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Post by stevieinselby on Sept 8, 2023 9:22:14 GMT 1
Personally I'd think itd make more sense for the mini e200s from selby to go to hecky and solos to go back to Selby, as the mini e200s can still use the bus station on the 229/254/256 unless the e200s minis cant be used on 377/378 voiding this idea. That wont happen as the e200s at Selby are needed for 42 due to the swing bridge which Solos are too heavy to use. Not true – Solo SRs and E200 minis are both fine, and Arriva used to sub Solos onto the 42 regularly when they were at Selby. When Transdev were running the route and needed to upgrade from the decrepit Darts, they chose E200MMC minis because they didn't think Solos were up to the demands of the route, not because they were too heavy. It was the E200MMCs that were too heavy, which is why they had to get the passenger capacity reduced and have them recertified. In the old days, pre-2015, Arriva used to use full size Darts and sometimes E200s on the route, as well as an occasional Solo SR – apart from short workings to Cawood, I never saw anything else running. At the time, the weight limit was "7.5t except exempted buses" ( goo.gl/maps/3KVpbetFu2ZJENeUA ) so I assume there was some limit on what was allowed to run – although double deckers would not fit under the bridge at Naburn, and full-size saloons would probably not make the turn at Cawood crossroads, so in practical terms there would never have been any reason to run anything bigger.
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Post by stevieinselby on Aug 31, 2023 10:33:30 GMT 1
DECEMBER 2023 Proposed timetable frequency: 1 train/h Liverpool to Newcastle; 1 train/h Manchester Airport to Saltburn via the Ordsall Chord; 1 train/h Manchester Piccadilly to Hull; 1 train/h Scarborough to York. These will be supplemented by the stopping service between Manchester Piccadilly and Huddersfield, although the current stopping service between Huddersfield and Leeds is expected to be covered by Manchester to Hull Trains, adding to their overall journey times. ● TPE is also planning to introduce a new Manchester to York service via Wakefield Kirkgate, which will avoid Leeds altogether. If that's the full list, it's an appalling degradation of service. No through trains at all from Scarborough, the current infrequent through service is bad enough. From 4tph fast between Leeds and Manchester, it will now be 2tph. It's becoming a nightmare to try to get to Manchester Airport, with half the TPX trains going to Victoria instead of Piccadilly meaning no easy onward connection.
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Post by stevieinselby on Aug 29, 2023 21:36:45 GMT 1
I'm not sure you can use covid as an excuse either. Over 1/4 of journies on 1 route being cancelled is really poor. Sickness levels are still much higher than was normal pre-2020. This is having an impact on most employers. Cancelling 1/4 journeys on a route that uses 4 buses means one bus not running. No, that's not great, and it would definitely be preferable if they were able to reinstate the missing diagram during the day ... but if they're down by one then is it better to have one route affected all day long or random journeys from a range of routes (probably leading to more cancellations overall as it won't be efficient to be running odd journeys here and there if diagrams are usually tailored around keeping a bus on the same route throughout the day.
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Post by stevieinselby on Aug 29, 2023 14:45:08 GMT 1
I see the 36 has had an increase in frequency. I bet you that still won't please a certain member. It's gone back to its substantive frequency, after the reduction over the summer to allow for the diversion around Harewood Bridge. I can't see any other increase in frequency there...
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Post by stevieinselby on Aug 19, 2023 21:52:59 GMT 1
Do you know that Harrogate bus station (owned by Transdev) is the worst bus station in Yorkshire? It's too small, it's open to the elements, so it is cold and draughty in winter, it's built over a pavement, it's next to a busy road, it isn't water-tight, it has no facilities, inadequate seating etc. The worst in Yorkshire? No wonder no-one takes you seriously when you come out with nonsense like this. I give you... BridlingtonSelbyIlkleyIf you want to see something monumentally inadequate, there's NorthallertonAnd of course who could forget Scarborough ... or is this one Scarborough? ... or maybe it's ScarboroughDon't even get me started on York...
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Post by stevieinselby on Aug 16, 2023 21:31:42 GMT 1
I'm looking forward to riding on the new ADL deckers. The only time I have been impressed with one of their new products in recent years were the Scania E400MMCs that Stagecoach Preston got, originally for the X2. They went like Billy-o (whoever he is!). I've been highly impressed with the E400MMCs that East Yorkshire use on the X46/X47 and Dalesbus services – they do rattle a bit on shonky roads but no worse than any other bus, the seats are very comfortable, and the deep windows are so much nicer than the high windows on the Gemini 3. They seem to have a decent amount of power, too.
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Post by stevieinselby on Jul 29, 2023 17:10:30 GMT 1
1867 has been painted into Transdev Go base livery and delivered to Harrogate. It won’t be gaining X98/9 livery. I understand X98/9 is moving to a mixed SD/DD Volvo allocation with the E400s moving to Burnley for capacity reasons on Mainline. This news should be making someone very happy, they will be delighted that Transdev is no longer wasting money running expensive over-capacity buses on these routes, and we'll be seeing the messages praising the decision incoming in 3, 2, 1....
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Post by stevieinselby on Jul 27, 2023 23:12:14 GMT 1
There used to be a service from LBA to Horsforth station that ran as a Wharfedale Links alongside the Flying Tiger services. However this service did not run so often, had gaps in service too. I also feel like this service was more on a basis of those who knew about it used it rather than it being general knowledge. I had to travel to LBA using bus in the past few days so the existence of a service from the airport to Horsforth Station did come to mind - the service could definitely run every 30 minutes if it ran direct, however Horsforth Station is very tight in the car park so any service that did use it would probably have to find somewhere else to stop. If you search on most train ticketing websites it will offer through ticketing to the airport showing usually the A1 as a connecting bus from Leeds - if it showed the connecting bus from Horsforth it could possibly be well used - however awareness would have to be much higher to get people out of cars and onto combined train/bus. Also the service would require drivers and breaks to be worked out - however given this service is now a thing of the past, I can't see anything similar happening again unless possibly an independent operator tried it. I don't understand the purpose of the proposed Leeds-Bradford Airport station. If it's primarily intended for people travelling to the airport (either people who work there or people who are flying) then the distance from the station to the airport makes it pointless. A shuttle bus will be needed, including construction of a new road – so you could instead build a new bus-only road to the back of the current Horsforth station, and then have an easy 2.5 mile bus connection, which would be a fraction of the price of a new station and could be delivered much more quickly. That connecting service shouldn't take much more than 5 minutes, so the time saving from having a slightly shorted shuttle bus from the new station would be so small as to be unnoticeable, and easily lost in the "noise" of the time you spend waiting for the bus. So as a connection to the airport, it makes no sense. So does that mean it is primarily going to be a park and ride station for people heading into Leeds? That certainly looks to be the market they are aiming for, when you see the size of the car park – but who will use it? Access is from a fairly minor lane that isn't on an obvious route to anywhere, and isn't really suitable for high volumes of traffic. Anyone coming from Otley could easily use Menston station, anyone coming from Yeadon and Rawdon could easily use Apperley Bridge station ... it's only Bramhope that doesn't already have a good option for park and rail, and is that a big enough market to justify it (bearing in mind it's only going to be a half-hourly service, which is not enough for an effective or attractive park and ride service)?
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Post by stevieinselby on Jul 22, 2023 17:28:08 GMT 1
The diversion will add 15 minutes to each journey, so for 4 buses per hour that will need an extra two buses. So the overall fleet requirement looks like it's the same, meaning that there won't be any significant change to the reliability or availability of buses. But when Harewood Bridge is open there will be a reduction in the PVR ie Monday and Tuesday next week and Friday 25th August onwards (assuming the works are completed on time) Yes, I'm not quite sure what's going on with that, unless it's a contingency plan because they don't trust the council to complete the works on time?
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Post by stevieinselby on Jul 22, 2023 13:20:14 GMT 1
New 36 timetable from Monday ostensibly for the closure of Harewood Bridge but the non bridge closure timetable is equally reduced to a core of every 15 minutes Harrogate-Leeds. That presumably should stop the cancellations and coinsides with the increased X6 service. ... Presumably should see the end of fleet liveried vehicles on the 36. Reducing the frequency between Harrogate and Leeds will save a couple of buses. The diversion will add 15 minutes to each journey, so for 4 buses per hour that will need an extra two buses. So the overall fleet requirement looks like it's the same, meaning that there won't be any significant change to the reliability or availability of buses.
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Post by stevieinselby on Jul 12, 2023 15:16:36 GMT 1
It is the Great Yorkshire Show and you would expect operators to know where they can or cannot go with the road changes and ensure drivers are aware. Fundamentally the A661 being open inbound only from the Harrogate bypass to the showground, flipping to outbound only in the afternoon. However today the still Cardiff bus liveried Omnilink having worked the 0725 X70 from Wetherby then, still tracking as that service, tried to return outbound on the A661 ending up having to turn round and the driver completely ignoring all the road signs that have been put up bustimes.org/vehicles/hcty-cn57bhz?date=2023-07-12#journeys/450092057The company certainly know what the plans are, because they posted them on Facebook. This appears to have been an isolated incident by one driver, with all others on the route following the correct diversion, so it may be a communication problem or it may be one individual who was not paying attention. Not a great look, but I've seen drivers on autopilot doing far worse things than that!
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Post by stevieinselby on Jul 5, 2023 22:47:53 GMT 1
I'm not convinced how much time the Coastliner missing those stops will actually save them. I wonder if it is more about stopping local passengers travelling within Leeds from clogging up the long-distance bus instead of using local services.
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Post by stevieinselby on Jul 3, 2023 11:23:05 GMT 1
Is that true? I thought that for the current subsidised services, they would usually be paid a sum towards running them but would then get to keep the ticket revenue, meaning that they did have an incentive to increase ridership. It varies, but if the ridership is expected to be low, they'll have bid at a higher level. That's true ... but once they've got the contract, more passengers equals more money, so it is in their interests to grow usage (although that can come back to bite them at renewal time!) ... which is quite a different prospect to a management contract where they just get paid a fixed fee regardless of how many people use it.
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Post by stevieinselby on Jul 3, 2023 9:40:05 GMT 1
They'll be paid a fee if they run buses under franchising. It'll make no difference to them how much the routes take. In the same way it doesn't for most of today's subsidised services. Is that true? I thought that for the current subsidised services, they would usually be paid a sum towards running them but would then get to keep the ticket revenue, meaning that they did have an incentive to increase ridership.
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Post by stevieinselby on Jun 28, 2023 22:33:30 GMT 1
Someone isn't very good at maths 🙄 "A ‘Coastliner Express’ route is set to be introduced this summer – slashing an hour off travel times from Leeds to Scarborough. The usual journey time for the service is 3 hours and 25 minutes – but the rapid service will cut an hour from this to be around 2 hours and 25 minutes instead."X43 - Depart Leeds 0850 - arrive Alpamere 1125 - journey time 2h35 843 - Depart Leeds 0835 - arrive Alpamere 1150 - journey time 3h15 Time saving - 40 minutes
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Post by stevieinselby on Jun 8, 2023 18:42:38 GMT 1
Maybe they need to drop some of their less frequent services to free up some drivers? Though that runs the risk of those drivers moving to whoever takes over the routes. Stopping less frequent routes will be a drop in the ocean. The 36 needs about a dozen buses on the road at the same time to run the full timetable. Routes like the 8, 21 and 24 will only yield one extra shift each, even if you completely cancel all 3 of them that's barely enough to make the difference between a 15-minute and a 10-minute frequency between Leeds and Harrogate from morning peak to evening peak and you've cut off a heck of a lot of passengers in the process.
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Post by stevieinselby on Jun 6, 2023 21:23:19 GMT 1
While the diversion might add extra mileage to each journey it might also make no difference to a vehicle's total daily mileage – because in adding that extra mileage, it will also be adding extra minuteage, and so buses are likely to need to be stepped back from their usual diagrams and so will run fewer journeys over the course of the day (with either more vehicles needed to maintain the frequency, or a reduction in frequency to every 15 minutes to allow the same number of vehicles to run to time).
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Post by stevieinselby on Jun 6, 2023 19:59:22 GMT 1
What sort of mileage does a conventional diesel bus on the 36 do on an average duty? Would an electric vehicle manage to do the same without needing to come out of service for a recharge? Looking at the tracking for yesterday, and without doing rigorous analysis, it looks like there are some buses that are doing 300–350 miles in a day if they in service continuously from early until late, but others will be doing less if they are not needed for the evening or may not be used as intensively intra-peak.
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Post by stevieinselby on Jun 4, 2023 11:57:32 GMT 1
Unless I'm forgetting any, no scheduled routes got withdrawn for 'YorBus' so at least nobody loses out with it now going. Also if you think rural Calderdale was a bad suggestion be thankful you don't live in Bristol with their new DRT covering most of the outer areas including replacing some routes that used to be operated by Double Deckers That's right, Yorbus completely covered a number of tendered and in-house routes – all the Ripon City services that NYC run using their own minibuses, and the descendants of the Ripon Roweller network and the 144 that Dales & District run either peak-time only or 3 days a week only – and these scheduled routes all continued unchanged (except for the recent S106-funded improvements to the Ripon City services). This was actually quite a smart move from NYC, as while it may have cost more to be running the services in parallel it will have helped them see how people travelled when they had the choice between an infrequent scheduled service or an on-demand service.
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Post by stevieinselby on May 26, 2023 18:25:07 GMT 1
The start of July sees the demise of YorBus. North Yorkshire's demand responsive service around Ripon, Bedale and Masham finishes on 30 June, on the basis that the grant funding has run out and it's ridiculously expensive compared with normal bus routes so NYC are not going to pay for it themselves. Well well well, who would have guessed 🤔 www.northyorks.gov.uk/news/2023/yorbus-pilot-will-shape-future-transport-provision
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Post by stevieinselby on May 8, 2023 17:16:07 GMT 1
From mid May, NYCC have listed the 42 Selby Cawood York service as having additional Saturday journeys from Stillingfleet to York, and an additional late afternoon Saturday working from York to Selby. If Bus Times is right, then TWO of these journeys will mirror an existing journeys between Stillingfleet and York. bustimes.org/services/42-cawood-selby-college?date=2023-05-27I wouldn't have thought that Stillingfleet was big enough to warrant additional journeys, never mind a duplicate service, neither Naburn for that matter. It is primarily for Naburn Lock caravan park. Because of the restrictions on Cawood Bridge, Arriva can only use baby buses (8.9m E200s or Solos). These buses can get pretty busy as they get near to York, especially now the frequency has been dropped to every 2 hours, and there have been problems especially on Saturdays with the bus being full and people being left behind. An extra bus is being put on during the busy spell in the morning, which will provide 3 extra journeys into York – two of them duplicating a service from Selby and then one additional journey in between – to reduce that overcrowding and ensure all passengers can board. The buses start from Stillingfleet because there's nowhere to turn a bus at Naburn Lock, so they will run empty from York down the A19 to Escrick and then across to Stillingfleet where they turn towards York – and so there, once they're on the normal route, they might as well run in service and pick up passengers from Stillingfleet if required, even though that isn't the main aim. The evening peak isn't quite so concentrated, especially with the late night buses running til 2300, and so one extra journey back to Selby at 1750 to give an hourly service at that point should be ample. I believe these extra journeys are funded by the parish councils (but I could be wrong), and the intention is that they will run while Naburn Lock is open, and so may be suspended during January, February and March.
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Post by stevieinselby on May 8, 2023 16:35:07 GMT 1
Since Alex Hornby's departure there has been a noticeable drop in standards. There have been a lot more off brand vehicles running on branded services for one. Keighley seems to have been the worst for it. Shuttle B7RLEs have been spotting running on local services amongst others The complaint for years has been that Keighley would rather cancel a service than run it with a spare Shuttle vehicle. Which is one of the problems with having buses liveried for particular routes or sub-brands. If you don't have enough correctly-liveried buses to run the day's service then you either run a wrongly-liveried bus (bad) or cancel services (really bad). The more different brands you have, and the smaller those brands are, the more likely this is to happen.
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Post by stevieinselby on May 6, 2023 23:25:24 GMT 1
Route branding was a Trandev Blazefield thing way before Alex Hornby arrived - Route 1, 36 and 770 (now 7) at Harrogate for example and for a while the 24 had been branded the Nidderdale Branch. To my mind, there's a difference between applying some extra vinyls to embellish the basic corporate livery and designing a whole new livery that looks nothing like the corporate livery. Splashing a big number 1 on the side of a red bus when all your other buses in the town are red makes it easy to identify what route the bus is on and which company runs it, that's absolutely fine and is good. But that isn't what they do any more. While I'm not the biggest fan of the current liveries for either Arriva or Stagecoach (and I think that in both cases, what they had before was far better), they have got a consistent brand. You see one of their buses, you know it's one of their buses. I am not massively bothered about different Transdev divisions having different liveries, but when within one division there are numerous brands and you can't tell that they are run by the same operator, that's a problem, especially if it's an area where they don't have a monopoly. Go North East is the same, and TrentBarton.
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Post by stevieinselby on May 2, 2023 19:30:47 GMT 1
www.transdevbus.co.uk/keighley/2023fares-keighleyDay Tripper up to £14 now, didn't it start off at £9. Doesn't feel such good value anymore but I suppose you can still get from York/Ripon to Manchester/Preston for £14. That said ever increasing prices for day tickets the greater the geographical area is a bit of a bugbear of mine. Essentially the bus companies are charging a single price for bus seat for about 16 hours. I could take that seat up for the full sixteen hours shuttling between Keighley and Bracken Bank for £3.80, or Skipton and Leeds for £5.70 or from York to Manchester for £14.00. Each days travel would be using exactly the same resources, i.e. one seat for 16 hours so why the huge discrepancy in prices. It's not like a taxi where the driver has to provide additional fuel the further you go, these are all scheduled services which will run anyway, whether the seat is empty or not. Yes, you could spend all day going backwards and forwards between Keighley and Bracken Bank, but in practice very, very few people would do that – most people will be making a small number of short journeys, and so £3.80 is a fair price for what the average person wanting to buy that ticket will do during the day. Bus companies are not going to set fares and tickets based on the 0.1% of passengers who want to spend the day gricing and ignore the 99.9% of passengers who are just going about their daily business.
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Post by stevieinselby on Apr 28, 2023 10:54:57 GMT 1
My job isn't well paid and has a hefty amount of responsibility, including the prospect of prison should I make a mistake that costs a life, but you see me cutting my cloth to meet my needs not downing tools demanding more pay! If drivers aren't happy I suggest they find better paid work rather than messing everyone around, I'm very sure we can find someone willing to take their place for the wage offered. Bring on the robots, I'd quite happily take a chance on a computerised automated driverless train than put up with this strike crap from a bunch of babies! There are already shortages of train drivers, which suggests that the job is not well paid enough for the level of responsibility and the demands and conditions. If you want train drivers to leave for better-paid jobs then we'll see even more cuts to rail services as TOCs are unable to recruit and retain staff ... or at least, not without significantly improving the pay deal, but that's the free market for you – if you want to have enough drivers then you have to pay drivers enough. Fully driverless trains on the national rail network are a complete non-starter, certainly not in the next 20 years. If your job really does demand a high level of responsibility then I hope you approach it with a better attitude than you show on here.
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