|
Post by neukit on Nov 8, 2017 23:52:33 GMT 1
I understand Burnley Bus Company's CityZap branded 1871 failed in Manchester this morning, being replaced by Versa 273. Their 2750, Volvo B7TL/Wright Gemini also came into Leeds displaying 'CityZap Manchester Fast'. A 'decker on the route? Seems the operator had problems today. The PotN decker was used to replace the Versa.
|
|
|
Post by passenger859 on Nov 9, 2017 4:11:32 GMT 1
Used it today from Manc Chorlton Street to Leeds Corn Exchange. Quite impressed. More convenient than train too as I wanted to be in east central Leeds near markets. More pleasant journey than I've had on Sundays of late sardined on a packed Transpennine Express train where most of seats seem to be pre reserved on Sundays. Ij Obviously complete bargain at £1. Will probably use it once or twice a week going forward, even when promotion period finishes. Will you travel on it going in reverse too? Hi guyarab. Yes, I plan to use it in both directions, usually on different days. Plan for it to replace a large percentage of the journeys I usually make by foot+train.
|
|
|
Post by gooderson1 on Nov 9, 2017 7:34:33 GMT 1
Lindley Moor Rd is slowly filling up with new houses which hopefully make the route attractive to house owners to travel into Manchester or Leeds. If this happens then the stop at Ainley Top will be used by more passengers. Thought should then be given to shelters and seats at the location(at cost to someone). At the moment there is nothing other than to stand around in the open waiting for the bus.
|
|
|
Post by westyorkshirebus on Nov 9, 2017 18:27:50 GMT 1
Lindley Moor Rd is slowly filling up with new houses which hopefully make the route attractive to house owners to travel into Manchester or Leeds. If this happens then the stop at Ainley Top will be used by more passengers. Thought should then be given to shelters and seats at the location(at cost to someone). At the moment there is nothing other than to stand around in the open waiting for the bus. Providing a shelter will probably be a condition of the house builder getting planning permission. There usually has to be sustainable transport elements in any large scale planning application.
|
|
|
Post by nic on Nov 9, 2017 19:18:46 GMT 1
Could there be potential for a P&R service eventually at Ainley Top aiming to capture the train commuters? Cityzap could tap into this and be the chosen operator.
Just a thought - could they eventually have a half hourly frequency between Ainley Top and Leeds with this new development?
|
|
|
Post by ajw11239 on Nov 10, 2017 15:01:13 GMT 1
I've had a couple of goes of the service when I had meetings that side.
Vehicle wise - to be honest I think already, the route has had loads of different vehicles on it - I've seen a Mainline Versa on it, one of the Black "Pride of the North" B7TLs, another Black B7RLE and even last night, after a breakdown, one of the Witch Way's B9s too! Would have made for a comfortable ride indeed.
I used the 7am service from Leeds to Manchester, the bus of choice being a B7TL with the Black North branding. Very quiet service but very early in the morning. Driver was nice, bus was comfortable, a little bit of a wobble with the wind but not too bad at all. Sadly, and I know rush hour traffic is to blame, the service took nearly two hours - arriving into Chorlton St at about 9:01am, 21 minutes later than the advertised time, after getting stuck a couple of times on the M62 and then all the way into Manchester from there.
I liked the service and even though I hate the train, and being squashed in like sardines, I'll have to stick to it at that time in the morning.
|
|
|
Post by rwilkes on Nov 11, 2017 10:47:59 GMT 1
|
|
BG12
Forum Member
Posts: 71
|
Post by BG12 on Nov 12, 2017 11:54:32 GMT 1
Used it on Thursday, got the 11:30 from Leeds.
The gemini was used, it doesn’t have USBs but does have leather seats with plenty of leg room. Arrived in Manchester 5mins late.
Got the 16:05 return from Manchester, it was a branded Zap single decker arrived bang on time and nearly all the seats were taken.
15mins into the journey the bus broke down and we were told by the driver, after he’d spoken to the depot there was no replacement bus available and had to wait for the 17:15 departure from Manchester to collect us. Which turned out to be 15mins late, so we had to wait on the bus for 90mins!!
The Gemini was the return vehicle, which got back into Leeds 25mins behind schedule and the doors wouldn’t open so the driver had to get out and open them manually.
I think I’ll give it a while before I Zap again.
|
|
|
Post by passenger859 on Nov 12, 2017 21:48:30 GMT 1
Used it for the second time today. Leeds to Manchester today, opposite to my first trip on the service last Sunday.
Having stayed in south York last night I jumped on Arriva's MAX 415 service to Piccadilly then around the corner to Stonebow double Zapping into Manchester with the £9.50 daytripper. Thankfully both CZ smooth journeys. Love the comfort and quiet. A nice time to relax and enjoy the countryside/pennines and listen to music.
Guess by purchasing the £9.50 at Stonebow the revenue will be attributed to the York Cityzap this time. However, most of the time I'll be purchasing a ticket at one end of the a Manchester service.
|
|
|
Post by passenger859 on Nov 19, 2017 15:24:30 GMT 1
Did my 5th run on it today from Chorlton St to Corn Exchange.
My first time on a double decker (Volvo B9TL/Wright Gemini 2) in "Pride of the North" livery, fleet number 421. What a great idea for a livery. Bus inside looked very much like old Coastliner interior and unfortunately no charging facilities.
Better pennine scenery from the top deck = bonus!
|
|
SF07
Forum Member
Posts: 3,216
|
Post by SF07 on Nov 19, 2017 23:18:49 GMT 1
Have tried it a couple of times in the last week or so. Tried it on the last day of the £1 offer last Saturday, where there were several people with their concessionary bus passes on board.
Also tried it on Thursday, where the service was a bit quieter. Travelled in morning to Leeds with me being only passenger crossing the Pennines (one passenger travelled Manchester-Chadderton and one passenger travelled Ainley Top-Leeds) and then in the afternoon, I was the only passenger on board the 1730 journey from Leeds to Chadderton, which was using the B9TL Pride of the North vehicle instead of the normal CityZap B7RLEs. Few more passengers were travelling in the opposite direction though at that time.
Can't fault the journey though. Managed to stay close to time even during peak times (even managed to get to Ainley Top early from Leeds). Can even manage to get from Oldham to Leeds in under 90 minutes by connecting between the 59 and CityZap at Chadderton (roughly the same time the 184 takes to travel from Huddersfield to Oldham).
|
|
|
Post by angrycommuter on Jan 1, 2018 18:15:07 GMT 1
I've done quite a bit of m62 driving recently and passed several city zaps at various times of day. There were barely anybody on the services.
Unfortunately I don't see this service lasting into 2018. Traffic is just too unreliable and the journey time too long.
|
|
|
Post by Marcus on Jan 1, 2018 19:22:33 GMT 1
Trnsdev are offering free travel on this service for rail ticket holders all this month
|
|
WYBS
Forum Member
Watch-o
Posts: 1,451
|
Post by WYBS on Jun 6, 2018 18:39:28 GMT 1
Unfortunatley, this looks to be cancelled after July. Bit of a shame really, it was particularly good for getting to Hudds and Halifax, but obviously it wasn't pulling in the ammount of passengers they thought it would.
|
|
|
Post by deerfold on Jun 6, 2018 21:17:09 GMT 1
Unfortunatley, this looks to be cancelled after July. Bit of a shame really, it was particularly good for getting to Hudds and Halifax, but obviously it wasn't pulling in the ammount of passengers they thought it would. Any details on this?
|
|
|
Post by ajw11239 on Jun 6, 2018 22:30:41 GMT 1
The source is an unofficial tweet which apparently is a letter sent to drivers:
So this comes with a massive health warning. (The letter isn't as eloquent as I'd expect something official to be, tbh) I really don't know if it's true though - that letter has come from a 'fan' page so I can't see it being made up. If it's true, I don't think it would be confirmed until about a month before it's effective date.
*If* there's weight to it - I'm not surprised. They gave it a go but despite the Transdev accounts and 'everything's amazing' mantra fans on twitter's opinions, the service didn't quite find its custom. Maybe reasons were ticket cost from a passenger's perspective, journey time, low service frequency, very early last bus... who knows.
But for what it's worth - it wasn't a bad service. Before they stopped the DayTripper being allowed on it, it allowed for a nice low cost day out.
Best way to verify it would be to wait and look at the CityZap / Transdev staff's Twitter - if it's not for the chop then they'll be quick to squash the rumours. If it is, they'll remain very quiet.....
|
|
|
Post by ldsbus on Jun 7, 2018 11:21:37 GMT 1
It's official -
Ends Sunday 22nd July.
|
|
SF07
Forum Member
Posts: 3,216
|
Post by SF07 on Jun 7, 2018 19:14:52 GMT 1
|
|
|
Post by blackburntransport14 on Jun 7, 2018 19:30:28 GMT 1
I had a strong feeling this wouldn't work from the start and was certain when day trippers where no longer valid. The M62 is far too unpredictable, which isnt good for commuters trying to get to work. Yes it's cheaper however most rail passengers won't trade that for the longer journey time. That's why trains a so popular.
|
|
|
Post by MetrolineGA1511 on Jun 9, 2018 21:11:36 GMT 1
Just last week I book National Express to Leeds for June 23rd, passing up CityZap so that I could have a longer day out. I am almost tempted to write it off and come using CityZap after all. Otherwise I could still ride CityZap from Leeds to Ainley Top. In practice, I prefer to do Leeds & Wakefield this month and Halifax & Huddersfield later. So, a likely compromise would be to use it from Manchester to Ainley Top in July for such a trip. I can decide nearer the time between a CityZap day return, or a Single then an Advance train ticket back from Halifax to Manchester.
Bang goes my Manchester - Leeds - York - Harrogate via Ripon - Harrogate local - Leeds - Manchester idea using a Daytripper Plus for October!
|
|
|
Post by MetrolineGA1511 on Jun 23, 2018 20:24:40 GMT 1
Sudden change of plan on impulse! I reached a convenient rounding-off point in Leeds just after 5pm, partly because I had lost interest in going east of Wakefield with no Arriva Tempos evident. So, I decided to ride on CityZap back from Leeds to Manchester after all. A big surprise is that all 3 buses on it this afternoon were Mainline Versas! So for good measure, I feel no compulsion for a trip to Burnley to ride one (having passed up such an opportunity in Keighley last September).
|
|
SF07
Forum Member
Posts: 3,216
|
Post by SF07 on Jun 25, 2018 19:46:34 GMT 1
Have noticed a few non-CityZap buses on the route in the last few days with Mainline and Burnley Bus Company vehicles being used in addition to the Pride of the North single/double deckers. However, did see ML03 ZAP out heading into Manchester this afternoon.
|
|
|
Post by dennisthemenace504 on Jul 21, 2018 14:51:23 GMT 1
I, along with a mate, who has a free bus pass, caught the 1030 from Leeds to Manchester, on leaving Leeds, the bus had two standing passengers, and picked up two more passengers at Ainley Top. Apart from myself and my mate, the rest of the passengers weren't enthusiasts, maybe 4-6 passengers paid a fare, I had a mobile ticket, so, in theory, I didn't pay. One passenger couldn't believe it was the last day of operation for it, with a full load like that.
As we all know, if, they'd been getting daytime loads like this, most days, not just on a Saturday, then it wouldn't be finishing, would it?
|
|
|
Post by stevieinselby on Jul 21, 2018 22:08:25 GMT 1
As we all know, if, they'd been getting daytime loads like this, most days, not just on a Saturday, then it wouldn't be finishing, would it? Doesn't necessarily follow. If the service is almost entirely used by people with free passes and only a handful of people paying fares then it is entirely possible that it isn't making money. Especially on a route like Zap where there is no real churn. Most buses have a mixture of passengers travelling the full route and travelling shorter distances, and the operators will make more money from a seat that is used for three short fares than for one long one.
|
|
WYBS
Forum Member
Watch-o
Posts: 1,451
|
Post by WYBS on Jul 22, 2018 12:11:44 GMT 1
Could anyone tell me which bus was the first to run towards Manchester when the route began? Can't find it in my notes. Thanks
|
|