On Mon, 3 Apr 2006 20:09:37 +0100, "Chris Read"
wrote:
Any other fans of Mr Wharmby's www.londonbuspage.com here?
Yes
When it was updated regularly, this was a great site, complete with his
.....err ....... interesting rants, which often had more than a grain of
legitimacy about them.
I didn't always agree with what he said but his thoughts were always
worth pondering.
You may recall that one of the consequencies of the withdrawal of the
Routemaster predicted by our Matt was a decline in the tourist trade.
I opened up my Daily Torygraph this morning to find a story about how
tourist numbers in the UK have fallen by 2% - one of only four countries in
Europe to suffer a decline.
To be fair the real reasons are the fact that some people decided to
blow up various bits of the London transport network and also that lots
of Brits opted to fly abroad using budget airlines. It is understandable
that people would be reluctant to visit London when the main way of
getting around has been bombed and the general air of vulnerability that
pervaded the city for months afterwards. The predictions for UK tourism
this year are even worse.
However things seem to have recovered to some extent. As I work in the
heart of the main tourist area I find that there has been a very steady
stream of foreign visitors right through Autumn, Winter and on into
Spring.
And the picture chosen to illustrate the article?
The final Routemaster 159 crossing Westminster Bridge.
Personally I don't think this has anything to do with it at all even if
Routemaster fans would love to think that it does. Tourists can ride a
Routemaster if they wish to and there are still loads of red double deck
buses for them to try - I saw quite a few leaping on and off the Enviro
400 I was on today. It's the ability to see London from the top deck
that is the novelty factor - the same attraction applies in Berlin which
has double decks on its key routes (100 and 200) that serve all the main
tourist areas of central Berlin.
--
Paul C
Admits to working for London Underground!