Yogyakarta Airport Rail Link

Since 2021 the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta (pronounced Jogjakarta) has enjoyed a direct rail link between the city centre and the cities' equally fairly new airport which is almost 30 miles out of the city centre.  As life took me to Jogja earlier this year I looked forward to using this rail link....

....which is easier said than done.  Using the ticket machine to buy a ticket, I learnt that all trains are advance reservation only and the next train with availability was in three hours' time!

At least I learnt my lesson was able to purchase a ticket on line for my return to the airport the following day!

Waiting room at Yogyakarta station

Yogyakarta station platform crossing

Yogyakarta station

Airport train loading - narrow gauge

Airport train - built in Indonesia

Empty retail units in the station

Boarding

Interior, all reserved seats

Yogya airport station platforms

Train timetable, with implied capacity for extra services!

Entry and exit is via gatelines with barcode readers

Curious collection of lost property on display

Fares are curious: it is 50,000IDR on a direct train but only 20,000IDR on the trains which make one intermediate stop at Yates.

And for anyone wondering here is my reason for visiting Yogyakarta or you could have a meal in a Boeing 737-200!

New in Edinburgh part 2: Bright Bus to the Airport

 As well as the tram extension, 2023 also saw further competition between Edinburgh city centre and Edinburgh airport.  Previously Transport for Edinburgh competed with itself operating a premium prices bus service (route 100) and the [very] premium priced tram. Along comes McGill's Group, having found themselves with soe spare mid-life buses from their expansion in to east Scotland, and added an express airport service to their Bright Bus open top sightseeing operation.  The new express, abbreviated to 'AIRX' on real time mapping functions, is a cheaper service than the competing route 100.  

So, one rainy Sunday in August 2024 I needed to get to Edinburgh airport, so what better time to try the AIRX.

It is nice to see that Waverley Bridge is back open, at least in one direction, allowing direct interchange from the main railway station to airport buses. It is also a central location for the city centre to the north and Royal Mile to the south.

The Lothian Buses route 100 terminates at Waverley Bridge so has at least one bus waiting most of the time.  These Enviro 400XLB buses are very comfortable for the circa half hour trip.

The Bright Bus Airport Express does more of a loop of the city centre: on this occasion it took a 4 minute wait on Waverley Bridge.  Friendly driver sold me a £4.50 single (none of that English £2 maximum fare here!)  Unfortunately I was the only passenger.

The interior of the mid-life Enviro 200 shows it in First Bus corporate colours: McGill's bought their eastern Scotland business from First and this bus was inherited with that purchase.

The coving however is branded with information on both the Airport Express and open top sightseeing operations.  

The bus features a luggage rack which was unusually solidly built.  It is always nice to see a stocked leaflet rack on a bus, and in this case again marketing was carried for both Bright Bus routes as well as another route in to Edinburgh operated by McGill's 'Midland Bluebird' subsidiary.

Upon arrival at the airport a large group were waiting to board this coach on an adjacent stop (or 'stance' as they are known in Scotland).

Fly Dundee is another McGill's brand, operated by another of their eastern Scotland operations, Explore Dundee. Great to see this successful expansion and use of public transport to access the airport.  Other services between the airport and Dundee are operated by Ember (using electric coaches) and Megabus.  Clearly a busy and successful corridor.

Final photo of the Bright Bus Airport Express.

New in Edinburgh part 1: trams finally reach Leith!

 Trams finally reach Leith!

A decade after the first stretch of Edinburgh's new tram opened between the airport and the city centre, using the entire budget that was also supposed to take the tramway to the cost at Leith/Newhaven, the northern extension is finally built and open!

Route of the Edinburgh tram.  

One of the CAF Urbos trams at the Leith terminus

The extension is mainly running in a central reservation with some on-street running in parts.  However some sections have, like Manchester Metrolink, been squeezed in to existing street topography with very slow speed 90 degree corners.

  

Plentiful warnings along the route about the presence of trams.

Comprehensive ticketing options including ticket machines (which sell combined bus/tram tickets as well as just tram tickets) and smart card readers for both the local smart card and bank cards.

I always find it slightly weird that Edinburgh Trams specified these high back bus seats' for their trams but when lightly loaded, as my wet Sunday afternoon trip to Newhaven was, they are comfortable.

Simple fare table for the trams: penalises short journeys but isn't particularly expensive for return or day tickets.

A benefit of the Edinburgh Festival is that trams run all night at weekends.  It's the future, ah tell thee!

Gratuitous picture of a tram in the rain at St Andrew Square stop

And finally - mock up tram at the Edinburgh Airport stop.  The previous fare table shows quite a premium for travelling by tram to the airport: airport public transport with a heavy premium fare is quite a thing at Scotland's airports. 

Bilbao Bus Strike

 Bilbobus

The Bilbao urban bus network is operated by ALSA (Spain's largest bus and coach operator and sister company to National Express under Mobico ownership) under the brand Bilbobus, I believe under contract to the regional Basque Government rather than the municipality.  

The majority of the Bilbobus fleet is made up of rigid hybrid Mercedes Citaro buses of varying lengths.  

Industrial Dispute

There is an on-going industrial dispute ("strike") between the employees and ALSA since the beginning of 2024.  Action appears to have sporadic up to 9th April and then became daily.  It appears this is due to the lack of a pay rise for three years (in other places reported as a below CPI pay offer) exacerbated by alleged other failings by ALSA in their employee relations.  ALSA note that the value of their contract does not allow for any pay rise; in turn the trade union have very much identified the two politicians they feel are to blame for the current situation.  The length and scale of the dispute is resulting in a lot of propaganda appearing on buses and bus stops.

Strike propaganda covering route displays and accessibility information.  

There have apparently been issues with deliberate vandalism rendering buses unusable.  I suspect that buses have been used as barricades to prevent access to depots and in the course of that they get hand written messages added to them,

 

It's very clear which politicians are apparently responsible: this image inside a Bilbobus vehicle.

And again!  The pink poster on the left is a detailed explanation of the rationale of the industrial action.

Another poster added to a bus....

And another....

Servicios Minimos

The industrial action is taking place every weekday: at weekends the full normal timetabled service is operating.  This does not mean there are no buses on weekdays: a minimum service level is operating.  It appears to be unilaterally imposed by the Basque government, but as that comes from World Socialist Web Site, I'd take that with a pinch of salt   To their credit Bilbobus have posted basic timetables on every bus stop, and the revised service seems to be largely correctly reflected in their timetables and real time section of their app, although I'm told it's not always 100% accurate.

One iteration of the minimum service timetable. 

A later iteration of the minimum service timetable (June 2024) which shows more services and routes operating.  Presumably the finances of the individual drivers or trades unions are being stretched with such a long industrial dispute so more are returning to work, as well as the increased minimum service levels.

Servicios Minimos windscreen display.

Minimum Service on route 7.

Bilbao is a very popular tourist destination, but the open top Bus Turistico has also fallen victim to the industrial action.

Response

As noted above it appears that the provincial Basque Government have some ability to impose minimum service levels, and have raised it over time. It would be great to know the legislative framework behind that.

The inter-urban/commuter hinterland Bizkaibus are making stops at more suburban Bilbao bis stops.  These don't appear on any [obvious] timetables or real time information (as Bizkaibus and Bilbobus see to be completely separate systems).

Bizkaibus, a substantial inter-urban network centered on Bilbao, operated by a variety of contracted bus operators in an even wider variety of vehicles. This Irizar i4 carries a tiny Avanza name on the front.

There is also some on-line news posts in the English language press in Spain about whether the Basque Government can - and apparently will - remove ALSA's contract to operate Bilbobus.  At the time of writing I can't find the link, but this is a common government response rather than to address the underlying problem (in the UK see: Operator of Last Resort).

In the absence of any solutions...

....here's some more Bilbobus images...and I'll add that ordinarily Bilbobus is a fantastic operation wth dense coverage of this hilly city and supported by a two line Metro, one tram line, a cable car, Bizkaibus, inter-urban rail networks of Euskotren and RENFE and a large coach station.

Irizar ieTram.  Maybe, one day, coming to London route 358.

Another Citaro hybrid.

Solaris Urbino electric.

Excellent next stop and connecting bus information on board every vehicle.

The humble lift, one of many across this port city built in a valley.