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

TheGrandWazoo · 19 Jul 2019

carlberry said:
They haven't fitted the correct linens to the buses yet!

Sack the conductor!!!

RailUK Forums

carlberry · 19 Jul 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
Sundays?

I've since worked out what you might have meant. Since last year Stagecoach have been running contracted services on Sundays through Chepstow then a couple of months ago they picked up the ex Bevans services so they're now in Chepstow every day, with two different companies.

TheGrandWazoo · 19 Jul 2019

carlberry said:
I've since worked out what you might have meant. Since last year Stagecoach have been running contracted services on Sundays through Chepstow then a couple of months ago they picked up the ex Bevans services so they're now in Chepstow every day, with two different companies.

I’d forgotten all about those

Perhaps Stagecoach could consider having a depot in Chepstow :lol:

Anthony ross · 19 Jul 2019

carlberry said:
I've since worked out what you might have meant. Since last year Stagecoach have been running contracted services on Sundays through Chepstow then a couple of months ago they picked up the ex Bevans services so they're now in Chepstow every day, with two different companies.

Is it stagecoach wales or west that operate the former bevans services

TheGrandWazoo · 19 Jul 2019

Anthony ross said:
Is it stagecoach wales or west that operate the former bevans services

The Sunday services are Cymru whilst the ex Bevan are West.

Dai Corner · 19 Jul 2019

I wonder what the ticketing arrangements will be.

At the moment one get from Newport to Weston, Bath, Bristol, Wells and even as far as Salisbury on a First WoE day ticket.

TheGrandWazoo · 19 Jul 2019

Dai Corner said:
I wonder what the ticketing arrangements will be.

At the moment one get from Newport to Weston, Bath, Bristol, Wells and even as far as Salisbury on a First WoE day ticket.

I suspect that you'll lose that ability to travel from Newport.

It does beg the wider question as to any other routes that may be vulnerable. The D1 to Salisbury has already been cut back to two hourly (and was tendered before First took it on commercially) whilst I've already suggested that the 42 in Bath is my bet for getting rationalised.

Robertj21a · 19 Jul 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
I suspect that you'll lose that ability to travel from Newport.

It does beg the wider question as to any other routes that may be vulnerable. The D1 to Salisbury has already been cut back to two hourly (and was tendered before First took it on commercially) whilst I've already suggested that the 42 in Bath is my bet for getting rationalised.

I'm not going to be too surprised if most First operations aren't looking at trimming back on the less frequent/oddball/less profitable services that no longer really fit their corporate aims.

CD · 19 Jul 2019

Inbound stops opposite Temple Meads Station to close from this Sunday until further notice.
Long walk to the station now.

https://www.firstgroup.com/bristol-...id=IwAR3O-wfnOOviqbTDpWgA4mQFm-NjOYBD6_Ah8cC6

Dai Corner · 19 Jul 2019

CD said:
Inbound stops opposite Temple Meads Station to close from this Sunday until further notice.
Long walk to the station now.

https://www.firstgroup.com/bristol-...id=IwAR3O-wfnOOviqbTDpWgA4mQFm-NjOYBD6_Ah8cC6

For the record, in case the page gets removed

As part of the ongoing works at Temple Gate, Bristol City Council have made significant changes to bus stops mainly for inbound services around Bristol Temple Meads railway station.

These changes will come into effect this Sunday 21st July and will mean that all inbound buses will no longer stop opposite the bottom of Temple Meads Station Approach. Some will be permanent changes and others will be temporary and will move again in due course. Outbound services are unaffected.

The current stop at The Sidings (formerly the Reckless Engineer) will be removed permanently.

Here are full details of the new arrangements:

NEW STOP: near the top of Victoria Street

This will become the new permanent stop for the Brislington Park and Ride.

It will also be the temporary drop off stop for the following services:

1: From Broomhill towards the City Centre and Cribbs Causeway (towards Cribbs)

2: From Stockwood towards the City Centre and Cribbs Causeway (towards Cribbs)

91 & 92: From South Bristol towards the City Centre (Broadmead)

NEW STOP: Redcliffe Way (Temple Meads)

The following services will move to this location permanently:

39/X39 – From Bath towards the Centre and Bristol Bus Station (towards Bristol)

349 – From Keynsham towards the Centre and Bristol Bus Station (towards Bristol)

70 – Towards the Centre and Gloucester Road and UWE, Frenchay Campus (towards UWE) EVENINGS ONLY

73 – Towards the Centre and Gloucester Road, Bradley Stoke and Cribbs Causeway (towards Cribbs)

22 – Computershare Service (towards Centre)

Temporary Stop: Temple Way Stop (outside Hilton Garden Inn)

Several services will stop here temporarily while the remaining new stops are constructed within Temple Circus.

This stop is approximately a 5 minute walk to the side entrance of Temple Meads Station and will result in increased travel time for customers travelling to Bristol Temple Meads.

The below services will utilise this stop temporarily:

m2 – Long Ashton Park & Ride (towards Centre) Temporary

177 – Midsomer Norton – Bristol (towards Bristol)

178 – Radstock – Bristol (towards Bristol)

376 – Street – Bristol (towards Bristol)

carlberry · 19 Jul 2019

CD said:
Inbound stops opposite Temple Meads Station to close from this Sunday until further notice.
Long walk to the station now.

https://www.firstgroup.com/bristol-...id=IwAR3O-wfnOOviqbTDpWgA4mQFm-NjOYBD6_Ah8cC6

I assume that Bristol City Council are following Cardiff's approach to transport integration. Say lots of positive things about it but when it comes down to it, we really don't care about it!

TheGrandWazoo · 19 Jul 2019

carlberry said:
I assume that Bristol City Council are following Cardiff's approach to transport integration. Say lots of positive things about it but when it comes down to it, we really don't care about it!

Doubtless they'll trumpet the 50 metres of new bus lane by the Grosvenor. And people wonder why I'm scathing about public authorities.

Mwanesh · 19 Jul 2019

The reasons First have given for the Severn Express are viability and fuel thefts from the yard. Thats why the buses were all moved Bristol. I dont think extending it to Cardiff is a good idea. From Newport to Cardiff in rush hour is a nightmare

Marcus Fryer · 19 Jul 2019

In Henbury the 3s are terminating Tormarton Crescent and the 4s are terminating Wyck Beck Road. It appears some journeys (at least) still interwork. Are they running via the roundabout by the rugby club?

freetoview33 · 19 Jul 2019

Marcus Fryer said:
In Henbury the 3s are terminating Tormarton Crescent and the 4s are terminating Wyck Beck Road. It appears some journeys (at least) still interwork. Are they running via the roundabout by the rugby club?

I'd imagine so!

Noguidedbus · 20 Jul 2019

First Group generally is in a state of flux. An activist investor - Coast Capital, a New York hedge fund - is gaining in influence. It currently owns about 10% of First shares, and wants it to pull out of UK non-profitable bus services, possibly rail too, to concentrate on the services where it does make money. See this article in the Guardian. Those are mainly the Amerivcan school bus business. First Group announced in May this year that it would be quitting British transport. For First Bus, the way of doing this has yet to be decided. Obviously, it would be lovely to sell the whole business, but only Stagecoach could realistically do that, and why should it? If First moves out and auctions off its buses, Stagecoach will snap up what it can. It can then start ostensibly from scratch in response to desperate pleas from city and town councils, but without having to TUPE drivers across on the same pay and terms of employment that they enjoyed with First, and without having to fund pensions.

-Colly405- · 20 Jul 2019

peterblue said:
A brave and ambitious idea, perhaps, but I wondered how advantageous it would be to extend into Cardiff (maybe some journeys). If the idea is to attract more daytrippers from Bristol, then, I would personally view Cardiff as the more desirable destination rather than Newport.

(Note that I've not been on 7XP beyond Cribbs so I'm unsure how well it does)

With Stagecoach's history of successfully running inter-urban services, these are perhaps two less surprising routes to move across. Bristol to Cardiff, why not? I don't see that the traffic congestion would be any worse than some other Stagecoach interurban routes...

freetoview33 · 20 Jul 2019

-Colly405- said:
With Stagecoach's history of successfully running inter-urban services, these are perhaps two less surprising routes to move across. Bristol to Cardiff, why not? I don't see that the traffic congestion would be any worse than some other Stagecoach interurban routes...

They might look into changing the Megabus service between South Wales and Bristol too in light of this.

AllanMacF · 20 Jul 2019

Class 33 said:
Why are the 2's showing Southmead Arnside Road on the destination displays when in fact they are currently terminating at Henbury? If they can't put Henbury on the destination display, then why not? Also I was on a 2 yesterday morning that surprisingly had Cribbs Causeway on the destination display, when in fact as expected it terminated at Henbury.

I was in Crow Lane for 50 mins this pm. Several 2s are indeed displaying "Southmead Arnside Road 2", despite working to Henbury, yet many, both Gems and MMCs, are showing "Henbury Crow Lane 2" ... as are 4s. 1s are on "Henbury Tormarton Crescent" and I presume 3s are as well. Conversely, 32346 on the 76 was displaying "Henbury Crow Lane" in the old form, on two lines ... yet, of course, it continued to Tormarton Cres. The Shuttle buses (Gems from LH, as far I saw) either work via Lawrence Weston and the M5 to C C'way, or via Southmead and Filton. They were not exactly frequent at that time, though some were well used, of course.

Marcus Fryer · 20 Jul 2019

AllanMacF said:
I was in Crow Lane for 50 mins this pm. Several 2s are indeed displaying "Southmead Arnside Road 2", despite working to Henbury, yet many, both Gems and MMCs, are showing "Henbury Crow Lane 2" ... as are 4s. 1s are on "Henbury Tormarton Crescent" and I presume 3s are as well. Conversely, 32346 on the 76 was displaying "Henbury Crow Lane" in the old form, on two lines ... yet, of course, it continued to Tormarton Cres. The Shuttle buses (Gems from LH, as far I saw) either work via Lawrence Weston and the M5 to C C'way, or via Southmead and Filton. They were not exactly frequent at that time, though some were well used, of course.

All the 3s I've seen (about four) have just shown 'Henbury' (i.e. no 'Tormarton Crescent'). I believe the official shuttle route has been via the M5 since Thursday.

Mwanesh · 20 Jul 2019

freetoview33 said:
They might look into changing the Megabus service between South Wales and Bristol too in light of this.

They wont because most of the Bristol passengers use Megabus because from Cardiff its direct. I dont think many will want to go via Newport Chepstow and Cribbs Causeway . Between Newport and Cardiff there is the 30 X30 and X5 and X3 from Malpas.

Dai Corner · 20 Jul 2019

Mwanesh said:
They wont because most of the Bristol passengers use Megabus because from Cardiff its direct. I dont think many will want to go via Newport Chepstow and Cribbs Causeway . Between Newport and Cardiff there is the 30 X30 and X5 and X3 from Malpas.

Indeed. The diversion via Chepstow is unwelcome for Newport passengers too.

I haven't looked at the timings in detail but would terminating at Cribbs Causeway save a vehicle? There are plenty of services from there to central Bristol.

diffywood · 20 Jul 2019

On Thursday I noticed shuttles doing both routes via Avonmouth and via Filton saw 3 unis bus 33491/2 /7 and 37614 the unis got nice interiors

freetoview33 · 20 Jul 2019

Dai Corner said:
Indeed. The diversion via Chepstow is unwelcome for Newport passengers too.

I haven't looked at the timings in detail but would terminating at Cribbs Causeway save a vehicle? There are plenty of services from there to central Bristol.

But would make it less attractive!

ValleyLines142 · 20 Jul 2019

freetoview33 said:
But would make it less attractive!

I agree with Dai on this one, the vast majority of Severn Express passengers I find are only going as far as Cribbs, although I would keep the first and last services of the day that run via Horfield and Filton to the city centre as current, as that does have a fair few on board.

I also feel that a few services should omit Chepstow, as that is a massive diversion for Newport-bound passengers but then again, the majority of passengers are Chepstow to Cribbs.

The X5 is allegedly getting Gold Enviro 300s from Stroud, whilst the Severn Express is getting Gold Scania Enviro 400s.

Also, on a different note, I did not realise just how bad the Premier Inn fire was at Cribbs Causeway! The entire building has burnt to the ground!

Dai Corner · 20 Jul 2019

DanTrainMan185 said:
I agree with Dai on this one, the vast majority of Severn Express passengers I find are only going as far as Cribbs, although I would keep the first and last services of the day that run via Horfield and Filton to the city centre as current, as that does have a fair few on board.

I also feel that a few services should omit Chepstow, as that is a massive diversion for Newport-bound passengers but then again, the majority of passengers are Chepstow to Cribbs.

The X5 is allegedly getting Gold Enviro 300s from Stroud, whilst the Severn Express is getting Gold Scania Enviro 400s.

Also, on a different note, I did not realise just how bad the Premier Inn fire was at Cribbs Causeway! The entire building has burnt to the ground!

I think hourly Cribbs-Chepstow and hourly Cribbs-Newport direct might be possible with two vehicles. That might be the best use of resources off-peak, with a third one at peak times to deal with Horfield/Filton, Magor and congestion. Leave Chepstow-Newport to Newport Transport.

I'm surprised that Stagecoach are allocating Gold standard vehicles to routes which are apparently marginal or unprofitable for First.

TheGrandWazoo · 20 Jul 2019

Dai Corner said:
I think hourly Cribbs-Chepstow and hourly Cribbs-Newport direct might be possible with two vehicles. That might be the best use of resources off-peak, with a third one at peak times to deal with Horfield/Filton, Magor and congestion. Leave Chepstow-Newport to Newport Transport.

I'm surprised that Stagecoach are allocating Gold standard vehicles to routes which are apparently marginal or unprofitable for First.

Chepstow yes but not Newport. It’s 26 miles.

Think the Gold vehicles are surplus

Dai Corner · 21 Jul 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
Chepstow yes but not Newport. It’s 26 miles.

Think the Gold vehicles are surplus

We're probably well into the realms of fantasy bus operators now, but Chepstow- Cribbs is 13 miles direct via the A466. 39 miles, mostly motorway, with one stop might be possible within an hour with 62mph-capable vehicles. Chepstow, Cribbs and the M4 are all notorious for congestion though so I wouldn't want to try it if I cared about punctuality!

diffywood · 21 Jul 2019

A4018 reopened at 4pm all routes back to normal

AB93 · 22 Jul 2019

39401 on the 96 today.

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

Veteran Member

RailUK Forums

Established Member

Veteran Member

Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

On Moderation

Member

Established Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Member

Member

Established Member

Member

Member

Established Member

Member

Member

Member

Established Member

Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Member

Member