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East Dereham Bus Rally - 8 May 2022 (P1110595)

Sunday 8 May 2022 (1109) – The bus rally at the Mid Norfolk Railway in East Dereham saw more than thirty vehicles on show that included preserved and currently operational vehicles.

One in the latter category seen arriving at the event is Whippet Coaches WD446 (YN08 DHM), an all Scania N230UD new to London United in March 2008 as their SP26. It carries route branding for the old established service worked between Huntingdon and Cambridge which now serves Cambourne, a new and expanding development about six miles west of Cambridge.
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5 comments

GrahamH said:

How is fare collection managed on these 2 door coaches?
22 months ago

David Slater (Spodde… said:

Hi Graham.

On such two door vehicles the routine is usually for passengers to enter by the forward door and leave by the centre door.

Transport for London (TfL) contracted buses no longer take cash and passengers are required to 'tap in' as they board using a bank card or other type of bus card and then 'tap out' on leaving. The technology calculates the fare and deducts the value from the card. Similar card payment methods are employed in the larger provincial cities and towns but at least these also take cash paid to the driver.

TfL contracted vehicles (as the bus in this photo once was) are required to be of two door layout but operators in many provincial cities and towns are happy with one combined entrance/exit door at the front.

So, for those the centre door gets removed and additional seats installed. I am a little surprised that Whippet have kept the centre door on this vehicle because their Huntingdon-Cambridge services are not highly intensive crowd mover services as found in London. It might be because the wheelchair ramp is fitted at the centre door rather than the front door.
22 months ago

GrahamH replied to David Slater (Spodde…:

Thanks David. So can 'tapping on' only be done at the front door and 'tapping off' only at the centre door thus ensuring payment and desired passenger flow?
22 months ago

David Slater (Spodde… said:

You are correct regarding the passenger flow Graham but first of all I have to correct something contained in my previous post regarding tapping in/tapping out. What I described now only relates to trains and the Underground. I didn’t realise that a passenger only needs to ‘tap-in’ on the buses, the reason for this is as follows.

On the buses it currently costs £1.65 for a one pay-as-you-go trip (this is for any distance taken on the same bus hence no need to tap out). There is a daily cap value of £4.95 therefore after the third ride it costs no more that day to take as many rides as one wishes. There is also a weekly cap of £23.30 (Monday to Sunday).

The card reader is located inside the bus close to the front (entrance) door. I understand that, as a rule, there is no card reader by the centre (exit) door. However, on the three door ‘New Routemaster’ buses card readers were fitted inside each doorway because when all three doors were in use it was anticipated that passengers would board by any door. When the third (rearmost) door was kept closed and locked (evenings etc) the buses would work in the same way as traditional two door buses.

My apologies for the incorrect information. I am a little out of touch with the London system as I my last bus ride there was back in April 2013 when I took some interior photographs on board one of the three door buses where the card readers can be seen. The first is here: www.ipernity.com/doc/davidslater-spoddendale/42788506 followed by two more.
22 months ago

GrahamH replied to David Slater (Spodde…:

Thanks for replying David. It's much longer since I caught any route bus15+ years. The last one I was in was a Greyhound coach 5 years ago for a 500Km journey to where a daughter lives. She had just had a baby. My wife had driven the car there a week earlier.
21 months ago