Passing Time Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 21 minutes ago, Max Power said: Whilst I do feel that the old bus station was hastily removed, the waiting room had been utilised as some sort of kids club rather than being thought of as an essential facility for passengers. I can remember the first time I ever travelled to London on my own and the airport coach left from the taxi rank side of the bus terminal. I arrived on a freezing winter Sunday afternoon to find the place closed! It used to be that you could check in for your flight there apparently. At one time parcels could be sent on the bus so there was a parcels office. I'm not altogether certain how viable the newsagents shop was but other than that, the toilets were probably the most useful thing in the building, despite @Gizo's experiences there. Whatever happens down there, it needs urgent development as it, along with several other bombsites in Douglas, is a disgrace! They don't need to develop Lord Street. There is a perfect replacement at the sea terminal. What's the problem apart from DoI not being able to park for free? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cambon Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 One important point that has been missed is that the bus station is a route change point. One can wait a considerable time between services. So somewhere warm and comfortable is required. 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Mexico Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 1 hour ago, Two-lane said: The requirement for a place for people to catch a bus is separate for the need for the bus company to find somewhere to park their buses. It offends my sense of style for the buses simply to be left by the side of a main road. There are other options. The main thrust of the argument here is for facilities for passengers. As has already been pointed out, there is a cafe on the other side of the road. There used to be one on the same side of the road - I assume it is no longer there because bus passengers were not interested in using it. A significant point, apart from the needless (and inevitably excessive) cost of a structure, is that it will impact the possibility of that site being used for a 7-screen cinema/rooftop swimming pool/therapy studio/edifice. But the point of a bus station is that the buses aren't on a main road. Because it's somewhere those buses will be for longer than at a usual stop, either because they start there or for timing reasons or because it's where more people will choose to board. So the space will be at the side of or just off a main road. That's why the idea of moving it to Victoria Street as daft, if it's on a main road it would cause a perpetual traffic jam. Whether elaborate facilities are needed is another matter. The old terminal only had a hot drinks machine (then an object of wonder and modernity) and there are alternatives in the area. What is certain is that the current facilities are dreadful and deteriorating. Some of the shelters flood when it rains and the DoI insisting on those sloping seats to stop imaginary tramps sleeping on them is a classic example of blindly following the UK in everything whether relevant of not. As usual no money is ever spent on maintenance because some magic new option is promised. As for "the possibility of that site being used for a 7-screen cinema/rooftop swimming pool/therapy studio/edifice", how's that going again? It must surely be due to shoot up some year, decade, century soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 47 minutes ago, Passing Time said: They don't need to develop Lord Street. There is a perfect replacement at the sea terminal. What's the problem apart from DoI not being able to park for free? I'm talking about the absolute shithole that is Lord Street that needs development, not the bus station. Didn't you read the post? I'm not sure that the Sea Terminal is the answer without a lot of restructuring, and even if that is possible. In my opinion having the DoI offices there is a waste of a building, it should be used for more social and tourism based functions. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Mexico Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 1 hour ago, Max Power said: Whilst I do feel that the old bus station was hastily removed, the waiting room had been utilised as some sort of kids club rather than being thought of as an essential facility for passengers. I can remember the first time I ever travelled to London on my own and the airport coach left from the taxi rank side of the bus terminal. I arrived on a freezing winter Sunday afternoon to find the place closed! It used to be that you could check in for your flight there apparently. What is now Cafe Laare was never the waiting room (it wouldn't really be big enough). It was a rest room for the staff and later Bus Vannin offices. I suspect you're thinking of the the West London Air Terminal. According to Wiki: The check-in facilities closed on 1 January 1974. However, bus services running between the terminal and Heathrow Airport operated until March 1979. You must have arrived in that period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolley Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 1 hour ago, Roger Mexico said: There are a number of stops along any bus route where drivers will stop for some minutes if they are running ahead of timetable (because a bus that is running 3 minutes ahead will be missed while one that runs 3 minutes behind is just a minor annoyance). So bus timetables on the Island are usually fairly accurate unless they break down completely for lack of drivers. But what the bus station does is give a chance for a bus that is running late, on or between services, to get back on timetable I think the technology takes care of this nowadays in any case. Bus Vannin uses Ticketer, and I couldn't believe for one moment that we would buy anything other than the top spec version with all the bells and whistles. Schedule Adherence uses GPS technology. Knows exactly where the bus is and prints the stop boarded onto the ticket, announces the stops in advance to the passengers and tells the driver if he is on time at EVERY stop. Clever stuff. https://www.ticketer.com/en/products/schedule-adherence/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 (edited) 31 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said: What is now Cafe Laare was never the waiting room (it wouldn't really be big enough). It was a rest room for the staff and later Bus Vannin offices. I suspect you're thinking of the the West London Air Terminal. According to Wiki: The check-in facilities closed on 1 January 1974. However, bus services running between the terminal and Heathrow Airport operated until March 1979. You must have arrived in that period. No, Cafe Laare was the offices and driver HQ of the bus service. The waiting room, parcels office and airport check in was part of the bus station, with the newsagent adjacent. This became some sort of kids club at the end of its days, for some trendy reason. There was also an airport parcels service on the quay side of the building where the airport coaches departed from. Edited January 7 by Max Power 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monasqueen Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 55 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said: Some of the shelters flood when it rains One thing that may have put off people who were considering building on the site is that anything (like car park/storage space etc) put in under road level is likely to flood whenever there is an exceptionally high tide, unless suitable defences are inbuilt. It's a dire place to wait for a bus if there's any weather. Not a good advert for Douglas, or the Island. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cambon Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 3 hours ago, Max Power said: I'm talking about the absolute shithole that is Lord Street that needs development, not the bus station. Didn't you read the post? I'm not sure that the Sea Terminal is the answer without a lot of restructuring, and even if that is possible. In my opinion having the DoI offices there is a waste of a building, it should be used for more social and tourism based functions. The Sea Terminal is the obvious place. Virtually every bus already goes past there on the way to Lord Street. All they need to do is change a bit of signage, buses and coaches only at the front. Pick up and drop off for boat at the side. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 11 minutes ago, Cambon said: The Sea Terminal is the obvious place. Virtually every bus already goes past there on the way to Lord Street. All they need to do is change a bit of signage, buses and coaches only at the front. Pick up and drop off for boat at the side. I don't think the area is big enough to house five or six buses at a time, it would require a bit of reconstruction. It would also make drop off and pick up of ferry passengers from cars and taxis difficult, and perhaps dangerous? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDave Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 6 minutes ago, Max Power said: I don't think the area is big enough to house five or six buses at a time, it would require a bit of reconstruction. It would also make drop off and pick up of ferry passengers from cars and taxis difficult, and perhaps dangerous? It’s not big enough, and there is already a shortage of car parking down there most days. Won’t work. Next 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cambon Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 2 hours ago, CrazyDave said: It’s not big enough, and there is already a shortage of car parking down there most days. Won’t work. Next The only reason for a lack of parking is the government workers. There is plenty of space for buses. More than that strip on Lord St. and it is covered. Coaches and buses only out the front. Taxi, pickup and drop off up the side in the coaches only area. It is so damn simple and cheap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 6 hours ago, Cambon said: One important point that has been missed is that the bus station is a route change point. One can wait a considerable time between services. So somewhere warm and comfortable is required. Agreed. That has been mitigated somewhat since the bus station shut by having more regular buses and coordinating times would help further. I’d say the only time I’ve waited at Lord Street for more than 15 minutes lately was when I arrived by boat and the shut the Sea Terminal half an hour before the last bus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 14 minutes ago, Cambon said: The only reason for a lack of parking is the government workers. There is plenty of space for buses. More than that strip on Lord St. and it is covered. Coaches and buses only out the front. Taxi, pickup and drop off up the side in the coaches only area. It is so damn simple and cheap! It's not only the workers, there are people with business in the building, visiting the shop/welcome centre, Costa, the SPCo office etc etc. Pick up and drop off is not practical at the side of the building as the traffic gets pretty congested even now. Then you have the luggage being delivered, vehicles getting down the pier, and as you say coaches trying to try and turn around. It's a good thought but not really practical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passing Time Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 20 minutes ago, Cambon said: The only reason for a lack of parking is the government workers. There is plenty of space for buses. More than that strip on Lord St. and it is covered. Coaches and buses only out the front. Taxi, pickup and drop off up the side in the coaches only area. It is so damn simple and cheap! I would suggest the other way round. There is ample room at the side where the coaches currently await passengers. Use that for buses and the front for taxi drop offs etc 2 hours ago, CrazyDave said: It’s not big enough, and there is already a shortage of car parking down there most days. Won’t work. Next You and the rest of your DoI mates can pay for parking like most other people do... Next 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.