Exercise 7. Discussion points

1. The importance of development of London bus transport.

2. The main advantages of modern buses.

Text 2

London buses

Read and memorize the following words, words combinations and word-groups:

double-decker buses - двоповерхові автобуси

to embark - сідати, відправитися

to disembark - висадитися
to pre-book - заздалегідь замовити
long-distance coaches - міжміські автобуси

affiliate - філія
predominantly - переважно

express shuttle bus services - експрес послуги мініавтобусів

to survive - вижити
extension - розширення

to book in advance - заздалегідь замовити

1. A common sight in central London are tour buses, the majority being open-top buses. These are double-decker buses with a fully or partially open upper deck, which provide tourist services with either live or recorded commentary. Most of these services allow passengers to embark and disembark at any of the company's stops, continuing their journey on a later bus.

2. There are several competing operators of such services which do not form part of the London Buses network and do not issue or accept London Buses tickets, although at least one paints its buses in the same red as London's local buses. Fares are set by the operator. There is no need to pre-book and tickets can be bought from the driver or bus-stop ticket sellers.

3. Long-distance coaches link London with the rest of the UK and with other cities in Europe. Most of these services are run by National Express and their European affiliate Eurolines. National Express's predominantly white vehicles are common on the roads of central London, on their way to and from their terminus at Victoria Coach Station.

4. Recently competition for long distance traffic has been introduced by Megabus, a subsidiary of the large UK bus operating company Stagecoach. This company operates cheap services aimed at students and the like, which must be booked in advance on the Internet.

5. Other coach services link London to medium-distance destinations, and unlike National Express or Megabus provide walk-on fares. Good examples of this are the Green Line services to the Home Counties, mainly operated by Arriva, the service to the city of Oxford, where Stagecoach's frequent Oxford Tube service competes with Go-Ahead's similar Oxford Express service, and the many commuter services to medium-distance destinations operated by individual coach companies during peak times.

6. National Express is also the principal airport bus operator, serving Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted with its National Express Airport brand. Unlike their longer distance cousins, these are walk-on services, which serve stops throughout central London rather than running to Victoria Coach Station.

7. London City Airport used to provide express shuttle bus services to connect the airport to rail and underground stations at Canning Town, Canary Wharf and Liverpool Street. These operated at a premium fare (compared with the parallel but slower London Buses services) but did not survive the extension of the Docklands Light Railway to the airport in late 2005.