[Review] Màlaga - ALSA Bus service
[Review] Màlaga - ALSA Bus service
I recently headed off to the real Costa del Sol, not to be confused with the Easington Lane variation.
The management is typically Spanish; lazy and over-bureaucratic. There are no timetables stuck to shelters or anything at all. The buses don't have any branding or anything at all to indicate even what company they belong to. The LED display simply displays the destination, with no route number or via points, yet each takes a hugely varying route to its destination. This means having to board the bus to asatain where the bus is actually going. This only stands for half of the fleet of B9 style triaxial coaches.
The other half is a collection of battered blue unidentifiable tin boxes, far too boring to deserve a place in this post. These buses don't have any destination board, only "Line A" painted on the side, almost obscured with age. The seats were almost identical to GNE's classic mosaic seats.
These buses run half hourly via wherever, but if you can cut through all the astranged organisational features - you have yourself a speedy ride on what is effectively a brand new coach or a washing machine. Every trip is packed, somehow everyone copes.
The clear message I've learned is that however bad GNE/SNE/ANE may appear to us through bad customer service or late workings or whatever it is you may have issues with, this isn't much compared to the horribly disorganised (yet functional) system employed by ALSA, where you have to dig through horrible websites to dig up any idea of a timetable and beg the driver to establish where it is you are actually going to.
If you are planning any trips to South Spain - make sure you do your own research online to since this is almost certainly the expectation!
I recently went to Benidorm and i thought the buses were decent, seen some Scania's although not sure on the model etc, I didn't have time to ride any of the routes but i do remember riding them years ago and the drivers were crazy.
Tbh i'm not even sure if any changes have happened since last time i was on them, must be over 10 years ago now
(21 Jun 2016, 7:19 pm)Michael I recently went to Benidorm and i thought the buses were decent, seen some Scania's although not sure on the model etc, I didn't have time to ride any of the routes but i do remember riding them years ago and the drivers were crazy.
Tbh i'm not even sure if any changes have happened since last time i was on them, must be over 10 years ago now
(21 Jun 2016, 7:19 pm)Michael I recently went to Benidorm and i thought the buses were decent, seen some Scania's although not sure on the model etc, I didn't have time to ride any of the routes but i do remember riding them years ago and the drivers were crazy.
Tbh i'm not even sure if any changes have happened since last time i was on them, must be over 10 years ago now
(21 Jun 2016, 7:10 pm)Jamie M I recently headed off to the real Costa del Sol, not to be confused with the Easington Lane variation.
The management is typically Spanish; lazy and over-bureaucratic. There are no timetables stuck to shelters or anything at all. The buses don't have any branding or anything at all to indicate even what company they belong to. The LED display simply displays the destination, with no route number or via points, yet each takes a hugely varying route to its destination. This means having to board the bus to asatain where the bus is actually going. This only stands for half of the fleet of B9 style triaxial coaches.
The other half is a collection of battered blue unidentifiable tin boxes, far too boring to deserve a place in this post. These buses don't have any destination board, only "Line A" painted on the side, almost obscured with age. The seats were almost identical to GNE's classic mosaic seats.
These buses run half hourly via wherever, but if you can cut through all the astranged organisational features - you have yourself a speedy ride on what is effectively a brand new coach or a washing machine. Every trip is packed, somehow everyone copes.
The clear message I've learned is that however bad GNE/SNE/ANE may appear to us through bad customer service or late workings or whatever it is you may have issues with, this isn't much compared to the horribly disorganised (yet functional) system employed by ALSA, where you have to dig through horrible websites to dig up any idea of a timetable and beg the driver to establish where it is you are actually going to.
If you are planning any trips to South Spain - make sure you do your own research online to since this is almost certainly the expectation!
(21 Jun 2016, 7:10 pm)Jamie M I recently headed off to the real Costa del Sol, not to be confused with the Easington Lane variation.
The management is typically Spanish; lazy and over-bureaucratic. There are no timetables stuck to shelters or anything at all. The buses don't have any branding or anything at all to indicate even what company they belong to. The LED display simply displays the destination, with no route number or via points, yet each takes a hugely varying route to its destination. This means having to board the bus to asatain where the bus is actually going. This only stands for half of the fleet of B9 style triaxial coaches.
The other half is a collection of battered blue unidentifiable tin boxes, far too boring to deserve a place in this post. These buses don't have any destination board, only "Line A" painted on the side, almost obscured with age. The seats were almost identical to GNE's classic mosaic seats.
These buses run half hourly via wherever, but if you can cut through all the astranged organisational features - you have yourself a speedy ride on what is effectively a brand new coach or a washing machine. Every trip is packed, somehow everyone copes.
The clear message I've learned is that however bad GNE/SNE/ANE may appear to us through bad customer service or late workings or whatever it is you may have issues with, this isn't much compared to the horribly disorganised (yet functional) system employed by ALSA, where you have to dig through horrible websites to dig up any idea of a timetable and beg the driver to establish where it is you are actually going to.
If you are planning any trips to South Spain - make sure you do your own research online to since this is almost certainly the expectation!
Aye I remember a lot of vehicles were tin boxes on milk bottle tops for wheels.
Council owned services will always be cheaper as they are not trying to make a profit. Public transport needs to be a lossmaker in order to properly be serving the public.
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