SF07
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Post by SF07 on Feb 2, 2012 22:55:34 GMT 1
Believe service 500 is due to change numbers and will be part of the 663 after the review 500 is being re-numbered 663 from April. I'll go for my wild card, Transdev Burnley will extend one of their number 1s to Hebden Bridge hourly all day, 7 days a week during the day. The bus may then go on to run the 500 bus to Keighley before that runs as a 25 back to Burnley and vice versa. As daft as it may sound, it means Transdev dig more into First teretory and they can free up a couple of buses in Keighley to work as spares for when services become disrupted. Breakdowns on these services could be covered by either Burnley or Keighley, depending on where the breakdown takes place. It also could be the answer to the teaser about something happening to services around the Hebden Bridge/Todmorden corridoor. Unlikely considering the 1 is a Starship and the 25 is part of the very complex network of Mainline services. Might not seem as silly as Transdev changed the buses in Blackburn at the end of last year merging the SpotOn 1 and Lancashire United 225 between Blackburn and Darwen with some SpotOn buses appearing on the 225. However, in saying that, the Mainline is a complicated network of services, so interworking it with other services would probably make it a bit of a mess. I always thought extending the 500/soon-to-be 663 to Halifax would be a good idea as, it would restore the Monday-Saturday direct link between Halifax and Keighley (can be done currently by changing between 504 and 696/697). Another suggestion: merge the 500 and 900/901 services. Whatever it is, we shall have to wait and see what happens. With the changes taking place in mid-April, we should start to see the big clues coming in the next month or so, with announcements on the Metro website and registrations or alterations on the VOSA website.
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Post by humberside on Feb 3, 2012 13:20:33 GMT 1
Transdev York will be altering the 19A/C from 1st April, while the 112/113/124 are cancelled.
Info from VOSA
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Post by www.buseireann.ie on Feb 3, 2012 13:26:08 GMT 1
Bearing in mind the Keighley changes will be interesting and perhaps supprising, I'll have another stab at a wild card and say maybe Pennine have been awarded contracts such as the 78A, or could it be that Pennine are going to compete on the 66/A routes? Would be good if they extended their 580 beyond Skipton to Keighley!
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mjn
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Post by mjn on Feb 3, 2012 15:44:19 GMT 1
What you all might conclude is that Metro have been criticising the bus companies for years. The bus companies have invested to bring higher standards of vehicles andrivers, smartcards and GPS etc. To reward the companies for all this Metro increasingly gives the contracts to the cheapest bidder and brings the quality right back to what they were complaining about in the first place! The bus companies also cut services, increase fares way above inflation, demand subsidies for quiet times on commercial services and lose patronage. So, even though authorities are obliged to award tenders based on certain value/cost criteria, are experiencing budget cuts and every authority acts in much the same way, you think the big groups should get all the tenders as some sort of reward for buying new buses? There have been cases of inept operators getting tenders but it seems to me that Metro are damned either way. Funnily enough it seems to be Centrebus getting a lot of the tenders these days, as a result of First deciding it didn't want to run a lot of services. They have rather a lot of new buses as well. Admittedly the fact that services end up run by different operators depending of the time of day with all the ticketing issues that entails probably doesn't help, nor does the instability of the network, but this can mostly be blamed on the sainted operators!
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Post by northerner on Feb 3, 2012 20:23:59 GMT 1
Bearing in mind the Keighley changes will be interesting and perhaps supprising, I'll have another stab at a wild card and say maybe Pennine have been awarded contracts such as the 78A, or could it be that Pennine are going to compete on the 66/A routes? Would be good if they extended their 580 beyond Skipton to Keighley! The 78A is an odd one, as according to the report it is to run between Skipton and Airedale Hospital only, and if Transdev Keighley were to continue operating the service it would make more operational sense to continue to Keighley, and I'm fairly sure the section between Airedale and Keighley would be commercially viable. If the change does go ahead it will only leave the 25 serving Airedale Hospital grounds through the day which does seem rather poor
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Post by www.buseireann.ie on Feb 3, 2012 22:48:43 GMT 1
If that's the case for the 78A then this really is getting interesting, maybe one 66 an hour will be diverting via the hospital or could short workings to the hospital be introduced? I bet somebody like Pennine or Pride of the Dales have been given the 78A!
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Post by northerner on Feb 3, 2012 22:55:01 GMT 1
If the service was to terminate at Airedale I would assume it would act as an interchange point for Keighley as places such as Bradley, Connonley and parts of Cross Hills would be left without a direct link. Ideally all 66s should serve the hospital grounds although the schedule is fairly tight at present and at peak times reliablity is very hit and miss
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Post by Burnside on Feb 3, 2012 23:23:15 GMT 1
One thing i thought of with the 78A was to divert it via Lawkholme Lane so the 727/729 could be diverted via Dalton Lane to replace the 711.
Will be interested to see if a new operator arrives in Keighley. At least if First get back on the 500 they won't be able to substitute the full size bus for a Merc 709D like in the past!
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Post by northerner on Feb 3, 2012 23:59:51 GMT 1
One thing i thought of with the 78A was to divert it via Lawkholme Lane so the 727/729 could be diverted via Dalton Lane to replace the 711. I think the 729 is to divert via Dalton Lane, leaving the 727 serving Lawkholme Lane. Will be interesting to see what happens to the 704 & 705 services too, as I can't see just one bus an hour to Parkwood Flats being too popular. It would be better to withdraw the 704 and run all services as the 705 It appears as though Transdev could be losing multiple services in the Keighley area and I wonder if this is because they didn't want to operate the services or have they become complacent given the lack of previous competition?
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Post by SCH117X on Feb 4, 2012 19:26:53 GMT 1
Or simply someone has made a cheaper bid for the routes operated on behalf of NYCC / Metro
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SF07
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Post by SF07 on Feb 4, 2012 19:45:30 GMT 1
Or simply someone has made a cheaper bid for the routes operated on behalf of NYCC / Metro That's the most likely reason. Could be a similar situation to when First lost quite a few services in Calderdale to Centrebus a couple of years ago.
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Matty
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Post by Matty on Feb 4, 2012 22:11:42 GMT 1
First didn't want to run them because it would mean buying new buses so they put a extremely high bid in for them.
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Post by Burnside on Feb 4, 2012 22:46:25 GMT 1
If they didn't want to run them, why bother bidding at all?
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Danny
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Post by Danny on Feb 4, 2012 22:47:14 GMT 1
I think they will try and get them back.
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Post by westyorkshirebus on Feb 4, 2012 23:03:15 GMT 1
First didn't want to run them because it would mean buying new buses so they put a extremely high bid in for them. Doesn't seem like a very likely situation. More likely that they did want them but only with a high tender price.
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Post by SCH117X on Feb 6, 2012 20:33:22 GMT 1
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SF07
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Posts: 3,216
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Post by SF07 on Feb 8, 2012 12:02:54 GMT 1
PB1086413/11 - TATES TRAVEL LTD T/A TATES TRAVEL GROUP, WHALEY ROAD, BARNSLEY, S75 1HT Variation Accepted: Operating between Barnsley Interchange and Barnsley Interchange given service number 18/96/96A/97 effective from 02-Apr-2012. To amend Timetable.
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Post by firstinsider on Feb 8, 2012 20:11:28 GMT 1
TLC will be taking over the 656 from First in Bradford
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77syk7
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Post by 77syk7 on Feb 8, 2012 20:40:07 GMT 1
That's the first one to be revealed - expect a few more surprises soon!
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Danny
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Post by Danny on Feb 8, 2012 20:45:59 GMT 1
Hope not but 629 - Thats my guess.
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Matty
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Post by Matty on Feb 8, 2012 20:46:41 GMT 1
Yes we have inside information
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Post by Bradford Traveller on Feb 8, 2012 21:56:46 GMT 1
TLC will be taking over the 656 from First in Bradford (This is a daytime only service) Currently interworks with f 660.
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Post by www.buseireann.ie on Feb 9, 2012 18:32:39 GMT 1
Hope not but 629 - Thats my guess. Bearing in mind Metro have recieved a string of complaints lately about numerous 629s missing each day, personally I can't see HJC being given the revised route.
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Post by firstinsider on Feb 9, 2012 19:40:56 GMT 1
our union rep says that TLC have also got 629 as well as 660 and i think 657/658/659
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Post by northerner on Feb 9, 2012 21:53:55 GMT 1
TLC could end up becoming a major player in the Bradford area. Any ideas what buses they will be getting?
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