(15 Sep 2022, 10:01 am)Adrian wrote It's a bit flippant to suggest that a Christmas Day bus service would only benefit enthusiasts, isn't it? It completely dismisses the idea that having even a skeleton service is of benefit to the communities served. The idea that people want to spend the day sitting in their house on a bank holiday is as outdated as the idea that everyone goes to Church on a Sunday.
Most of us don't have Monday to Friday free to do what we want. Some will only have Sunday evening and through to Monday evening as a rest day, for example, and then go back to providing critical services. It's why it's a complete nonsense shutting essential services, in some authoritarian manner to force people to watch the funeral of an outdated concept.
As much as you may want to add jibes to suggest that people don't work, the reality is that everyone's circumstances are different.
I have to agree to disagree on the Christmas Day front, there's no demand for it. The bus network up here is all geared to head towards large towns and cities where no-one wants to be on Christmas Day so they will cart around fresh air. Not to mention who's going to drive these, the vast majority of people want to spend time with their family and friends, instead you now want to drag them to drive buses or work in the engineering department to carry single figures all day.
On the bank holiday front, Christmas Day and next Monday are different. Next Monday is for mourning a Queen, who a lot of the country massively respected - there's currently 3 hour queues in London to see her coffin which shows how much people do care.
If you don't want to mourn the Queen that's your choice but don't expect people to go out their way to cater for you, there's plenty stuff people can do; go walk along the beach, go climb a hill, go visit the park, go visit friends and family, heck go take photos of buses etc. There's 363 other days to go shopping at John Lewis or Next, some supermarkets are open after 5pm for those who need shopping. It's the same hours as a Sunday just later - 6 hours.
Now outdated Sunday trading laws is another debate altogether but that's for another thread.