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

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KendalKing

Established Member
Joined
4 Mar 2009
Messages
1,642
Location
North Lancs
How many are they due? Looks like we might just end up with more cast offs to replace 32001-24.

The StreetDecks that are currently in delivery are 35168-35192 with Pink (Fuchsia) fronts for Leicester, 35193-35199 with Pink (Strawberry) fronts for Norwich, and 35200-35201 in Strandard urban livery also for Norwich.
 

Private Baxter

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Joined
22 Sep 2013
Messages
1,787
X8/9/6 timetable amendment on VOSA - so 6 will be interworked with X8/9.
Worked from MH then. Since it is an hourly service, expect it to be interworked with just one of these routes. Means also we might see B7RLEs work the 6. But what about Abus and their contribution to X8/X9?
 

Colly405

Member
Joined
19 Nov 2012
Messages
333
Location
Stoke Gifford
Worked from MH then. Since it is an hourly service, expect it to be interworked with just one of these routes. Means also we might see B7RLEs work the 6. But what about Abus and their contribution to X8/X9?

A few weeks ago, Abus registered the X9 in their own right from 24/4 (currently it is just a First registration)
 

THarris123

Established Member
Joined
20 Apr 2014
Messages
2,843
Location
Wells, Somerset
I know what's happening in Wells. I won't reveal what's happening to 377 and 375 without authority from FSW official to do so.

However, i'm going to reveal the following:-
Wells are no longer overstaffed - they have a full crew
Wells will be running shuttles to Glastonbury Festival this year - not sure what vehicles will be used though - maybe BoS Tridents?
Wells will be getting 379 and 178 which is truly stupid in September
Wells depot will be its own independent depot as of April (not sure when, but early April) and no longer tied to Bath or Weston.

Not sure on the vehicle allocations though, but i'm hoping that Wells keep most of the B7s. In theory i'd like to think it'll be - 173/4/126/161 - 69437-45, 3 spare - 69446-8. Then the solo goes and the 02 reg B7s too and 69457/8 go to Weston for their 126.
 
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ValleyLines142

Established Member
Joined
25 Jul 2011
Messages
6,844
Location
Gloucester
Usually I am one to defend First but today has been an absolute shambles. Bristol has been exceptionally busy today, with the weather being so glorious, and families have headed to the harbourside, Clifton and a funfair on The Downs. Unfortunately First just haven't prepared for it. 8 and 9 services full and standing from College Green for the majority of the day. I tried to get on the 8 but the driver shut the door in my face, even though there was still enough room to get people on. In an ideal world deckers should have been used on the 8/9 today. I find it ridiculous that First are operating a Sunday service. The frequencies and vehicles used are totally inadequate and a Saturday service should have been in place (many other operators across the country are operating Saturday service - I don't understand what the obsession is with a Sunday service but it has totally flopped today). Wessex were using deckers on their 1 today in preparation for Funderworld on The Downs. 43 service left town full and standing, and the 1-4 and the 70s have also seen heavy loads. Totally inadequate service levels today, buses have been all over the place and people have had to let 1 (in some cases 2) buses pass as they haven't been able to board, particularly those with pushchairs/wheelchairs, which on a Sunday level of service is totally unacceptable. Next year, First, operate a Saturday service!!
 

matt_splat

Member
Joined
19 May 2012
Messages
897
I know what's happening in Wells. I won't reveal what's happening to 377 and 375 without authority from FSW official to do so.

However, i'm going to reveal the following:-
Wells are no longer overstaffed - they have a full crew
Wells will be running shuttles to Glastonbury Festival this year - not sure what vehicles will be used though - maybe BoS Tridents?
Wells will be getting 379 and 178 which is truly stupid in September
Wells depot will be its own independent depot as of April (not sure when, but early April) and no longer tied to Bath or Weston.

Not sure on the vehicle allocations though, but i'm hoping that Wells keep most of the B7s. In theory i'd like to think it'll be - 173/4/126/161 - 69437-45, 3 spare - 69446-8. Then the solo goes and the 02 reg B7s too and 69457/8 go to Weston for their 126.

I would expect maybe the current Uni Busses in Bath could be handy for Glastonbury Shuttles.

Also if it moves in September i wonder if this is a indication that maybe more work is going to be taken on in Bath for the Uni services....
 

Private Baxter

Established Member
Joined
22 Sep 2013
Messages
1,787
I know what's happening in Wells. I won't reveal what's happening to 377 and 375 without authority from FSW official to do so.

However, i'm going to reveal the following:-
Wells are no longer overstaffed - they have a full crew
Wells will be running shuttles to Glastonbury Festival this year - not sure what vehicles will be used though - maybe BoS Tridents?
Wells will be getting 379 and 178 which is truly stupid in September
Wells depot will be its own independent depot as of April (not sure when, but early April) and no longer tied to Bath or Weston.

Not sure on the vehicle allocations though, but i'm hoping that Wells keep most of the B7s. In theory i'd like to think it'll be - 173/4/126/161 - 69437-45, 3 spare - 69446-8. Then the solo goes and the 02 reg B7s too and 69457/8 go to Weston for their 126.
Thanks for sharing. I await with interest news on 375/377.
I thought Wells was already running under its own steam, so to speak. At least it's been heading that way for the last couple of years.
Agree with you on allocations, and hope that most if not all the B7RLEs stay. And yes, working the 178/379 from Wells doesn't seem to make sense and I don't like it but maybe they've figured a way around it.
I would expect maybe the current Uni Busses in Bath could be handy for Glastonbury Shuttles.

Also if it moves in September i wonder if this is a indication that maybe more work is going to be taken on in Bath for the Uni services....
Will Bath have anything left soon? At this rate it will be a depot soley for uni services.
 

BBC

Member
Joined
26 Mar 2016
Messages
419
Usually I am one to defend First but today has been an absolute shambles. Bristol has been exceptionally busy today, with the weather being so glorious, and families have headed to the harbourside, Clifton and a funfair on The Downs. Unfortunately First just haven't prepared for it. 8 and 9 services full and standing from College Green for the majority of the day. I tried to get on the 8 but the driver shut the door in my face, even though there was still enough room to get people on. In an ideal world deckers should have been used on the 8/9 today. I find it ridiculous that First are operating a Sunday service. The frequencies and vehicles used are totally inadequate and a Saturday service should have been in place (many other operators across the country are operating Saturday service - I don't understand what the obsession is with a Sunday service but it has totally flopped today). Wessex were using deckers on their 1 today in preparation for Funderworld on The Downs. 43 service left town full and standing, and the 1-4 and the 70s have also seen heavy loads. Totally inadequate service levels today, buses have been all over the place and people have had to let 1 (in some cases 2) buses pass as they haven't been able to board, particularly those with pushchairs/wheelchairs, which on a Sunday level of service is totally unacceptable. Next year, First, operate a Saturday service!!

Many drivers have said the same, buses running 20 mins late as there isn't sufficient running times on the cards to cope with the huge passenger numbers.
 

THarris123

Established Member
Joined
20 Apr 2014
Messages
2,843
Location
Wells, Somerset
Thanks for sharing. I await with interest news on 375/377.
I thought Wells was already running under its own steam, so to speak. At least it's been heading that way for the last couple of years.
Agree with you on allocations, and hope that most if not all the B7RLEs stay. And yes, working the 178/379 from Wells doesn't seem to make sense and I don't like it but maybe they've figured a way around it.

Will Bath have anything left soon? At this rate it will be a depot soley for uni services.

Don't forget the town services - Bath will be just Uni and town services :)
 

freetoview33

Established Member
Joined
24 May 2009
Messages
3,721
Location
West of England
Many drivers have said the same, buses running 20 mins late as there isn't sufficient running times on the cards to cope with the huge passenger numbers.
It's not just a bank holiday issue but a Sunday issue in general!

The 3 and 4 are every 20 mins Monday to Saturday so a bus every 10 mins.

But on Sundays this reduces to hourly on each. Where in the day time at least they need to be half hourly each. To cope with the demand better
 
Joined
28 May 2014
Messages
341
I know what's happening in Wells. I won't reveal what's happening to 377 and 375 without authority from FSW official to do so.

However, i'm going to reveal the following:-
Wells are no longer overstaffed - they have a full crew
Wells will be running shuttles to Glastonbury Festival this year - not sure what vehicles will be used though - maybe BoS Tridents?
Wells will be getting 379 and 178 which is truly stupid in September
Wells depot will be its own independent depot as of April (not sure when, but early April) and no longer tied to Bath or Weston.

Not sure on the vehicle allocations though, but i'm hoping that Wells keep most of the B7s. In theory i'd like to think it'll be - 173/4/126/161 - 69437-45, 3 spare - 69446-8. Then the solo goes and the 02 reg B7s too and 69457/8 go to Weston for their 126.

It's in the public domain as registrations were lodged a while ago. Of course the 375/377 are only part of the story.

We haven't announced anything yet as we are finalising the inter-availabilty of ticketing arrangements
 

matt_splat

Member
Joined
19 May 2012
Messages
897
i beleve spare wells drivers are to spend time in Bath and Bristol until september i'd expect to see them a lot on the 178/379

the 23:10 178 from Bath was a fully standing load at the red post tonight
 

pompeyfan

Established Member
Joined
24 Jan 2012
Messages
4,181
To only be 20 minutes down on good Friday is impressive. Down here on the sunny Solent we had multiple buses over 60 minutes late. Football traffic and people heading to/from the seafront caused gridlock on the network.

The problem with running a Saturday service on bank holidays is that there is NO demand before 9am and after 7pm, so a tailored Saturday service would be better. But when traffic causes issues buses are still going to be late, you're just going to have more buses caught in the same traffic.

Out of interest do Bristol and Bath use the same trapeze tracking system as Hampshire?
 

THarris123

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Joined
20 Apr 2014
Messages
2,843
Location
Wells, Somerset
i beleve spare wells drivers are to spend time in Bath and Bristol until september i'd expect to see them a lot on the 178/379

the 23:10 178 from Bath was a fully standing load at the red post tonight

Think they're doing that anyway - obviously in June any spares will be on Glastonbury.
 

Class 33

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Joined
14 Aug 2009
Messages
2,362
I've done a few journeys on the 376 since the new double deckers were put on there back in November. A couple of return journeys to Glastonbury on Saturdays. Both of these return journeys were very busy down to Wells. Makes me think how an earth people managed when this service was single decker only operated for the 30 odd years before November 2015??!! Must have been very uncomfortable(especially on those claustraphobic Eclipses!!) journeys travelling in packed out single deckers with a number of people having to stand up between Bristol and Wells!!!

Another observation is the long loading times at Bristol Bus Station at busy times. Can be about 10 minutes or so and the bus departs 10 minutes or so late! For example I did a short(distance) journey on there on Friday, between the bus station and Broad Walk. Caught the 1215 service. The bus driver didn't open the doors for passengers to board until 1213. A lot of people boarding which took 12 minutes!! Bus departed 10 minutes late at 1225! Also some annoying heavy traffic too. I didn't arrive at Broad Walk untill 1255!

Whilst it's great and very welcome that the old Eclipse single deckers have been replaced by (mostly) double deckers on this service, I still feel this service needs some refining and maybe also another service to ease passenger numbers a little on this service. Needs a little more lay-over time at Bristol Bus Station, to allow for the inbound service running possibly a little late, change of driver time or existing driver taking a short "comfort break", and to allow for the fact that loading times for this service at busy times can be 10 minutes or so! A new city service between Centre and either Stockwood or Hengrove via the upper part of Wells Road that runs every half hour and is scheduled to run about 5 minutes in front of the 376 between Broadmead and Whitchurch would be very useful too.

Doesn't really effect me, as I'm only a very occasional user of the 376. But some comments, as I still feel the service needs improvements!
 
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DS85

Member
Joined
8 Mar 2016
Messages
29
From my observations many more day trippers have been using the 376 since the launch of the Streetdecks, I would say there about 50% more busy than when they where using the Eclipses.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Joined
18 Feb 2013
Messages
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Somerset with international travel (e.g. across th
I've done a few journeys on the 376 since the new double deckers were put on there back in November. A couple of return journeys to Glastonbury on Saturdays. Both of these return journeys were very busy down to Wells. Makes me think how an earth people managed when this service was single decker only operated for the 30 odd years before November 2015??!! Must have been very uncomfortable(especially on those claustraphobic Eclipses!!) journeys travelling in packed out single deckers with a number of people having to stand up between Bristol and Wells!!!

A new city service between Centre and either Stockwood or Hengrove via the upper part of Wells Road that runs every half hour and is scheduled to run about 5 minutes in front of the 376 between Broadmead and Whitchurch would be very useful too.

Doesn't really effect me, as I'm only a very occasional user of the 376. But some comments, as I still feel the service needs improvements!

If you think that was bad, remember the days pre 1998 when the 376 was hourly with Lynxes from Bristol to Wells!!

This idea of additional services to Whitchurch keeps circulating on this page as do ideas of extra journeys to Wells. They took the decision last year to put deckers on the 376 rather than increase the frequency - tells you what you need to know in terms of the cost and availability of drivers. The 376 has some heavily loaded journeys but with the 379 as well, it probably has enough capacity now and for the foreseeable (though who's to say that continued organic growth won't be reflected in a higher frequency eventually though that may be a few years off).
 

TheGrandWazoo

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i beleve spare wells drivers are to spend time in Bath and Bristol until september i'd expect to see them a lot on the 178/379

the 23:10 178 from Bath was a fully standing load at the red post tonight

That journey is often heavily loaded. Even the earlier ones are fairly healthy which wasn't the best when Wessex used Solos on there!
 

THarris123

Established Member
Joined
20 Apr 2014
Messages
2,843
Location
Wells, Somerset
I've done a few journeys on the 376 since the new double deckers were put on there back in November. A couple of return journeys to Glastonbury on Saturdays. Both of these return journeys were very busy down to Wells. Makes me think how an earth people managed when this service was single decker only operated for the 30 odd years before November 2015??!! Must have been very uncomfortable(especially on those claustraphobic Eclipses!!) journeys travelling in packed out single deckers with a number of people having to stand up between Bristol and Wells!!!

Another observation is the long loading times at Bristol Bus Station at busy times. Can be about 10 minutes or so and the bus departs 10 minutes or so late! For example I did a short(distance) journey on there on Friday, between the bus station and Broad Walk. Caught the 1215 service. The bus driver didn't open the doors for passengers to board until 1213. A lot of people boarding which took 12 minutes!! Bus departed 10 minutes late at 1225! Also some annoying heavy traffic too. I didn't arrive at Broad Walk untill 1255!

Whilst it's great and very welcome that the old Eclipse single deckers have been replaced by (mostly) double deckers on this service, I still feel this service needs some refining and maybe also another service to ease passenger numbers a little on this service. Needs a little more lay-over time at Bristol Bus Station, to allow for the inbound service running possibly a little late, change of driver time or existing driver taking a short "comfort break", and to allow for the fact that loading times for this service at busy times can be 10 minutes or so! A new city service between Centre and either Stockwood or Hengrove via the upper part of Wells Road that runs every half hour and is scheduled to run about 5 minutes in front of the 376 between Broadmead and Whitchurch would be very useful too.

Doesn't really effect me, as I'm only a very occasional user of the 376. But some comments, as I still feel the service needs improvements!

Well from a perspective of a regular 376 user, i'll say you're partially wrong.

The demand at peak is very heavy on 376, but that is usually because people are catching 376 instead of 50/51/2. The demand during the day has increased, but not by much.

The layover time in Bristol at peak is sometimes up to 25 mins. I think it should be 15 mins during the day and 25 is about right for peak. If you're expecting drivers to always leave on time, have you ever noticed the Bath drivers leaving Bath Bus Station or the MH drivers leaving Bristol - very rarely have I seen drivers leave precisely on time. They usually turn up about 2 mins before they go and then leave 2 mins late. Its the same on every bus service - some drivers are better at leaving than others, but I can't see any real issue in it so long as they make up the time.

I've slowly come around to the dark side and am beginning to prefer the Streetdecks on 376 (although I had 69439 on Tuesday evening which was very pleasant). They have improved the demand levels and due to teething issues being sorted on them, they're starting to become more efficient. It was a good move to put deckers on.

Preferably I would like to see 376 every 20 mins at peak and 30 off peak and would like to see a nearly 24 hour service on it.

The very early morning journeys and late evening journeys are still not very well loaded however.

Saw a 376 on Friday (a B7) at about 18.00ish coming into Wells from Bristol which was very well loaded.

Obs in Wells today:
35163/5 depot
53401 depot (I haven't seen that in operation all week)
60912 161
69457 depot
69458 173
69441 126 (i think)
 

TheGrandWazoo

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I've slowly come around to the dark side and am beginning to prefer the Streetdecks on 376 (although I had 69439 on Tuesday evening which was very pleasant). They have improved the demand levels and due to teething issues being sorted on them, they're starting to become more efficient. It was a good move to put deckers on.

Preferably I would like to see 376 every 20 mins at peak and 30 off peak and would like to see a nearly 24 hour service on it.

The very early morning journeys and late evening journeys are still not very well loaded however.

As much a reflection on drivers getting used to them

I do think we're spoilt with the amount of 24 hour and night bus services in this area. However, for the reasons that you mention, I don't think the 376 is likely to see any extension to the working day.

It would look like they were looking at a 20 min Streetlite service last year; the choice of the deckers means that's probably a while away now. Once they realised that they could modify the depot at Wells, deckers became a bit of a no-brainer
 
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THarris123

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20 Apr 2014
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Wells, Somerset
As much a reflection on drivers getting used to them

I do think we're spoilt with the amount of 24 hour and night bus services in this area. However, for the reasons that you mention, I don't think the 376 is likely to see any extension to the working day.

It would look like they were looking at a 20 min Streetlite service last year; the choice of the deckers means that's probably a while away now. Once they realised that they could modify the depot at Wells, deckers became a bit of a no-brainer

I say a 24 hour service, but that's only because the demand on Friday and Saturday evenings is great and even if it was just Fridays and Saturdays that it was 24 hour.
 

Private Baxter

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22 Sep 2013
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I think space in the depot is generally an issue at Wells, an has been for well over ten years. But who knows, maybe as the 376 continues to grow, it will become a twenty minute frequency at some point in the future (I'm talking ten years or so) and using deckers still, but for now, what they have is sufficient.

I don't think 376 justifies a 24 service, however (and I've said it before) I think they could benefit from a later journey, as the 23.25 departure from Bristol (or whatever time it is now) can be quite busy any night of the week, and even the outward journey from Wells can do quite well.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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I say a 24 hour service, but that's only because the demand on Friday and Saturday evenings is great and even if it was just Fridays and Saturdays that it was 24 hour.

If that was the measure, then that would be fine. However, we've seen plenty of examples (the N47 being the latest) where there's a late 23:30 journey but the night runs just don't justify it.

A later 00:25 FS journey might be worth it but not convinced that there's really demand for a 24 hour service even at weekends.
 

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