First West of England (Bristol, Bath & The West)

[TheGrandWazoo]

They currently do all use the Moravian stop not the High st at the moment.

Thanks Steve - assume that’s because there’s more room to socially distance? I was only in Kingswood fleetingly on Friday so didn’t see a 41/43

 

[freetoview33]

Surely if all services went from Moravian Road, that would be easier?

It's useful when I've got a 17 from Southmead to Kingswood (the 1 that carries on to Keynsham) then a 43 down to St George. Otherwise it involves a walk around and is a pain!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

It's useful when I've got a 17 from Southmead to Kingswood (the 1 that carries on to Keynsham) then a 43 down to St George. Otherwise it involves a walk around and is a pain!

Yes but it's probably more sensible for all the services west out of Kingswood to go from a single location on Moravian Road. Getting from the stop outside Kings Chase to Moravian Road must be all of a 100m!!

 

[Marcus Fryer]

39450 (SGL) was on the 2a to Stockwood this afternoon. Incidentally, the 2a buses show 'Stockwood 2a' i.e. no 'via Wells Road'. Likewise, the buses on the T1b just show 'Bristol T1b' or 'Thornbury T1b'.

 

[swifty]

Yes but it's probably more sensible for all the services west out of Kingswood to go from a single location on Moravian Road. Getting from the stop outside Kings Chase to Moravian Road must be all of a 100m!!

Haha, quite. I’d understand if the High Street and Moravian Road stop were closed and the changeover involved walking to Cecil Road, but as you say it’s only 100m or so round the corner. I doubt if many people change from east to westbound buses there anyway and if so can it can be done further down by Century’s.

 

[freetoview33]

Haha, quite. I’d understand if the High Street and Moravian Road stop were closed and the changeover involved walking to Cecil Road, but as you say it’s only 100m or so round the corner. I doubt if many people change from east to westbound buses there anyway and if so can it can be done further down by Century’s.

18/19 to 42/43

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

18/19 to 42/43

Yes but equally, you might change from the 18/19 (travelling from Bath) and change onto the 42/43 to go down Two Mile Hill so having one stop rather than two, one hidden from the other, would make sense.

I'm with @swifty that the number of people going from Fishponds to St George via Kingswood is probably pretty low.

 

[freetoview33]

Yes but equally, you might change from the 18/19 (travelling from Bath) and change onto the 42/43 to go down Two Mile Hill so having one stop rather than two, one hidden from the other, would make sense.

I'm with @swifty that the number of people going from Fishponds to St George via Kingswood is probably pretty low.

Still in normal circumstances the stop outside savers is the busier of the two stops!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Still in normal circumstances the stop outside savers is the busier of the two stops!

Yes, as the 42/43 is the main route in Kingswood.

 

[BBC]

Yes but equally, you might change from the 18/19 (travelling from Bath) and change onto the 42/43 to go down Two Mile Hill so having one stop rather than two, one hidden from the other, would make sense.

I'm with @swifty that the number of people going from Fishponds to St George via Kingswood is probably pretty low.

If you was to change from a 18(as it terminates at cecil road now)/19 to the 42/3 you’d do that at Cecil road. No walking required from that stop !

 

[swifty]

18/19 to 42/43

Ah but you were talking about the 17 .

My point still stands that walking from outside Boswell’s to the stop on Moravaian Road is hardly a trek.

I think we’ll all have to agree to disagree with you on this one.

 

[freetoview33]

Ah but you were talking about the 17

Handy for both. There used to be a quirk with the 17 that it only served half of the stops but not others.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

If you was to change from a 18(as it terminates at cecil road now)/19 to the 42/3 you’d do that at Cecil road. No walking required from that stop !

True - you'd get two bites of the cherry.

 

[freetoview33]

If you was to change from a 18(as it terminates at cecil road now)/19 to the 42/3 you’d do that at Cecil road. No walking required from that stop !

No when it was on it's full route. Coming from Cribbs!

 

[freetoview33]

Anyway It doesn't really matter there are loads of examples with 2 stops within 100-200m of one another!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

No when it was on it's full route. Coming from Cribbs!

I think he was responding to me and my assertion about coming from Bath direction

 

[freetoview33]

On another topic has anyone seen how the 4 new stops at Parkway are getting on?

 

[Marcus Fryer]

On another topic has anyone seen how the 4 new stops at Parkway are getting on?

Last week it was very confusing, with notices on the new stops saying they weren't in use pending construction of shelters, but some buses still stopping there whilst others still used the temporary stops down the approach.

 

[Whiteway215]

The Bath Chronicle (Somerset Live) has an article about children using buses to travel to school when they return in September.
It reports that First Bath will not be running the R2 Twerton to Ralph Allen School service but that Abus have offered to provide an alternative.

 

[freetoview33]

Last week it was very confusing, with notices on the new stops saying they weren't in use pending construction of shelters, but some buses still stopping there whilst others still used the temporary stops down the approach.

Are there any pics about?

 

[-Colly405-]

Last week it was very confusing, with notices on the new stops saying they weren't in use pending construction of shelters, but some buses still stopping there whilst others still used the temporary stops down the approach.

As well as the three new ones in the turning bay, (one kerbed as though it is a Metrobus stop) I'm intrigued to see what they do with what look to be the new eastbound stops - it looks like one Metrobus one with a normal one behind it.

 

[Whiteway215]

On the Kernow thread reported that 32014/15/69/70/75/76/83/96 have transferred from Bath.

 

[stait.john]

903/983 have turned up at BoS in Bridgwater, I’ve heard they might be for extra capacity come September.

these 4 B7RLEs are for Buses of Somerset with another 4 due.

 

[CD]

these 4 B7RLEs are for Buses of Somerset with another 4 due.

Not long ago BoS got rid of their perfectly good ex Kernow B7RLEs saying they used too much fuel.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Not long ago BoS got rid of their perfectly good ex Kernow B7RLEs saying they used too much fuel.

They were heavy on fuel but also were beginning to cost a bit on maintenance.

I guess with the need to socially distance, it's cheaper to have some larger (if thirstier) vehicles than putting more vehicles on the road.

 

[henairs]

these 4 B7RLEs are for Buses of Somerset with another 4 due.

Hi,
The other two examples 901/909 are parked in the yard at Taunton depot.
Mike R

 

[-Colly405-]

Are there any pics about?

Four photos from earlier today.
- The two "new" stops, i.e. those on the new alignment heading east through the station. This also shows the new arrangements for the drop off parking.
- Two photos of the three stops on the existing alignment. Note the one closest to the station building has different stone flooring and is longer, presumably for metrobus.
- One photo of the temporary stops.

On my visit last afternoon, passengers were at the new (not yet in use) stops waiting for their bus, and there was also one person waiting at the temporary stops. Note that the buses have to go past the new stops as part of their turning manoeuvre.

 

[freetoview33]

Four photos from earlier today.
- The two "new" stops, i.e. those on the new alignment heading east through the station. This also shows the new arrangements for the drop off parking.
- Two photos of the three stops on the existing alignment. Note the one closest to the station building has different stone flooring and is longer, presumably for metrobus.
- One photo of the temporary stops.

On my visit last afternoon, passengers were at the new (not yet in use) stops waiting for their bus, and there was also one person waiting at the temporary stops. Note that the buses have to go past the new stops as part of their turning manoeuvre.

Thank you that is very interesting. I thought there were going to be shelters though.

 

[CD]

They were heavy on fuel but also were beginning to cost a bit on maintenance.

I guess with the need to socially distance, it's cheaper to have some larger (if thirstier) vehicles than putting more vehicles on the road.

I would imagine vehicles that have been on loan to Diamond Bus will need a fair bit of maintenance.
B7rle has 43 seats, a Dart has 37, but with social distancing only equates to 3 extra seats. More elderly double deckers likely to be a better choice.
Next month they will have to provide a normal service on its commercial routes to keep getting taxpayers money from the government, rather than the 50% they are offering now.
It will be interesting to see if people return to using buses again when the full service is reinstated. Many are still frightened to use buses and others put off travelling due to the 3 hour frequencies on routes like 30/54 and 77.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I would imagine vehicles that have been on loan to Diamond Bus will need a fair bit of maintenance.
B7rle has 43 seats, a Dart has 37, but with social distancing only equates to 3 extra seats. More elderly double deckers likely to be a better choice.
Next month they will have to provide a normal service on its commercial routes to keep getting taxpayers money from the government, rather than the 50% they are offering now.
It will be interesting to see if people return to using buses again when the full service is reinstated. Many are still frightened to use buses and others put off travelling due to the 3 hour frequencies on routes like 30/54 and 77.

In the current circumstances, it might be beggars not being choosers to get larger vehicles, even if not that much larger.

Bus services in Somerset were infrequent enough so you can only hope that headways are restored.