Gower bus crash

I spotted this story in today's Evening Post, about a bus crash on Gower. Regular visitors will recall that I complained about a Gower bus I travelled on last Wednesday, almost colliding with a people carrier, on the way down to Oxwich. This incident was caused entirely by the driver hurtling down the hill and slowing insufficiently as he approached the corner near Underhill Cottage. I don't know whose fault this latest collision was, but I hope the incident will make Veolia's drivers slow down a bit. First Cymru may have had abysmal buses that conked out all the time, but I never felt concerned about the speed at which buses travelled, maybe because the old bangers couldn't go very fast. To be fair to Pullman/Veolia, it's only on my last couple of trips to Gower that I've been aware of drivers using excessive speed, and from the report in the Evening Post, it sounds as if the car ran into the bus, and not vice versa.

However, speed is definitely an issue on the Gower Explorer service. At the beginning of May, I boarded a 118 bus at the Quadrant bus station. Although I'd intended travelling to Rhossili, I disembarked at Killay, because the 118 was being driven in such a wild fashion by its driver. A few other passengers did the same, and we all boarded the 117 to Port Eynon instead, from where I caught a later bus to Rhossili. I reported the incident on this blog at the time. I'm also still witnessing incidents of Veolia drivers using handheld mobile phones, whilst driving. They usually do this on quiet roads on Gower, or travelling out across Garngoch Common. In addition, I'm sick of getting on Veolia buses that stink of cigarette smoke, because the drivers don't seem to realise the 'no smoking' signs apply to them as well as the passengers. I don't think I'll be visiting Gower too much in the near future, unless I can hitch a lift in someone's car. I've never liked the Gower Explorer service much, and the fact that I now get very travel sick if I use the service, means I like it even less.

Just remember - this is just one person's opinions and experiences relating to the Gower Explorer service. It has also won several major national transport awards, so you may have an entirely different experience of it.