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Post by sharksmith on Feb 27, 2024 10:47:44 GMT 1
I notice that the original article has now been removed without any replacement I can see in the bus alerts section.
Maybe someone has woken up and said 'ooh, hang on a minute!'
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Post by sharksmith on Feb 18, 2024 10:17:12 GMT 1
I had the same issue with the T&A website. I find if you switch to incognito mode on your browser the site doesn't know how many articles you have read.
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Post by sharksmith on Feb 16, 2024 10:22:35 GMT 1
Looking at the various maps available there I think the plans have been set up with the current network in place in the main. I think you have to be careful when splitting cross city routes, many of which have been in place for many years now, on a whim. Many people may have made place of residence/employment/education choices based on these, you've only got to look at the unrest the small changes in Huddersfield are causing at the moment.
Assuming that those three new stops on Kirkgate are direct replacements for the two stops on Broadway, that leaves a third stop for drop off for the 617/618 & 620 before they travel down the new bus lane on Godwin Street to head to the Interchange. I'm kind of thinking that the Transdev routes might use the new stop on Godwin St although they have been talking about rerouting their services away from this area anyway.
This then leaves space within the new Vicar Lane/Well St bus hubs to retain cross city 613/14, 640/641 & 645 northbound routes with these using the two new hubs on Hall Ings when heading towards Buttershaw before turning up George St to head onwards towards Croft St to head back out of the city.
Of the city centre termini I think that just leaves the 608 & 612 without a home although there are way more stops and layover bays around the Cheapside and Bolton Rd area to more than accomodate these. I can't really see the need for all of these stops unless the plan is to remove some of the Northern routes from the Interchange, maybe the 622/626/662/680 may terminate in this area and perform a loop using Cheapside, Lower Kirkgate and possibly Canal Rd & Hamm Strasse to turn around.
The other bit which confuses me a little is that the plans for John Street show it becoming a 'major public transport route'. Maybe that's how routes from the Interchange, which currently use Market St to escape (A2,656,660,671,686.687) will now leave the city?
None of this of course allows for the Interchange to be closed for any extended period, maybe they have firmed up their plans for the temporary bus station which they said they were working on.
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Post by sharksmith on Feb 9, 2024 18:01:10 GMT 1
And Football buses are also about to receive a boost with the announcement of 17 new routes, each operating one bus to all Manchester City home games starting from 17 February until the end of the season. It's quite an extensive network reaching Shaw, Radcliffe, Wythenshawe and even Macclesfield. These will mainly be operated by Stagecoach with two operated by Swans, two by Tyrers and one each operated by First and Bullocks. Are they classed as part of the Bee Network? As they have different fares & will be using 'normal' liveried vehicles I assumed they'd be kept separate. Andy Pandy is quoted as saying "This is what the Bee Network and our plans for public transport in Greater Manchester are all about, giving people good options for the journeys they need to make – including when going to cheer on the Treble winners!” I kind of think that City's owners will be providing most of any funding necessary for these services to be honest but any good news story will bring Burnham out for a mention. At £6-8 return I'd think they'll pay for themselves if they are well used. Not heard any announcements from the little club over Trafford way, the way they're going Transdev might find a use for all those Mellors they don't need any more. 🤣
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Post by sharksmith on Feb 9, 2024 14:56:20 GMT 1
And Football buses are also about to receive a boost with the announcement of 17 new routes, each operating one bus to all Manchester City home games starting from 17 February until the end of the season. It's quite an extensive network reaching Shaw, Radcliffe, Wythenshawe and even Macclesfield. These will mainly be operated by Stagecoach with two operated by Swans, two by Tyrers and one each operated by First and Bullocks.
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Post by sharksmith on Feb 8, 2024 10:30:45 GMT 1
Former Swansea and Bramley 47641 working the 613/614 in Bradford today, safe to say it won't be going back to Bramley but unsure if it's just a temporary stop in Bradford.
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Post by sharksmith on Jan 28, 2024 18:20:30 GMT 1
Surely if they've lost the work there is no obligation to leave any buses behind is there. Although some Diamond Bolton buses transferred to Go North West I'm not aware that Stagecoach left anything when they vacated Wigan. For Rochdale work surely it will be up to Stagecoach and First to source vehicles to operate the bits and pieces they've picked up?
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Post by sharksmith on Jan 26, 2024 19:57:16 GMT 1
So, these new Wright electric buses won't have heating fitted as the York ones haven't so assuming the Leeds ones will be the same. Air conditioning or even cooling won't be fitted either. Bearing in mind passengers will be waiting several minutes for a bus in freezing weather/red hot weather, then on these things for say half an hour on average either freezing or roasting (based on a Merrion Centre to Beeston terminus journey for example) then have a 10 minute walk home that's going to drive so many people to cars and taxi's regardless of cost, I know I'll be taking a taxi if they are on my route during hot or freezing weather. Just seen a post on Facebook saying how lovely and warm 63570 is, so looks like the panic of buses with no heating was a little premature. Never let the facts get in the way of a good rant though eh? 🤣
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TLC
Jan 17, 2024 18:21:19 GMT 1
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Post by sharksmith on Jan 17, 2024 18:21:19 GMT 1
This or a similar bus, paid a short visit to Shipley this lunchtime, MX23LDV, previously with Kinchbus. It paused at stop S5 for a minute while the driver took a photo before it left again, just managed to get a couple of photo's myself before it left. Aren't Mellor in administration so I can't see there been much after sales support for this unless they are taken over as a going concern. That was me I'd offer to send you my photo of you driving off but your face is behind the pillar on both photos
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TLC
Jan 16, 2024 16:01:23 GMT 1
Post by sharksmith on Jan 16, 2024 16:01:23 GMT 1
This or a similar bus, paid a short visit to Shipley this lunchtime, MX23LDV, previously with Kinchbus. It paused at stop S5 for a minute while the driver took a photo before it left again, just managed to get a couple of photo's myself before it left. Aren't Mellor in administration so I can't see there been much after sales support for this unless they are taken over as a going concern. The Mellor group got bought by the Dumarey Group from Belgian just before Christmas Cheers, I wasn't aware, I only looked at the first couple of articles on Google News, clearly bad news is more interesting than good news. Maybe this is why TLC have got this out on the road then. If it is indeed still with TLC, I'm basing that assumption on the bus being stood at a stop predominantly used by TLC in Shipley.
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TLC
Jan 16, 2024 15:00:57 GMT 1
Post by sharksmith on Jan 16, 2024 15:00:57 GMT 1
I noticed whilst travelling up Manchester Road in Bradford that TLC have a Mellor Sigma demostrator parked in their depot. This or a similar bus, paid a short visit to Shipley this lunchtime, MX23LDV, previously with Kinchbus. It paused at stop S5 for a minute while the driver took a photo before it left again, just managed to get a couple of photo's myself before it left. Aren't Mellor in administration so I can't see there been much after sales support for this unless they are taken over as a going concern.
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Post by sharksmith on Dec 8, 2023 22:53:49 GMT 1
Just spent a couple of nights in Cardiff for work and took the chance to catch up on the local bus scene there.
The one thing which struck me was that I was able to photograph 34 out of the 36 Yutongs they operate. If I had been able to spare half an hour before I left this morning I could have snapped the other two as well as they were out today.
Unusual I thought not to have at least one or two off the road for a while. Compared to their batch of E200MMC's where only 2 out of 7 appeared over the three days, 2 were out in November and the others hadn't tracked at all.
I got to wondering about the other Yutong operators and sure enough all 9 of the Leeds vehicles were in service today. All 9 of Go North Easts were also out today.
I called in to Newport on the way back home as South Wales is the hotbed of Yutong use in the UK and photographed 25 of the 46 that Newport Bus have of the type in an hour. Hard to say if any are long term off road as their tracking hasn't been working recently but it does show all but two in service since 29 November.
So out of 100 buses at least 98 have earned their keep in the last 10 days which I thought was pretty remarkable.
There are a lot of negative reactions when you mention Yutong, and I don't know how long they will last. A lot of them are now in the region of three years old now though and do appear to be pretty reliable so far.
Would be nice to see a local operator try out one of the deckers which First South Yorkshire have used/are using as someone pointed out more than a passing resemblance to an ECW VR, one of my favourites, which I can't now unsee.
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Post by sharksmith on Nov 19, 2023 9:54:32 GMT 1
I Would say the Falcon is as much of a coach service as alot of the Scottish Citylink network. If you wanted to avoid the Falcon I Think the quickest way from Plymouth to Bristol would be: GOLD to Ivybridge 38 to Exeter 55 to Tiverton X22 to Taunton 29 to Glastonbury 376 to Bristol That would work, another option would be to head around the coast to Dorset and then work north around Salisbury But from Bristol I always sort of want to go Gloucester > Worcester > Birmingham but the options seem very limited or circuitous so instead. X39 to Bath X31/231 to Chippenham 55 to Swindon S6 to Oxford X4/S4 to Banbury 77A to Leamington 11 to Coventry 148 to Leicester From here it would he tempting, and probably easier and quicker, to head through the Peak District and then through Sheffield & Leeds to link with Coastliner to Whitby. Personally though I think I'd be tempted to head east to eventually reach Grimsby or Scunthorpe and into Hull before heading north up the coast via Brid & Scarborough but your choice..?
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Post by sharksmith on Nov 18, 2023 12:28:29 GMT 1
Hi guys I am.just wondering. If anyone could help me plan a trip.from lands end to John o groats for 2024 by local bus, I've tried doing one but wanting to go up the east side of the country, however I have read a few articles of people doing g it in the past but a lot of services they caught have either been withdrawn or the companies doesn't exist anymore such as western greyhound I have tried to do this from memory but have a few gaps in the South Midlands and Scottish Borders area but here goes Lands End to either Penzance or St Ives on the Lands End Coaster From either of these towns you can then grab a First bus up to Truro on one of their Tinner routes. From Truro I'd head across to Newquay because I love the place, First again From Newquay you can get to either Padstow on a TfC 56 or Wadebridge on a TfC 95. Either of these towns then link to the long TfC 11 to Plymouth and into Devon. It depends then whether you consider the Falcon to be cheating as it is a coach service but is registered as a bus service, would get you as far as Bristol, but if you don't like that there are other bus based options?
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Post by sharksmith on Nov 18, 2023 11:42:31 GMT 1
There is a major cost of living crisis at the moment and petty crime has seen a huge increase.
Most public facing companies are taking steps to mitigate this. You're probably asking the wrong question, maybe you have to ask why aren't other operators taking steps to protect revenue?
As a number of people have pointed out ticket inspectors were the norm back in the NBC/PTE days and people grumbled about them getting onto the bus, but it was no problem if you had the right ticket. If you didn't you got what you deserved for what is basically stealing.
I know one person who looks under 19 who has routinely being having child fare tickets issued by drivers who couldn't be arsed to even ask their age. Because of this tweet they are now going to make sure they get an adult ticket in future.
If you don't like cuts to services then surely the correct bus fares being paid will make this more likely.
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Post by sharksmith on Nov 18, 2023 11:29:16 GMT 1
I agree and I think the system for retimimgs are normally used by a computrr system called grampian, or at least it does at the compony I work for, and the timings are absolutely shocking, a computer system doesn't sit in traffic or get diverted, I've always said it needs someone on a bus during the day retiring them to give a true valuation of the route and realistic timings Shouldn't these people sitting on buses measuring timings be learning to drive buses like you want the revenue protection officers to do? 🤔 There really doesn't need to be someone sat on the bus with real time tracking data available, just need a human to look at the data.
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Post by sharksmith on Oct 10, 2023 20:57:36 GMT 1
Out of interest when did the X50 change from Stagecoach to Diamond. Did they give it up or is it a tendered route? I believe it’s a tender now, but used to be commercial The Trafford Centre line of the Metrolink took away most of the business so it’s tendered mainly to serve parts of Trafford Park distant from the tram It certainly didn't take away it's business at 9.15 last Saturday morning, leaving Piccadilly Gardens with a full load, although half of those got off at Old Trafford so maybe not typical of loadings on a non natch day.
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Post by sharksmith on Oct 10, 2023 12:31:40 GMT 1
I rode a Diamond North West Citaro on Saturday, on the X50 between Manchester & The Trafford Centre, which had a side flap which kept swinging open. A pedestrian told the driver on route who got out and fiddled with it to no effect. As it was on the offside it was very dangerous flapping away but we carried on regardless. At the terminus I wax expecting it to go out of service but he got onto his phone before appearing with a roll of sticky tape and then departing on a 150. Not surprised. Manchester has seriously been so unlucky with bus operators. Highest usage outside of London, yet issues like yours mentioned are beyond common. They managed to put a bus enthusiast (me) off of buses entirely in favour of exclusively using the tram. It was genuinely horrifying to use the 50, when the mediacity tram wasn't running for a good few months. Everything from spray paint on the walls of the interiors, to urine soaked seats. Never seen anywhere as bad. Out of interest when did the X50 change from Stagecoach to Diamond. Did they give it up or is it a tendered route?
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Post by sharksmith on Oct 10, 2023 11:09:39 GMT 1
I didn't think it would have been allowed to leave the depot like that and maybe was an attempt at a temporary fix until a replacement bus could be found or an engineer could get to it. I rode a Diamond North West Citaro on Saturday, on the X50 between Manchester & The Trafford Centre, which had a side flap which kept swinging open. A pedestrian told the driver on route who got out and fiddled with it to no effect. As it was on the offside it was very dangerous flapping away but we carried on regardless. At the terminus I wax expecting it to go out of service but he got onto his phone before appearing with a roll of sticky tape and then departing on a 150.
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Post by sharksmith on Oct 9, 2023 16:42:46 GMT 1
Bradford Streetdeck 35647 will be out of action for some time after catching fire this afternoon on Broadway.
Damage looks to have mainly affected the upper deck rear of the bus so wonder if this was arson rather than mechanical?
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Post by sharksmith on Oct 8, 2023 17:19:14 GMT 1
Every time I use Metrolink it strikes me just how few seats there are on those trams, I thought the same thing down in the West Midlands earlier this year. I'm quite capable of standing for long periods but an elderly person would struggle with this, especially as trams tend to wallow and sway more than most buses. Supertram is better for seating but many of those seats are up steps to access. Also, the reason trams are faster is that there are greater distances between stops, so again the elderly and disabled are inconvenienced with more difficulty reaching even the start point of their journey. Once a system is in operation this is likely to result in a large reduction in buses serving intermediate stops as the custom will not be there to have high frequency routes along that corridor. It seems a lose lose for the most vulnerable in society. I don't understand the rationale for it at all, there will be grief for evertyone while it's being built, car users, public transport users, pedestrians. It just seems to be the usual, 'this area has it so we should have it!'. Proper bus priority with segregated running lanes which are properly enforced, and traffic light priority would go a most of the way to giving the same results. Eh? Building a tram network would certainly not end up with bus reductions. There's only a few usable bus routes left in the dystopian bus network in Sheffield, and the ones left with any actual kind of usage combine with the tram network. Manchester, the major towns connected by Metrolink, have the same or usually more BPA than we do between Bradford and Leeds. A tram network would encourage more people to use public transport in general, and that includes buses. It's not a game of one or the other. So you really believe that if there is a tram to Headingley every five minutes there will be no effect to the frequency of the 1,6,8,27,28 etc? Where are all of the extra passengers coming from to use these services?
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Post by sharksmith on Oct 8, 2023 12:39:58 GMT 1
Every time I use Metrolink it strikes me just how few seats there are on those trams, I thought the same thing down in the West Midlands earlier this year. I'm quite capable of standing for long periods but an elderly person would struggle with this, especially as trams tend to wallow and sway more than most buses. Supertram is better for seating but many of those seats are up steps to access.
Also, the reason trams are faster is that there are greater distances between stops, so again the elderly and disabled are inconvenienced with more difficulty reaching even the start point of their journey. Once a system is in operation this is likely to result in a large reduction in buses serving intermediate stops as the custom will not be there to have high frequency routes along that corridor. It seems a lose lose for the most vulnerable in society.
I don't understand the rationale for it at all, there will be grief for evertyone while it's being built, car users, public transport users, pedestrians. It just seems to be the usual, 'this area has it so we should have it!'. Proper bus priority with segregated running lanes which are properly enforced, and traffic light priority would go a most of the way to giving the same results.
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Post by sharksmith on Sept 29, 2023 21:34:52 GMT 1
Edit: It has led me to find that you can block a member on here from their profile so you don't see their posts - my first in 11 years. Thank you so much for this information, I've done the same. Unfortunately it only really works if other people don't quote the blocked member all the time but it's a partial solution.
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Post by sharksmith on Aug 17, 2023 9:05:46 GMT 1
What "current stint"? When was it last seen in Harrogate? The problem with the discussions on here is that no one who posts, except me, lives anywhere near Harrogate do they? For the rest it's just a bus enthusiast's hobby. You like to talk about the company, the buses, you enjoy the spin, the new buses which you can make a special effort to ride on as a day out. Even a government minister is praised. Now, that's got to be a first! What does an all electric fleet in Harrogate mean? The depot, or the route it serves? The X98/9 is run by The Harrogate Bus Company, and based at the Harrogate depot, but drives empty, using diesel, to travel the 9 or 10 miles to start it's fare paying route in Wetherby, isn't that a Harrogate bus really? All but the last 2 of those diesel fuelled miles are in within the Harrogate district! Cancellations still happen on a daily basis, so where are all these extra drivers going to come from, to shuttle a bus with no juice left back to Starbeck and swap it for one that is fully charged? How long will that take with the traffic on Knaresborough Road, especially with the level crossing delays? Are they going to install electric pantograph charging at all the stands at Harrogate bus station? How long will that take, and how much disruption will there be? Presently, there are just 3, and installing those was very slow and disruptive. Is there enough current in the system to power charging at every stand? The 7 only runs once per hour and blocks a stand between services. Will there be a driver at the bus station who moves it, once it is charged, to allow another bus to be charged? Where is that spare driver coming from? Running the buses is what matters, not what powers them. And there is the crux of the problem, the majority of non bus enthusiasts firmly believe that their local company is the absolute worst, as they remember them on their worst days and not so much when everything goes as it should. This is why First & Arriva get so much grief on this site, as there are more members who live in their areas. If anything the love on here goes to Stagecoach and Go Ahead and even National Express because they have little exposure in West Yorkshire. Ask the folks of Barnsley & Carlisle what they think of Stagecoach. Go North West got absolutely slated locally when they took over from First in Manchester. I saw plenty of comments saying they were worse than First. I had a few days in the West Midlands earlier this year and NatEx were receiving torrents of grief on social media and in the local press. Running a bus company is a difficult and thankless task and in the main I don't really think there is much difference between the major groups from a service delivery point of view. There are of course pro's and con's for each company and I just think a balanced view is needed. You do seem to have a very low opinion of bus enthusiasts in general but this is what this forum caters for. There are plenty of 'I hate Transdev' Facebook sites where you will get all the agreement you seem to crave and at the end of the day it's not really the bus companies idea to go electric, it's a government push. Other areas all have their own schemes which are always launched with the same fanfare as this order is receiving. Before you respond with your usual hatred I would point out that I do live in an area where my buses are run by Transdev and First, I find neither better than the other, see my previous posts on commuting on Aireline. Buses are not my whole world as I have a family and plenty of other interests. I just seem to have a more balanced and less blinkered view of the industry. On your last point, you do realise that all of the duty managers in Harrogate can drive buses and can, and do, shunt buses where necessary, no extra driver needed for this.
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Post by sharksmith on Jun 24, 2023 21:41:40 GMT 1
Why does a repaint mean they will stay until specifically 2024? That's not what I mean. There are no buses to replace the B7s. They can only have buses to replace the B7s when the electrics come for Leeds and I doubt anything is coming from anywhere else as it's not very often west yorkshire cascades buses from other First areas. B9's from Manchester, Streetlites from Wales, B9's from South Yorkshire all in the current fleet.
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