Sark, Channel Islands

The island of Sark, one of the Channel Islands, covers around 5 square kilometres.  It is home to a population of around 600 people.

This small island is renowned for being car-free.  Tractors and horse-drawn vehicles are the only vehicles permitted on the island.

And yet, Sark has articulated buses - of a sort.

Sark has no airport or landing strip for aircraft.  Access to the island is by ferry.

It is a steep climb from the harbour to Sark's village, around 100 metres above sea level.  So a bus service operates - but Sark's buses are not like any I have seen anywhere else.




 

"Toast rack" trailers carrying around 30 passengers are hauled up and down the hill by tractors.



 

As this image shows, on one trailer passengers board and alight on the left, on the other, boarding and alighting is on the right.  Not that it matters, on a small island without motor traffic.


















 

In the village, the buses set down and pick up outside the Bel Air Inn.









Buses operate in accordance with the arrival and departure of ferries.
 

There is no website for the bus service, although the service is referred to on the Isle of Sark Shipping Company website.

The bus service does not carry luggage.

For passengers with luggage, this is carried separately, directly between the boat and the passenger's accommodation on the island.

Once again, tractors and trailers are used.





The main ferry service to and from Sark operates to and from Guernsey.

This is operated by the Isle of Sark Shipping Company.

 





During the summer months, the ferry operates several crossings per day.  This drops back during the winter months to a minimum of one crossing per day, although there are no crossings on Sundays between Christmas and late February.

At Sark's harbour, passengers disembark and embark using steps...
 
...how many steps depends on the tide.

Because of this, the ferry is not wheelchair-accessible.

This in turn means there is little need for the buses to provide step-free access.


 

From April to October, Manche-îles Express operates a direct ferry from Jersey, departing Jersey in the morning and returning from Sark in the afternoon, on certain days only.

Unsurprisingly, there are no tourist buses as such on the island of Sark.  Sightseeing tours are available, however, on horse-drawn trailers.

More information about visiting Sark is on the Sark Tourism website.

Images in this post were taken on a visit to Sark in June 2014.

Guernsey, Channel Islands

My previous post was about Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands.  The second largest island, Guernsey, lies to the north of Jersey.  Guernsey is governed independently from Jersey.

Since April 2012, Guernsey's bus network has been operated by CT Plus Guernsey under contract to the Guernsey government, the States of Guernsey.  As it happens, CT Plus also hold the contract to run Jersey's buses, trading as LibertyBus.

The buses are owned by the States of Guernsey and leased to the operator of the bus service contract.  All are single-deck, with a single set of doors.

The main town on Guernsey is St. Peter Port.  The island's bus network radiates from a terminus on the harbourfront.

With two exceptions, all Guernsey's bus routes terminate in St. Peter Port.  The exceptions are route 11, which runs from the airport into St. Peter Port and onwards to the north of the island, and route P1 which provides a local service starting and finishing at the airport.  Route P1, introduced in October 2014, does not operate into St. Peter Port.

Routes 91 and 92 are named "Guernsey Vaeux".  They operate as circular services around the island, starting and finishing in St. Peter Port.  Route 91 runs clockwise, route 92 anticlockwise.

The images below were all taken in St. Peter Port.
 

Although most buses carry a green and yellow fleet livery, a number are in advertising colours.

 

Fares on Guernsey's bus network are simple - a flat fare of £1 applies to all journeys, except on late evening services operating on Friday and Saturday evenings where a £2 fare applies.  Transfer tickets allow interchange where necessary, without paying a second fare.

Prior to June 2014, the £1 fare was available only to residents of Guernsey, with a £2 fare for visitors to the island.  The higher visitor fare was abolished, coincidentally, on the day I arrived on Guernsey.

Ferries from the harbour in St. Peter Port link Guernsey with the neighbouring islands of Herm and Sark.

The short crossing between Guernsey and Herm is operated by Travel Trident.

 








 

 









 
The crossing to Sark is provided by the Isle of Sark Shipping Company.








The main ferry link to Guernsey from England and France, as well as from Jersey, is provided by Condor Ferries.  These ferries operate all year round.




 

Fast catamarans are used on crossings to and from Poole and Weymouth on England's south coast, and between Guernsey and Jersey.







Traditional ships sail between Portsmouth and Guernsey, and provide the direct crossings from Guernsey to St. Malo on the French coast.  It is also possible to reach St. Malo by fast catamaran, by changing in Jersey.



 
During summer months, Manche-îles Express provide links to Guernsey from France's Normandy coast.








Images in this post were taken during June 2014.  Guernsey's bus system will change in 2015.  A new contract to operate the island's bus services is due to start in April.  The operator of the new contract is likely to be required to replace the bus fleet with new vehicles.  The bus service is also expected to become free, in an attempt to tackle traffic congestion by tempting people out of their cars.

There will also be changes to Condor Ferries services, with the arrival of a new catamaran.  Weymouth's ferry terminal is unable to accommodate the new, larger vessel, therefore the Weymouth route will cease in Spring 2015.

Jersey, Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are an archipelago off the coast of Normandy.  Despite being closer to France, the islands are dependencies of the British Crown.

Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands.  It is governed independently from the other islands (and its government is also independent from that of the United Kingdom).

Although Jersey has had railways, these were never a success and had closed before the Second World War.  Today, Jersey's public transport system is provided with buses.

Since January 2013, bus services on Jersey have been provided by LibertyBus under contract to the island's government, the States of Jersey.

LibertyBus was launched with a brand new fleet of buses.  Most are midi-sized single-deckers.

 







 

The LibertyBus route network radiates out from St. Helier, Jersey's main town.

Many of Jersey's roads are narrow and winding.  This restricts the size of vehicles which can be used on the island.

Smaller minibuses are used on some services.

The bus terminus in St. Helier is at Liberation Station, where there is a modern bus station.  

As these images show, double-deck buses cannot use the bus stops within the terminal.

Despite this restriction, the LibertyBus fleet does contain a small number of double-deck buses.

The double-deckers operate on route 15, linking St. Helier with Jersey's airport.  In St. Helier, route 15 terminates in the street outside Liberation Station.

I understand the double-deckers require special dispensation to operate on Jersey, as they exceed the maximum width and length permitted under the island's traffic laws.

During my visit, I did notice one or two single-deckers on route 15.  I also found a double-decker on route 16.

Like the 15,  route 16 picks up on the road outside Liberation Station, avoiding the height restriction applying to buses on other routes which pick up within.

Not all of LibertyBus fleet was new in 2013.  Some single-deckers were taken over from the previous operator of Jersey's bus services.  In theory, these are intended to be used on school bus services.  In practice, I found them in everyday use on "mainstream" services. 

Conversely, the newer single-deckers can and do operate on the school services.

Some of the LibertyBus fleet carry advertising liveries.  Vinyls over the window do reduce the view from inside the vehicle.  In my opinion this is a shame as some of the routes are quite scenic.

When I visited Jersey in June 2014, I noted that at certain times of day the buses were very busy.

This one has just left Liberation Station with a full load, as indicated on its destination screen.









At the time of writing this, a standard fare of £1.80 is charged on LibertyBus services, although a £1.30 fare applies for short journeys.  Single fares do not permit transfer - if your journey requires a change of bus, you will be required to pay another fare.  1, 2, 3 and 7-day and longer period tickets allowing unlimited travel are available.  The one-day pass can be bought from the bus driver, tickets for 2 days or longer can be bought from a LibertyBus sales desk at Liberation Station.

LibertyBus have also introduced smartcard ticketing, branded as the Avanchi card.  The Avanchi card can be used for period tickets, or for pay-as-you-go.  Single fares paid using the Avanchi card are slightly cheaper than paying with cash.

Although LibertyBus operate all the regular bus routes, other companies also operate on Jersey.  Jersey Bus Tours provide services aimed at tourists during the summer months.

The Channel Islands were occupied by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.  The occupying forces built many fortifications on Jersey, including the Jersey War Tunnels.  The tunnels are now one of the island's visitor attractions.

A vintage bus dating from 1951 operates a shuttle from St. Helier to the Jersey War Tunnels.

 

The Char-a-Banc, a single-deck bus built in 1977, operates two short tours with each tour running twice a day.  The Char-a-Banc picks up outside the Pomme d'Or hotel in St. Helier.

During the German occupation of the Channel Islands, the hotel was requisitioned as a headquarters for the German navy.

An all-day tour using a modern coach is also operated.

A couple of other coach companies also operate on Jersey.

Waverley Tours operates several tours on Jersey, while Tantivy Blue Coach Tours also provides an all-day tour of the island.









Tantivy Blue Coach Tours also operate private transfer services to hotels from Jersey's ferry terminal in St. Helier.











The Tantivy fleet inlcudes some single-deck buses as well as coaches.  It appears these vehicles are kept for special services and contracts, as Tantivy do not operate regular bus services.









Jersey may not have railways now, but it does have trains.

The Little Train (Le Petit Train) operates road trains from St. Helier along the coast to St. Aubin.  Coincidentally, these follow the route of the railway.

Boat tours along Jersey's southern coast are operated by South Coast Cruises, using a small catamaran.
















Much larger vessels are used by Condor Ferries, who provide the main shipping link from Jersey to the island of Guernsey and the French port of St. Malo as well as to ports on the south coast of England.

Ferries to the French coast and to the island of Alderney are operated by Manche-Îles Express.  These may not operate all year round.