Bus from inverness

[willowbankbear]

Do any of you orgers that travel up by bus from Inverness think that we in Caithness are treated 2nd rate?

A few folk Ive spoken with agree that there should be 1 express directly from inverness to Wick & Thurso per day, 3hours is a long time & going into Alness Invergordon adds time to the journey. These places have regular bus services to Inverness whereas we do not live so near & just want home.

I dont mean any disrespect to the above places or Lybster,Dunbeath or Castletown but my plan would miss all of them out, Cant see Rapson`s going for it but it would be much better for us Wickers & especially the Thurso folk.

What does eveyone think of this idea? Selfish,Silly,About time or whatever?

[Cedric Farthsbottom III]

Agree with ye,express delivery would be nice.I don't think in all ma days of travelling anyone has ever got on or off the bus at Invergordon.Although a wee old wifie once got off at Tain and then jumped straight back on again and said,"Right,another place I've been too."

[Oddquine]

Do any of you orgers that travel up by bus from Inverness think that we in Caithness are treated 2nd rate?

A few folk Ive spoken with agree that there should be 1 express directly from inverness to Wick & Thurso per day, 3hours is a long time & going into Alness Invergordon adds time to the journey. These places have regular bus services to Inverness whereas we do not live so near & just want home.

I dont mean any disrespect to the above places or Lybster,Dunbeath or Castletown but my plan would miss all of them out, Cant see Rapson`s going for it but it would be much better for us Wickers & especially the Thurso folk.

What does eveyone think of this idea? Selfish,Silly,About time or whatever?

Before I moved up here permanently, I used to come up to visit/ clean-up for the son in Wick. I have to admit, I had no problems with the stops en route.....................in fact I rather appreciated the Brora stop so the bus-driver could get an ice-cream.........and I could have a fag!

I've done it by rail as well..............and bus is much better.

I don't really think that the stops from Inverness to Caithness make a great deal of difference to the journey time..................and being in Lybster now..................you couldn't really expect me to say.............ignore Lybster..............could you.....................but I really don't think it makes a lot of difference time-wise to Wick, at least!

[Fran]

I think it would be a great idea and so much quicker. the buses are bad for speeding so i dont like using them to inverness. Plus an extra 30 minutes is being added on to their timetable to wick/thurso. Remember when Patrick sinclair ran his merlin coaches from wick to inverness express, that was a good service.
i prefer the train as you can move about on the long journey, but saying that, the train kept stalling the other night en route to wick, no lights or heating, and we were told we all had to change to another train as there was no electrics!!!

[JAWS]

I'm not sure of the route and stops the bus makes from Inverness to Caithness.
Having clarified that, I see no reason why they should be delayed by serving places which are adequately provided for by other Routes.

Where I was brought up there was an agreement whereby long distance buses did not drop passengers within the area covered by local services. They would pick passengers up but only if they travelling outside the local area. If you were only travelling locally then they would not let you on.
Similarly, on the way into town they would set down passengers but not stop for inbound locals.

Doing this served several purposes. I speeded the services up. It stopped local people filling the bus for a few stops leaving the long distance travellers stranded with the bus then running empty once the locals had got off. It helped make better use of the bus services for the benefit of passengers.

In local terms, people coming from Inverness would be able to get off at places like Dunbeath and Lybster but people from those places wanting to travel into Wick would have to use the local services. If nobody is getting off then the bus doesn't need to stop. Similarly, Wick to Lybster get the local bus but Lybster to Inverness would be catered for.
In the Inverness area a similar system would apply.

[badger]

I use this route fairly regularly because, as a recycled teenager, it's free so cheaper, although of course slower, than by car. It's quicker and cheaper than the train but less comfortable. It's very convenient having it stop in my village but I would happily swap this for a fast service from Thurso stopping only in towns on the main road so long as there were reasonable local connections which could perhaps be served by smaller buses. The present system is very inefficient as most of the out-of-town stops are for one or two people.

[footie chick]

only in towns on the main road so long as there were reasonable local connections which could perhaps be served by smaller buses. The present system is very inefficient as most of the out-of-town stops are for one or two people.

I agree, not that I use the bus that often, but going off the main route to serve villiages add time onto the journey

[Fluff]

i can see your point, but what about people who dont drive and rely on the bus. older people etc, its not fair on them, and if they have saved up for a day to inverness for whatever reason, why should they have to fork out for a taxi too?

[knightofeth]

i can see your point, but what about people who dont drive and rely on the bus. older people etc, its not fair on them, and if they have saved up for a day to inverness for whatever reason, why should they have to fork out for a taxi too?

I read the original post as keeping this service but also having an express service straight to Wick and Thurso. What is it 3 1/2 hours from Inverness to Thurso, or more? Sorry but I'm going to use the car.. I don't have the time to waste on that.