It’s been barely a month since my arrival in the United Kingdom. I’m still getting used to so many things – worst of all the weather. I wonder if anybody really ever gets used to it. I have made a conscious effort to be as observant as possible to everything around me and admittedly I have been surprised. The chronicles of my escapades in the UK and other European countries would be serialized but for now, I want to commend this country and its beautiful people for the most efficient and effective transport systems. At the last briefing I received in my home country by officials of the British High Commission, I was told the ‘the UK’s transport system is the best so you need not worry about travelling around the country…”.
Honestly, I said to myself, this is someone praising their country, I’m sure I’d have said same. My experience in the last few weeks has been a confirmation of those words. On my first day of going to the Manchester city centre, I was at a bus stop when this double-decker bus arrived. I got on board and went upstairs because I wanted to have a good view. As the last passengers boarded, I saw a lady, likely to be in her late twenties running towards the bus and asking the driver to wait. Seconds after, the bus drove off. I could not understand why the driver would do that. She stopped running and went to wait at the bus stop. Three stops after that, a similar incident happened. This time two ladies. With the backpacks they carried, they looked like students. They also missed the bus. I thought to myself – This can only be happening in the UK, not my homeland Ghana. We have our own public transport system where the drivers pretend to be abiding by the law.
We use urvan buses called ‘trotro’ for our intra-city transports and there are lots of it. For Ghana, you don’t have to run to catch the bus, it will WAIT for you. It can even wait for you right in the middle of the road when other vehicles have queued behind it waiting for it to move. And when the vehicle behind tries to overtake and drive on, the trotro driver would move slightly forward as though he’s finally driving away. He would stop again just to pick that passenger who may be walking leisurely to the bus. The vehicles behind would honk and toot their horns the loudest. It will all fall on deaf ears – literally. And when you attempt to correct them, you have to prepare for a barrage of insults from the driver and his conductor.
Wait… Did I mention buses in the UK do not have conductors? Well they don’t but EVERYBODY pays and the system works just fine. Now one observation I made was that at each bus stop, there is a printout in a glass-covered notice board which lists the buses that ply that route, the times they are expected to arrive and their various destinations. It is amazing how these buses are almost always on time. The inside of the buses is quite tidy and there are clearly designated areas for the elderly, persons in wheelchairs and persons using prams and buggies. In fact, everything seems to have been well thought through to the extent that the bus stops and the entrances have been designed to allow persons with all forms of disability – be it in wheelchairs or otherwise, to get on and off the bus very easily. Ghana is still trying to enforce a simple disability law. Some major public buildings are not disability friendly. If even a building that is stationary does not have easy access for the disabled, how much more buses?
It was also nice to notice the appearance of the drivers who were always in uniforms and well respected. Almost all passengers said a ‘thank you’ to the driver before getting off the bus. I realized it a second and a third time and I joined the chorus. I had no idea why it was so but as the saying goes “when you’re in Rome, do what the Romans do”. So I also started thanking the drivers and I felt good within. A few of the drivers do respond to every ‘thank you’ others just keep quiet and nod. I thought about how the drivers would feel knowing that their job is being appreciated. If everybody in their profession – be it a nurse, teacher, street cleaner, painter, waiter, etc. got a thank you for their service – What a wonderful world it would be!
Well enough for the buses. Let me alight here for I have a train to catch.
RAIL TRANSPORT:
My first ever train ride in the UK was from Manchester Piccadilly to Euston, London. The comfort and services onboard made it a good two-and-a-half-hour ride. Ghana’s current government has created a ministerial position called Minister for Railway Development. The idea is to improve the railway sector which has been defunct for many years. Previous governments made significant strides in building a more sustainable sector especially for the business community and those that cart large cargo from the rural areas to the city and from one city to another. We may be able to learn a thing or two from the UK rail sector because while we were on our passenger train, I saw a number of cargo trains carting cargo. This clearly reduces the pressure on our roads.
In London, there is a system called the Underground. I was headed for Oxford Circus in Central London so I asked and was directed to the UNDERGROUND. Yes, that’s the name – Underground. It is a form of a train system that travels underneath the city. Smart idea to cut down traffic in one of the busiest cities in the world. And this service from my preliminary observation is also timed and runs effectively. All in all, it has been quite an experience for a foreigner who loves to travel. The system has just made travelling a lot easier and it is a commendation for the UK.
Cheers
My African Lenses 