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First South West (Kernow & Buses of Somerset)

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embers25

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Confusingly the A routes plus the M6 appear in a separate location from the other routes and neither is cross-referenced.

Apart from restoration of summer services on the A1/2/3/4 there are signs of retrenchment on a number of routes, particularly on Saturdays.
Quite significant cuts in Helston particularly. Also not sure how the 24/25 will work on Saturday as one is hourly and the other 2 hourly from Fowey and the bus that comes in as a 24, leaves as a 25 and vice versa but that doesn't work any more. A cock up I think!
 

MB162435

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Penryn
The evenings and weekends are particularly affected by these unexpected cuts by Kernow, which is a shame really after years of growth which brought them back from ruins. Looks like Kernow has spent too much on new buses and suddenly need to rebalance the books by cutting services
 

Westnat

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23 Mar 2015
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Quite significant cuts in Helston particularly. Also not sure how the 24/25 will work on Saturday as one is hourly and the other 2 hourly from Fowey and the bus that comes in as a 24, leaves as a 25 and vice versa but that doesn't work any more. A cock up I think!
What are the significant cuts in Helston? I can see changes on Saturdays but not Monday to Fridays, and there are similar cuts on Saturdays to other lightly used services in other parts of Cornwall.
 

richw

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10 Jun 2010
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Liskeard
Got some more news

32874 is owned by Shayne Howarth, and 32853 has been sold on for further use

Shayne has bought 32874 jointly with Kam Allen.

I’m not sure 32853 has been sold for further use yet! It was collected by Dan S at the end of last week.
 

Goldfish62

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The evenings and weekends are particularly affected by these unexpected cuts by Kernow, which is a shame really after years of growth which brought them back from ruins. Looks like Kernow has spent too much on new buses and suddenly need to rebalance the books by cutting services
Or the council has pulled the funding on certain supported services.
 

JonnyB1984

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29 Apr 2018
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Location
Glasgow
Thanks for the info! hopefully they start arriving very soon so we can get our X/51 plate Marshall Darts off the road. These will also see off a few 51plate B10BLEs which will be a sad day to see these go.
 

MB162435

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Penryn
E200 44920 was on the 16:25 216 service from Truro College to Mevagissey

Uni E400s 33421 and 33422 and East Lanc Lolyne 32761 were on the 231 from the College to Falmouth Moor via Perranwell
 

83G/84D

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28 Oct 2011
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Cornwall
Got some news

Apart from 30875, 30879, 30880, 32027, 32045 & 32097, all the ALX400s have been scrapped.

32045 was sold on, 30875, 79, & 80 are driver trainers, and 32027 & 97 are staying in regular service.

A recent photo of T12GWR has been put on the Kernow bus blog, and I've gotta say it looks rather nice in that livery! http://cornwall-by-kernow.simplesite.com/

23208, 33141, 33176 (already done), and 56000 are all being painted pink as part of a "new project", but I cannot see any more clues as to what it is..

32819 & 32955 have both apparently departed for Bridgwater depot to be painted into the BoS livery.

That is all!

The photograph of 43907 looks like it was taken at Hengrove so presumably it is being used in the Bristol area for the various rail replacement duties being carried out.
 

83G/84D

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The evenings and weekends are particularly affected by these unexpected cuts by Kernow, which is a shame really after years of growth which brought them back from ruins. Looks like Kernow has spent too much on new buses and suddenly need to rebalance the books by cutting services


I would like to think that some thought have gone into these reductions in services. Wouldn’t First Kernow analyse loadings on certain routes and journeys and only cut those that are consistently running with few passengers

With limited resources I’d rather they put extra services on busier routes than run buses full of nothing but fresh air.

It is not as though they are cutting off communities and withdrawing services in their entirety.

From my albeit rather unscientific observations loadings on some routes are consistently low. Sections of routes 38, 39, 39A, regularly have poor loadings outside peak times as do some routes in West Cornwall such as 16 & 16A.

Is the decision to cut services due to a shortage of council subsidy or more complex than that?
 

83G/84D

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Due to delays in construction of the St Erth multi modal hub (Park and Ride for St Ives) buses will continue to stop on the main road until the stops are ready outside the railway station.

This is expected to be in the Autumn. I wonder if an extra time allowance will be built into the timetables for buses to serve the railway station?

As I understand it all passing First Kernow services will call at the railway station when the stops are ready.
 
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83G/84D

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65763 left for Taunton today I've been informed.

It was in Camborne yesterday but gone today. Tinner E400MMC 33454 worked the 2105 ‘U4’ Penzance to Helston.

Three ex Jersey Darts still in use at Camborne today - 43854, 43867 & 1.
 
Joined
29 Dec 2017
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65762 & 65763 are heading up to Somerset to fill in for the Urbans that have been sent elsewhere

69018 has gone to Huddersfield, already painted in Olympia too! (Not my photo): https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/218099902226366464/446006875578695685/unknown.png

I'm guessing the other SF55 plate Urbans will slowly follow, or if not, maybe just 69017 then?

But even so, that will leave somerset with nearly nothing in terms of Wrightbus stuff except for the Crusaders and Streetlites
 

GBM

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18 Jan 2016
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191
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West Cornwall
Due to delays in construction of the St Erth multi modal hub (Park and Ride for St Ives) buses will continue to stop on the main road until the stops are ready outside the railway station.

This is expected to be in the Autumn. I wonder if an extra time allowance will be built into the timetables for buses to serve the railway station?

As I understand it all passing First Kernow services will call at the railway station when the stops are ready.
Maybe receive an extra minute if passengers are lucky! Being the scheduler their computer will show as traffic lights provided for entrance and exit no additional time needed.
This will mean existing timing can be kept unchanged....
 

Goldfish62

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I would like to think that some thought have gone into these reductions in services. Wouldn’t First Kernow analyse loadings on certain routes and journeys and only cut those that are consistently running with few passengers

With limited resources I’d rather they put extra services on busier routes than run buses full of nothing but fresh air.

It is not as though they are cutting off communities and withdrawing services in their entirety.

From my albeit rather unscientific observations loadings on some routes are consistently low. Sections of routes 38, 39, 39A, regularly have poor loadings outside peak times as do some routes in West Cornwall such as 16 & 16A.

Is the decision to cut services due to a shortage of council subsidy or more complex than that?
Council funding will undoubtedly have a significant impact, but I wonder if poor service reliability and high fares are factors in stifling passenger numbers. Whatever the reasons, operating rural bus services is extremely challenging and Cornwall still has a good network compared with many rural areas.
 

Johnnyp88

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6 Sep 2014
Messages
175
Location
Surrey
Have a query. What buses are currently based at the helston outstation? I was on a route 37 this morning and we had to change buses. We changed to 33153 but can't remember what the original vehicle was. I was thinking maybe 33145 or 33176
 

KendalKing

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4 Mar 2009
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North Lancs
Just seen this posted on First Kernow facebook page:-

"Due to a technical fault the M6 is now operating a Double Decker bus to the old coast guard station Mousehole until further notice. This means the 2nd bus will operate normal service to Mousehole".
 

83G/84D

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Solo 53504 seen on tow on the coast road west of St Ives this afternoon and later arriving at Camborne.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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65762 & 65763 are heading up to Somerset to fill in for the Urbans that have been sent elsewhere

69018 has gone to Huddersfield, already painted in Olympia too! (Not my photo): https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/218099902226366464/446006875578695685/unknown.png

I'm guessing the other SF55 plate Urbans will slowly follow, or if not, maybe just 69017 then?

But even so, that will leave somerset with nearly nothing in terms of Wrightbus stuff except for the Crusaders and Streetlites

I think it has been said that no others are moving just yet. However, perhaps rather than “I'm guessing the other SF55 plate Urbans will slowly follow”, might be best to wait for official confirmation?

UK Buses have 44916/7 at Camborne because someone has assumed they’re joining 44918-21 and there are various Tridents also listed as transferred from FHD that are still working in Hants - concerned that the Russians are up to no good with fake news!!
 

83G/84D

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Two vehicles of note on Truro college services this afternoon were Volvo B7TL 30878 on service 226 & Dart 43854 on service 243.

E200MMC’s 44969 & 44970 on services 38 & 39 today and Trident 33240 has arrived from Norwich but not yet entered service.
 
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83G/84D

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Cornwall
Council funding will undoubtedly have a significant impact, but I wonder if poor service reliability and high fares are factors in stifling passenger numbers. Whatever the reasons, operating rural bus services is extremely challenging and Cornwall still has a good network compared with many rural areas.

Vehicle reliability is poor, barely a day passes without at least one vehicle breaking down judging by First Kernow’s twitter feed. Poor Timekeeping is another issue however First Kernow will argue quite rightly that a lot of the reasons for this is beyond its control.
 

richw

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Vehicle reliability is poor, barely a day passes without at least one vehicle breaking down judging by First Kernow’s twitter feed. Poor Timekeeping is another issue however First Kernow will argue quite rightly that a lot of the reasons for this is beyond its control.
1 or 2 breakdowns for a fleet of 200 buses isn’t a bad stat, we just know every breakdown because they’re good at communicating.
 

Johnnyp88

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6 Sep 2014
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Location
Surrey
Indeed - I can’t imagine for a moment that evening services to the Lizard were commercial.

Whereas I feel the very last rounder on the 37 maybe is the right move to be cut, cutting the 19:20 Redruth - The lizard back to Culdrose is maybe a mistake. Ok I only use the route when staying at Mullion Holiday Park but I feel that particular run does get just enough use at least to Mullion Village. Could of run it to there then instead of turning down to the lizard. Go light from there along the main road back to Helston
 

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