First Aberdeen

[Jordan Adam]

Ha! I also notice that Volvo B7R 20353 (WA05UNF) was not re-taxed at the start of this month according to the DVLA. It's not on your list for disposal so any info gleaned would be appreciated.

20372 has been repainted, where as 20353 has not, so i could only assume that 20353 is going instead now.

 

[Volvodart]

It was at the back of the depot for a while. I have seen it moving around the depot a few times.

 

[Blackpudding]

Thanks chaps

 

[Volvodart]

20353 is now back in service on its normal duty.

 

[Blackpudding]

20353 is now back in service on its normal duty.

Thanks for the update and apologies for misleading you and Jordan. I had thought that I had left it long enough to state that the vehicle was not taxed and I checked again before I posted. It appears it was re-taxed the very next day.

And just to add to this as an edit 56006 is now being shown as re-taxed within the last 24 hours.

 

[Jordan Adam]

A little update regarding First Aberdeen. Things may or may not change, but this is where the situation currently stands

B10BLEs:
62149/51-53/55/80 (Barbie) & 62165/66/67/78 (Olympia) remain in full public service.
62154 was withdrawn after MOT failure at the start of the year and has been cannibalised.
62150/81 are in Reserve stored at King Street Depot
62163/69 have been converted to driver trainers and fully repainted, both have now entered service with training school.
62164 has been converted to a driver trainer and repainted, although is still at Glasgow (Caledonia) currently.
62177 is in storage at Glasgow (Caledonia) pending conversion to a driver trainer.
62179 was meant to be the 5th trainer conversion, but is current sat at Livingston in the condition it left Aberdeen.

It's expected that the 6 Barbie B10BLEs (62149/51-53/55/80) still in service are to remain in use until Summer 2019, of these 62149 was treated to a seat retrim during the weekend (the other 5 had been done at the start of the year).
The 4 Olympia B10BLEs (62165/66/67/78) are expected to be kept in use past this date for the foreseeable future.

New Hydrogen Deckers:
10 Hydrogen powered Wright Streetdecks part funded under the JIVE project are expected for arrival around Summer 2019, these will replace the remaining Barbie B10BLEs.

Artics:
Although originally anticipated to be getting replaced by the new deckers, they are to stay in the fleet for the foreseeable future. Hopefully they get a repaint as some of them are starting to look shabby on the exterior. Although internally they're still in good condition thanks to a full refurb in late 2015.

Training Vehicles:
65594 remains in use as a trainer
68000 remains at the rear of the depot where it has sat since Spring 2016
60197 is in storage at the back of the depot withdrawn due to engine failure.
61230 was withdrawn a few months back also due to engine failure. It was parked face in at the rear of the depot, but has not been seen for a number of days, so may have left the depot.
62228 this vehicle recently entered preservation with FGHT, but was brought back in to use after 61230 failed.
B10M N535SJF was bought by a external contractor to assist with driver training. It was mostly just used within the depot.
Since 62163/69 have been entered service both 62228 and N535SJF have now been taken out of use. Both remain onsite at the depot.

Ex-Midland Bluebird (FSE) B7RLEs:
All 8 of these (69254/58/63/82/83/84/90/94) have now entered service, 69294 being the last to enter service a few weeks back.
Of these 5 are still in the 2 tone blue livery (69258/82/84/90/94), it's expected that these will not be repainted until next year at the earliest, to make matters worse 69294 still has full "Royal Route" branding.
While these buses have settled in well many drivers have noticed how worn out they are compared to native B7RLEs, especially around the cab area.

Service Changes:
A rough date for service changes has not been mentioned, nor has any of the details regarding what will be in the changes. It's anticipated that this will be quite a large revision much like that in 2008 due to the opening of AWPR and the change in travel patterns. These changes have been long in the planning (since at least January 2018), areas of focus have been Bridge Of Don and the south of the city. My bet would be that the Service changes will be around April, so we should hear details by the end of January. This is around the time the new financial year will start and First Aberdeen will have the budget to order the new route branding that will probably be required. The budget for route branding replacement this year was axed due to the strikes in March.

 

[Deltic1961]

What is the point of route branding?

The amount of times I see First Aberdeen buses with livery for a specific route working a different one is horrendous.

If there's a route name and number on the screens that should be enough surely? From an outsiders point of view branding buses to particular routes is a waste of money for a company that is (apparently) struggling to make ends meet. It also confuses people.

 

[KendalKing]

A little update regarding First Aberdeen. Things may or may not change, but this is where the situation currently stands

B10BLEs:
62149/51-53/55/80 (Barbie) & 62165/66/67/78 (Olympia) remain in full public service.
62154 was withdrawn after MOT failure at the start of the year and has been cannibalised.
62150/81 are in Reserve stored at King Street Depot
62163/69 have been converted to driver trainers and fully repainted, both have now entered service with training school.
62164 has been converted to a driver trainer and repainted, although is still at Glasgow (Caledonia) currently.
62177 is in storage at Glasgow (Caledonia) pending conversion to a driver trainer.
62179 was meant to be the 5th trainer conversion, but is current sat at Livingston in the condition it left Aberdeen.

It's expected that the 6 Barbie B10BLEs (62149/51-53/55/80) still in service are to remain in use until Summer 2019, of these 62149 was treated to a seat retrim during the weekend (the other 5 had been done at the start of the year).
The 4 Olympia B10BLEs (62165/66/67/78) are expected to be kept in use past this date for the foreseeable future.

New Hydrogen Deckers:
10 Hydrogen powered Wright Streetdecks part funded under the JIVE project are expected for arrival around Summer 2019, these will replace the remaining Barbie B10BLEs.

Artics:
Although originally anticipated to be getting replaced by the new deckers, they are to stay in the fleet for the foreseeable future. Hopefully they get a repaint as some of them are starting to look shabby on the exterior. Although internally they're still in good condition thanks to a full refurb in late 2015.

Training Vehicles:
65594 remains in use as a trainer
68000 remains at the rear of the depot where it has sat since Spring 2016
60197 is in storage at the back of the depot withdrawn due to engine failure.
61230 was withdrawn a few months back also due to engine failure. It was parked face in at the rear of the depot, but has not been seen for a number of days, so may have left the depot.
62228 this vehicle recently entered preservation with FGHT, but was brought back in to use after 61230 failed.
B10M N535SJF was bought by a external contractor to assist with driver training. It was mostly just used within the depot.
Since 62163/69 have been entered service both 62228 and N535SJF have now been taken out of use. Both remain onsite at the depot.

Ex-Midland Bluebird (FSE) B7RLEs:
All 8 of these (69254/58/63/82/83/84/90/94) have now entered service, 69294 being the last to enter service a few weeks back.
Of these 5 are still in the 2 tone blue livery (69258/82/84/90/94), it's expected that these will not be repainted until next year at the earliest, to make matters worse 69294 still has full "Royal Route" branding.
While these buses have settled in well many drivers have noticed how worn out they are compared to native B7RLEs, especially around the cab area.

Service Changes:
A rough date for service changes has not been mentioned, nor has any of the details regarding what will be in the changes. It's anticipated that this will be quite a large revision much like that in 2008 due to the opening of AWPR and the change in travel patterns. These changes have been long in the planning (since at least January 2018), areas of focus have been Bridge Of Don and the south of the city. My bet would be that the Service changes will be around April, so we should hear details by the end of January. This is around the time the new financial year will start and First Aberdeen will have the budget to order the new route branding that will probably be required. The budget for route branding replacement this year was axed due to the strikes in March.

Many thanks for the updates Jordan.

 

[Volvodart]

56006 is also now back in service.

 

[Jordan Adam]

What is the point of route branding?

The amount of times I see First Aberdeen buses with livery for a specific route working a different one is horrendous.

If there's a route name and number on the screens that should be enough surely? From an outsiders point of view branding buses to particular routes is a waste of money for a company that is (apparently) struggling to make ends meet. It also confuses people.

The primary reason for route branding is that it helps different services stand out, for example if you see a big red E500 roaring along Union Street you know it's a 1 or 2. It has also been shown to increase passenger numbers (albeit only slightly) as it brings awareness to the routes. Branded vehicles off route is generally not too bad here, but recently due to the driver shortage over the summer the boards were changed which meant branded vehicles do end up working off route a little. It should also be noted on Sundays that branded vehicles are often off route as First like to refrain from using the larger Bridges vehicles as they use up more fuel.

I wouldn't say First Aberdeen are "struggling to make ends meet", the whole reason the budget for new branding was scrapped this year was more to ease the balance rather than "Save the company". 2019 should hopefully be a year of change in Aberdeen and for the better!

 

[Strathclyder]

62177 is in storage at Glasgow (Caledonia) pending conversion to a driver trainer.

62177 was noted back in use at Glasgow's Dumbarton depot earlier this week; was on the 1E.

 

[Jordan Adam]

62177 has returned to service in Glasgow. It has been noted on "The One" network of services a few times over the last couple of days.

Edit: @Strathclyder we appear to have posted the same thing at the same time!

 

[Strathclyder]

62177 has returned to service in Glasgow. It has been noted on "The One" network of services a few times over the last couple of days.

Edit: @Strathclyder we appear to have posted the same thing at the same time!

Great minds think alike lol Need to hunt 177 down at some point (along with the B10s recently shifted from Lanarkshire to Caledonia lol).

 

[Deltic1961]

I did always wonder why the E500s had the word "Enviro" on be back of them with the noise they make and the weight of them. Wouldn't like to hazard a guess at the MPG but they're probably as gutsy as the old E reg Olympians that were scrapped off a few years back.

 

[Jordan Adam]

I did always wonder why the E500s had the word "Enviro" on be back of them with the noise they make and the weight of them. Wouldn't like to hazard a guess at the MPG but they're probably as gutsy as the old E reg Olympians that were scrapped off a few years back.

For their size and age they're not too bad, you need to take in to account they're 12M twin deck triaxles. So comparing them to a standard decker is not the most fair approach. I believe currently they're averaging around 6MPG which isn't actually too bad.

Certainly the E500s are a much better quality vehicle at an overall perspective than the B9TLs that First have on the 19, possibly one of the best low modern around.

 

[Jordan Adam]

First Aberdeen are operating a new free trial night service U1 from RGU to St Machar on Tuesday & Wednesday (4th & 5th).

www.firstgroup.com/uploads/node_images/SERVICE%20U1%20TIM...

 

[Deltic1961]

Any particular reason why?

 

[Jordan Adam]

Any particular reason why?

This is the same U1 that normally operates through January for the exams at RGU. The exams have been moved to December this year and clearly RGU didn't bother to tell First's management. So i suspect this was a last minute thing and it's operating for free as you wouldn't be able to register a bus service at such short notice, if i'm not mistaken you don't need to register a bus service if it operates free of charge (although i'd need to check!).

 

[Jordan Adam]

One of the Enviro500's has had a very minor RTC with the ladder on a Van on the 1 near the Black Dog Pub. It's hard to tell where on the E500 is damaged but it's either the windscreen or the offside mirror.

It looks to be 38207 due to the lack of any front end branding. Picture attached!

 

[Blackpudding]

Scania 23021, YN54APF, now has a 'SORN' against it.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Scania 23021, YN54APF, now has a 'SORN' against it.

That's one of three coaches i mentioned earlier in the thread which are due to be replaced (see below). The Sunsundegui B9R is now at King Street depot awaiting vinyls, it has been given the fleet number 20812. I believe the 3 Panthers due to come up from the Reading area are 20809/10/11, although i'm not 100% certain as of right now.

I'm unsure what the current status for the Mercs is, but they're not in the list of vehicles due for refurbishment so i suspect they'll be leaving the fleet soon if they've not been re-taxed, either that or the DVLA are slow in updating.

A number of new and nearly new coaches are away to join the fleet. Currently confirmed are 3 Panthers, 2 Elites and a Sunsundegui bodied B9R. Possibly some Temsa's too. Refurbishments will be for the Levante's, B7Rs and 20021, these will be done by Simpson's of Rosehearty. 20353, 23021 and 23305 will be leaving the fleet as they've started to leak badly.

 

[Blackpudding]

That's one of three coaches i mentioned earlier in the thread which are due to be replaced (see below). The Sunsundegui B9R is now at King Street depot awaiting vinyls, it has been given the fleet number 20812. I believe the 3 Panthers due to come up from the Reading area are 20809/10/11, although i'm not 100% certain as of right now.

Thanks Jordan. I had realised that but I was too lazy to find your post. I will do better next time! And thanks for the provisional numbers of the B9R from Reading. Slightly off topic but it would suggest they are replacing all the coaches at Reading in one go.

 

[Deltic1961]

Looks like the RMT dispute has been resolved.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-46456970

 

[Jordan Adam]

Looks like the RMT dispute has been resolved.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-46456970

I think you posted in the wrong thread :P That post is for Scotrail.

 

[Deltic1961]

Oops, sorry about that.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Aberdeen management have now confirmed we'll be getting the new livery next year, but that it will be the same as Glasgow's rather than the green/cream, this makes sense given the councils displeasure at the green/cream heritage livery a few years back. On top of this they're also wanting to put a "emphasis" on route branding, a green/cream livery would be quite a pain to work with when it comes to route branding!

Finally, the big network revamp that was anticipated for next year is no longer going ahead, unsure of the reasons for now as the Aberdeen network is in dire need of a revamp and they had been plotting stuff earlier in the year! Although there will be a minor set of changes towards the end of January which we should hear about in the coming days/weeks.

 

[Deltic1961]

Maybe the management should ask customers what they want, because it seems no-one at First Aberdeen has a clue on where routes should go, the timing of them or how traffic flows in Aberdeen.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Maybe the management should ask customers what they want, because it seems no-one at First Aberdeen has a clue on where routes should go, the timing of them or how traffic flows in Aberdeen.

I wouldn't quite say the network is that bad, but there's clearly some issues. The main ones being services to Bridge Of Don (Dubford) along with services along the Bucksburn/Dyce corridor. The 18 struggles with overcrowding while the 17B is mostly empty. There's many ways to solve this but perhaps management will have a change of heart in the Summer 2019 changes. Further to that we don't actually know what's in these next changes yet!

With traffic flows i don't think it's fair to criticise them, for the past number of years traffic in Aberdeen has been very unpredictable. Routes like the 23 are particularly bad in the evening peak, although they always have been. While more recently the 19 has been one of the worst affected due to the AWPR congestion at Milltimber. One day you could do a journey in 20 minutes, then the next it takes 40 minutes! I think AWPR will help quite a bit, but until then there's not really much they can do. Stagecoach are somewhat in the same boat.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Some changes are now being sent to VOSA, i'll post the full registrations once they've been accepted by the Traffic Commissioner.

From what we know so far there is the following alterations to services in Bridge Of Don.

• 1/2: Timetable amendment to accommodate 1A & 1B changes.
• 1A: Reverts back to terminating at Castle Street.
• 1B: New service from Bridge Street to Dubford.
• 8: Timetable changes to amend connection issues from ARI in the late afternoon.
• 8A: PM peak service introduced.
• 20: Reverts back to Hillhead - Balnagask.

There's also changes registered for the 3/3A/3G, 11, 12, 17/17A/17B/18A, 18, 19, 31, 182 & 183. Although no details are known as of yet.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

Aberdeen management have now confirmed we'll be getting the new livery next year, but that it will be the same as Glasgow's rather than the green/cream, this makes sense given the councils displeasure at the green/cream heritage livery a few years back. On top of this they're also wanting to put a "emphasis" on route branding, a green/cream livery would be quite a pain to work with when it comes to route branding!

Finally, the big network revamp that was anticipated for next year is no longer going ahead, unsure of the reasons for now as the Aberdeen network is in dire need of a revamp and they had been plotting stuff earlier in the year! Although there will be a minor set of changes towards the end of January which we should hear about in the coming days/weeks.

Slightly disappointed that Aberdeen will not be carrying its own local livery. I imagined a green and black or gold livery similar to the platinum E200MMcs. However I don’t know how well they’ve planned this out because buses move around all the time within First so will they have to keep changing all the time...