Killer Day

Yesterday was bad. There are probably lots of other words I could use to describe it but BAD will do. We have the on going closure of the sea front road between The Pavilion and Belgrave Road for the Rock Walk work, that has meant we are having to come down through town to the Harbour and then back up through town to get back to normal line of route. We all thought that Fleet Walk would be the problem here but getting up Abbey Road is the problem. Also there were road works with tempory traffic lights out at Churston and Stop/Go boards in Avenue Road in Newton but by far the biggest problem was the closure of the back road from Penn Inn to St Marychurch.

This road runs more or less parallel to the main Newton to Torquay road through Kingskerswell and is used by car drivers (thank you to those who do use it) who are looking to avoid the daily snarl up on the main road. Because all these cars were forced onto the main road journey time were increased on a biblical scale.The day was a constant chase, passengers having a moan because they had been waiting ages and then 3 buses would turn up at once and the ongoing frustration of having desperately impatient car and van drivers cut the bus up in a mad attempt to get in front of the bus and thereby shorten their journey time by 0.3 seconds. One such driver did so at the Penn Inn, missing both me and an oncoming HGV by centimetres and then sitting in a queue of traffic in front of me for the next half an hour all the way down to Scott's Bridge 4 miles and 40 minutes down the road.

I arrived in Paignton Bus Station for my meal break so late I was due out in 15 minutes instead of the 52 minutes my running board laughingly suggested I should have. Not a problem, the bus I was taking over was running just as late as I was so I still had my 52 minutes. Control then suggested, after I pointed out that I was 45 minutes late by the time I got through Torquay and I had 3 other buses running toward Newton travelling with me that I turn at Scott's Bridge. I have never turned at Scott's Bridge before in 9 years of doing the 12 route. Usual turning place is Penn in 4 mile further up the road. This put me back on time but only just.Finally I arrived in Brixham at 18:25, due out at 18:45. One bus had just left, the 18:15 and the 18:30 bus had, like me just arrived.

What hadn't turned up was the 18:20 12A and several passengers were standing there waiting anxiously for it. One of the passengers waiting for the bus had also been waiting for a bus out of Brixham when a crash a week ago had closed the road in and out of Brixham for 6 hours and it had taken him 3 hours to get home. So I got on the radio to find out where it was, after several minutes I managered to find out that it was running so late the driver would be unable to operate it as he would end up going over his drivers permitted hours. There is a 12A that runs from Windy Corner at 18:56 but I didn't want to take the passengers there in case that bus was also running very late.

Then a hero emerged. A 12 driver who was due into Brixham in a few minutes volunteered to run out of Brixham as a 12A and get the waiting passengers home. What he should have been doing was driving back to the depot dead (out of service) and then go home. That takes 30 minutes, doing the run round the 12A route would add an extra 30 minutes onto what had already been a long day for all of us. That little act of heroism cheered me up a little as I made my long and weiry way up to Newton Abbot along the still busy Newton Rd.

Day off tomorrow, I am going for a walk round the Rock Walk site then may be a glass or two of beer.