Peshwari Naan

Kizt wrote on 8th September 2006...

Anyone want some free tickets?!
I booked some tickets with the National Express coach. It's for two from Sheffield to London from about 6pm tonight. Then from London to Sheffield on sunday at around 6pm too.
The tickets only cost £20 as they're funfair tickets. So I don't want anything for them. Just seems a shame that they should be wasted! They're E tickets so I can email someone the codey things to print them out if anyone wants them?

Doubt anyone will actually want them at such short notice or whatever, but it's worth a try eh? =P

Myles writes on 1st September 2006...

August 27th, my journey officially begins. An early 6am start to catch a National Express coach from Warwick Parkway Train Station.

The coach journey was as much fun as a coach can provide for a person with long legs like myself but I managed to nod off some before awaking to a scene of congestion; merely the hundreds and thousands of vehicles ploughing their way into the terminals at Heathrow.

The coach clipped a luggage trolley that had escaped the clutches of two teenage girls, sending their belongings sprawling alongside the kerb. The coach got stuck but was freed by an assistant and eventually parked. Everyone stared on haplessly.

Igloo wrote on 31st August 2006...

Forgetting how awful our last coach ride from Amsterdam to London was, I relented and purchased two tickets on the National Express coach, leaving 7pm on Friday night, arriving 7am Saturday morning.

We sat down and after a few moments Toby noticed that his seat was suspiciously damp. The foul odour in the air confirmed that someone had just puked there and the bus driver had made a cursory attempt at cleaning it up. We shifted to the backseat, languished until Birmingham, and then were thankfully transferred to an overall cleaner and more pleasant vehicle.

Dianne Cooper writes on 29th August 2006...

I went to READING in the weekend. There was a musical feast on. Actually I wish I had taken a photo of the coach I caught down, it actually said 'Reading Feastival' on the front. Obviously the drivers of the National Express have a good grasp of the English Language.

Laurie Pycroft writes on 27th August 2006...

After leaving the plane (and being shouted at by security people for taking photos) I faced a three-hour wait for my coach, which turned out to have been canceled due to "some problem with the trains" or whatever lame excuse the morons at National Express told me. When a coach finally arrived, it turned out to be so late that I missed my connection at London and could no longer get home until the next morning. Stranded at 1am in Victoria coach depot, I wandered up to the only open information desk, and politely asked if it would be possible for National Express to arrange either a cab or hotel as they are massively incompetent. After twenty minutes of dealing with the most incredibly brain-dead employee ever (who professed to be the most senior person at the station), I managed to persuade her to allow me to talk to her superiors. Of course, as soon as I did, they apologised profusely to me and had a go at her for being a goddamn idiot. Finally I managed to get home at about 3am.

Katie writes on 26th August 2006...

On Wednesday, I embarked upon a mini adventure to Bath. My friend Sarah had recently returned from interrailing in Europe which sounds like a complete nightmare to me, trawling your stuff around from country to country, strange, dirty countries, and probably getting lots of blisters. However, she enjoyed it and actually felt lost on returning to London and wanted to get out for a bit. In my usual spirit of enthusiasm, I agreed immediately and we hit the megabus and National Express websites. As we were leaving the next day we were too late for the amazing £1 megabus deal, but we booked ourselves onto National Express for a very reasonable £8 and when we arrived at the Victoria depot the next morning, we were thrilled to discover there was TV on the coach. We watched the Simpsons and Friends in the three and a half hour journey but decided against a lame episode of the occasionally-amusing My Family and the completely dire The Prime Minister's Daughter. I was reading Jack Kerouac's On the Road, the essential pointless road trip novel. After passing through the concrete-and-glass blot on the landscape that is Swindon, we arrived in pretty, pretty Bath.

Eventually we caught the coach back to London, having popped into a local internet cafe to book our coach with fun fares and saving £6.50 on what we would have paid in the ticket office. We slept on the coach and arrived back at Victoria at nearly 6pm.

blues enough writes on 22nd August 2006...

11. NAtional Express earbuds are crap, but come in handy when your headphones die.

VICTORIA THAKE writes on 18th august 2006...

Passenger dies from DVT following bus journey

AN ELDERLY woman collapsed and died from deep vein thrombosis after spending more than four hours on a coach.

Nora Jackson, 72, had travelled from Lincoln to London on a National Express coach in May when she was taken ill.
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She collapsed as she alighted at Victoria bus station at the end of the four-hour, 20-minute journey, which included one rest stop.

Coach staff initially thought Mrs Jackson, a widow from Surrey, had fainted, and they called an ambulance. But she died a short time later at St Thomas' Hospital, Westminster. Tests revealed that she died from a pulmonary embolism, or DVT - a condition dubbed "economy- class syndrome" because of its association with long-haul flights.

Mrs Jackson's son, Edmond Jackson, 42, yesterday called for coach and bus companies to take the issue as seriously as airlines.

He said: "When you do the research it is frustrating because you can see how this silent killer can be defeated.

"If people were more aware, then it would reduce the risks."

Robert Ball, the health and safety manager for National Express, said the company had provided Mrs Jackson with a safety card warning of the dangers of DVT and that adequate breaks had been provided to allow for movement.

Mr Ball said: "As a travel company that provides long- distance coach services, we fully recognise our responsibility to inform people how to take steps to avoid the risk of deep vein thrombosis.

"The company provides a customer safety card showing a variety of exercises to do while seated. Also, rest breaks are provided on journeys giving customers the opportunity to get off the coach.

"It is important to stress that there is no greater risk travelling by coach than travelling by any other means - for example by car or train with the exception of air travel, which sees an increased risk due to the air pressure."

Mr Ball said that an investigation had revealed that Mrs Jackson had complained of feeling faint on the coach and had mentioned that she suffered from high blood pressure, which put her in a high-risk category.

"Our thoughts and condolences go out to Mrs Jackson's family and friends," Mr Ball added.

"It is strongly advised that people being immobile for long periods, [and] specifically those in high-risk groups, take advantage of breaks and do exercises while seated.

"As with all travel companies, the information we provide is supplementary to advice given in the public domain and by the individual's GP or health professionals."

Wendy Barlow writes on 15th August 2006...

TWO gang members arrested after police found imported cannabis resin
worth up to �172,000 - Lancashire's biggest seizure of the drug - at a
Burnley house have been jailed.

The town's Crown Court heard how the remnants of a large ecstasy haul
were also discovered at the empty property in Hilary Street, in March.

Cannabis was growing in two sealed bedrooms and the kitchen was used for
no other purpose than as a distribution centre for drugs.

Officers had kept watch on the premises for about a month after
complaints from residents.

Irfan Ahmed, 20, of Colne Road, Burnley, whose family owned the house
and who delivered drugs to local customers', was jailed for four years.

He was said to have been drawn into the operation because of the pull of
flash cars.

Ahmed admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis resin and ecstasy.

Ahmed's cousin, Hassan Latif, 21, of Swinless Street, Burnley, who acted
as courier and operated under Ahmed's instructions, was jailed for two
years.

He admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis resin.

Cannabis user Michael Reilly, 28, of Belgrave Street, Nelson, who acted
as "gardener" and tended the 36 cannabis plants at the house, was given
24 weeks in prison suspended for two years. He pleaded guilty to
producing cannabis.

Sentencing, Judge Beverley Lunt told Ahmed, who would not say who gave
him orders, he was involved in large-scale, commercial supply of the
"filthy" drug and was prepared to profit from other people's misery.

She said the defendant was fairly high up the dealing chain and added:
"People like you who are prepared to become involved in dealing drugs on
this scale must understand the court will pass very lengthy sentences to
punish you and deter others."

Jeremy Grout-Smith, prosecuting, said the house was the centre for
distribution of drugs on a large scale.

Police saw a car pull up, Ahmed opened the door using a key and Latif
carried a heavy box inside.

Latif then went back to the vehicle and took a heavy bag into the house.

Four minutes later both left and were arrested. Reilly was arrested at
the back of the premises.

Mr Grout-Smith said inside the house was almost 61 kilograms of cannabis
resin, probably the largest seizure in the county and worth up to
�172,000 on the streets.

In the kitchen, in a box, officers found ecstasy tablets, the remnants
of a cache.

Cannabis plants were growing in sealed rooms, with lighting and heating
and were thriving.

The prosecutor said the defendants were questioned.

Ahmed made no comment. Latif told police he might get killed if he told
them who had asked him to pick up the drugs from Hilary Street.

Gerard Doran, for Ahmed, told the court the defendant was sorry for the
shame he had brought on his family.

He had been impressed by flash cars and the lifestyle associated with
such an enterprise and had been persuaded and manipulated by others to
get involved.

Roger Baldwin, defending Latif, a former National Express Coaches
inspector, said he had spent his 21st birthday on remand and been due to
start work for the Inland Revenue the week he was arrested.

Latif had met someone who asked him to go to a cash and carry for a shop
and provided a vehicle.

Shortly afterwards he was asked to take packages to Hilary Street and on
occasions take parcels from that address to waiting cars.

The barrister continued: "Though these packages were invariably sealed,
he had a jolly good idea what was in them."

The defendant was not involved in direct selling of drugs and was not a
major player.

Defending Reilly, who became a father two weeks ago, Mr Doran said his
client got involved as he would probably get some of the cannabis crop.

Bluebell Eikonoklastes writes on 12th August 2006...

It was only passing through London on the way out that I kept hearing things about do not leave packages unattended due to the heightened security situation. Indeed at Victoria Coach and Underground Stations, such a reminder we got every two minutes.

But get a load of this! Boarded my coach at Victoria and the driver says that due to the heightened security thingy, we were to switch off all mobile phones, personal steroes and lap top computers. Failure to do so could result in being escorted off the coach by the Police. Driver subsequently tells us that some British Muslims from Leeds had been arrested on suspicion of terrorism, and that all our baggage would be searched by the police (some of them armed) when we arrived in Leeds. If we did arrive in Leeds that is, assuming there was no bomb on the coach….. Pretty spooky really. I did feel angry that the said terrorist suspects were described as muslims, I really do not see what difference it makes what religious profession terrorist suspects have. Or, more to the point, Al-Qaeda is a perversion of Islam, or as one muslim put it, terrorism has the same relationship to Islam as adultery has to marriage.

Anyway, as my coach was due to arrive in Leeds after the off licence was closed, I had scored a couple of cans of cider. I was going to need it. I was still in an altered state after Crowbar 2. And to be honest I still am! I am having the time of my life! Or rather I would be if I were not having spasms of that undiagnosed physical pain in my right cheek! Aghhh!!!!

So, likesay, prayed that we would arrive safely in Leeds and that our encounter with the Fuzz would be just part of life's rich tapestry. I had some anxiety that National Express terms and conditions re alcohol mite have included stuff in the bottom of the rucksack. Still, anti terroism police are not supposed to be looking for a can of cider or two.

And when we got to Leeds, nothing, no Police, armed or unarmed.

Nicola Champagne writes on the 10th august 2006...

It was strange to be back in the UK again. But not a bad strange this time. The first familiar things made me laugh instead of making me roll my eyes… ‘National Express’ drivers miming ‘no drinking or smoking on the bus no matter what language you speak’… Accidents on the motorways making tailbacks from curiosity in the opposing direction… tailbacks on the M25 in general…

wayfarer writes on the 8th August 2006...

0030 ex Heathrow, National Express 210, CO03, YN55 PXU, a Scania K114/Irizar Century PB
Our next coach arrived a few minutes ahead of time at 0020. This service is operated by a subsiduary company of NX, Travel West Midlands, who took over operation of this service from Flights at the start of the year. They operate this route only and have a fleet of 55-reg Scania/Irizars, 10 in total - very nice. Ours was the third in the batch. A typical Birmingham-looking Asian driver chattily checked our tickets and we were away on time. Unlike all other journeys I've made on a PB, this chap left the front TV screen on which showed you the image from the CCTV camera affixed to the front roof. He did drive like a lunatic in places, and I remember thinking, as we left Banbury at 0145, why he was doing this since there were no other vehicles on the road.

We arrived into Birmingham 10 mins early. This was the worst peiod of the two-day away stint: 90 mins of doing nothing in an almost-closed bus station. Really boring. The paper display board showed the next coach we were meant to be catching as 0500 departure, though our tickets said 0430.

0430 ex Birmingham, National Express 325, 30, W30 DTS, a Scania K124/Van Hool T9 Alizee
Operated by Birmingham Coach Company, this vehicle looked positively ugly when compared to the Scania Irizars we'd been catching. I'd hoped this would be a run NX Ops in Brum would run themselves (they do run journeys on the 325) though obviously not this one.By Wolverhampton the coach was over hlaf-full - our busiest so far. Most alighted at Manchester Airport. The coach sounded like it ran well, and with the DTS in its registration I suspect the vehicle had first operated with Dorset Travel Services (possibly Durham Travel Services, but I prefer to think the former). The driver made announcements as we arrived in Stoke, Mancky Airport and Madchester Central - no other driver had done this during our trip, nor were they to do so either!

0915 ex Manchester, National Express 350, 20462, X192 HFB, a Volvo B10M/Plaxton Premiere 350
The coach was loaded-up and almost ready to go when we arrived with 7 mins to spare. There were no seats left together so we sat staggered adjacent to the aisle. This run is operated by First Trafford Park and generally a 54-reg Scania/Irizar Century (not a PB!) is used, though not today with what looked externally to be sub-standard. There was a sticker by the door proclaiming NXTV showing on board, though you could see where the TV screens had been taken out. Also the toilet was out of order. We left on time and took a slow run over the Pennines. At one bend I saw my mate Mark driving the 350 in the opposite direction. I text him, mentioning a parked Police car nearby and spooked him. He wanted to know where I was, I replied "on your coach". He then replied with "Where?" I, in fits of laughter, had to put "If I put at the back would you believe me?" I went on to say I was on the one going in the opposite direction when we passed. As with all NX journeys in this jaunt, no one gave any announcement (except the 325 guy upon arrival). No apology was given for a disfunctional loo. No announcement into Sheffield, Chesterfield, Mansfield or astonishingly Nottingham - where there was a timetabled 55 min break. Pete and I had to actually ask the driver what time to be back. We were on the move again at 1315 to Leicester (no announcement) and to Peterborough 5 mins early at 1510.

beaner writes on the 7th August 2006...

There I boarded a bus to Heathrow that was supposed to be direct, but we were asked to exchange coaches at Stanstead. All but two pieces of luggage, mine and another couple’s going on holiday to Spain, were transferred to the new bus. We arrived at Heathrow and didn’t have out bags. It took the company (National Express, again) 40 minutes to locate the luggage. Finally, at 4:30 AM, we got confirmation that our bags were on the bus that had been sent to the fueling station.
They put the bags on the next coach out, to arrive at 6 AM. My flight was at 6:40 and when I spoke with American Airlines, they suggested that if I did not want to leave without my bags, then I should go standby. I did not want to leave my bags with the coach company in a foreign country. So now it is 8:30 and I am standby on an overbooked flight to Boston to depart A 10:55. I may get out today and I may not.

ruudboy writes on 6th August 2006...

I seem to have spent most of this weekend on coaches. It was my sister's 10th wedding anniversary party and the trains were rubbish due to engineering work, so I ended up booking onto the National Express. The journey up yesterday was alright, if slow but the journey back was horrible, as I was sitting on the front row of seats which had pretty much no legroom, giving me a choice of sitting at an awkward angle, or having my knees pressed up against the rock hard wall thing in front of me. For six hours, courtesy of an accident on the M6. Still, sitting at the front gave me a perfect view of the driver's fairly unimpressive performance, from agressive tailgating and undertaking on the motorway to not paying attention while he scrabbled around on the floor for something and nearly driving off a country lane during the detour through Staffordshire. Next time, if the train's being sh1t I'll not bother I don't think.