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

TheGrandWazoo · 26 Apr 2019

See reported on Midland Red forum that former Bath and Swansea Eclipses 66944 is in Worcester depot. Expect it is resting en route north to Scotland.

RailUK Forums

carlberry · 26 Apr 2019

AllanMacF said:
Five of First BRISTOL's six Trident-Presidents were out on the 75/76 this morning - 33061/064/144/158/182, but 062 not seen. Of course, the Tracker does not recognise 33061/4, not even the duty and no bus is shown on the map in its place. How often is it updated, I wonder?

I suspect they're still talking in Welsh and the local tracker cant cope!

spw24 · 27 Apr 2019

Ive mailed Bus Times twice with Bristol updates but nothings appeared so far.

henairs · 27 Apr 2019

spw24 said:
Ive mailed Bus Times twice with Bristol updates but nothings appeared so far.

Interesting info Steve as although I obtained a new TT for the Wells-Bath corridor services today at Bath bus station there was nothing on First's newsite under Bath/Wells area changes when I looked yesterday. plenty of news on Bath changes but Wells omitted. Not sure if it's on there now as been away today.
Cheers, Mike R

henairs · 27 Apr 2019

Pink livered 47554 out on 178 today whilst 32673 working Wells duties on Bath corridor.
Mike R

D2007wsm · 28 Apr 2019

With the service changes, the X1 has acquired the ‘Direct’ on the destination in the orange box. Does look a little bizarre with ‘Weston’ on the top with ‘-super-Mare’ underneath or ‘Bristol’. Would have looked much better with ‘Weston-super-Mare’ on top with ‘Direct’ underneath.

Apparently on the X1X, the ‘Direct’ is replaced with ‘Limited Stop’ according to a driver who was playing with the Hanover this morning.

The X7 and X9 are showing ‘Bristol’, ‘Clevedon’ or ‘Nailsea’ respectively with ‘via Long Ashton’ alongside.

TheGrandWazoo · 28 Apr 2019

henairs said:
Interesting info Steve as although I obtained a new TT for the Wells-Bath corridor services today at Bath bus station there was nothing on First's newsite under Bath/Wells area changes when I looked yesterday. plenty of news on Bath changes but Wells omitted. Not sure if it's on there now as been away today.
Cheers, Mike R

Nowt on there. Had a very brief check but can’t anything major leaping out.

freetoview33 · 28 Apr 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
Nowt on there. Had a very brief check but can’t anything major leaping out.

It mainly retimings, and a few extra morning trips.

henairs · 28 Apr 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
Nowt on there. Had a very brief check but can’t anything major leaping out.

freetoview33 said:
It mainly retimings, and a few extra morning trips.

Cheers guys, found the info on Timetable pages under forthcoming times. As you say would appear to be tweets to timings to improve running times.
32673 parked up front of Wells depot today.
Mike R

TheGrandWazoo · 28 Apr 2019

henairs said:
Cheers guys, found the info on Timetable pages under forthcoming times. As you say would appear to be tweets to timings to improve running times.
32673 parked up front of Wells depot today.
Mike R

Has 32669 turned a wheel in Bath? Seen 32673 about a bit on U2’s plus on loan to Wells but not the other one. Perhaps just luck?

Whiteway215 · 28 Apr 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
Has 32669 turned a wheel in Bath? Seen 32673 about a bit on U2’s plus on loan to Wells but not the other one. Perhaps just luck?

I first saw both 32669 and 673 in service in Bath on 6 Feb. Although 673 has been in service continuously 669 wasn't seen in March or since. Apparently 669 has a major engine failure, joining 32008 and 30875. 32669/73 were swapped for 47549/50 and the comment I received was that Scotland had got the better end of that deal!

TheGrandWazoo · 28 Apr 2019

Whiteway215 said:
I first saw both 32669 and 673 in service in Bath on 6 Feb. Although 673 has been in service continuously 669 wasn't seen in March or since. Apparently 669 has a major engine failure, joining 32008 and 30875. 32669/73 were swapped for 47549/50 and the comment I received was that Scotland had got the better end of that deal!

Makes sense. Thanks for the info

Wessexbuses · 29 Apr 2019

53402 WN54 HHU out in Yeovil today on Service 51

swifty · 29 Apr 2019

An unusual working has seen virtual electric E400 39192 spend a full day on the 36 today.

swifty · 29 Apr 2019

swifty said:
An unusual working has seen virtual electric E400 39192 spend a full day on the 36 today.

After a bit of digging I’m lead to believe, surprisingly, that the 36 is now the new home for the pair!

TheGrandWazoo · 29 Apr 2019

swifty said:
After a bit of digging I’m lead to believe, surprisingly, that the 36 is now the new home for the pair!

How are they charging them? Or are they?

carlberry · 29 Apr 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
Has 32669 turned a wheel in Bath? Seen 32673 about a bit on U2’s plus on loan to Wells but not the other one. Perhaps just luck?

Steve White's site now indicates that they're both Wells's problem!

TheGrandWazoo · 29 Apr 2019

carlberry said:
Steve White's site now indicates that they're both Wells's problem!

They’re blue so makes some perverse sense

Marcus Fryer · 30 Apr 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
How are they charging them? Or are they?

From yesterday the PVR of the 36 became 5 peak and 3 off-peak. It would appear that the two Electrocities work only in the peaks (am and pm), presumably returning to LH for recharging during the middle of the day.
From observation, I think they run on electric mode most of the time they are in service.

spw24 · 30 Apr 2019

39191/2 were both parked in LH this afternoon but not plugged in.
Ive just got an email from the guy running Bus times he says that 32669/73 and 33061/2/4 don't track on the system used that's why they are not listed.

Marcus Fryer · 30 Apr 2019

spw24 said:
39191/2 were both parked in LH this afternoon but not plugged in.

Both were out on the 36 in both peaks. How long do they need to be plugged in to fully recharge after the battery's been emptied?

Whiteway215 · 1 May 2019

44553 on 172/174 and 32636 on Bath 3 trundling the new route through Mulberry Park on its way to Foxhill.

TheGrandWazoo · 2 May 2019

44522 working the 42 today

Marcus Fryer · 2 May 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
44522 working the 42 today

That's the 42 in Bath I assume?

Whiteway215 · 2 May 2019

Marcus Fryer said:
That's the 42 in Bath I assume?

Yes it would be the Bath 42. Unusual to see 44522 on it as it's usually a Solo.
This service was taken on by First after Wessex withdrew. I seem to remember reading at the time that First would review its operation after about six months as it was a bit borderline as a commercial service. However it seems to have survived so far.

freetoview33 · 2 May 2019

Whiteway215 said:
Yes it would be the Bath 42. Unusual to see 44522 on it as it's usually a Solo.
This service was taken on by First after Wessex withdrew. I seem to remember reading at the time that First would review its operation after about six months as it was a bit borderline as a commercial service. However it seems to have survived so far.

Indeed, it is.

TheGrandWazoo · 2 May 2019

Marcus Fryer said:
That's the 42 in Bath I assume?

Yeah - sorry, should've been more specific :oops:

Whiteway215 said:
Yes it would be the Bath 42. Unusual to see 44522 on it as it's usually a Solo.
This service was taken on by First after Wessex withdrew. I seem to remember reading at the time that First would review its operation after about six months as it was a bit borderline as a commercial service. However it seems to have survived so far.

I'm still a bit sceptical whether the 42 will survive the year. It was Solo SRs but now they're ok for the main city mini routes, seems the 42 has become home to 2005 Solos. Was quite surprised to see 44522 coming up Rush Hill this morning!!

vicbury · 3 May 2019

Used condoms, broken seats and reduced timetable: The 'abysmal' First Bus service

A rather unflattering article in the Bristol Post this morning.

First Bus has come under for fire for it's "abysmal" service after a passenger was forced to contend with a reduced timetable, broken seats and used condoms.

Peter Magurran was on the X9 when he made the "disgusting" discovery on Wednesday (May 1).

Recent timetable changes by First Bus also now means the 29-year-old either arrives an hour early or 20 minutes late into work.

Describing the service provided by First Bus, Mr Magurran said: "As I boarded the X9 in the morning, there was a terrible smell of dust and damp.

"As I walked up the bus I noticed that the fabric on some of the seats was stuck together with duct tape.

"As the journey went on I noticed at the back of the bus there was a bag rack. Under the rack someone had stuffed some condom wrappers along with their used contents.

"I think this is absolutely shocking.

"It's bad enough for me, a 29-year-old adult, but it’s quite likely that a large number of school children will be taking the bus too."

If the photo in the article is accurate, it looks like it might be an Abus Citaro. What on earth has happened to standards at Abus? The duct tape on the seats is frankly embarrassing!

D2007wsm · 3 May 2019

vicbury said:
Used condoms, broken seats and reduced timetable: The 'abysmal' First Bus service

A rather unflattering article in the Bristol Post this morning.

If the photo in the article is accurate, it looks like it might be an Abus Citaro. What on earth has happened to standards at Abus? The duct tape on the seats is frankly embarrassing!

That is definitely an Abus vehicle. All the First vehicles used on Excel services have either grey or green leather seats apart from the B7RLEs used on the X5 which have First moquette. Also none of them have a luggage rack at the back of the bus.

I know it isn’t acceptable to have ripped seats or rubbish on the bus, but at the end of the day it’s only his fellow customers which have done this. A better way to repair the seats, is to patch them with the same moquette or material until the entire seat can be recovered.

The problem with the Abus Citaros is that they are plain orange with no branding. There is no branding to say that it is an Abus vehicle apart from the legal lettering. When they had vehicles in the ‘Express Yourself’ livery, there was a sticker on the window by the door saying ‘This vehicle is operated by Abus’

freetoview33 · 3 May 2019

D2007wsm said:
That is definitely an Abus vehicle. All the First vehicles used on Excel services have either grey or green leather seats apart from the B7RLEs used on the X5 which have First moquette. Also none of them have a luggage rack at the back of the bus.

I know it isn’t acceptable to have ripped seats or rubbish on the bus, but at the end of the day it’s only his fellow customers which have done this. A better way to repair the seats, is to patch them with the same moquette or material until the entire seat can be recovered.

The problem with the Abus Citaros is that they are plain orange with no branding. There is no branding to say that it is an Abus vehicle apart from the legal lettering. When they had vehicles in the ‘Express Yourself’ livery, there was a sticker on the window by the door saying ‘This vehicle is operated by Abus’

I'm wondering how long abus will carry on for now. As they only have 3 routes now. 1 being a school route. Question really is do first have enough resources to take over the 349 and x9 if needed?

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