bright lights not sun glare

One of the most beneficial design features on Blackpool's new 'Palladium' buses are the distinct destination displays which are visible from a great distance. Clarity and sharpness of the destinations compare favourably with the hardly visible signage on the rest of the fleet utilising electronic displays. Only the traditional 'linen' blinds yellow on black are suitable in Blackpool's bright sunlight (yes the sun does shine on the Fylde coast). Even the Bombardier trams have less than satisfactory destination displays, particularly in bright sunlight - perhaps that manufacturer might care to seek out the display supplier to Mercedes ?

Talbot Road has an almost continuous parade of buses on the many routes passing on this key town artery. The ones which stand out are the Palladium buses on Service Five heading to Victoria Hospital or to Halfway House. The soft hues of the grey and muted yellow/lime colours combined with the bright destinations make a positive impression alongside the now dated yellow and black fleet livery initiated in 2010.

Its a far cry from Blackpool's longstanding affinity to green and cream but overall a definite improvement and one which might ideally be translated on the dour and uninspiring white and purple effort applied to the light rail fleet. Perhaps BTS might surprise us with a Service Five styling on the Bombardier cars when they become due for repaint.