Mixture of single and double decker operated routes

ValleyLines142 · 12 Jun 2019

Was just wondering of any routes whereby there are routes operated by a mixture of single and double decker vehicles?

In London, the 203 appears to be a mixture and I've also just seen a decker on the 423.

Anywhere else?

RailUK Forums

dgl · 12 Jun 2019

Around Weymouth a few routes use a combination of deckers/singles primarily the X routes and number 1 to Portland.
It used to be much more variable with the lesser routes getting anything that seemed spare.

TheGrandWazoo · 12 Jun 2019

DanTrainMan185 said:
Was just wondering of any routes whereby there are routes operated by a mixture of single and double decker vehicles?

In London, the 203 appears to be a mixture and I've also just seen a decker on the 423.

Anywhere else?

The Bath to Wells services are a mix of Volvo B7RLE single deckers and B9TL double decks as they were to convert from SD to DD. However, they have had insufficient deckers to enable this to happen so just under half the boards have been converted.

There are also numerous examples where a route is predominantly single deck though the odd journey may have school/college kids so a decker is needed - Arriva's Sapphire routes from Durham to Bishop Auckland and Darlington had (don't know if it's changed since) Pulsars but with e400s on certain boards.

EM2 · 12 Jun 2019

It's a while since I've used it, but 308 in London used to be single-decker only, then double-deckers started appearing in 2012.

Highlandspring · 12 Jun 2019

Stagecoach East Scotland 39 from Perth to Arbroath and vice versa.

Adsy125 · 12 Jun 2019

Yellow bus’s 1 route frequently has either, as does the 18 and many others. Not too rare that I’m aware!

NewcastleOne · 12 Jun 2019

In the NE
Arriva
6-Mix of Pulsar 2 and E400
7-Mix of Pulsar 2 and E400
24-Mix of Pulsar 2 and E400 (May have changed)
306-Mix of Pulsar 2 and Gemini
X7/8/9-Mix of Pulsar 2 and Gemini 2s
Go North East
1/1a/1b-Mix of Omnilink/Gemini 2 Hybrids (Temporary until more Gemini 2s are sourced)
309/310-Mix of Solar/Gemini 2 (Temporary due to Gemini 2 Refurbishment)
45/46/47-Gemini 2 And Streetlites (Rumoured get new Wright’s)
Stagecoach
10/11-Mix of ALX300 and E400
X87/88-Mix of ALX300 and E400

Robertj21a · 12 Jun 2019

DanTrainMan185 said:
Was just wondering of any routes whereby there are routes operated by a mixture of single and double decker vehicles?

In London, the 203 appears to be a mixture and I've also just seen a decker on the 423.

Anywhere else?

There's absolutely loads, all over the UK.

Tetchytyke · 12 Jun 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
There are also numerous examples where a route is predominantly single deck though the odd journey may have school/college kids so a decker is needed - Arriva's Sapphire routes from Durham to Bishop Auckland and Darlington had (don't know if it's changed since) Pulsars but with e400s on certain boards.

The 6/7 are a mix, with both types branded ip for the routes. Same with the X7/X8 in Northumberland.

An example of one-offs might be the 685, with Arriva and Stagecoach both now having a Decker board, though Stagecoach have actually branded up an E400 for it.

Volvo142 · 12 Jun 2019

Arriva 1/1A in Derby has mainly Volvo Geminis, but often uses Scania Omnicities too.

Sprinter150 · 12 Jun 2019

In the Potteries, 101 from Hanley to Stafford is meant to be route branded Scania Omnicitys, but often you can see Wright Eclipse Geminis, especially at weekends.

Southend Rider · 12 Jun 2019

First Essex X30 Southend to Stansted Airport is a mixture of single and double deckers both route branded

DunsBus · 12 Jun 2019

Going back a bit, but in the early nineties the old LRT service 89 between Gorebridge and Seafield, later Gorebridge to Granton, ran with a mix of Nationals and Atlanteans plus the odd Olympian for the last 18 months of its existence. During the time that the 89 ran to Granton (July 1993 to September 1994), it was interworked at the Granton end with the 20 and consequently that route, too, got the National/Atlantean/Olympian mix. This mix of vehicles continued on the 20 after the 89 came off.

Jordan Adam · 12 Jun 2019

I could mention instances with every bus route here. However typically deckers will be allocated to a specific duty, normally one that may interwork with a school service.

For example the 16:59 First Aberdeen 17B from Holburn Junction is normally a Volvo B7LA (bendy bus) or a Enviro 500 (Tri-axle double decker) despite the fact it could easily be operated by a single decker, the reason for this is because prior to this run it comes off a Lochside Academy school duty.

Slower Travel · 12 Jun 2019

I don't know if it's like this all the time, as it's the only time I've ever been on it, but the #10 I took from Wigan to Leigh a few weeks back was a decker.

However, the #10s going in the opposite direction were all singles. Never seen that before.

Zamracene749 · 12 Jun 2019

NewcastleOne said:
In the NE
Arriva

24-Mix of Pulsar 2 and E400 (May have changed)

The 24 now interworks with the 22, adding 'Sapphire' Streetlites into the mix.
Also, the X12 Newcastle Durham Middlesbrough service is a mix of Gemini 2 deckers and Pulsar 2 'Max' spec buses.

NewcastleOne · 13 Jun 2019

beermaddavep said:
The 24 now interworks with the 22, adding 'Sapphire' Streetlites into the mix.
Also, the X12 Newcastle Durham Middlesbrough service is a mix of Gemini 2 deckers and Pulsar 2 'Max' spec buses.

Not anymore X12 had the Gemini 2s removed. Now just Pulsar 2s.

Kuyoyo · 13 Jun 2019

Arctic Troll said:
The 6/7 are a mix, with both types branded ip for the routes. Same with the X7/X8 in Northumberland.

An example of one-offs might be the 685, with Arriva and Stagecoach both now having a Decker board, though Stagecoach have actually branded up an E400 for it.

The 6 has decker turns as they work school and college runs at those times - something many of the Durham County depots now have.

As for the 685, Stagecoach upgraded theirs to decker full time when they received the E400MMC. Arriva only operate a decker on their 685 board during term time for school loadings.

beermaddavep said:
The 24 now interworks with the 22, adding 'Sapphire' Streetlites into the mix.
Also, the X12 Newcastle Durham Middlesbrough service is a mix of Gemini 2 deckers and Pulsar 2 'Max' spec buses.

Not quite - the 22/23/24 now all interwork using a mix of ‘Sapphire’ Streetlites, ‘Sapphire’ Pulsars in both the original and revised livery and a single E400 - the decker previously branded for the 24 has now lost its branding and is used alongside an older example on both 22/23/24 and 6.
As for the X12, since September last year, it’s primarily a single decker route, using ‘MAX’ Pulsars from both depots - 4 of the branded Geminis having moved to Arriva Yorkshire in exchange for 4 Enviro400s for the Newcastle-Alnwick-Berwick express X15. Of the 9 boards on the X12, only one of them is booked for a decker - now one or the ex-London Volvo B7TLs.

Dai Corner · 13 Jun 2019

Cardiff Bus and Newport Transport jointly operate the 30 between the two cities, both companies using a mixture of single and double deckers. NAT do the same on their competing X5.

Many NT routes are a mixture.

woodhouse122 · 13 Jun 2019

the 1/1A in sheffield is jointly operated by Stagecoach yorkshire and First South yorkshire and has Streetlights (bith first and stagecoach) and streetdecks (Fiirst)

transmanche · 13 Jun 2019

Arctic Troll said:
An example of one-offs might be the 685, with Arriva and Stagecoach both now having a Decker board, though Stagecoach have actually branded up an E400 for it.

Although it's wearing a unique livery. Not the joint 'Cross Pennine' livery, but a sort of 'Stagecoach livery with added green and Cross Pennine logos', IIRC.

Arriva NE has branded single-deckers for the 52/54, but the 52 (possibly because of interworking with other routes) regularly sees Sapphire-branded and standard double-deck turns. (They seem particularly poor at keeping route-branded buses on their specific routes.)

madannie77 · 13 Jun 2019

In Cumbria Stagecoach route 104 has a mixture of E300s, Tridents and E400s.

The X4/X5 has E400s for the Workington to Penrith journeys and E300s for the Workington to Keswick short workings.

Typhoon · 13 Jun 2019

Arriva Kent and Surrey have both single and double-deckers route branded for the 700.

PeterC · 13 Jun 2019

Arriva service 280 from Aylesbury to Oxford seems to be increasingly operated by single deckers. I don't travel that way often enough to be sure if it is a straight mix or if they are converting the route.

Carousel route 1 is primarily single deck but the occasional double decker seems to appear at random.

robk23oxf · 13 Jun 2019

Stagecoach West's A service in Cheltenham usually has a mix of single and double deckers on it.

route101 · 13 Jun 2019

Loads in Glasgow , 3 for example .

The 31 had singles on Sunday and deckers on Mon to Sat , i wonder the reason?

transmanche · 13 Jun 2019

DanTrainMan185 said:
In London, the 203 appears to be a mixture and I've also just seen a decker on the 423.

londonbusroutes.net says that 12m Citaros (single deck) are allocated to the 203 with 12m Tempos (single deck) also appearing.

londonbuses.co.uk concurs but notes the occasional appearance of double deckers.

ValleyLines142 · 13 Jun 2019

To be fair, I think I underestimated just how many examples there are :lol:

tbtc · 13 Jun 2019

woodhouse122 said:
the 1/1A in sheffield is jointly operated by Stagecoach yorkshire and First South yorkshire and has Streetlights (bith first and stagecoach) and streetdecks (Fiirst)

Generally in Sheffield, Stagecoach are pretty reliable (the 1/7/25/83 are single and the X17/43/50/52/88/120 are double) - the only ones that change are the 44/72 (which interwork) and the 57 (it may just be peak boards that are E400s as the daytime service interworks with the 201).

However First are pretty haphazard with their allocations - pretty much any "frequent" double decker service (say at least four buses per hour) can be single decker (1a/51/52/56/75/76/95/97/98) plus there are double deckers working on the 20/24/83. The only really reliable double decker routes (of any frequency) are the X1 and the 81/82.

There are some predominantly single decker routes though (the 3/3a being the most frequent).

I'm not sure whether this is clever allocation of the biggest vehicles to certain boards or a protest to Head Office that there are insufficient vehicles or just lazy allocations (there are plenty of interworkings on Rotherham area services but less so in Sheffield, so I don't think that interworkings can be wholly to blame).

Makes it interesting, I guess, just a bit awkward for passengers who can't rely on the type of bus they'll get home will be the type they got to work (e.g. modern Streetlite with WiFi but few seats versus twelve year old double decker with more seats but not the same creature comforts on board).

LOL The Irony · 13 Jun 2019

Arriva North West 38 Crewe - Macclesfield:
Sapphire Pulsar 2's (from the 130)
Sapphire Pulsar Gemini 2's (Normal allocation)
Sapphire Enviro 400's

And as I'm informed by Simon75, those terrible little Mellor Stratos ice cream van things.

Mixture of single and double decker operated routes

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