Nottingham 'Bus War'

[MCR247]

They wouldn't do that. It wouldn't reflect well on Trent Barton themselves. Even if TB dislike the tempos on i4, they wouldn't just move them like that

At least I doubt it

 

[Ginga]

Trent Barton order from Optare as they bend over backwards for them.

To redesign a bus for a order that was 39, and has been cut back to 13 shows how much they needed the order.

It was a £8m order over 3 years.

Trent Barton are only paying around £138k for each Tempo Sr. A Citaro (which is on a "offer " right now ) hence all the recent orders is around £170k . A Volvo Wrightbus is £180k without Aircon.

Optare sold the last batch of Scania Omnidekka to Nct for around £180k each. For a Wrightbus Gemini your looking at over £220k , upto £330k for a Hybrid model.

Wrightbus have a pretty full orderbook. First and Metroline are buying loads off them. Also the Streetlite is selling well . Helped by the fact that Mistral no longer market Optare Products.

To give you a ideal how big a loss Mistral, is to Optare in 2007 They ordered over 100 Solo's plus some Tempo's in 2007 .
Mistral ordered 60 Streetlite's at the launch.

 

[MCR247]

Well I'd definitely expect tempo SRs are cheap! :P

 

[Heinz57]

That'll be why Trent opt for Optare most of the time then. The buses are cheap (which shows) and they can get them quicker because Optares order books arn't as full.

 

[radamfi]

The latest competing route Red3 starts tomorrow, between Nottingham and Keyworth, competing with the Keyworth connection. A number of 'X' plate Solars have been branded

RedFlyer is likely to become a bus service in the future, plans are afoot to serve a city centre stop, which would prohibit coach use under the SQBP in place in Nottingham

Yes, it will soon be run by 'low floor, easy access' buses

http://www.premierebuses.co.uk/index.php/timetables/the-red-flyer

It is becoming a stopping bus.

 

[bb21]

The last few times I have seen it at EMA, it has been run by a bus, not a coach, although all observations were between 10pm and 3am.

I see they are also running to Kegworth. My guess is that they'll charge the "short hop" fare of £1.20 from the airport so that it undercuts Wellglade buses.

 

[tbone]

The last few times I have seen it at EMA, it has been run by a bus, not a coach, although all observations were between 10pm and 3am.

I see they are also running to Kegworth. My guess is that they'll charge the "short hop" fare of £1.20 from the airport so that it undercuts Wellglade buses.

Yeah, Premiere have been using ex. Red 1 Enviro 200s on the service, one of the coaches has already been debranded and is being used on National Express work whilst the other is occasionally appearing on normal service work.

The fact that they are taking off the coaches, and using Enviros instead of the branded Solar probably suggests that it's not doing too well, the slower journey times caused by using a bus over a coach and te more frequent stops could be the final nail in the coffin in my opinion

 

[bb21]

Yeah, Premiere have been using ex. Red 1 Enviro 200s on the service, one of the coaches has already been debranded and is being used on National Express work whilst the other is occasionally appearing on normal service work.

The fact that they are taking off the coaches, and using Enviros instead of the branded Solar probably suggests that it's not doing too well, the slower journey times caused by using a bus over a coach and te more frequent stops could be the final nail in the coffin in my opinion

The night-time schedule is very difficult to maintain imo. The last time I used RF, the driver was 10 minutes late leaving Broadmarsh (1.10am) as he was late coming in from a previous trip. We ran non-stop to the airport, where I got off and two people boarded with their passes. The bus left straight away but even without any delay, the bus left 8 minutes late (1.38am).

The delays also had a knock-on effect on patronage as some people waiting alongside me did not know whether the bus would turn up so they instead went on the R5 (or whatever it is called nowadays) that left at 1.05am.

 

[trentside]

They appear to be keeping a similar schedule for the night services in the revised 'stopping' timetable, with only 1 minute at the Airport and 2 at Friar Lane. Presumably they only want to use one bus, and this is the only way it's possible.

One of the main reasons for the switch to low-floor vehicles is that in order to pick up at Friar Lane and the station, they have to use low-floor vehicles under the terms of the Nottingham Statutory Quality Partnership (SQPS). Broadmarsh wasn't included in this, which is how they were able to use the coaches initially. It does seem a retrograde step, IMO - especially as those Enviro200s have the awful plastic Urban90 seats installed.

 

[Heinz57]

Another bus has officialy lost its Felix colours.

56 (or 791 as it is now) has been repainted into the Notts + Derby colours. This apparently happend last Friday.

I havn't yet seen it or a picture of it. But I bet it looks awful.

Its been at Langley Mill for the past week or so, but it is still officialy based in Derby. Notts + Derby use it on the Borrowash run alot (the 9?)

 

[tbone]

Another bus has officialy lost its Felix colours.

56 (or 791 as it is now) has been repainted into the Notts + Derby colours. This apparently happend last Friday.

I havn't yet seen it or a picture of it. But I bet it looks awful.

Its been at Langley Mill for the past week or so, but it is still officialy based in Derby. Notts + Derby use it on the Borrowash run alot (the 9?)

I doubt it will look awful, although it is subjective, modern looking vehicles such as the Cheetah, the Myllenium and the coaches really suit te notts and derby livery, I'd imagine the centro will look good too.

 

[Heinz57]

I havn't yet seen it or a picture of it. But I bet it looks awful.

Scratch that. I just followed it home from the chippy.

It does look bad, realy bad. The livery just does not suit the bus, that may sound silly, but it realy doesn't look good.

I also noticed Welglade opted for the smaller version of the N+D side logo, which is positioned more towards the front, rather than the big version which usualy goes in the middle.

Having said that, at least they finished it all in one. They didn't just do say the front and then leave it, like they've done with Darts in the past and I beleive some of the ex-Lothian double deckers.

 

[MCR247]

i4 still has at least 3 spares on it - thats just from being in town for an hour because of a farce on skylink because of download and TB not dealing with it very well tbh!

 

[Ginga]

Talk is that the Two 10 plate Volvo Centro's are going onto Redflyer when the new Deckers come in Sept for the University Contract.

Number's are ok on it , the price is going upto £2.50 single and £4.50 return or Ten Trips for £20 when the Timetable changes.

The Redflyer Solar is needed for either Red 5 or Local 17 most days. As Trident T803 RFG is the bus from Hell, its already had its Engine rebuilt (at Great Expense) since they brought it and now the Gearbox is playing up .

Also got One of the Local 17 Enviro 300's off .

 

[MCR247]

What are these electric buses that are going to be replacing Solos on Centrelink?

 

[trentside]

What are these electric buses that are going to be replacing Solos on Centrelink?

They're electric Solos, I believe. Not sure when they're arriving.

 

[tbone]

i4 still has at least 3 spares on it - thats just from being in town for an hour because of a farce on skylink because of download and TB not dealing with it very well tbh!

Two tempos haven't yet been delivered by Optare.

 

[MCR247]

Oh God Is that as well as some that have had to go back?

 

[MCR247]

Saw the 'rainbows' charity liveried Volvo eclipse on the er, rainbow 4 earlier according to its LED!

Weird because all of the other spares say i4 except for on the side where they say 4

 

[Pe251lz]

And so the war continues....
Two new services from Yourbus starting 21st of October.
Y28 to Ilkeston Road (Balloon Woods?) & Y35 to Derby Road? Via QMC. Finishing point being Derby Rd is ambiguous so were not sure how these new services will work. Perhaps a Y35/Y28 loop to & from Balloon Woods?
And thanks to Ginga for spotting this first.

 

[MCR247]

Does this explain some bus stop signs say 'Y35' as I remember seeing that somewhere on Derby Road a month or so ago?

 

[Pe251lz]

Does this explain some bus stop signs say 'Y35' as I remember seeing that somewhere on Derby Road a month or so ago?

No, I'd guess you mistook the nightbus only! Y34.
No flags on Derby road altered so far today, although the council are quick off the mark usually.

 

[MCR247]

Do services every 15 minutes at 2am really make a profit?

 

[Heinz57]

Aye, they are quite quick with that stuff. They were taking the 'Felix' off the bus stops before they had even before they had finished operating.

When R2 became the Two, the stops were changed in the blink of an eye

 

[Pe251lz]

Do services every 15 minutes at 2am really make a profit?

Funny you should ask because I've seen the loadings on indigos after hours, in the Beeston area midweek, outbound is typically 3-6 passengers. I can't say for Skylink? Something tells me though, 3 buses from Nottingham to Long Eaton midweek, something's going to happen. I'd bet indigo goes back to weekend nights only & Skylink to remain as it is. Let's face it, after all that fuss with NCT, Premiere & the A453 route I don't think they'd dare withdraw the 24 hour Skylink, perhaps it's even contracted.

 

[Tomonthetrain]

I went to Trent Barton land Saturday and I was quite impressed with some of the stuff I saw, including Excel 265 making a guest appearance in the X38!!!

Pictures can be found on the link below

http://tomonthebuses.smugmug.com/WellgladeGroup/Trent-Barton/23188573_HqZnqW

 

[Deerfold]

Skylink is also funded by the airport so TB do not have the power to unilaterally change the timetable.

I thought TB operated it commercially which is why the airport stopped funding the NCT version?

TB operate the Derby - Leicester Skylink under contract.

 

[bb21]

I thought TB operated it commercially which is why the airport stopped funding the NCT version?

TB operate the Derby - Leicester Skylink under contract.

Hmm, yes. You are correct. I think I got some of them muddled up. My apologies and the original post has been removed.

I don't think they'd dare withdraw the 24 hour Skylink, perhaps it's even contracted.

They are not actually funded. See this news article from NCT regarding the withdrawal of the original route.

 

[Pe251lz]

They are not actually funded. See this news article from NCT regarding the withdrawal of the original route.[/QUOTE]

Put it another way then. After the fuss made regarding the subsidised Skylink & TB taking the service commercially, It wouldn't go down well at all removing the early AM runs. Surly if cuts are made to midweek services, it's Indigo first in line for the chop although indigos 24h services came first (24/7/11) & more comprehensive in stopping arrangements between LE & the City.
Either way, I still can't see 3 buses p/h midweek lasting much longer. Still, hope I'm wrong & both continue.....

 

[MCR247]

Looks like the new 'Y35' will be starting soon; it's only on the er.... 27th Jan 2013?!

Waiting for new buses?