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First West of England (Bristol, Bath & The West)

D2007wsm

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33508 is now in orange Excel livery, making this the first of the ex Leicester E400s. Just one of the 12 plate ex Manchester examples left to be done and that's one of each type. The orange certainly looks better with the grey dashboard of 33508. Still only 1 Express Yourself example done with the other 3 previously being in Urban.
 
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the101

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These are for Metrobus and UWE routes hence dual doors.
Route One is partially wrong about this. Some of them may work short-term on Metrobus, but straight diesel even at Euro 6 (which is what the MMC-bodied Scanias are) does not satisfy the emission requirements for Metrobus, although it has been given a two-year derogation, I believe. The 'long-term' fleet will have to be powered by an alternative fuel, although hybrid is acceptable.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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It’s all going a bit wrong in Bristol Bus land due to council cuts.

Why? What's happening?

In other realms, I think I saw speculation (FHD forum?) on the former Hampshire/Cymru B7TLs heading back south. This is not the case and W807EOW and W812EOW are now painted white and blue respectively for new owners. 32004 is also in the Avonmouth paintshop so not certain what the future holds for that one?
 

baza585

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Why? What's happening?

In other realms, I think I saw speculation (FHD forum?) on the former Hampshire/Cymru B7TLs heading back south. This is not the case and W807EOW and W812EOW are now painted white and blue respectively for new owners. 32004 is also in the Avonmouth paintshop so not certain what the future holds for that one?

Thanks for the info. I think the speculation was more in hope than expectation!:roll::roll:

I really fail to understand why First are spending money DDA'ing B7TLs for immediate sale but seemingly refusing to spend money DDA'ing FHD's existing B7TLs which are sat idle, whilst the replacements (ex London Tridents) are struggling to cope with Dorset's hills and costing a fortune to keep on the road. It just doesn't make any sense.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Thanks for the info. I think the speculation was more in hope than expectation!:roll::roll:

I really fail to understand why First are spending money DDA'ing B7TLs for immediate sale but seemingly refusing to spend money DDA'ing FHD's existing B7TLs which are sat idle, whilst the replacements (ex London Tridents) are struggling to cope with Dorset's hills and costing a fortune to keep on the road. It just doesn't make any sense.

It is a bit contradictory as clearly independents think they have a few years in them if only on schools. I did wonder if the FHD examples might be resuscitated for Dorset schools but I don't know.

Don't know about the older Tridents (T/V reg) and their future. The problem is the 2002 versions that have a fair chunk of NBV to get through (esp given the change to depreciation periods.

Bristol is going to be an interesting place; however, the fleet changes with FHD given the Brock Coll and Dorset will certainly be another place to watch. We will watch with interest!
 

Whiteway215

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Why? What's happening?

32004 is also in the Avonmouth paintshop so not certain what the future holds for that one?

Well Bath's sole surviving W reg purple 32007 is too busy to be repainted for sale. It seems to have been in constant use this summer. On U1 today along with 33945/8/9. These are the only Bath Uni MMCs I've seen in August so presumably others are working away from base?
32096 on 4 today.
 

D2007wsm

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Thanks for the info. I think the speculation was more in hope than expectation!:roll::roll:

I really fail to understand why First are spending money DDA'ing B7TLs for immediate sale but seemingly refusing to spend money DDA'ing FHD's existing B7TLs which are sat idle, whilst the replacements (ex London Tridents) are struggling to cope with Dorset's hills and costing a fortune to keep on the road. It just doesn't make any sense.
At the end of the day as with anything it boils down to money. A DDA compliment B7TL although slightly older, will look more attractive to a buyer than a Trident.

Also, different Op Cos view things differently, First WoE may feel it is worth putting in the effort to sell on and in some cases retain the W reg B7TLs, after all the Trudents operated by First WoE were disposes of. First Hampshire and Dorset see it more viable to run the Tridents. We will never know the exact rational behind the decision, but there are obvious reasons why they were made.
 

83G/84D

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According to the South Yorkshire bus forum it appears the movement of the three Doncaster E200's is back on again and expected soon. 44927 requires some damage repairs though. It was not clear if they still heading to Somerset.

This is delayed again it seems. A chronic shortage of serviceable buses at Doncaster being cited as the reason.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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See post #17102

However, I actually think it's a good idea. I'm not harking back to some rose tinted world of leaf green or Cityline VRs but we're at a point where congestion from ridiculous numbers of taxis, Ubers, and delivery vans with our latest Amazon purchase are destroying reliability.

Speeding up dwell times is the natural step either via smarter ticketing or vehicle design. Of course, we could try red routes/better enforcement of bus lanes but imagine the green ink brigade on the Post comments ......
 
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baza585

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At the end of the day as with anything it boils down to money. A DDA compliment B7TL although slightly older, will look more attractive to a buyer than a Trident.

Also, different Op Cos view things differently, First WoE may feel it is worth putting in the effort to sell on and in some cases retain the W reg B7TLs, after all the Trudents operated by First WoE were disposes of. First Hampshire and Dorset see it more viable to run the Tridents. We will never know the exact rational behind the decision, but there are obvious reasons why they were made.

My understanding is that DDAing the existing Volvo's was FHD management preference, but that was vetoed higher up the food chain. The Tridents from Norwich were available and needed a home.

Frankly if no injection of midlife reliable deckers is received, one or both hard won contract s will probably end in tears. Dorset has history for such Fiasco's.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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My understanding is that DDAing the existing Volvo's was FHD management preference, but that was vetoed higher up the food chain. The Tridents from Norwich were available and needed a home.

Frankly if no injection of midlife reliable deckers is received, one or both hard won contract s will probably end in tears. Dorset has history for such Fiasco's.

I guess that was my point. The argument is why spend £xx amount on bringing them to DDA compliance when there are spare albeit less robust Tridents with outstanding NBV to be depreciated down.

Using Tridents on Dorset schools may be how it turns out. As I said before, getting some mid life B9s for the X51 to allow the Omnidekkas to go on the Brock college work would be good but whatever the plan is, who knows. Expect a lot of last minute moves as the Dorset summer timetables come to a close etc
 

baza585

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I guess that was my point. The argument is why spend £xx amount on bringing them to DDA compliance when there are spare albeit less robust Tridents with outstanding NBV to be depreciated down.

Using Tridents on Dorset schools may be how it turns out. As I said before, getting some mid life B9s for the X51 to allow the Omnidekkas to go on the Brock college work would be good but whatever the plan is, who knows. Expect a lot of last minute moves as the Dorset summer timetables come to a close etc

Brock services will have wi Fi and USB at seats. I'm not aware of any FHD deckers apart from the Pompey P&R E400s with USBs,; not too sure about the B9s at Weymouth. The plot thickens........
Tridents and Dorset don't mix well; even the 55 regs are happier at Hoeford, but then they are used to keeping old buses alive!!
 

D2007wsm

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Brock services will have wi Fi and USB at seats. I'm not aware of any FHD deckers apart from the Pompey P&R E400s with USBs,; not too sure about the B9s at Weymouth. The plot thickens........
Tridents and Dorset don't mix well; even the 55 regs are happier at Hoeford, but then they are used to keeping old buses alive!!
Wi-Fi and USB can be retrofitted, it had been done to the Bath Spa B7TLs as well as some of Wells' B7RLEs.

First Bus as a whole in this country are a big operation. Additional suitable deckers may be come available anywhere in the group. This could be from Bristol with Geminis being freed up. Several places are in need of extra deckers, Weston as an example with extra vehicles going onto the X1-X4 circuit, but in that case the preference is for E400s to booster capacity and replace 37015 and 37016 which are out of place.
 

freetoview33

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Think Swifty is saying that these are low height so FTV33s contention that they must be for the new U1 (not Metrobus) isn't correct and that the U1 will be receiving new fleet next year, indicating a stop gap til then.

It has also proven that Bristol City Council gave into First over metrobus!
 

Class 33

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Well it's good that dual door buses are returning to the Bristol streets again. But why only for those two services aimed primarily at university students? Could do with some buses like this on the busy cross-city services(not that there is many cross-city services left here now) like the 75 & 76 to speed up loading/unloading times at the busiest stops, including in particular The Haymarket!
 

freetoview33

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Well it's good that dual door buses are returning to the Bristol streets again. But why only for those two services aimed primarily at university students? Could do with some buses like this on the busy cross-city services(not that there is many cross-city services left here now) like the 75 & 76 to speed up loading/unloading times at the busiest stops, including in particular The Haymarket!

I wouldn't trust people in Bristol getting on via the 2nd door and not paying! You see it enough in London, but I wouldn't trust anyone in Bristol, if they think they could get away without paying for a bus they will!
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Well it's good that dual door buses are returning to the Bristol streets again. But why only for those two services aimed primarily at university students? Could do with some buses like this on the busy cross-city services(not that there is many cross-city services left here now) like the 75 & 76 to speed up loading/unloading times at the busiest stops, including in particular The Haymarket!

Perhaps because those routes have a relatively limited number of stops of suitable design?

The Metrobus routes have stops designed for dual doors and it is straight forward enough for the P&R.
 

Colly405

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Am I tight in thinking that it is only the Ashton bridge that is dictating lowheight DDs for metrobus?

So whoever has got the Hengrove/North Fringe (m32) services could use a normal height DD?

Separately, the First press release mentions buses for metrobus M2 - does this mean they hav got the M32 routes, or is the M2 going to be te Ashton P&R?
 
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Citistar

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I wouldn't trust people in Bristol getting on via the 2nd door and not paying! You see it enough in London, but I wouldn't trust anyone in Bristol, if they think they could get away without paying for a bus they will!

Metrobus is specifically designed to allow boarding and alighting via as many doors as the vehicle has. All ticketing will be done off the bus (and by contactless payment card, no cash), the majority is intended to be by SmartCard, ignoring the massive success that First have had locally with Mobile Tickets, but such is the will of the public sector.

all the changes happening the west of England now on travelwest website in September

177, "Bristol to Midsummer Norton". Classic work there on TravelWorst. Was that another job by the work experience kid?
 

Whiteway215

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Bath Uni service U2 ran Mon to Fri during term time only from end Sept 2016 until early this June. Its frequency was gradually reduced as the academic year wore on and presumably demand was less. Bath Uni term starts on 23 Sept 2017. My question is would something have appeared on VOSA if the service was being cancelled and not operating this next university year? Thanks for any opinions on this.
 

THarris123

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Bath Uni service U2 ran Mon to Fri during term time only from end Sept 2016 until early this June. Its frequency was gradually reduced as the academic year wore on and presumably demand was less. Bath Uni term starts on 23 Sept 2017. My question is would something have appeared on VOSA if the service was being cancelled and not operating this next university year? Thanks for any opinions on this.

Look at Travel West link above. It states about u2. Also interesting to note frequency on u5 reduced.
 

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