First South West (Kernow & Buses of Somerset)

[83G/84D]

Volvo B7TL 32683 seen in Camborne with a front panel missing and a defect sticker on it. It may have broken down at some point today.

 

[richw]

Revised capacities should be in place by The end of the week for social distancing. Stickers applied internally and externally I was told today.
Destination blind updated to add “Bus Full”
Observed majority of people are travelling mid morning and then returning home lunchtime to mid afternoon. The rest of the day is fresh air. The supermarket queues look to die early afternoon, so mid to late afternoon would be my suggestions to anyone needing to travel or shop.

 

[Busaholic]

Revised capacities should be in place by The end of the week for social distancing. Stickers applied internally and externally I was told today.
Destination blind updated to add “Bus Full”
Observed majority of people are travelling mid morning and then returning home lunchtime to mid afternoon. The rest of the day is fresh air. The supermarket queues look to die early afternoon, so mid to late afternoon would be my suggestions to anyone needing to travel or shop.

Can't tell with supermarket queues - after a medical appt this p.m. I travelled the short distance to Sainsbury, PZ,where the socially distanced queue stretched back from the entrance almost into Jelbert Way, the rear car and bus entrance: the longest shop queue I've ever seen. Three minutes later, I arrived at the nearby Tesco, parked at the very nearest parking space to the store, grabbed a trolley and straight into the store. When I exited at 3.45 p.m. the queue was long, and hardly moving. After 5 p.m. ime should be alright tho' almost anywhere.

 

[Lizard1324]

When I was on the a17 early January there was a bus on it which showed on bus times as "pzspare" which was a spare plaxton presidnet it turned out, it says its on the a17 today for the first time in months, does this mean that they have kept the president or have they given the old ticket machine to a new gemini?

 

[83G/84D]

When I was on the a17 early January there was a bus on it which showed on bus times as "pzspare" which was a spare plaxton presidnet it turned out, it says its on the a17 today for the first time in months, does this mean that they have kept the president or have they given the old ticket machine to a new gemini?

"pzspare" is not specific to a certain vehicle, it's just whatever is spare on a certain day. I have seen the A17 today and there are no Trident's out on it.

 

[Lizard1324]

"pzspare" is not specific to a certain vehicle, it's just whatever I spare on a certain day. I have seen the A17 today and there are no Trident's out on it.

My mistake, thought it was a certain vehicle only becuase when I saw it over winter it was always a trident but more the likely the ticket machine has been added to a newer bus

 

[MB162435]

Marc said on Twitter this morning that Kernow have received amazing news which they can share with every Tom, Dick and Harry soon, with it being posted on Twitter as part of the '2020 vision' I presume it's relating to public services not contracts

 

[richw]

Pzspare is a spare ticket Machine not a spare bus

 

[83G/84D]

Marc said on Twitter this morning that Kernow have received amazing news which they can share with every Tom, Dick and Harry soon, with it being posted on Twitter as part of the '2020 vision' I presume it's relating to public services not contracts

Sounds intriguing I wonder what that will be about?

 

[richw]

Marc said on Twitter this morning that Kernow have received amazing news which they can share with every Tom, Dick and Harry soon, with it being posted on Twitter as part of the '2020 vision' I presume it's relating to public services not contracts

Why not contracts? If you win a contract there is a period it remains confidential for. The TfC was 10 working days for example

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Sounds intriguing I wonder what that will be about?

He said good news not amazing.

Wonder if it is the schools contracts?

 

[GBM]

He said good news not amazing.

Wonder if it is the schools contracts?

There's also reduced fares to be introduced soon'ish!

 

[MB162435]

Why not contracts? If you win a contract there is a period it remains confidential for. The TfC was 10 working days for example

Will announce a new contrac matter to the general public, maybe worth posting in an enthusiast group who are interested in Kernow's operations, but a general post on social media only just to announce some more school buses for Y7-11s sounds bit pointless, especially if its still company sensitive

 

[MB162435]

He said good news not amazing.

Wonder if it is the schools contracts?

Any positive news these days is amazing to me!

Makes a change for good news out of all the Covid and financial crisis going on

Will the school contracts start in June or September now, there is talk of scrapping the summer holidays to make up learning time, so that will alter how Kernow juggle everything going forward if it happens

 

[richw]

There's also reduced fares to be introduced soon'ish!

The government scrapped the funding to Cornwall council for the pilot in March, so unsure if this is continuing

 

[Goldfish62]

He said good news not amazing.

Wonder if it is the schools contracts?

He actually said great news, so somewhere between good and amazing on the excitement scale.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

He actually said great news, so somewhere between good and amazing on the excitement scale.

You're quite right. On a bus enthusiast tumescence scale, probably a 6......

Why not contracts? If you win a contract there is a period it remains confidential for. The TfC was 10 working days for example

Will announce a new contrac matter to the general public, maybe worth posting in an enthusiast group who are interested in Kernow's operations, but a general post on social media only just to announce some more school buses for Y7-11s sounds bit pointless, especially if its still company sensitive

@richw is right - there's usually what is called a "standstill period" between the various parties being told (with information held back by a non disclosure agreement) and when it can be announced. This is to allow any objections etc to be raised.

Even if it is just schools contracts, it may well underpin some other commercial ventures going forward and also require an uplift in fleet as well.

As 2020 Vision hasn't been made available to the public, then hard to say what it could be.

 

[83G/84D]

When I was on the a17 early January there was a bus on it which showed on bus times as "pzspare" which was a spare plaxton presidnet it turned out, it says its on the a17 today for the first time in months, does this mean that they have kept the president or have they given the old ticket machine to a new gemini?

Pzspare is a spare ticket Machine not a spare bus

"pzspare" today is a ticket machine on B7TL 32548.

 

[MB162435]

You're quite right. On a bus enthusiast tumescence scale, probably a 6......




@richw is right - there's usually what is called a "standstill period" between the various parties being told (with information held back by a non disclosure agreement) and when it can be announced. This is to allow any objections etc to be raised.

Even if it is just schools contracts, it may well underpin some other commercial ventures going forward and also require an uplift in fleet as well.

As 2020 Vision hasn't been made available to the public, then hard to say what it could be.

I never said there wasn't a standstill period, but to be fair it might as well be the '2021' vision now, can't see much if any of it actually coming into force this year

Would just be easier for them to announce it when the public are allowed to know, been over 5 months since the 2020 vision was announced but still means very little to the average Joe

 

[Lizard1324]

Anyone know where the unused geminis at the moment are being kept, thought some might be helston but there was only 3 lizard tridents and one uni trident parked there

 

[83G/84D]

Anyone know where the unused geminis at the moment are being kept, thought some might be helston but there was only 3 lizard tridents and one uni trident parked there

Some are at Camborne, they moved from Penzance last week.

 

[83G/84D]

Can't tell with supermarket queues - after a medical appt this p.m. I travelled the short distance to Sainsbury, PZ,where the socially distanced queue stretched back from the entrance almost into Jelbert Way, the rear car and bus entrance: the longest shop queue I've ever seen. Three minutes later, I arrived at the nearby Tesco, parked at the very nearest parking space to the store, grabbed a trolley and straight into the store. When I exited at 3.45 p.m. the queue was long, and hardly moving. After 5 p.m. ime should be alright tho' almost anywhere.

Tesco Extra near Redruth had a queue of people half way around the car park which was 3/4 full of cars at 6-30pm early this week.

 

[richw]

Would just be easier for them to announce it when the public are allowed to know, been over 5 months since the 2020 vision was announced but still means very little to the average Joe

He’s posted on his personal twitter, which is mainly followed by industry managers And staff from what I’ve seen. Majority of public won’t be following him and nothing I can see on Kernow company pages

 

[MB162435]

He’s posted on his personal twitter, which is mainly followed by industry managers And staff from what I’ve seen. Majority of public won’t be following him and nothing I can see on Kernow company pages

Haven't been that bored yet to scrutinise his followers, but makes sense, like the rest of us he probably has more time to use social media as well currently

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I never said there wasn't a standstill period, but to be fair it might as well be the '2021' vision now, can't see much if any of it actually coming into force this year

Would just be easier for them to announce it when the public are allowed to know, been over 5 months since the 2020 vision was announced but still means very little to the average Joe

I didn't say you mentioned a standstill or not - I was just explaining what was happening.

It's difficult to comment on 2020 Vision as we don't know what it contains. It would certainly be interesting to see it, even if it's lacking in the actual strategy.

That said, given the current circumstances and likely impact going forward (e.g. social distancing, reduced high street retail footfall, recession), it may need a bit of a review anyway

 

[MB162435]

I didn't say you mentioned a standstill or not - I was just explaining what was happening.

It's difficult to comment on 2020 Vision as we don't know what it contains. It would certainly be interesting to see it, even if it's lacking in the actual strategy.

That said, given the current circumstances and likely impact going forward (e.g. social distancing, reduced high street retail footfall, recession), it may need a bit of a review anyway

That's alright then, confused me for a bit then!

The parts of it that might see the light of day in 2020, I expect will be the services connected with the school work in the best case scenario, can't see much else taking off with the 75% capacity in place

 

[83G/84D]

What post does "MMH" hold and where is he based? The name rings a bell from years back, I may have met him at a meet the manager type event or something similar.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

What post does "MMH" hold and where is he based? The name rings a bell from years back, I may have met him at a meet the manager type event or something similar.

Used to work for Go Ahead at Southern Vectis and then on the mainland. Still lives in IOW - hence treferences about interlopers running FK!!!

After Go Ahead, both he and Alex Carter worked for TAS Partnership before going into First South West. Is known to frequent forums such as this in the shadows. Is both sympathetic to enthusiasts whilst also being sensitive to perceived slights against the business. Essentially no2 at FSW, I believe.

Despite what has been suggested, he and AC have an indepth knowledge of the business and area, stabilised a basket case business, removed their main competitors, secured investment, established relationships with various organisations etc. Better record than a certain someone with two failed bus operations on their CV.

 

[Goldfish62]

Despite what has been suggested, he and AC have an indepth knowledge of the business and area, stabilised a basket case business, removed their main competitors, secured investment, established relationships with various organisations etc. Better record than a certain someone with two failed bus operations on their CV.

I get the impression said person is living in the past and thinks FK is still the same as FDC was 10-15 years ago.

 

[Busaholic]

Perhaps Alex Carter is entering a Song for Europe with a reworking of A Summer Holiday.