.
Sharni claims the driver told her she would have to get to the other side of the motorway to wait for another coach even though there was no bridge.
“It would have been really dangerous to cross six lanes of traffic in the pitch black,” said the student who ended up getting into a car with a stranger to get to the other side of the road.
Sharni, who is studying her first year of Environmental Management, said she was on the second leg of her journey from Leeds to Sheffield when it turned into a nightmare.
“Basically we were going down the motorway and we went straight past the Sheffield turn off.
“I woke up the second driver and he said they were going straight to London.
“The drivers were totally unsympathetic. They practically accused me of getting on the wrong coach even though they had checked me onto it, it was the right number, in the right bay at Leeds depot and they’d checked my name off the passenger list and seen my ticket clearly showing I was going to Sheffield.”
The coach dropped the former Laurence Jackson School pupil off at Tibshelf Services, 27 miles from Sheffield.
Sharni, who appeared in the Gazette three years ago when she broke her back in a sledging accident, said: “I was really shaky and scared, I did not know where I was.
“I look really quite young for my age. But they did not ask how old I was. I could have been a minor for all they knew.
“There was one woman there and as soon as she asked if I was OK I just broke down in tears.
“She said I did not want to be crossing the motorway. It was pitch black.
“Luckily this woman found a member of staff to drive me over.”
Sharni said she waited an hour and 30 minutes before National Express called her about another bus but by that time her mum was so worried about her she had phoned her uncle, who lived nearby, to go and pick her up.
The next day Stephen Kenneth Blagg, eight, from Whinney Banks, Middlesbrough died after being hit by a BMW as he ran across the A19 near Teesside Leisure Park.
His story prompted Sharni to contact the Gazette as she says she too could have been killed if she had tried to cross the motorway on foot.
A spokeswoman for National Express said they would refund Sharni’s ticket and her uncle’s petrol costs.
Friday, October 17, 2008
The Blackpool Gazette reports on 17th October 2008...
Fylde passenger in coach crash horror
Published Date:
17 October 2008
By Lisa Ettridge
THE driver of a Blackpool coach carrying a pregnant Fylde coast teenager has been arrested on suspicion of drink driving following a crash.
Clare Dunne, 19, from Fleetwood who is five months pregnant, boarded the London bound National Express coach in Blackpool this morning.
The teen has told how she feared she was about to give birth when the bus left the road and hit the traffic lights by the side of a pelican crossing on Blackpool Road, Preston.
Miss Dunne said: "I just couldn't believe what was happening, I felt the bang and was scared I was giving birth.
"The bus was quite badly damaged, the bumper actually fell off and the driver seemed very shaken.
"The Police arrived and took him away and we were told he had been arrested for drink driving."
A Lancashire Police spokeswoman said: "I can confirm a 40-year-old Manchester man was arrested this morning on Blackpool Road under suspicion of having excess alcohol while in charge of a vehicle.
Chris Gee of the Blackpool Citizen filed the same but far briefer story on 17th October 2008...
Preston coach smash: driver quizzed over drink driving
A coach driver has been arrested this morning on suspicion of drink driving after a London bound service left the road and collided with traffic lights.
The National Express coach, which had departed Blackpool early today, left the road close to a pedestrian crossing in Blackpool Road, close to Preston.
A Lancashire Police spokesman said: "I can confirm a 40-year-old Manchester man was arrested this morning on Blackpool Road under suspicion of being in charge of a vehicle with excess alcohol.”
Topper finishes off his post on 17th October 2008 with ...
My National Express coach was supposed to leave Victoria at 9pm but was delayed by 90 minutes so didn't get back to Exeter until just before 3am so I was very tired at work that day as I didn't really sleep on the coach as I had a smelly bastard sat next to me between Heathrow and Taunton.
The Halifax Evening Courier reports on 16th October 2008...
Jail for menace who attacked bus driver: She punched him as he was trying to steer
Published Date: 16 October 2008
By Suzanne Rutter
A DRUNKEN woman who attacked a bus driver at the wheel of a moving coach has been jailed for 12 weeks.
Passenger Jill Tibbetts, 48, pleaded guilty to assault at a previous hearing.
Andy Wills, prosecuting at Calderdale Magistrates Court, said Tibbets grabbed Peter Wortley by the hair, slammed his face against a window and punched him as he drove the National Express coach from Barnsley towards Halifax bus station.
A passenger had alerted Mr Wortley to Tibbett. He kept an eye on her but became worried when she spilled alcohol. He tried to calm the situation down but she called him an "idiot."
At Huddersfield bus station Mr Wortley told his station manager who advised him to call police, but Tibbetts seemed to calm down.
However, she carried on drinking so Mr Wortley phoned police. When she heard him she became aggressive and screamed at him to be let off the coach.
When he refused she grabbed him by the hair and rammed his head into a window while the coach was moving into Halifax bus station.
She also punched him and tried to press buttons on the dashboard so she could get off.
Mr Wortley managed to push her off and stop the coach.
He tried to restrain her on the floor but let her go when she struggled.
She ran away but left her handbag on board.
Mr Wortley suffered a bruised scalp and face plus headaches.
He was off work for seven weeks, suffering from stress and anxiety.
He lost £1,162.11 in wages.
Richard Brown, for Tibbetts, of Kershaw Crescent, Luddenden Foot, said she had sought help for her drinking problem from her doctor and Calderdale Substance Misuse Service.
"She is a Jekyll and Hyde character. When not drinking she is the most polite and pleasant person you could meet but when she drinks she acts in a wholly illogical way. She is sorry."
Sentencing her, chairwoman of the bench Annabel Davis said: "The victim was providing a service to the public. There could have been serious danger to Mr Wortley, the passengers and to other members of the public. The aggravating factor was that it was a moving vehicle.
"And Miss Tibbetts was drunk."
Fylde passenger in coach crash horror
Published Date:
17 October 2008
By Lisa Ettridge
THE driver of a Blackpool coach carrying a pregnant Fylde coast teenager has been arrested on suspicion of drink driving following a crash.
Clare Dunne, 19, from Fleetwood who is five months pregnant, boarded the London bound National Express coach in Blackpool this morning.
The teen has told how she feared she was about to give birth when the bus left the road and hit the traffic lights by the side of a pelican crossing on Blackpool Road, Preston.
Miss Dunne said: "I just couldn't believe what was happening, I felt the bang and was scared I was giving birth.
"The bus was quite badly damaged, the bumper actually fell off and the driver seemed very shaken.
"The Police arrived and took him away and we were told he had been arrested for drink driving."
A Lancashire Police spokeswoman said: "I can confirm a 40-year-old Manchester man was arrested this morning on Blackpool Road under suspicion of having excess alcohol while in charge of a vehicle.
Chris Gee of the Blackpool Citizen filed the same but far briefer story on 17th October 2008...
Preston coach smash: driver quizzed over drink driving
A coach driver has been arrested this morning on suspicion of drink driving after a London bound service left the road and collided with traffic lights.
The National Express coach, which had departed Blackpool early today, left the road close to a pedestrian crossing in Blackpool Road, close to Preston.
A Lancashire Police spokesman said: "I can confirm a 40-year-old Manchester man was arrested this morning on Blackpool Road under suspicion of being in charge of a vehicle with excess alcohol.”
Topper finishes off his post on 17th October 2008 with ...
My National Express coach was supposed to leave Victoria at 9pm but was delayed by 90 minutes so didn't get back to Exeter until just before 3am so I was very tired at work that day as I didn't really sleep on the coach as I had a smelly bastard sat next to me between Heathrow and Taunton.
The Halifax Evening Courier reports on 16th October 2008...
Jail for menace who attacked bus driver: She punched him as he was trying to steer
Published Date: 16 October 2008
By Suzanne Rutter
A DRUNKEN woman who attacked a bus driver at the wheel of a moving coach has been jailed for 12 weeks.
Passenger Jill Tibbetts, 48, pleaded guilty to assault at a previous hearing.
Andy Wills, prosecuting at Calderdale Magistrates Court, said Tibbets grabbed Peter Wortley by the hair, slammed his face against a window and punched him as he drove the National Express coach from Barnsley towards Halifax bus station.
A passenger had alerted Mr Wortley to Tibbett. He kept an eye on her but became worried when she spilled alcohol. He tried to calm the situation down but she called him an "idiot."
At Huddersfield bus station Mr Wortley told his station manager who advised him to call police, but Tibbetts seemed to calm down.
However, she carried on drinking so Mr Wortley phoned police. When she heard him she became aggressive and screamed at him to be let off the coach.
When he refused she grabbed him by the hair and rammed his head into a window while the coach was moving into Halifax bus station.
She also punched him and tried to press buttons on the dashboard so she could get off.
Mr Wortley managed to push her off and stop the coach.
He tried to restrain her on the floor but let her go when she struggled.
She ran away but left her handbag on board.
Mr Wortley suffered a bruised scalp and face plus headaches.
He was off work for seven weeks, suffering from stress and anxiety.
He lost £1,162.11 in wages.
Richard Brown, for Tibbetts, of Kershaw Crescent, Luddenden Foot, said she had sought help for her drinking problem from her doctor and Calderdale Substance Misuse Service.
"She is a Jekyll and Hyde character. When not drinking she is the most polite and pleasant person you could meet but when she drinks she acts in a wholly illogical way. She is sorry."
Sentencing her, chairwoman of the bench Annabel Davis said: "The victim was providing a service to the public. There could have been serious danger to Mr Wortley, the passengers and to other members of the public. The aggravating factor was that it was a moving vehicle.
"And Miss Tibbetts was drunk."
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Scotsman reports on 16th October 2008...
Driver faces 'substantial' jail term over coach crash
By ALASTAIR DALTON
TRANSPORT CORRESPONDENT
THE driver of a Scotland-bound coach faces a "substantial" jail sentence after admitting causing a horrific crash, which killed three people on a motorway sliproad.
Philip Rooney, of Carluke, South Lanarkshire, will be sentenced next month after pleading guilty to death by dangerous driving when he appeared at the Old Bailey in London yesterday.
The 48-year-old was behind the wheel of a National Express double-decker with 67 passengers on board when it overturned on a sliproad between the M4 and M25 near Heathrow Airport on 3 January last year.
Christina Toner, 76, of Monifieth, near Dundee, and Yi Di Lin, 30, a Chinese national, died in the crash.
John Carruthers, 78, from Chertsey in Surrey, died six months later in hospital.
Mrs Toner's husband, Jimmy, a former player for Dundee FC and Leeds United, was seriously injured in the crash.
Several passengers lost limbs, including a mother, her seven-month-old daughter and her son, aged three.
No-one on board escaped unscathed.
A rescue worker, speaking at the time of the accident, said of the mother and her two children: "All three were trapped by tangled metal and the weight of the overturned bus.
"That poor family will have a permanent memory of this accident, because they have each lost a limb. It is almost too terrible to imagine."
A surgeon who helped to treat the injured said some of them had been "thrown or dragged along grass or mud, because there was heavy contamination of all the wounds".
The London-Aberdeen coach, which had called at Heathrow just before it crashed, was also due to have stopped at Carlisle, Hamilton, Glasgow and Dundee. Most of the passengers were travelling to Glasgow.
The coach left Victoria in central London at 10:30pm and crashed at 11:45pm. No other vehicle was involved. Several passengers told relatives the coach had been running half an hour late, but National Express said the vehicle had left Heathrow only ten minutes behind schedule. The firm withdrew its fleet of 12 Neoplan Skyliner double-deckers after the crash, as a precaution.
They were returned to service five months later after no safety problems were detected.
At yesterday's hearing, Mr Justice Gross told Rooney: "Can I make it plain that substantial custody is inevitable?"
Rooney admitted three charges of death by dangerous driving, and was released on bail. He will be sentenced on 24 November, following preparation of background reports.
Rooney, and a co-driver travelling with him, worked for Park's of Hamilton, which operated all London-Scotland services for National Express.
James Lant, the stepbrother of one of the injured passengers, said Rooney's guilty plea had been the "right decision".
Michael Milbourne, who was travelling home to Symington in Lanarkshire after spending time with relatives in London, suffered a fractured vertebra in the crash.
Mr Lant said: "A lot of people lost limbs and some died in that crash. I think it's the right decision."
Commenting on his stepbrother's mental and physical health as a result of the crash, he said: "He's never quite been the same.
"He still gets these terrible headaches and has trouble with his back.
"He always looks on the bright side, so he's OK in himself, but at his age it's not good to have been in a crash – it's not good at any age."
Family and friends paid tribute after the crash to Mrs Toner's "immense generosity of spirit".
They said she was "wonderful and wild, full of laughter, happiness and generosity. She was beautiful.
"Always the life and soul of the party, she lit up any room."
...Salsabil now gives a rare input to focus the readers attention further: look again at the text above from The Scotsman "The coach left Victoria in central London at 10:30pm and crashed at 11:45pm. No other vehicle was involved. Several passengers told relatives the coach had been running half an hour late, but National Express said the vehicle had left Heathrow only ten minutes behind schedule."
Compare that quotation with one from David's bus driving blog below and then draw your own conclusions: "A grim warning to all bus and coach drivers, and in fact to any driver who is running late and wants to make up time."...
David with his bus driving blog posts on 16th October 2008...
Readers may remember this incident that happened almost two years ago now in January 2007 involving a National Express Coach leaving London Airport. Finally the case has come to court after what must have been an agonising wait both for the driver and the passengers on board and the families of the passengers who died as a result of this crash.
A grim warning to all bus and coach drivers, and in fact to any driver who is running late and wants to make up time.
From the BBC website.
A National Express coach driver has pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of three passengers by dangerous driving in a crash near Heathrow Airport.
Philip Rooney, from Lanarkshire, was driving the London-to-Aberdeen service when it overturned on the M4/M25 slip road in January 2007.
Mr Rooney, 48, pleaded guilty to three counts when he appeared at the Old Bailey.
He was released on bail until 24 November when he will be sentenced.
Two people died soon after the crash and a third died six months later.
Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and Yi Di Lin, 30, a Chinese national, died in the crash while John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey died in hospital on 1 July.
The accident involved a Neoplan Skyliner operated by Trathens Coaches.
Following the incident, National Express immediately suspended use of the 12 double-decker coaches operating on its network.
No safety problems were found with the coaches which were reinstated five months later.
Rooney will be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court.
Original item from the BBC 04 Jan 2007
The Gormandizer Man writes on 16th October 2008...
National Express Marketing
I was genuinely excited to receive the following email in my inbox this morning:
NationalExpress1
You see I'm planning to get up home to see family and friends after the New Year. A few months away yet, but I thought that as there's a deal on I can book well in advance and get a bumper deal! The dates I'm looking to travel have just been released, so there should be no problems about availability. And sure, the cheapest deals are usually to Leeds or York or somewhere, but surely I could still get a deal for about £30 I thought. Well, they certainly built up my hopes:
NationalExpress2
So I enter the dates, press a few buttons and get out my debit card to book up my well-priced trip. I've booked it before their stated deadline of 31st October and I'm booking it 3 months in advance so I fit the criteria!
Hmmm...
NationalExpress3
It would seem that the cheapest journey available is the walk on fare of £99.30.
So I've been sent an email saying the further in the future I book the better deals I'll get, and saying they have extra special deals on! Am I missing something here? The dates aren't special ones - they're not Christmas Eve or anything. Does anyone have any ideas on why National Express have failed so miserably in their promise to me?
To compound matters I thought I'd quickly look up the same dates to fly up there... just in case there's a festival or something I'm missing. Surely Easyjet's prices would be high too?
NationalExpress4
So for the same dates it's more or less half price. Why have I been sent an email promising me extra value fares if the company cannot deliver (even remotely) on their promise?
National Express: FAIL.
Driver faces 'substantial' jail term over coach crash
By ALASTAIR DALTON
TRANSPORT CORRESPONDENT
THE driver of a Scotland-bound coach faces a "substantial" jail sentence after admitting causing a horrific crash, which killed three people on a motorway sliproad.
Philip Rooney, of Carluke, South Lanarkshire, will be sentenced next month after pleading guilty to death by dangerous driving when he appeared at the Old Bailey in London yesterday.
The 48-year-old was behind the wheel of a National Express double-decker with 67 passengers on board when it overturned on a sliproad between the M4 and M25 near Heathrow Airport on 3 January last year.
Christina Toner, 76, of Monifieth, near Dundee, and Yi Di Lin, 30, a Chinese national, died in the crash.
John Carruthers, 78, from Chertsey in Surrey, died six months later in hospital.
Mrs Toner's husband, Jimmy, a former player for Dundee FC and Leeds United, was seriously injured in the crash.
Several passengers lost limbs, including a mother, her seven-month-old daughter and her son, aged three.
No-one on board escaped unscathed.
A rescue worker, speaking at the time of the accident, said of the mother and her two children: "All three were trapped by tangled metal and the weight of the overturned bus.
"That poor family will have a permanent memory of this accident, because they have each lost a limb. It is almost too terrible to imagine."
A surgeon who helped to treat the injured said some of them had been "thrown or dragged along grass or mud, because there was heavy contamination of all the wounds".
The London-Aberdeen coach, which had called at Heathrow just before it crashed, was also due to have stopped at Carlisle, Hamilton, Glasgow and Dundee. Most of the passengers were travelling to Glasgow.
The coach left Victoria in central London at 10:30pm and crashed at 11:45pm. No other vehicle was involved. Several passengers told relatives the coach had been running half an hour late, but National Express said the vehicle had left Heathrow only ten minutes behind schedule. The firm withdrew its fleet of 12 Neoplan Skyliner double-deckers after the crash, as a precaution.
They were returned to service five months later after no safety problems were detected.
At yesterday's hearing, Mr Justice Gross told Rooney: "Can I make it plain that substantial custody is inevitable?"
Rooney admitted three charges of death by dangerous driving, and was released on bail. He will be sentenced on 24 November, following preparation of background reports.
Rooney, and a co-driver travelling with him, worked for Park's of Hamilton, which operated all London-Scotland services for National Express.
James Lant, the stepbrother of one of the injured passengers, said Rooney's guilty plea had been the "right decision".
Michael Milbourne, who was travelling home to Symington in Lanarkshire after spending time with relatives in London, suffered a fractured vertebra in the crash.
Mr Lant said: "A lot of people lost limbs and some died in that crash. I think it's the right decision."
Commenting on his stepbrother's mental and physical health as a result of the crash, he said: "He's never quite been the same.
"He still gets these terrible headaches and has trouble with his back.
"He always looks on the bright side, so he's OK in himself, but at his age it's not good to have been in a crash – it's not good at any age."
Family and friends paid tribute after the crash to Mrs Toner's "immense generosity of spirit".
They said she was "wonderful and wild, full of laughter, happiness and generosity. She was beautiful.
"Always the life and soul of the party, she lit up any room."
...Salsabil now gives a rare input to focus the readers attention further: look again at the text above from The Scotsman "The coach left Victoria in central London at 10:30pm and crashed at 11:45pm. No other vehicle was involved. Several passengers told relatives the coach had been running half an hour late, but National Express said the vehicle had left Heathrow only ten minutes behind schedule."
Compare that quotation with one from David's bus driving blog below and then draw your own conclusions: "A grim warning to all bus and coach drivers, and in fact to any driver who is running late and wants to make up time."...
David with his bus driving blog posts on 16th October 2008...
Readers may remember this incident that happened almost two years ago now in January 2007 involving a National Express Coach leaving London Airport. Finally the case has come to court after what must have been an agonising wait both for the driver and the passengers on board and the families of the passengers who died as a result of this crash.
A grim warning to all bus and coach drivers, and in fact to any driver who is running late and wants to make up time.
From the BBC website.
A National Express coach driver has pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of three passengers by dangerous driving in a crash near Heathrow Airport.
Philip Rooney, from Lanarkshire, was driving the London-to-Aberdeen service when it overturned on the M4/M25 slip road in January 2007.
Mr Rooney, 48, pleaded guilty to three counts when he appeared at the Old Bailey.
He was released on bail until 24 November when he will be sentenced.
Two people died soon after the crash and a third died six months later.
Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and Yi Di Lin, 30, a Chinese national, died in the crash while John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey died in hospital on 1 July.
The accident involved a Neoplan Skyliner operated by Trathens Coaches.
Following the incident, National Express immediately suspended use of the 12 double-decker coaches operating on its network.
No safety problems were found with the coaches which were reinstated five months later.
Rooney will be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court.
Original item from the BBC 04 Jan 2007
The Gormandizer Man writes on 16th October 2008...
National Express Marketing
I was genuinely excited to receive the following email in my inbox this morning:
NationalExpress1
You see I'm planning to get up home to see family and friends after the New Year. A few months away yet, but I thought that as there's a deal on I can book well in advance and get a bumper deal! The dates I'm looking to travel have just been released, so there should be no problems about availability. And sure, the cheapest deals are usually to Leeds or York or somewhere, but surely I could still get a deal for about £30 I thought. Well, they certainly built up my hopes:
NationalExpress2
So I enter the dates, press a few buttons and get out my debit card to book up my well-priced trip. I've booked it before their stated deadline of 31st October and I'm booking it 3 months in advance so I fit the criteria!
Hmmm...
NationalExpress3
It would seem that the cheapest journey available is the walk on fare of £99.30.
So I've been sent an email saying the further in the future I book the better deals I'll get, and saying they have extra special deals on! Am I missing something here? The dates aren't special ones - they're not Christmas Eve or anything. Does anyone have any ideas on why National Express have failed so miserably in their promise to me?
To compound matters I thought I'd quickly look up the same dates to fly up there... just in case there's a festival or something I'm missing. Surely Easyjet's prices would be high too?
NationalExpress4
So for the same dates it's more or less half price. Why have I been sent an email promising me extra value fares if the company cannot deliver (even remotely) on their promise?
National Express: FAIL.
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