Random Stuff!

[alphagolf]

Bristol Post

So apparently McDonald's have advised customers that certain stores have buns and breakfast muffins that may contain nuts/peanuts.

Absolutely shocking headlines and quotes from so called customers.

I will let you read the article and make of it what you will.

https://twitter.com/bristollive/status/995638081331126273?s=21

The world has gone mad

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The world has gone mad

I'd come to that opinion quite a while ago and this is yet another example.

 

[rollo]

One I read somewhere on a packet of fish fingers said "contains fish"

Who'd have guessed it ? the trouble is I actually bothered to read it.

 

[superking]

Looks like the metro route from Long ashton to the city centre will operate from this autumn. I have no other details on it.
The route from Hengrove to Cribbs causeway will not be ready for use till 2019, no date given.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Looks like the metro route from Long ashton to the city centre will operate from this autumn. I have no other details on it.
The route from Hengrove to Cribbs causeway will not be ready for use till 2019, no date given.

I heard something on the local radio this morning to that effect. Mind you, there have been so many false dawn start dates for route M2 (Ashton Vales to Temple Meads and Centra) that autumn this year might be the latest one. The route should have commenced in November 2017.

M3 from Emersons Green to the centre will begin to operate the week after next - allegedly. M1 you've already mentioned. We'll see if it does begin operating next year. It will be operated by Bristol Community Transport on behalf of First (BCT has already taken over some 'ordinary' bus routes previously operated by Wessex) but someone told me they don't have sufficient drivers which might be one of the problems for the delay. Given that the huge First had to set up a recruiting base in Poland a few years ago to attract people to come to Bristol to drive buses - and many remain - BCT might have a problem in recruitment.

Addendum

Found this local press report link

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/metrobus-confirm-further-delays-south-1572004

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Portishead Railway

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/end-portishead-bristol-metrowest-rail-1580347

Yet another example of the average politican's word being as trustworthy as a con man in a room full of idiots.

When Grayling the transport minister and Hammond the chancellor withdrew the funding for the Bristol rail electrification Grayling said the money saved would be better used on local rail projects in the Bristol area. The Portishead branch which is in desperate need of re-opening as it serves one of the most traffic-logged commuter towns in the country, a town that is growing by the week, and would be part of the MetroWest system has just had its application for funding refused by Grayling's DfT.

£70 million has already been found from non-governmental sources with a shortfall of £47 million, but Grayling won't even allow that miniscule amount (when compared with the cost of Crossrail and HS2) to be released. With Bristol being the only city in the country apart from London that contributes more to the exchequer than it receives this is the latest example of the city helping to fund other areas but being left in the cold itself.

No doubt central government thinks we are a bunch of country bumpkins down here who can be conned and not be aware.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Metrobus

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/forgotten-empty-metrobus-route-no-1576775

The real reason why the route from Long Ashton to Hengrove is not currently going ahead has now been revealed. It's because no bus operator will run it without a subsidy, not the answer given by the Metrobus people recently that it was only an aspiration and won't be viable until houses are built along its length. The dedicated road is in place, gated off at the moment and steadily becoming a resting place for litter.

We were given numerous excuses for the delay to the route from Ashton to Temple Meads/city centre, some of which were conflicting.

Why do politicians and people in public office tell so many lies? They are invariably found out in the end. The sad thing is they don't seem to worry when they are.

This is a summary of the entire Metrobus saga as listed in the Bristol Post.

Metrobus - what is going on?
Three Metrobus routes are due to open in 2018 and 2019 after years of delays.

Route: M1 - Hengrove to Cribbs Causeway

When? Early 2019

Why? Eight months after the route was physically completed, there are delays because the operator, Bristol Community Transport, has to upgrade its depot and install a refuelling station for the gas-powered buses

Route M2 - Long Ashton to Temple Meads

When? Autumn 2018

Why? The route should have opened two years ago, but a long line of problems have culminated in issues with the buses not fitting along the bespoke guide rails. These will be replaced and retested in summer 2018.

Route M3 - Emersons Green to City Centre

When? End of May 2018

Other routes:

Route: South Bristol Link from Hengrove to Long Ashton

When? Unknown.

Why? No bus operator is prepared to run it commercially, and Metrobus say that will only change if thousands of homes are built in the area.

Route: Bristol Parkway spur

When? Unknown - probably mid-2019

Why? The road the Metrobus buses will use to access Bristol Parkway station is too narrow for the buses.

How does such a vibrantly economic city like Bristol manage to be so successful in the face of local governance of such exceptional ineptitude. It's not just with the Metrobus either - not by a long chalk; all the local political parties are equally useless.

 

[tpm]

Never understood the point of that route anyway (Long Ashton to Hengrove), I think it would make more sense to extend m1 and m2 to the airport, and make them both use the SBL and then meet up at the A38/South Bristol Link.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Never understood the point of that route anyway (Long Ashton to Hengrove), I think it would make more sense to extend m1 and m2 to the airport, and make them both use the SBL and then meet up at the A38/South Bristol Link.

I'm sure you're right. I was re-emphasising the point that we are being continually misled about the reasons for the overall mismanagement of the Metrobus project which is being buit with tax payers' money.

I fail to see the difference between the Metrobus and the standard local buses anyway. Apart from a 2.5km length of dedicated guided busway which they have to rebuld because the guides are of incorrect width and a small number of other reserved sections (at least two of which won't be brought into operation until unknown future dates) the Metrobuses run along ordinary roads, albeit some with bus lanes but 'ordinary' buses use these anyway.

The A1 Bristol Flyer buses are very similar to the Metrobus vehicles and if, as has been reported, the Flyer is to use the M2 Metrobus route to Long Ashton and then by the SBL and A38 to the airport then to an extent it would be a duplication of M2 on that stretch. The M2 though, as well as linking Long Ashton and Temple Meads, sets off on an anti-clockwise loop after Temple Meads of what we used to call the Inner Circuit Road (is it still called that?) via Cabot Circus, edge of Broadmead and The Centre, before returning to Long Ashton via its inbound route. Incidentally, I wonder if the major roadworks on the site of the former Temple Circus Gyratory are another reason for the M2 delay.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Bristol - High buildings

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/business/bristol-needs-build-tall-buildings-1581229

The debate on this subject is ongoing with an architect now adding her opinion that Bristol should embrace high buildings. The city mayor seems inclined to the view that the city should build higher.

Like many cities in the country Bristol has and continues to be a hive of new builds and the restoration of old. Many areas of the central zone from Harbourside to Finzels Reach to Wapping Wharf to the new Redcliffe Quarter to the Temple Enterprise Quarter have and continue to see new hotels, office blocks and apartment blocks rising from the ground.

However, unlike in a number of UK cities these new builds are not towers reaching towards the clouds. The highest structure in Bristol is the 12th Century St Mary Redcliffe Church at 89 metres (although the spire wasn't added until a few centuries later), with the highest modern building an early 1980s office block of 19 floors and 80 metres high.

I don’t think any of the many new builds in recent years have been more than 10-12 storeys high.

I was once an advocate of higher buildings in the city but I've changed my mind. Apart from London, Bristol is the largest ancient English city and has a central cityscape draped over several hills. I'm not convinced that very high modern buildings would fit well with this background.

In 30 years time it might be the only English city of any size without a plethora of skyscrapers.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

GWR Electrification

More disruption for three weeks from mid-June.

https://www.gwr.com/travel-updates/planned-engineering/electrification2018

Bristol Parkway to Cardiff Central
The Patchway and Severn tunnels will be closed for electrification work from Saturday 16 June to Friday 6 July, inclusive.

As a result, long distance services between London Paddington and South Wales will run to an amended timetable, and buses will replace trains between Bristol Parkway and Newport.

Trains

• between London Paddington and Swansea, one train an hour which will not call at Bristol Parkway and be diverted adding around 40 minutes to the usual journey time; there are no through trains on Sundays 17 June or 1 July
• between London Paddington and Bristol Parkway, one train an hour at peak times – trains continue to run between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads
• between Portsmouth/Taunton and Cardiff Central, services will start/terminate at Bristol Parkway instead of Cardiff Central; change at Bristol Parkway for connecting coaches to Newport; trains run from Newport to Cardiff Central, although there will be fewer than usual
• between Weston-super-Mare and Bristol Parkway, trains will terminate at Filton Abbey Wood instead, where trains will run to and from Bristol Parkway
• between Newport and Swansea (via Cardiff Central), a shuttle service will be operating on Sunday 17 June (all day) and Sunday 1 July (until 14:00); there will be fewer trains than usual on all days

Replacement coaches
Summary of services:

Options: Approximate journey time:
Bristol Parkway and Newport Direct (every 30 minutes) 40 minutes
Calling at Patchway and Severn Tunnel Junction (hourly) 50 minutes

• we’ll use a range of step-free buses and standard coaches
• if you are mobility restricted, and your route involves a replacement bus, speak to a member of staff, or contact our Assisted Travel team
• only folding bikes can be carried on replacement buses

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Wasn't sure whether or not to put this in the General Thread or here, but...

Airbus are currently testing the A350's performance at Wellington in NZ. Wellington airport have organised these tests with Airbus to assess what routes & payloads the A350 could fly out of Wellington. With many Asian airlines having the A350 on order, the airport is keen to see if the A350 could make connections from Wellington to Asia viable.

For those that don't know, Wellington has a short runway (2081m) which limits how far aircraft can fly and its only "connection" to Asia is with Singapore airlines via Melbourne (previously Canberra).

I post this here as Bristol's runway is relatively similar in length to Wellington's (2011m vs 2081m), so if Airbus are successful in proving flights from Wellington to Asia are technically viable (aircraft performance wise) , it may help airlines that operate the A350 in assessing operations from Bristol.

What does that mean for Bristol? Well if Airbus can prove the A350 can operate from Wellington to say Singapore (a distance of 5200mi) with only marginal or no payload limitations, it should also show that certain routes could be viable performance-wise from Bristol.

e.g.
Bristol to Doha - 3355 mi
Bristol to New York - 3360 mi
Bristol to Dubai - 3516 mi
Bristol to Goa - 4819 mi
Bristol to Las Vegas - 5159 mi

So whilst not a guarantee of a route, this may help Bristol achieve some more long haul flights without a runway extension.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12064226

I've moved this post and subsequent replies to the BRS Long Haul thread.

 

[superking]

Now would never have thought this would happen. The tax payer will be picking up the bill for alterations to the metro line tracks. In my mind who ever made the up with the rails not the correct width should pick the bill for alterations to be done.
It always comes back to the rate payers to pay for ups what ever they may be.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Now would never have thought this would happen. The tax payer will be picking up the bill for alterations to the metro line tracks. In my mind who ever made the up with the rails not the correct width should pick the bill for alterations to be done.
It always comes back to the rate payers to pay for ups what ever they may be.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/eye-watering-extra-cost-metrobus-1647089

Absolutely disgraceful. As is often the case when things go wrong especially where public money is concerned the blame is spread to try to avoid anyone having to take the entire responsibility, in this case (guided busway fiasco) Metrobus, the contractors and First Bus.

They say the £200,000 needed to put right the appalling blunders with the guided busway section will be paid from a contingency fund already in place for such exigencies. So that's all right then. After all, it's only public money that could have been better spent elsewhere if this gross ineptitude had not occurred. Even worse, no-one is held liable for such a deplorable waste of scarce and precious public money.

Imagine this mob being around nearly 200 years ago and trying to build the Great Western Railway, which Brunel produced as a superbly engineered trackbed that is as sound today as it was when built.

 

[tpm]

I find it difficult to form an opinion about who's at fault here without knowing all the details of the agreement with the subcontractors/builders. I imagine there will have been a test specification and acceptance criteria. Maybe only tests with one type of bus model were agreed. Possibly to limit the initial costs/outlay. That could have been an oversight, or a strategic decision for reasons we don't know, or there were factors not known at the time (details of future bus models), or maybe the council took a risk hoping it might just work for all types of busses that will be using the alignment. Even then it's hard to say whether this was a good or bad course of action. Perhaps the builders had asked for £500,000 more to do more thorough testing. In which case the extra £200,000 would still be good value, but no one would have bat an eye lid if the initial construction had cost £500k more. I know nothing about any of this of course, just saying that it's not clear cut to me.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I find it difficult to form an opinion about who's at fault here without knowing all the details of the agreement with the subcontractors/builders. I imagine there will have been a test specification and acceptance criteria. Maybe only tests with one type of bus model were agreed. Possibly to limit the initial costs/outlay. That could have been an oversight, or a strategic decision for reasons we don't know, or there were factors not known at the time (details of future bus models), or maybe the council took a risk hoping it might just work for all types of busses that will be using the alignment. Even then it's hard to say whether this was a good or bad course of action. Perhaps the builders had asked for £500,000 more to do more thorough testing. In which case the extra £200,000 would still be good value, but no one would have bat an eye lid if the initial construction had cost £500k more. I know nothing about any of this of course, just saying that it's not clear cut to me.

What is clear cut is that a what ought to be a relatively simple task in building a gauged guided busway section was botched. As I said in my previous post, the blame was spread at the public meeting yesterday so we shan't know who was really responsible or why.

Incidentally, why do they need a guided busway on this section anyway? It's on a dedicated part of the system with no other traffic allowed, and bus drivers ought to be able to negotiate it driving normally. The new buses-only turn-off from the M32 seems just as narrow and and is twisty too but that has no guided section.

If as you suggest might have been the case that Metrobus and its contractors 'winged it' in the hope but not the certainty that all would be well but if not there was always the contingency fund, I would regard that attitude as the height of irresponsibility but I would not be completely surprised if something like that did happen.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

https://www.bristol247.com/news-and...-house-prices-continue-rise-national-average/

Bristol's house prices continue to rise at nearly twice the national rate with rental prices up even more. Despite a slowing down in the property market generally the Bristol market is expected to go on rising for the next few years. Demand continues to outstrip supply.

Few people have much chance of starting out on the housing ladder in Bristol and are having to look to areas outside the immediate conurbation for more affordable properties, most noticeably to south-east Wales.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/propert...-city-thriving-million-pound-property-market/

Bristol is the fourth fastest area of Britain, behind Cambridge, Edinburgh and Harpenden, for selling £1 million+ houses taking an average of 54 days, although this is slower than a year ago. It's yet another example of demand outstripping supply.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Overseas Visitors

https://www.visitbritain.org/town-data

The Office for National Statistics produces a myriad of tourist and related data each year including details of the most visited towns and cities in the UK by overseas visitors, based on 'staying visits' (ie overnight). The stats come with a warning that, London apart, the samples are small. However, looking back over the last two decades where the top 20 most visited towns/cities are listed each year in a 'league table' the relative positions are remarkably consistent in the top half of the table for the most part year after year.

Since 1999 Bristol has been mainly at position 7 or 8 but did drop to 9 in 2005 and 2012. Perhaps surprisingly to some, Bristol's close neighbour Bath, which is one of the country's major tourist destinations, consistently comes in below Bristol to a significant degree after 1999 when the cities were joint 8th in that year. Bath has been no higher than 10th since 1999 and has dropped as low as 18th in the list. It usually sits between 10th and 14th.

It may be that a considerable number of Bristol overseas visitors are business travellers but walking around the central area, as I do regularly, there is invariably a high number of what appears to be overseas tourists. It's never as overwhelming as Bath where the relatively small central area is so often teeming with groups of visitors from abroad.

 

[superking]

A couple of typhoons had a play off the beach over the water this afternoon.Its Weston air days sat and sun this weekend and I think they will display. Also the reds are here sat and sun flying from Brs and over nighting there as well.
Lets hope there is good weather for the displays.

 

[superking]

The typhoon team over nighted at BRS as well.
On a different note. The airport flyer route from Weston super mare to the airport has been operating for 12 months now.I would not have said it had but time flies. (excuse the pun)