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Post by sharksmith on May 5, 2022 16:26:08 GMT 1
To be honest they're in an impossible position really, particularly as fuel costs will have also gone through the roof recently.
If they give drivers the rise they no doubt deserve, then their only option would be to cut services or put up prices, neither of which is going to be popular and is likely to damage patronage.
I understood from previous conversations that Selby was on the edge in respect of profitability so the final option would be to close up shop, let someone else pick up anything which is profitable, and let North Yorkshire Council worry about the rest.....good luck with that.
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Post by sharksmith on May 4, 2022 8:59:38 GMT 1
Looking at the 615/616, the 616 departures from Bradford are now 18:59, 19:59 and 22:32, so the 20:59ish departure is withdrawn. But then the last two journeys are now 22:32 (616) and 22:36 (615), meaning they're just 4 minutes apart along Thornton Road (until 4 lane ends when the 616 heads off up Allerton Road), 7 minutes apart when they meet back up at Sandy Lane, and then 2 minutes apart as they race from Bingley station up to Eldwick via their respective routes. Crazy! Oh it's even worse than that, last three buses to/via Allerton are 22:32, 22:36 & 22:38 !!! Sorry to go off topic but can you imagine how Transdev would spin this. 'Welcome to your brand new, amazingly high frequency, service home from a night at the theatre! Regular buses now running at up to every two minutes to Allerton!'
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Post by sharksmith on Apr 25, 2022 13:21:23 GMT 1
On the X32 you could use the dayrover until haigh Huddersfield road The X32 I knew would have been on the M1 at that point, I wouldn't have fancied jumping off there!
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Post by sharksmith on Apr 25, 2022 13:16:57 GMT 1
That would have been the early to late eighties, there were a whole host of cross border routes valid on the Day Rover at that time. I definitely would have used the X32 to go to the Herries Rd bus depot open day which was in late summer 1984. As well as the Leeds-Sheffield-Doncaster-Leeds triangle which I did on 3 on 4 occasions, I also travelled on from Sheffield to Chesterfield a couple of times on Chesterfield Corporation buses too. Ah. I didn't start using Dayrovers until around 1988 when they halved in price. I wonder if their validity stopped it if I didn't get to the southern regions of West Yorkshire until the early 90s. Could very well be that it stopped at deregulation or shortly after, it's all a long time ago now.
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Post by sharksmith on Apr 25, 2022 12:48:36 GMT 1
That would have been the early to late eighties, there were a whole host of cross border routes valid on the Day Rover at that time.
I definitely would have used the X32 to go to the Herries Rd bus depot open day which was in late summer 1984.
As well as the Leeds-Sheffield-Doncaster-Leeds triangle which I did on 3 on 4 occasions, I also travelled on from Sheffield to Chesterfield a couple of times on Chesterfield Corporation buses too.
I would certainly still use the X32 if it was still running but to be honest there's probably not as much in the centre of Sheffield as there used to be.
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Post by sharksmith on Apr 25, 2022 11:52:46 GMT 1
Think the main attraction of the X32 for me as a teenager was that you could travel the full route on a Day Rover, then pay 6p, not a typo it was 6p, to travel from Sheffield to Doncaster and return to Leeds on South Yorkshire's 410 service which was also valid on the Day Rover too.
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Post by sharksmith on Apr 25, 2022 8:06:16 GMT 1
Thinking back now, the X33 seems to have been particularly pointless. Maybe the last time Bradford was seen as an important city from a public transport perspective to have this link.
I lived closer to Bradford than Leeds but always used the X32 rather than the X33. I can see the sense in running Sheffield/Barnsley to Wakefield, or maybe even Dewsbury, but surely no-one was using the service full route from Bradford to Sheffield.
I do miss the X32 though, it always seemed well loaded too, what actually killed it off, was it companies no longer being able to cooperate post deregulation?
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 26, 2022 23:43:59 GMT 1
Absolutely nothing, as a passenger I would much rather ride a streetdeck than one of those rattling squeaking E400's.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 26, 2022 16:18:57 GMT 1
First day in service today for Bradford’s 35641 and it’s out on the 622 today. Thanks, got it, along with 35662 on the 626 on it's third day out today?
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 24, 2022 16:27:14 GMT 1
Agreed this would be a terrible decision, but that is in keeping with most of Arriva's decisions over the last five years, just look at the website redesign as another example. This falls right into the hands of the franchising brigade who will get maximum political value out of this as proof that private companies cannot be trusted to run the buses. It doesn't matter if the same driver shortages would exist under public ownership or franchising, the politicians will tell everyone things will be better under their control and by the time they have their way, and we see nothing has changed, most of them will have moved onto the next stage of their political careers.
I don't know how many driver duties are involved in these cuts but any rational person could see that the impact would be lessened by removing a handful of services over six days instead of decimating services on one day. For instance if this saves 60 drivers on a Saturday, surely better to remove 10 driver rota's per day Monday to Saturday and publicise which particular services won't run ahead of time.
If I was a conspiracy theorist, which I'm not, it's almost like Arriva management has been instructed to destroy the companies reputation in Yorkshire, Merseyside and the North East, who are all looking to follow Manchester's lead, giving the company a chance to either bid for franchises at much reduced cost, or to help them offload depots and vehicles to other franchise winners, thus selling assets which they have been unable to offload ever since it was announced that they were available for sale.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 17, 2022 17:51:36 GMT 1
35638 has gained the name 'Mick Blair' since I photographed it last week.
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TLC
Mar 14, 2022 17:18:33 GMT 1
Post by sharksmith on Mar 14, 2022 17:18:33 GMT 1
ADL Enviro 200 MMC YX71OJO, previously with Falcon Coaches, Byfleet, is running on the 656/660 today. In dealer white with no vinyls or fleet number so I don't know if this is a short term loan or a permanent addition to the fleet.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 13, 2022 12:54:25 GMT 1
Photo posted yesterday from inside an Arriva North West depot on an Arriva North West & Wales Facebook group. I assume therefore it was taken and posted by a staff member.
It shows their ALX400 4123 having 'had a tidy up prior transfer to Yorkshire'. 4119 is mentioned as the second bus transferring.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 11, 2022 18:18:23 GMT 1
I notice that Keighley Shuttle 1801 has recently been running exclusively on school services, in fact it hasn't worked the 662 since January 13th.
I thought it was one of those famous ticket machine swaps when I noticed it last week but I saw it in the flesh today on a Salts school run.
Anyone know if it's permanently part of the school bus allocation at Keighley now, or just temporarily loaned due to a reduction in PVR?
Maybe it's an indication of the future fate of these buses when the shuttle gets new buses as suggested in the near future.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 8, 2022 16:26:14 GMT 1
Not reported here yet I believe but 35638 is in service but is tracking on bustimes as 63279.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 5, 2022 21:08:27 GMT 1
First real day out post covid took me around Bradford and Leeds on a FirstDay chasing the new Streetdecks of which there were only six out and about today.
Home - Bradford 613 Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipe Gemini 37730 Bradford - Thornbury X6 Wright Streetdeck 35232 Thornbury - Bramley 508 Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipe Gemini 37505 Bramley - Meanwood 91 Volvo B7RLE/Wright Eclipse Urban 66738 Meanwood - King Lane P&R 51 Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipe Gemini 37680 King Lane P&R - Leeds 7A Volvo B5LH/Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 39230 Leeds - St James Hospital 42 Wright Streetdeck 35287 St James Hospital - Leeds 16 Wright Streetdeck 35630 Leeds - Armley 72 Wright Streetdeck 35646 Armley - Bramley Town End 16 Wright Streetdeck 35631 Bramley Town End - Dawsons Corner 72 Wright Streetdeck 35649 Dawsons Corner - Bradford X6 Wright Streetdeck 35661 Bradford - Bingley 616 Volvo B7RLE/Wright Eclipse Urban 69320 Bingley - Shipley 622 Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipe Gemini 37501 Shipley - Home 633 Wright Streetlite 63282
I know there are a lot of First and Wrightbus haters out there but all of the buses I travelled on were clean and well maintained, apart from 35646 which on it's fourth day out already had a torn seat on the upstairs front seats. You can't really blame that on First though, maybe blame it's day on the 626 yesterday whilst meeting Bradford folk for real, although it's not been into a really rough area yet! It did soldify my opinion, that for passengers the Streetdecks are really nice buses, out of the seven I travelled on, only 35661 had a slight rattle from the upstairs emergency exit. All the others were smooth, silent and comfortable, even the older examples. I'll hold my hand up and say I've never driven one, so I can't speak from the drivers seat point of view. Compared to the rattle boxes that ADL produce though, as a passenger, there's no comparison. I will admit that the Streetlite of the day sounded like a skeleton in a washing machine with it's emergency exit really noisy!
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TLC
Jan 23, 2022 23:49:00 GMT 1
via mobile
Post by sharksmith on Jan 23, 2022 23:49:00 GMT 1
It wasn't tracking at all on the day I saw it.
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TLC
Jan 12, 2022 16:01:20 GMT 1
Post by sharksmith on Jan 12, 2022 16:01:20 GMT 1
New arrival at TLC Mercedes Benz EVM Cityline Low Floor RO71 GZC fleet number 64525. It's in allover white, it Will be getting vinyls applied and ticket machine and put into service at Todmorden depot. 2 more arriving in March intended for the 205 service. This is now in service and has had TLC vinyls applied but actually carries fleet number 65425, it was heading off to Esholt on the 649 when I saw it in Shipley this lunchtime.
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Post by sharksmith on Dec 23, 2021 18:14:00 GMT 1
Anyone heard when First Bradford's new buses are due? It seems that some of their B7RLE's are due to move to South Yorkshire, I heard 69566-77 reported, where some of their MMC's have already moved on to the Potteries as part of related movements.
With the Bradford CAZ now put back to March 2022 instead of January I expect it's now not so urgent but I imagine Sheffield will still need something straight away.
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Post by sharksmith on Dec 17, 2021 10:16:55 GMT 1
One bus that I loved in the AY fleet that has now gone was the Olympuses, they was fantastic buses. They were comfortable, the ride was excellent, they could go fast when needed. Superb buses, I loved them, really great buses. I still miss them to this day. I want the Olympuses back. Off topic for this thread but on topic for this post, has anyone seen the ex Yorkshire Olympus, 1811, which Arriva Midlands have painted into NBC Crosville livery for use at Oswestry? It's absolutely my era, and love the leaf green, just not sure about the black bumpers although their Olympians did have this feature. Think it would have looked better with green bumpers.
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Post by sharksmith on Dec 14, 2021 16:40:02 GMT 1
Everything will be merged but in effect all bus operations will transfer to the new merged National Express/Stagecoach company. Coach operations will transfer to ComfortDelGro in February but no vehicles will transfer in that change.
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Post by sharksmith on Dec 14, 2021 15:14:32 GMT 1
So the takeover has been officially announced with Stagecoach's stake in the marketing, retail and customer service parts of Citylink, Megabus and Falcon being sold to ComfortDelGro although they will still provide vehicles as a sub contractor.
It's expected to be fully finalised by the end of 2022.
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Post by sharksmith on Dec 12, 2021 17:35:13 GMT 1
I don't think you can ever judge a livery in a photo, it may look much better in person. The dark blue does look identical to the colour used on the Leeds City blue branded buses which I quite liked and the light blue will no doubt gain the bulk of the branding, fleetnames etc. Advertising will also reduce the amount visible between the top decks and lessen the impact of that colour.
It will be interesting to see what brand name has been chosen for Bradford. I can't really imagine them using BD Connect considering this is a completely different design to Halifax and Huddersfield, but it's probably even less likely that they would use Bradford City. I don't know if they would even be allowed to, I assume the football club may have some legal control over that name?
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Post by sharksmith on Dec 9, 2021 18:14:32 GMT 1
The Bradford City Transport Facebook page has a photo of a new streetdeck in a two tone blue livery which they claim to be the new First Bradford livery.
Actually it's spread to a few Facebook groups now so shouldn't be too hard to find. Some debate on whether it's for Sheffield or Bradford but it's very much in the style of Leeds City and the colours seem wrong for Sheffield.
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Post by sharksmith on Nov 26, 2021 13:07:05 GMT 1
Ooops sorry Deerfold, that's the problem trying to answer a post on a phone without being able to see the original!
I live about a mile from Idle depot and many people around here would be very grumpy indeed if they were told they live in Bradford, however accurate that may be, but I take your point.
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