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First South West (Kernow & Buses of Somerset)

Busaholic

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2 November timetables lodged at Leeds. After co-existing more happily than many imagine, it looks like having seen Ropleys and Cornwall Busways start carving up the WG commercial routes, First are moving in before anyone bonkers enough buys WG, they go bang, or another competitor sets up on their doorstep.
4 or 5 Treg Olympians heading to Cornwall.

That'll put the wind up Stagecoach then.
 
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richw

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That'll put the wind up Stagecoach then.

I'd have a guess most of it will be to warn off a big company trying to buy WG. First are getting very reliable and strong operations round here, so I'd expect WG to roll over easily.
 
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The ex Manchester Olympians then.

I take it that 2nd November is the start date and that whilst timetables have been lodged, registrations haven't been published yet?

Seems to take for ever for some registrations to appear.
Manchester or Bolton I think
 

Busaholic

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On another thread it has been reported that the 18 from Truro at 1655 M-F is being regularly duplicated all the way through. If there is such a need, given that the whole journey takes the best part of two hours, wouldn't it be a better idea, and much fairer to longer distance passengers, to reinstate a X18 at this time.The only journey on X18 at 1745 ex Truro takes 1 hr 5 mins and sometimes leaves passengers behind. For some reason First seem determined to let the X18 wither, using the most clapped-out deckers even when it ran more journeys. Why is this?
 

83G/84D

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Hmm I tend to take the majority of comments on there with a pinch of salt, however there does seem to be a few rumblings along the same lines lately.

Also on the subject of Cornwall, the R-NHYs they received don't seem to have lasted well, 31461 has been withdrawn and is donating parts to keep others on the road already and two T-KLF Olys have also arrived from Manchester.

The Unibus branding has also been applied to the First E400 (https://flic.kr/p/pjD63v) it looks very smart IMO.

Ex Oldham Olympian 34091 (T891 KLF) just visible in one of the engineering bays at Camborne this morning.
 

swifty

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Hardly modern though perhaps a bit better than the N reg stuff that's still knocking around. Or are these additional rather than replacements :-?

Ooh I'd say additional, unless there's more coming for that soon?
 

Goldfish62

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I'd have a guess most of it will be to warn off a big company trying to buy WG. First are getting very reliable and strong operations round here, so I'd expect WG to roll over easily.

I can't see anyone would be insane enough to buy WG at the moment. The best way to grab a piece of the action would be to launch predatory competition on their most viable routes and then feast on the remains.<D
 

matt_splat

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and November sees first start to really put the squeeze on Western Greyhound


4. PH0004983/498 - FIRST DEVON & CORNWALL LTD, THE RIDE, CHELSON MEADOW, PLYMOUTH, PL9 7JT

Variation Accepted: Operating between Truro Bus Station and Newquay, Manor Park Bus Station given service number 90/91/92 effective from 02-Nov-2014. To amend Route, Stopping Places and Timetable.


5. PH0004983/500 - FIRST DEVON & CORNWALL LTD, THE RIDE, CHELSON MEADOW, PLYMOUTH, PL9 7JT

Registration Accepted
Starting Point: Newquay
Finish Point: St. Austell
Via: Quintrell Downs, Indian Queens, St. Dennis
Service Number: 21
Service Type: Normal Stopping
Effective Date: 02-NOV-2014
Other Details: Monday to Saturday, hourly.


6. PH0004983/501 - FIRST DEVON & CORNWALL LTD, THE RIDE, CHELSON MEADOW, PLYMOUTH, PL9 7JT

Registration Accepted
Starting Point: Newquay, Manor Road Bus Station
Finish Point: Truro Bus Station
Via: Treloggan, Perranporth
Service Number: 87
Service Type: Normal Stopping
Effective Date: 02-NOV-2014
Other Details: Monday to Saturday.
 

richw

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21 and 87 are direct competition with WG. First should walk over that competition if they provide the service reliably.
 

richw

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I'd be interested to see how much of the 587 they copy. People in Perranporth will definitely go for it though.

The 587 passengers who I work with are constantly complaining about no shows and massively late so be interesting to see if they convert to First
 

DaveHarries

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Suffice to say I won't be using the FD&C service unless there is absolutely no other choice. I always support the underdog.

Dave
 

richw

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Suffice to say I won't be using the FD&C service unless there is absolutely no other choice. I always support the underdog.

Dave

Should the underdog start providing a reliable service then I will agree with your stance. As they are at present I couldn't agree unfortunately.

Maybe it will give WG a kick up the backside they need. On the other hand I fear they will roll over.
 

SWTH

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But when the underdog is terminally ill and needs putting out of its misery, what then?

Would you honestly let a First bus pass you at a stop because you'd rather wait for a WGL service that may or may not turn up?
 

fgwrich

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But when the underdog is terminally ill and needs putting out of its misery, what then?

Would you honestly let a First bus pass you at a stop because you'd rather wait for a WGL service that may or may not turn up?

And judging by a few comments I've seen across Facebook and Here lately, if you knew if it was your WGL Bus at all. One ex London Trident spotted with no working destination blind and a poorly miss spelled piece of A4 paper in the windscreen as a substitute - When First are rocking up in Truro with fairly new Enviros, WGL are hardly proving themselves are they? First maybe get a kicking in a few places, but when even other operators are spotting WGLs failures and improving on them - Cornwall Busways for example!, then that terminally ill underdog has a long way to go if it ever wanted to relive former glories again.
 

richw

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And judging by a few comments I've seen across Facebook and Here lately, if you knew if it was your WGL Bus at all. One ex London Trident spotted with no working destination blind and a poorly miss spelled piece of A4 paper in the windscreen as a substitute - When First are rocking up in Truro with fairly new Enviros, WGL are hardly proving themselves are they? First maybe get a kicking in a few places, but when even other operators are spotting WGLs failures and improving on them - Cornwall Busways for example!, then that terminally ill underdog has a long way to go if it ever wanted to relive former glories again.

Cornwall Busways are certainly getting plaudits for their customer service and going the extra mile.
They had 3 of their vehicles off the road one day last week, so instead of cancelling services, they hired in a minibus from a local cab service and provided all journeys free of charge to passengers.
First have certainly pulled their finger out over the last 12 months or so, and seem to be taking Cornwall seriously. The increased quality from the opposition is making WG look even worse.
 

fgwrich

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Cornwall Busways are certainly getting plaudits for their customer service and going the extra mile.
They had 3 of their vehicles off the road one day last week, so instead of cancelling services, they hired in a minibus from a local cab service and provided all journeys free of charge to passengers.
First have certainly pulled their finger out over the last 12 months or so, and seem to be taking Cornwall seriously. The increased quality from the opposition is making WG look even worse.

I saw that, Very impressive and certainly showing WGL how to do things when you don't have enough vehicles for your services. My mentioning of the destination blinds also came up as I was thinking about Cornwall Busways and a small 'discussion' by a person reacting to a post by CB about improving the destination blinds on two of their vehicles. Some very honest comments by who ever runs their page and shows that good communication is vital in this day and age - and that WGLs faults are becoming very noticeable, which helps the likes of First & CB to know what to build on. It seems that Radio Cornwall interview has done Mark Howarth & WGL more damage than favours too - Sometimes it's better to say little than go full on public with your issues, and in doing so has lead somewhat to this attack - Increased information by First & CB such as timetables or service changes, Increased Communication by First & CB - still no social media presence by WGL and a rather dated website does them no favours - service changes, vehicles turning or not turning up etc... I think the end won't be too far away sadly.
 

winston270twm

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The 587 passengers who I work with are constantly complaining about no shows and massively late so be interesting to see if they convert to First

There were regular missing buses & queues of people waiting the the 587 in Perranporth back in June whilst I was there or some late running buses skipped out Perranporth althogether, sounds as though it have got worst still.
 
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richw

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The operations director at Cornwall busways is an ex WG employee. I read the discussion about the destination blinds and thought they handled it well.

There are 2 T plate Olympians at Camborne from Manchester with another 2 expected. Both are reported to be in very good condition and ready to go once they are taxed.

Olympian vs Trident. I know which I would choose :lol:
 

winston270twm

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Suffice to say I won't be using the FD&C service unless there is absolutely no other choice. I always support the underdog.

Dave

The underdog in this instance i.e. WG is through no fault but there own, there is only so long they can keep blaming the fire for their poor service. First were once the underdog in some areas against WG, how the tide has turned.

If you're solely supporting WG, with the winter coming I think it's fair to say you'll be spending some time stood around in the cold & wet waiting for you WG bus to turn up.....
 

richw

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There were regular missing buses & queues of people waiting the the 587 in Perranporth back in June while I was there, sounds as though it has got worst still.

There were a number of diagrams through the summer that wasn't assigned buses at all due to a vehicle shortage. Normally was on routes with higher frequency.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The underdog in this instance i.e. WG is through no fault but there own, there is only so long they can keep blaming the fire for their poor service. First were once the underdog in some areas against WG, how the tide has turned.

If you're solely supporting WG, with the winter coming I think it's fair to say you'll be spending some time stood around in the cold & wet waiting for you WG bus to turn up.....

We've moved on from fire related excuses now.

Mark Howarth on BBC spotlight blamed driver sabotage as the issue, and low hanging trees damaging windscreens,
 
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83G/84D

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The operations director at Cornwall busways is an ex WG employee. I read the discussion about the destination blinds and thought they handled it well.

There are 2 T plate Olympians at Camborne from Manchester with another 2 expected. Both are reported to be in very good condition and ready to go once they are taxed.

Olympian vs Trident. I know which I would choose :lol:

34093 (T893 KLF) seen earlier today at Camborne joining 34091. Also present was former South Wales Olympian 34162 (R662 NHY) which returned dead bus after doing a Truro College run.
 

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83G/84D

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Here is another new arrival - 34162 from South Wales.
 

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richw

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34093 (T893 KLF) seen earlier today at Camborne joining 34091. Also present was former South Wales Olympian 34162 (R662 NHY) which returned dead bus after doing a Truro College run.

34161 died after one day's operation and has now donated its gear box to a Royale, and its front end to the L637SEU after its crash a couple of weeks back
 

Goldfish62

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34093 (T893 KLF) seen earlier today at Camborne joining 34091. Also present was former South Wales Olympian 34162 (R662 NHY) which returned dead bus after doing a Truro College run.

That's a tidy looking bus.
 

83G/84D

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What was wrong with it to come back dead bus? Was it towed in?

It is a term that is used (or used to be used) by staff to indicate a bus not in service. It is derived I believe from "dead mileage" as in a non-revenue earning journey.

The railway equivalent would be empty stock.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
34161 died after one day's operation and has now donated its gear box to a Royale, and its front end to the L637SEU after its crash a couple of weeks back

Is 34161 still around anywhere or gone for disposal?
 

richw

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It is a term that is used (or used to be used) by staff to indicate a bus not in service. It is derived I believe from "dead mileage" as in a non-revenue earning journey.

The railway equivalent would be empty stock.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


Is 34161 still around anywhere or gone for disposal?

It's at Camborne being stripped for spares I think. Several pictures on Flickr of it in a partially stripped way,
 

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