Wise Words for You

Edinburgh has always been famous for not giving change on their buses. Lothian have now rolled out contactless payments across their services from Wednesday, July 24th July Commuters can now go contactless with a daily cap on fares - similar to the system already in operation in London - in a first for Scotland. Customers will simply board the bus and tap their cards against the reader to pay for their ticket. However, after three or more taps, the fare will be capped at the Adult day ticket price, so locals are not paying over the odds for travel. Nigel Serafini, Lothian’s Commercial Director said: “We are delighted to have launched city-wide contactless payment for our customers. With more and more of our transactions becoming ‘cashless’, it was important to recognise the demand for this capability across our fleet.” “This has been at the top of customers’ wish lists for some time and we’re pleased to be able to deliver an easy and convenient method of payment, which r...

Abellio has confirmed an order for 34 Caetano zero emission, electric buses to strengthen its fleet in London. The new buses will enter service from March 2020. This will be the first Caetano electric bus for the UK, reinforcing the already strong presence of the brand in this market. Abellio has ordered the Caetano e.City Gold in 10.7m form that offers a capacity for 60 passengers with complete low floor throughout. It is a 100% electric urban bus that includes zero emission heating and has been developed by CaetanoBus to fully comply with TfL’s latest specification. In addition, the new buses will include a number of features from the new TfL Bus Safety Standard such as a Camera Monitoring Systems to replace traditional wing mirrors, Intelligent Speed Assist, Acoustic Vehicle Alert System and a revised front design to improve pedestrian/vulnerable road user safety. The bus is part of a wider family of zero emission urban mobility vehicles developed by CaetanoBus, many of which ...

Friday 5th July 2019 marked a major milestone for rail customers across the North and Scotland as TPE officially welcomed the first of of their brand new Nova 1 trains following formal acceptance from the Office of Rail and Road. Built by Hitachi Rail and financed by Angel Trains, the bullet-style Nova 1 trains will mean more carriages and extra seats for customers and the on-board experience will be completely transformed. Thefe will be 19 five carriage Nova 1 trains, each containing 342 seats, an extra 161 compared to its current trains. The futuristic fleet will carry customers on the route between: Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, York, Newcastle, Morpeth and Edinburgh and will start to be phased into service, as planned, before the end of the year. Rigorous testing of both the Nova 3 and Nova 2 fleets is currently ongoing and three Nova 3 trains have now been accepted, however as a result of further faults that have emerged, the first of the Nova 3 trains will now enter   s...

Keeping Up Appearances  became one of the best loved British television sitcoms ever, with great casting and acting and the writing talents of Roy Clarke who has written some of the best and funniest sitcoms that have ever graced our TV screens, like  Last of the Summer Wine  and  Open All Hours .  Keeping up Appearances  ran for five series from 1990 to 1995, with 44 episodes including four Christmas specials. Not only was the show a huge success in the UK, it was also very popular in the United States and Australia.  Patricia Routledge starred as the Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet), who spends her entire time trying to climb the local social ladder, much to the dismay of her long suffering husband Richard, played by Clive Swift. It is Richard that has to put up with the worst of Hyacinth's behaviour and the man must truly have what can only be described as having the patients of a saint. Hyacinth is not a bad person, just one that has high ...

You could barely move in the 1970s and 80s without seeing or hearing Noel Edmonds. He'd been hugely successful on Radio 1 and that involved regular appearances on  Top of the Pops .' All that led to  Multi Coloured Swap Shop  on Saturday's mornings and onwards to the Saturday night spot. Initially he presented  The Late Late Breakfast Show  and  The Noel Edmonds Saturday Roadshow  and in 1991 it morphed into  Noel's House Party  running until 1999. At one stage, a senior corporation executive at the BBC said he considered the show to be the most important one on the channel. In many ways he was right as the shows high ratings grabbed the viewers and they stayed there for the rest of the evening. Noel's House Party  was set in a fictional house in the wonderfully named village of Crinkley Bottom, cue dirty joke. The strength of the show wasn't in the quality of the jokes that is for sure but every week viewers would see sever...

Keeping Up Appearances  became one of the best loved British television sitcoms ever, with great casting and acting and the writing talents of Roy Clarke who has written some of the best and funniest sitcoms that have ever graced our TV screens, like  Last of the Summer Wine  and  Open All Hours .  Keeping up Appearances  ran for five series from 1990 to 1995, with 44 episodes including four Christmas specials. Not only was the show a huge success in the UK, it was also very popular in the United States and Australia.  Patricia Routledge starred as the Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet), who spends her entire time trying to climb the local social ladder, much to the dismay of her long suffering husband Richard, played by Clive Swift. It is Richard that has to put up with the worst of Hyacinth's behaviour and the man must truly have what can only be described as having the patients of a saint. Hyacinth is not a bad person, just one that has hig...