added content to first blog post

src/routes/blog/2026/0105.md

@@ -1,3 +1,66 @@
 test
 ## Test
-working?
+working?
+
+![](clouds.webp)
+![](gunwharf.webp)
+![](langstone.webp)
+![](portsdownhill_dark.webp)
+![](portsdownhill.webp)
+![](spinnakertower.webp)
+
+## The Trouble With Buses
+
+Something I really didn't like about the UK was their public transport.
+
+A lot of it, the buses in particular, is privatised, and so it feels as if the bus companies are weighing profits too high and customer care too low.
+
+I found it particularly strange when cities have more than one company operating their network, especially since these companies usually don't exactly cooperate. Portsmouth had two – First Bus and Stagecoach – and it's just such a mess. No one publishes a proper map for their services, all their apps are rubbish and of course don't help you for services provided by other companies, the tickets are different between providers and have different validity areas, timeframes, lines you can take... ugh...
+
+The services operated really weirdly as well. I saw many instances of bus lines from different operators directly competing for passengers. This went even further; buses don't just compete for passengers with other bus lines, but with **trains** too!! Portsmouth had this too, with the First Bus X4 and X5 lines to Southampton as well as the Stagecoach 700 to Chichester. Serving stops in-between major train stations is important, sure, but the trains stopped really frequently anyway – almost as if they were competing with the buses...
+
+I was particularly badly hit by the lack of good public transport options. Langstone Campus was served by only two lines: the 13, and the U2.
+
+The 13 ran hourly, but it felt as if the timetable was seen as a recommendation, given that it liked to show up 10 minutes late or even 5 minutes early, and you can never really predict what it'll be. The 13 fucked me over particularly with its early departures, which meant I frequently had to wait for the next 13 – in an hour – or walk. Plus, the 13 didn't run at all on some days during the holidays. No service whatsoever.
+
+The U2 was even worse. It was free – but I wouldn't have wanted to pay for a service this atrocious anyway.
+
+First off, it ran every 50 minutes. *Fifty??* This was *so* inconvenient! Even worse, this didn't even line up with the university timetable, which is something they should be embarrassed about, considering it is a **university bus line**. Having a lecture at 14:00 was the worst, because it meant you'd have to take the bus at 12:50. That's 70 minutes before the lecture starts, for a route that takes 19 minutes. And if your bus didn't show up, as had happened to me – tough luck, you're missing your lecture. As an added bonus, the 50-minute frequency meant that layover times at the end stops were too short to catch up with the frequent delays, or just give the drivers any kind of rest, really.
+
+![Interior view of a First Bus on the U2 service](u2interior.webp)
+
+Seccondly, the bus was terrible. They always ran with the oldest bus First Bus had, which would vibrate heavily and loudly all throughout the ride. It was also woefully undersized for some of the crowds, especially considering the U1 got *electric double deckers running every 15 minutes despite the fact almost no one was using them*. Having only a single door where everyone had to scan their ticket made call times at certain stops extremely long too.
+
+Thirdly, the bus doesn't have announcements! Or at least it didn't. After I wrote a very, very long e-mail to the university estates team about how genuinely awful their bus service was, they pretty much ignored everything I said, *but* they silently introduced announcements! I was shocked when I saw and heard them on the U2. A standard feature on literally any bus, literally absent from this bus, but finally no more? Kind of. In the end, only like a third of the buses had the announcements.
+
+![Close-up of the U2 university bus heads-up display showing the next few stops](u2hud.webp)
+
+Oh and, the buses didn't run at all during the entire holiday period – a *month*. The last bus of 2025 ran on the 19th of December, and the first bus in 2026 will run on the 12th of January. No one at the university cares about the students living in halls during the holiday period. I felt this was particularly bad, since Langstone campus is *so* remote, the nearest supermarket is a 25-minute walk away.
+
+It genuinely felt as if the university either didn't care about its students, or they are trying to get rid of the buses. The latter I definitely think to be true; they have complained about the cost of running the buses (duh, how about don't build a campus on the other side of the island?), and there are rumours they'll start charging fares for students, especially since they started charging uni staff. I'm thinking they are trying to actively reduce ridership so that it sinks to a level where they can 'justify' cutting the service entirely.
+
+![Two Routemaster buses parked in front of Euston station in London](routemasters_euston.webp)
+
+Even London's Routemasters weren't that great. I only took one on the line 68 to get from Waterloo to St. Pancras International, but the ride felt representative of the London bus experience.
+
+For example, the driver wasn't unfriendly, but definitely quite impersonal. When I asked him whether my tap-on had gone through, he only communicated in hand gestures, ending with a thumbs-up. Hey – that was all the information I needed, so I guess it can't have been too bad.
+
+The interior of the bus was worn, not at all how I'd expect London's premier buses to look. Functional, but not a super pleasant experience. It was also a double decker, of course...
+
+Okay, not sure if this is a hot take, but I dislike double decker buses. I do think the concept is quite cool, and I do like sitting up top. However, they're inaccessible, they lengthen call times at stops, and it's just really hard to get up or down, especially when the bus is moving! I found them to be an even bigger issue in Portsmouth, where I frequently saw double deckers that were completely empty on the upper deck, with everyone sitting downstairs. A significant chunk of ridership in Portsmouth is seniors – probably because a) the buses are unattractive for anyone needing reliable transport, and b) they can ride for free – and they quite literally cannot access half the bus.
+
+I did appreciate the flat £1.75 fare on London buses though – probably an incentive to take some pressure off the tube, I imagine. Cheapter than Portsmouth's £3 "capped" fare while being way more useful!
+
+
+
+## The Return Trip
+
+<!-- swr not really offering luggage spaces, had to sit next to the toilet
+
+eurostar 45min delay fuck you, missed my connecting train and had to wait 2h for the next one in brussels. -->
+
+After being away from Germany for so long, was I glad to see ICEs and other German trains again. The snow was the icing on the cake.
+
+![An ICE 3neo calling at Cologne Central Station, Germany, covered in some snow](ice3neo.webp)
+
+I have thoughts about German trains too... but they're for another day.