Slough has a new bus station!!!!

The bus station at Slough, so I am told, has been made famous coz it appears/ed in the opening credits of The Office. I didn't watch The Office..............it was on during the hospitality phase of my life, ie I didn't have a life and therefore watching TV was not something I got to do that often. Anyway, I digress, the bus station, Brunel Bus Station, was built in the 70's, so had all those lovely 70's design features.............concrete, so when the local council in its wisdom decided that it needed regenerate Slough (John Betjeman had a point!), a new bus station was planned.


Now, the design looked good..............modern and sleek and it promised light and air (things the old bus station sadly lacked) as well as things like a cafe, shop, toilets and waiting rooms......you know, the kinda thing that keeps the unhappy public slightly less unhappy while they are waiting for their overpriced, over crowded and late bus home!


Anyway, about six months and a few late, the new bus station finally opened yesterday, Saturday 28th May 2011. Yes, it was a little behind schedule, two winters with snow (shock horror) delayed things a bit apparently, and there is still a lot to do, but yesterday, the public, and more importantly, the buses, started to use it. So, I made my marathon bus trip over to Slough (home to High Wycombe and then High Wycombe to Slough) by bus to see the bus station.......oh and meet hubby after work. Now remember when I said the design looked good, and all that it was supposed to contain............well actual thing does look good, it is very sleek and modern, but nice looking, light and airy and....................................................


And here we get stuck!! No cafe or shop, the space is there, but no-one has so far leapt at the chance to pay £30,000 a year rent. Also no toilets or waiting rooms which I foresee causing one or two negative comments in the local press. I have to say that no toilets in a bus station is slightly strange, but no doubt the blokes will solve this and quite soon there will be a corner that will start stinking to high heaven.................as for us ladies, that'll be cross ya legs! There are also no waiting rooms. Ok, it is a bus station not a train station and so waiting rooms are not really necessary, however, somewhere to wait for the bus out of the rain would be nice. I just mention this as our island does tend to be a bit wet on occasions. The sleek wavy roof does not appear to offer much in the way of cover and while it is nice and airy, comparisons to a wind tunnel spring to mind!!


Now, I also got to see the inside bit, the bit were the general public may not tread, the bit that the bus company use. The facilities for the bus drivers in the old bus station were............a bit old and tired to be polite. I only went in there a couple of times and generally ended up waiting in the corridor outside the paying in room while hubby deposited his cash. Unfortunately this was right next to the gents, so the smell was...................... I also saw the canteen and it was dark and tired. The new facilities for the bus drivers are very nice. Their canteen is on the first floor, overlooking the train station (they can all indulge in a bit of train spotting on their breaks), and hubby assures me the gents are a vast improvement on the old ones. I cannot confirm this, as I have visited neither, though I can confirm the smell was lacking. Hubby is also pleased because his locker is bigger than his old one, meaning he can get more crap, er sorry essential bus driving items, in it.


So in summary, from a passenger point of view, not impressed; from a bus drivers point of view re their facilities, very nice.