The Transport Game (UK)

[Xenophon PCDGS]

We next board the 1353 Arriva North West service 385 to Pool Hey (Meols View Close) that arrives there at 1442 on Tuesday afternoon.

 

[ValleyLines142]

From nearby Town Lane, we then board the 1500 Arriva North West service 300 to Liverpool (Queen Square), arriving there at 1613 on Tuesday afternoon.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Heading northwards, we next board the 1624 Stagecoach Merseyside service X2 to Ainsdale (Toby Carvery on Liverpool Road) that arrives there at 1723 on Tuesday afternoon.

 

[ValleyLines142]

Again we seem to be going round in circles, in identical fashion to what happened in Middlesbrough the other day, so in a desperate attempt to get out of Southport and the surrounding area, we take the short walk to Ainsdale railway station and board 2U48, the 1737 Merseyrail service to Hunts Cross, arriving there at 1833 on Tuesday evening.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Oh dear, I had assumed that Skelmersdale-Liverpool-Ainsdale would have led onwards from there to the Preston area next....but we find ourselves back in the outskirts of Liverpool at Hunts Cross..:roll:
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Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so we take the 2 minute walk to Ashton Drive and board the Arriva North West service 89 to St Helens (Cotham Street) that arrives there at 1933 on Tuesday evening.

 

[johnnychips]

We walk three minutes to St Helens Baldwin St then take the Huyton Travel 17B bus at 2009 to Widnes (Green Oaks) arriving 2036 on Tuesday evening.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Just a matter of 10 minutes to wait, before boarding the 2046 Arriva North West service 79C to Murdishaw (Barnfield Avenue) that arrives there at 2114 on Tuesday evening.

Why, o why, were we directed southwards away from Ainsdale to the south-east reaches of the Liverpool conurbation and the delights that make up the administrative area of Halton...:roll:

 

[johnnychips]

Why, o why, were we directed southwards away from Ainsdale to the south-west reaches of the Liverpool conurbation and the delights that make up the administrative area of Halton...:roll:

I wanted to go to Widnes as I felt Homeward Bound, Paul, as your namesake did in 1965!

Anyway, there's not much to do here, so after a quick jog to look at the ground of Runcorn Linnets Junior Football Club and back, we take the Arriva 79C bus from Murdishaw (Barnfield Ave) at 2145 to Runcorn Station, arriving at 2206 on Tuesday night.

 

[ValleyLines142]

Oh dear, I had assumed that Skelmersdale-Liverpool-Ainsdale would have led onwards from there to the Preston area next....but we find ourselves back in the outskirts of Liverpool at Hunts Cross..:roll:

Why, o why, were we directed southwards away from Ainsdale to the south-west reaches of the Liverpool conurbation and the delights that make up the administrative area of Halton[/I]...:roll:

No, your geography is ever so slightly distorted. We went from Skelmersdale to Southport, which is north-westerly, then to Liverpool which is directly south, and then back up to Ainsdale, which is directly north again, just not as far as Southport. Hunts Cross is to the south EAST of Liverpool, NOT the south west, in a completely different direction to where we have just been, which offers connections eastwards towards Manchester. By going back to Ainsdale originally, that would have left us in more or less the same position as last time, which is what happened in Middlesbrough.

As a human geography student at university, who works heavily on global location, I hope this sums things up for you

However, what's done is done, and from Runcorn we board 2K81, the 2254 London Midland service to Crewe, arriving there at 2321 on Tuesday evening.

Crewe by the way is south-east of Runcorn

 

[johnnychips]

To escape the polluted and ugly areas we have been visiting, let's go for a couple of pints in Crewe (if we can find somewhere that stays open on a Tuesday night) and catch the 0010 ATW train to Bangor arrive 0146 on Wednesday morning. Air should be a bit fresher and lots of opportunities to visit nice places.

EDIT: Just realised that will be a very quick two pints. Hope toilets are operational on ATW train.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

No, your geography is ever so slightly distorted. We went from Skelmersdale to Southport, which is north-westerly, then to Liverpool which is directly south, and then back up to Ainsdale, which is directly north again, just not as far as Southport. Hunts Cross is to the south EAST of Liverpool, NOT the south west, in a completely different direction to where we have just been, which offers connections eastwards towards Manchester. By going back to Ainsdale originally, that would have left us in more or less the same position as last time, which is what happened in Middlesbrough.As a human geography student at university, who works heavily on global location, I hope this sums things up for you

I admit to the wrong compass point for Hunts Bank and not to being infallible in matters geographical. It was whilst you say that we were at Southport, Pool Hey is not exactly what you would call central Southport, whereas Ainsdale being on the coastal route, this would have afforded a continuation northwards on the coastal route through the centre (Lord Street) of Southport and through the little known area of Hundred End on its way up to Preston.

 

[ValleyLines142]

I admit to the wrong compass point for Hunts Bank and not to being infallible in matters geographical. It was whilst you say that we were at Southport, Pool Hey is not exactly what you would call central Southport, whereas Ainsdale being on the coastal route, this would have afforded a continuation northwards on the coastal route through the centre (Lord Street) of Southport and through the little known area of Hundred End on its way up to Preston.

I didn't say that Pool Hey was central Southport, but even so it is along the same direction.

I always thought the aim of the game is to move continuously to DIFFERENT locations, so for example if we did London to Manchester to London to Plymouth to London to Norwich this would be repeating ourselves, which is what I believe had happened here.

To escape the polluted and ugly areas we have been visiting, let's go for a couple of pints in Crewe (if we can find somewhere that stays open on a Tuesday night) and catch the 0010 ATW train to Bangor arrive 0146 on Wednesday morning. Air should be a bit fresher and lots of opportunities to visit nice places.

We sleep off the pints before boarding 1V90, the 0457 Arriva Trains Wales service to Cwmbran, arriving there at 0848 on Wednesday morning.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Gameplay

The Aim of the game is to travel around the country using public transport in a pseudo-realistic fashion. To play, you must depart from the station or stop where the previous post arrived using a permitted timetabled public transport service. Having arrived at the destination, the minimum connection time for the station or stop must be allowed for. Where this is not published, a minimum interchange time is considered to be five minutes. In your post you should clearly state the time your service departs, the company who's service you are using and the time and day of arrival at your chosen destination.

This is the exact wording of the "gameplay" section of this relaunched quiz and it does not appear to bear out your contention of different places as stated in your posting.

May I enquire if your personal understanding of the matter harks back to what was said in the rules section of the original quiz, which is now locked.
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We sleep off the pints before boarding 1V90, the 0457 Arriva Trains Wales service to Cwmbran, arriving there at 0848 on Wednesday morning.

We next board the 0917 ATW service to Milford Haven that arrives there at 1248 on Wednesday afternoon.

 

[OxtedL]

This seems to be a bit of a non-argument...?

The rules allow you to travel around wherever you like. Of course we all also know that it would be extremely boring just to visit the same few places again and again.

That also said, hopping on the first bus you see to a random town on its route makes for difficult and quite limiting gameplay - it's nice if you can plan and get your bus to a transport interchange, perhaps a railway station. There are a few players guilty of this.

 

[ValleyLines142]

This seems to be a bit of a non-argument...?

The rules allow you to travel around wherever you like. Of course we all also know that it would be extremely boring just to visit the same few places again and again.

Not at all an argument, just a point I'm trying to raise.

Last week, we went from Whitby to Middlesbrough and back to Grosmont near Whitby, when Middlesbrough, being a pretty sizeable town, has plenty of onward connections (well, I actually took us to the new James Cook University Hospital which is between Nunthorpe and Middlesbrough, so still plenty of connections).

Then beforehand we went from Leeds to Malton to Tadcaster to Leeds AND THEN BACK TO MALTON AGAIN?! I'm sorry, I just don't see the point when Leeds has absolutely HUNDREDS of connections to all across the rest of the country.

By going back to the same places, it means we usually have to use the same services, which makes it more boring as we've done it before, which ultimately means that people will get fed up and just won't bother playing anymore. When we're heading towards Manchester for example, I'll head towards Stockport or somewhere on the outskirts instead, as we seem to have a flurry where we use a lot of Stagecoach Manchester services.

Of course, there's also the rules which we must abide by.

I totally respect player's decisions on where they go, but at the same time I think it's important to think before we move.

That also said, hopping on the first bus you see to a random town on its route makes for difficult and quite limiting gameplay - it's nice if you can plan and get your bus to a transport interchange, perhaps a railway station. There are a few players guilty of this.

Totally agree 100%. If you look at all of my posts on this quiz, they are to places where other connections are available. For example, I would NEVER take us on the one train a week to Pilning in South Gloucestershire, as we'd be stuck here for a week otherwise and there really is no point. Yes I know this game is entirely fictional, but at the same time there is this thing called common sense!

Paul - you are an absolutely fantastic player on this quiz, with some really cleverly constructed moves, but at the some time you take us to some places that I've never heard of in my life! and I'm a human geographer at university! When you took us to that Lobster place in Scotland on the last forum, I couldn't help but laugh! Then on this quiz there was HMP Full Sutton Prison in Yorkshire, which is only served by one bus every three hours, with the last bus at something stupid like 4pm! It's great to see all of those places, but I just think you should bear in mind the fact that onwards connection can sometimes (not always) be somewhat limited for the next player.

But I'm not going to sit here and tell you that you're being ridiculous as you're not at all, but I'd like to hope you'd take the above as friendly advice. And it's certainly not just you either.

I am genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, being as polite as I can about this.

Anyway, I have no more to say on the matter.

We next board the 0917 ATW service to Milford Haven that arrives there at 1248 on Wednesday afternoon.

From the Tesco opposite the station, we change modes of transport (mixing things up a bit!) and board the 1304 First South and West Wales service 302 to Haverfordwest (Bus Station), arriving there at 1348 on Wednesday afternoon.

Just as a reminder, Haverfordwest has at least SIXTEEN different connections.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

That also said, hopping on the first bus you see to a random town on its route makes for difficult and quite limiting gameplay - it's nice if you can plan and get your bus to a transport interchange, perhaps a railway station. There are a few players guilty of this.

Quite obviously, the finger is well and truly pointed in my direction here. I will therefore make a suggestion that a move to a "random town" will only be allowed if there is a different bus service to the one that was used to arrive at "Random Town"....or will this kindly-meant suggestion be construed as being making it too difficult for other contestants to take the trouble to look up what these alternative bus services are. Howsoever, in a great swathe of the northern reaches of Scotland, this may well not be possible.

So it seems, we now "dumb-down" this relaunched quiz to only use bus services that go from one well-known settlement to another well-known settlement, despite there being numerous bus services in the larger cities and conurbation regions with a myriad of alternative connection possibilities so existing en route.

 

[ValleyLines142]

Quite obviously, the finger is well and truly pointed in my direction here. I will therefore make a suggestion that a move to a "random town" will only be allowed if there is a different bus service to the one that was used to arrive at "Random Town"....or will this kindly-meant suggestion be construed as being making it too difficult for other contestants to take the trouble to look up what these alternative bus services are. Howsoever, in a great swathe of the northern reaches of Scotland, this may well not be possible.

So it seems, we now "dumb-down" this relaunched quiz to only use bus services that go from one well-known settlement to another well-known settlement, despite there being numerous bus services in the larger cities and conurbation regions with a myriad of alternative connection possibilities so existing en route.

I don't think that is what OxtedL is suggesting Paul; just merely to ensure we're not stranded anywhere!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

From the Tesco opposite the station, we change modes of transport (mixing things up a bit!) and board the 1304 First South and West Wales service 302 to Haverfordwest (Bus Station), arriving there at 1348 on Wednesday afternoon.

We next board the 1355 Silcox service 381 to Tenby (South Parade terminus) that arrives there at 1508 on Wednesday afternoon.

 

[ValleyLines142]

We then hop over to the railway station and board 2E21, the 1541 Arriva Trains Wales to Swansea, arriving there at 1719 on Wednesday afternoon.

 

[FQ]

We then take the 17:28 FGW service to Didcot Parkway arriving at 19:47 on Wednesday evening.

 

[ValleyLines142]

We then board 1C28, the 2013 First Great Western service to Worle, arriving there at 2140 on Wednesday evening.

 

[FQ]

We then take the 21:09 FGW service to Bristol Temple Meads arriving at 21:35 on Wednesday Evening.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

We then take the 21:09 FGW service to Bristol Temple Meads arriving at 21:35 on Wednesday Evening.

You would be hard pressed to board a service departing at 2109, when the previous service arrived at 2140.
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We then board 1C28, the 2013 First Great Western service to Worle, arriving there at 2140 on Wednesday evening.

We next board the 2219 FGW service to Exeter St David's that arrives there at 2337 on Wednesday evening.

 

[FQ]

Since there are no other services we catch the 04:10 FGW sleeper to Penzance arriving at 07:52 on Thursday morning.

 

[ValleyLines142]

We then board 1S47, the 0828 CrossCountry service to Leeds, arriving there at 1600 on Thursday afternoon.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Noting the minimum connection time here, we next board the 1620 First TPE service to Manchester Piccadilly that arrives there at 1716 on Thursday afternoon.
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I hereby promise to refrain from making any more postings that involve either bus or coach journeys, except in the most dire of situations where no alternative is possible.

 

[ValleyLines142]

Noting the minimum connection time here, we next board the 1620 First TPE service to Manchester Piccadilly that arrives there at 1716 on Thursday afternoon.

We then board the 1737 Metrolink service to Stretford, arriving there at 1755 on Thursday afternoon.

I hereby promise to refrain from making any more postings that involve either bus or coach journeys, except in the most dire of situations where no alternative is possible.

Why so?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Why so?

As I will now be solely concentrating on making postings that only use heavy-rail services, you can add any light rail systems and ferries to my self-imposed exile from such modes of transport as buses or coaches, in case I am seen to be leading other forum members astray from the clearly defined approved mode of the "straight and narrow" path that we all now have to follow. No longer will "Lybster Omnibus Syndrome" affect this quiz.

Hence, I am now unable to respond with an onward journey from the Manchester Metrolink station of Stretford

 

[OxtedL]

So it seems, we now "dumb-down" this relaunched quiz to only use bus services that go from one well-known settlement to another well-known settlement, despite there being numerous bus services in the larger cities and conurbation regions with a myriad of alternative connection possibilities so existing en route.

No-one has changed the rules, you continue to be free to move wherever you want.

If anyone has any comments to make about the quiz, can you please do so in a private message to a quizmaster in the future? Discussions on the thread are not useful. Many thanks.

 

[ValleyLines142]

We then board the 1737 Metrolink service to Stretford, arriving there at 1755 on Thursday afternoon.

Can someone please take us forward from here? Many thanks