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Post by sharksmith on Mar 27, 2010 14:24:56 GMT 1
Anyone know which route/s it will be tested on? I don't know for sure but the Scania they had last year operated virtually exclusively on the 607 so that route would be a good bet.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 27, 2010 8:23:31 GMT 1
More examples of Olympians & School Buses escaping school work at First Bradford
Thursday night saw school branded B7TL 30891 on the 636.
Last night we had 30816 on the 617, 31769 on the 640 & an unidentified Olympian on the 607!
Another Olympian, 31815 was operating the X11 which I don't suppose is really a misallocation but still another non low floor bus operating regular services.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 26, 2010 21:04:30 GMT 1
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 22, 2010 21:57:59 GMT 1
I feel a little sorry for G547 VBB for some of the rather harsh comments about your recent comments on this site. You are obviously a real bus enthusiast with a very wide range of interests in the bus industry and an in-depth knowledge of operators and vehicles throughout the county. I am sure many of our members are indeed grateful for your enthusiasm and wealth of knowledge. Hear, hear Give the guy a break, the reason the tabloid newspapers are so successful is because people like a bit of gossip, opinion and what if's. If everyone here just posted facts it would be a very boring forum and in fact pointless as I think most of us read the same websites and publications to get our confirmed information. Unless someone posts 100% fiction I don't see any harm with the type of posts G547VBB makes and more than 50% of the time he is correct with his information. He is also undoubtedly a dedicated enthusiast as his photo's on Flickr show.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 22, 2010 21:46:27 GMT 1
Bradford launched their own open top sightseeing tour last year, remember it? It made the Telegraph & Argus on it's launch. Run by Yarn Spinners Tours, it's not been mentioned since then, if you visit their website they're still selling tickets for all three trips on Saturday 22 August 2009.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 22, 2010 13:32:29 GMT 1
To clear up a few issues raised: The 737/747 has a required pvr of 4 vehicles. Is the route of the 747 changing, timings going to be slackened or are the 737/747 going to interwork? If the PVR is going to be 2 buses for each route, there is going to be an awful lot of dead time within the 747 which currently has a round trip length of 1 hour and 18 minutes. This didn't matter on a thirty minute frequency but with the reduction to hourly the 747 will be hanging around for 21 minutes at each end and each bus will be spending over a third of it's day stood still.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 20, 2010 21:39:12 GMT 1
and on the 680, one of the ex London Alexander Olympians - unusual to see those on anything other than schools/works service these days - especially Saturdays Not sure what's going on in Bradford at the moment, Olympians seem to be cropping up on a regular basis. In addition to the two reported above, 31813 was on the 610 on Thursday Night and 31673 was on the 624 this afternoon.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 19, 2010 20:28:41 GMT 1
Hi sharksmith, it was me who you say photographing 451 at Thackley - I didn't even know anyone else was there until I saw your photo on flickr! Keep up the good work on your flickr site. Regards Steve Hi there, so that will be your photo in the latest issue of Buses Magazine then?
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 19, 2010 20:20:11 GMT 1
The 737/747 will only need about 3 buses to run them both, the 757 is staying with First Leeds. Doesn't the 747 alone use 3 buses? Back online today after being banished by a Proboard/Sky Broadband issue. The 747 currently uses three buses while on a half hourly frequency but once this goes to hourly it appears that the 737 and 747 will interwork with a PVR of 3.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 13, 2010 16:14:30 GMT 1
New HSE regulations in force regarding the parking of vehicles in the depot (they have to be a metre apart) means that some of the yellow school fleet is now based with the My-Buses in the Timothy Taylors yard on the outskirts of Keighley. So far it has been two of the Yellow NCME/Volvo's (cant remember the numbers) and 385. The fleet now based down there is My-Bus 204, 210, 530/1, 540-4, 557, 561, 562, 1001 - 1004, 1039, 1041, 1129, and Urban Cool 208/9 (on loan from Lancashire whilst Ireland Bridge is closed). 9xx (x2) & 385. Here is a photo of the double deckers which have been relocated, an additional bus has been added from the list above so now include 964, 983, 984 and 385. This picture does show, as discussed on another thread, just how much shorter the ECW bodywork on these Olympians is. www.flickr.com/photos/35759580@N03/4429548526/
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 13, 2010 14:11:21 GMT 1
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 12, 2010 8:17:30 GMT 1
K-line YJ07 JVL Was involved in a accident today and got a shatted window. That spelling of shattered meant something completely different when I was younger.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 10, 2010 11:46:05 GMT 1
Well First have published their service changes for April. Service 5: Old Farnley - Leeds - Halton Moor [Yellow line]
A new overground service - the Yellow Line. Between Leeds and Halton Moor operates every 10 minutes - just like service 37. Between Old Farnley and Leeds operates every 20 minutes. What is the point of creating a new overground service? Going by recent standards the buses will not carry any yellow on them, the bus stops will not include yellow on them. I doubt most passengers even know what the overground is. First need to either drop the whole colour coding of routes or do it properly like Trent Barton. Seems the only person to benefit at the moment is the man who makes the maps, he will be able to use his yellow pencil on the Leeds map now.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 6, 2010 17:54:09 GMT 1
Hull
I can't speak for how this service was run when East Yorkshire were in charge but having used the Priory Park, route 701, park and ride service which is now with CT Plus, I have nothing but praise.
The BMC Condors look very smart in their Black and Yellow/Amber livery, have possibly the friendliest drivers I've ever come across and even a working radio, although I suppose whether this is a benefit will depend on your taste in music.
Fare is £2.20 return with free parking, journey time is approx 15 mins and service runs every ten minutes to and from Hull. Situated at the turn off after the Humber Bridge the site is very easy to find from the M62.
Pictures of my time in Hull will appear on my Flickr site soon.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 5, 2010 21:06:56 GMT 1
34047 on the 640 in Bradford at around 5pm tonight.
Not sure what was going on in the centre tonight, two First buses were parked up on Norfolk Gardens apparently stopped dead part way through their routes and a Travel Express coach was parked up blocking the exit. The rest of the city centre was gridlocked with Market Street a virtual bus park westbound and an empty road eastbound. Sunbridge Road was one long traffic jam and other roads were not much better. Did notice a 640 escaping the jams onto Channing Way from Nelson Sreet but don't know if this was a Buttershaw or Five Lane Ends bound bus, either way it had been or was taking a diversion. Maybe it had arrived from Buttershaw and was being turned back around to Buttershaw after transferring passengers to 34047!
There were a few police around too so maybe something was occuring.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 4, 2010 21:16:36 GMT 1
I notice if you try to access www.keighleybus.co.uk you are asked for a password so it looks like this one will be up and running soon too.
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 4, 2010 21:13:36 GMT 1
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Post by sharksmith on Mar 3, 2010 8:27:53 GMT 1
I wonder if Centrebus have considered a feeder bus from Halifax or Huddersfield into Bradford (on a limited stop basis} to connect with their new airport routes.
If this kind of service was timed to connect with the most direct 747 route it would give Calderdale or Kirklees a new. reasonably fast, link to Leeds/Bradford airport which may benefit both travellers and the airport.
It would probably be more likely to start from Halifax, because a limited stop service between Huddersfield and Bradford would find itself in direct competition with First and the X6. A limited stop service between Halifax and Bradford though does not currently exist and has been mentioned on the Missing Link thread here.
Any connecting service would also have benefits for Centrebus in respect of moving buses and drivers to Bradford for the operation of the new services.
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Post by sharksmith on Feb 27, 2010 16:55:25 GMT 1
They are on the front cover of the March/April 2010 issue of Bus Fayre.
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Post by sharksmith on Feb 25, 2010 8:35:15 GMT 1
Anyone who is anti-social is a burden to buses, trains and life in general but you really cannot make sweeping generalisations about one group of people, that's like saying anyone on this forum is a sad sack who wants to marry a bus!!
Agreed some pensioners think that as they have worked all their life they are owed everything when they retire. These are the ignorant ones who think that basic good manners don't apply to them anymore and that the whole world is an inconvenience. There are however a large group of pensioners who are not doddery old grumps and use the buses just like you or me.
In the same way there are plenty of yobbish, ignorant teenagers and younger who have simpy not grown up yet. These are the ones who play music out loud, leave litter and generally make life uncomfortable for the rest of us. When I was teen however, like many others, I sat quietly in my seat until I reached my destination and caused no trouble at all.
It's not just these groups though, the middle aged man in the suit with his feet up on the opposite seats on the train, the housewife who spreads her shopping bags out across both seats on a busy bus home from town, the chatty drunk and the grumpy Jenson Button bus driver can all make travelling on a bus or train uncomfortable.
Unfortunately we are not living in the idealistic times of the 50's and 60's when everyone was kind to one another and had perfect manners, I doubt this ever existed, this may just be nostalgia for many, rather than reality! We are living in a society where everyone has an agenda and sadly most people are conditioned to think of themselves first.
So rather slagging of each group of passengers the real answer to this thread has to be, Yes, I agree with free travel for our pensioners, provided it is funded correctly by government and not used as a vote gathering tool. If a previously viable bus service has to be cancelled because the reimbursement rate is so low that the service cannot pay for itself, then the scheme is flawed and needs to be reworked or cancelled. There is absolutely no point having free bus travel for anyone if there is no bus network to travel on!
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Post by sharksmith on Feb 20, 2010 14:40:17 GMT 1
This is another of my 'did I just see that' sightings while driving past which are not always 100% correct but here we go.
First Calderline 32528 on the 576 which is not unusual but this bus appeared to have been given a full size front fleet number rather than the normal 32xxx small size numbers. The bit I'm not sure about is although 'lime line' branding was in place on the rear it may have had the offside branding removed, like I say I'm not sure as I do usually try to keep my eyes on the road most of the time!
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Post by sharksmith on Feb 20, 2010 14:34:02 GMT 1
Don't know if this is connected but according to fleet news in Buses magazine for March Proctors have just taken on a new VDL SB200/Wright Pulsar 2.
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Post by sharksmith on Feb 20, 2010 14:23:26 GMT 1
The March edition of Buses magazine shows Olympians 702 to 706 being transferred to Centrebus in Leicester. Bus Fayre's March/April edition disagrees and says only three of these will be transferred but goes further to say that 925 will also be leaving. They also go on to say that three former London Scania deckers have been purchased for HBC and that these are currently being rebuilt to single door layout.
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Post by sharksmith on Feb 12, 2010 8:50:44 GMT 1
The West Yorkshire Buses Website fleetlists have shown this bus as withdrawn since they were updated on 29/11/2009 but I took a photo of it in service on 5 December and posted this information back then on the Remaining roller blinds thread.
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Post by sharksmith on Feb 12, 2010 8:27:21 GMT 1
Is this route branding? There doesn't seem to be any reference to 760 or the route on the artists impression? I'm taking this from the original post which states that these are the new 760 colours Maybe they will spread the livery to the whole fleet but Harrogate & District have started their new livery on just the Route 1 buses and only state on the website that "The new look could well be extended to other buses in our fleet" I assume Keighley & District will be using the same strategy.
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