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First Greater Glasgow

PaulMc7

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To answer previous posts ..

  • Branded vehicles can and will end up on any route unfortunately. We cannot stop this happening at all as vehicles need to come off for services/mots and other general work and any other vehicle that is available will used in its place regardless of colour.
  • Branding vehicles the same colour was an decision that was given the go ahead as long as the vehicles do not cross paths.
  • The new livery was implemented to make it easier for body repairs as most of the panels are now 1 colour depending on what panel it is.
  • Another few routes are earmarked for route branding but I don't know when this will be carried out. I can't and won't answer what routes it is just now as they might not go ahead.

Thanks for the info Sarah. All really understandable and smart stuff by the company tbh
 
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Simon75

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First Potteries 25 Hanley to Keele University have branded Geminis. They tend tend to be seen on other routes like the 3A on a Saturday, due to lower frequency (20 minutes Saturday, 10 minutes Monday to Friday)
 

lastbus

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9 Sep 2018
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To answer previous posts ..

  • Branded vehicles can and will end up on any route unfortunately. We cannot stop this happening at all as vehicles need to come off for services/mots and other general work and any other vehicle that is available will used in its place regardless of colour.
  • Branding vehicles the same colour was an decision that was given the go ahead as long as the vehicles do not cross paths.
  • The new livery was implemented to make it easier for body repairs as most of the panels are now 1 colour depending on what panel it is.
  • Another few routes are earmarked for route branding but I don't know when this will be carried out. I can't and won't answer what routes it is just now as they might not go ahead.
The next candidates for route branding are fairly obvious I’d say.
 

PaulMc7

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The next candidates for route branding are fairly obvious I’d say.

Would like to think so but we've had the odd surprise here and there. Obviously the 9/9A has been the constant solid rumour for most of the year but other than that I think the odd surprise will pop up.

Will also be interesting to see what services get branded with refurbs instead of new buses
 

Jordan Adam

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(If) the 7/7A was to get new vehicles then that would be another. I wouldn't be shocked if once more fleet movements happen the 266 starts to get branding. However for now they should focus on getting E300s done for the 2.
 

PaulMc7

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(If) the 7/7A was to get new vehicles then that would be another. I wouldn't be shocked if once more fleet movements happen the 266 starts to get branding. However for now they should focus on getting E300s done for the 2.

The 7/7A can be pretty busy tbh so it's not actually too big a surprise to me. Even from about 2/3pm towards Summerston they can mostly be close to full from the City Centre and the other way towards Rutherglen is the same. I do think the 266 will get done after a while too.

Will be interesting to see how long the 2s take to be done. PVR of around 30 I think if memory serves me correct so freeing those E300s up to get it done might take longer than most services
 
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Scotrail314209

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Would like to think so but we've had the odd surprise here and there. Obviously the 9/9A has been the constant solid rumour for most of the year but other than that I think the odd surprise will pop up.

Will also be interesting to see what services get branded with refurbs instead of new buses

The 9 is in desperate need of new buses, I think the current ones have been in service for years with very minimal done to them. Personally if I was travelling from paisley to glasgow I would choose mcgills as the quality of their buses seems better
 

JumpinTrainz

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Would like to think so but we've had the odd surprise here and there. Obviously the 9/9A has been the constant solid rumour for most of the year but other than that I think the odd surprise will pop up

Will also be interesting to see what services get branded with refurbs instead of new buses

I think the 9/9A will get new buses with the pink 68 plate E200MMCs being debranded and used on Kirky routes perhaps as they have started to do so in recent weeks.

If that is the case I can see more B7RLEs being transferred out with the remainder of them being cascaded to Caley so they are all based out of the one depot and they can be used on just about any route which needs them.

The 7/7A getting new buses seems a bit pointless in my opinion... there are other routes which need it more but guess we won’t know until at least next year when the order is announced.
 

Jordan Adam

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I think the 9/9A will get new buses with the pink 68 plate E200MMCs being debranded and used on Kirky routes perhaps as they have started to do so in recent weeks.

If that is the case I can see more B7RLEs being transferred out with the remainder of them being cascaded to Caley so they are all based out of the one depot and they can be used on just about any route which needs them.

The 7/7A getting new buses seems a bit pointless in my opinion... there are other routes which need it more but guess we won’t know until at least next year when the order is announced.

Any B7RLEs that remain will probably be moved on to services that don't enter the city. Dumbarton in particular.

I wouldn't say the 7/7A getting new buses is pointless, currently it mostly uses B7RLEs (which are likely to be either withdrawn or moved out the fleet). So allocating new vehicles will vastly improve the service and stimulate growth.
 

PaulMc7

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The 9 is in desperate need of new buses, I think the current ones have been in service for years with very minimal done to them. Personally if I was travelling from paisley to glasgow I would choose mcgills as the quality of their buses seems better

Yeah I'm pretty sure the 9 has had those buses since they came into use here with only the branding being done. I'm surprised off peak that the 9/9A have been way busier than the 38s I've seen. Only part the 38 seems to win in is from Ralston into Paisley
 

PaulMc7

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I think the pink E200MMCs will be the most unpredictable in terms of what they do with them but going by how many different services I've seen them on I wouldn't be surprised if it's not just down to other maintenance requirements that they get spread around. It would be smart to use them as testers to see what routes would benefit most from them.

Last week I seen them on a 4A, 6, 7, 10, 57 and 89A and I've seen them on more services before that
 

route101

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I've even seen the buses branded for the 34s on a lot of other services of late. Had one on the 2 the other week and I've seen them on other services operated by Caley too. Seen 38 branded deckers on the 4 a couple of times too

Seena 38 branded e400 on the 10 last night . ALX 400 was on 75
 

route101

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Yeah I'm pretty sure the 9 has had those buses since they came into use here with only the branding being done. I'm surprised off peak that the 9/9A have been way busier than the 38s I've seen. Only part the 38 seems to win in is from Ralston into Paisley

Guy i know stays near Paisley on and uses the 38 to town , he would still wait for 38 and not take 9 if the 38s never showed up ha
 

PaulMc7

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Guy i know stays near Paisley on and uses the 38 to town , he would still wait for 38 and not take 9 if the 38s never showed up ha

That's understandable as if he needs anything else it's likely to be another Mcgills service. I'd personally just get what came first unless I had a specific ticket already
 

route101

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There must be a reason why the 6 are losing their low height deckers. I mean I still see them operate the 6 on occasion but they’re mainly on other services and I’ve even seen them stray to the east end a lot more in recent times. That would be pretty much unheard of with the exception of the two 62 boards that used to run from Scotstoun I believe and 2 would operate the late night services.

Perhaps First feel like singles are better on the route and capacity is needed elsewhere? I think the E300s would be good buses for the 6. The B7RLEs are tired inside. Although in saying that I’m not sure that capacity is a priority given that the 90 is running around with B7TLs/B9TLs and 03 plate presidents. Also the 267 and 255 services have had B9TLs too as of recent. Hopefully their transfer to the X1 will combat that issue.

Quite a few e300s on the 6 . I think the 6 is busier than the 4 so strange they go on that route.
 

route101

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That's understandable as if he needs anything else it's likely to be another Mcgills service. I'd personally just get what came first unless I had a specific ticket already

He has a Mcgills smartcard with a monthly . I would get the 9 , as £2.60 is small price to pay to go home
 

smtglasgow

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I wouldn't say the 7/7A getting new buses is pointless, currently it mostly uses B7RLEs (which are likely to be either withdrawn or moved out the fleet). So allocating new vehicles will vastly improve the service and stimulate growth.

The 7 is usually pretty full heading north from mid-afternoon, so I’m sure it justifies the investment. Not sure if anyone uses the 7 to get to Summerston from the city, but maybe folk in Cadder are using it to get to Asda? I’m sure that in Strathclyde Buses days some of the journeys turned at Gillochshill instead of Summerston – I was wee and not really paying attention, but think this was when there was a 55 as well as the 54 (mid 90s)? Just wonder if they need to run the 7 into Summerston every 10 mins?
 

Volvodart

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If it was not busy, they would not be able to justify new buses for it, unless they had plans to get more people to use the service.
 

PaulMc7

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The only problems the 7/7A have are that they're not very reliable at all due to city centre and Cadder and that the Rutherglen to Westburn section on the 7A is never that busy. The narrow streets with horrendously parked cars in Cadder holds a lot of them up when it's busier
 

route101

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The only problems the 7/7A have are that they're not very reliable at all due to city centre and Cadder and that the Rutherglen to Westburn section on the 7A is never that busy. The narrow streets with horrendously parked cars in Cadder holds a lot of them up when it's busier

Always thought the 7 mostly has other services along its route like 75 etc
 

PaulMc7

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Always thought the 7 mostly has other services along its route like 75 etc

Yeah it goes through a lot of areas that have loads of buses that take away from it. The only bit that doesn't have loads is Prospecthill Road because of just the M2 and 90 but it's too late in the route towards Rutherglen to be a big customer drive because it doesn't go any further than 10 mins away. If anything maybe swapping the 7A and 7 over from Aikenhead Road might be the smarter idea although then just swap the frequency around so it's a short 7A to Rutherglen, a long 7A to Westburn via Prospecthill Road and then a 7 through Kings Park to Rutherglen
 

singlemalt

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Quite a few e300s on the 6 . I think the 6 is busier than the 4 so strange they go on that route.
the low height deckers are as slow as hell pulling away slow doors etc they are a nightmare to drive on the 6 especially on great western rd where traffic is murder i had a dart on it on monday and it was a joy to drive
 

PaulMc7

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the low height deckers are as slow as hell pulling away slow doors etc they are a nightmare to drive on the 6 especially on great western rd where traffic is murder i had a dart on it on monday and it was a joy to drive

Never really thought highly of those deckers tbh as a passenger so it's good to get some insight into drivers issues with them
 

Busman84

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9 Sep 2019
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E400 problems if very slow it will be a clogged DPF. Unless a bus is doing motorway work DPFs become an issue but also not helped when engineering ignore this which becomes costly. The bus will dangerously slow due to this and really shouldn’t be on the road. Other slow issues can be the intercooler if it’s had it. Some E400 buses have gearbox ECU in Eco mode meaning pulling away can feel sluggish although lack of revs and instant gear changes so you don’t get the power compared to normal set up would be. This also affects retarder/brakes..
 

JumpinTrainz

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I was behind an E400 on the 2 tonight and it was fairly speedy down Baillieston Rd. I quite like the low height examples if I’m honest they are quiet and comfortable enough as a passenger. My only gripe with them is the leather seated examples are beyond slippy and you spend the majority of your journey trying to keep yourself on the seat!

So many deckers on the 2 now. Almost every second bus I saw today was a decker! E400s and B9TLs galore. So odd to see as the 3 has been fully decker operated since 2012.
 
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The 3 in 2012 was only between Milton and the City Centre and it was only R reg Darts and Marshall Darts that ran on the service. The 20 was the old route the 3 does now till the City Centre and then the 3 covers the old 23
 

JumpinTrainz

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The 3 in 2012 was only between Milton and the City Centre and it was only R reg Darts and Marshall Darts that ran on the service. The 20 was the old route the 3 does now till the City Centre and then the 3 covers the old 23

I always thought the 6A covered the old 20 and the 3 covered the old 23 then the 9 which used to run to Drumchapel before Simplicity was introduced?
 

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