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

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D2007wsm

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26 Jul 2015
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Ooh very intriguing! A different fleet on the way perhaps. Though I appreciate it's not for you to say.
Nothing as radical as a further rebrand, rerouting or renumbering. Further fleet changes to occur in due course. It was figured it was a waste rebranding a lot of vehicles which would not be staying. Which for once actually makes sense.

It may be that part of the reason was the ME Eclipses being reallocated to SGL was part of the fleet but they’ve headed to Leicester/been delayed.
Orignally the Mendip Explorer B7RLES we’re destined to be repainted and used inn South Glos Lynx services, however it was decided to brand the 177/178 as a Mendip Explorer service and use them on these. This was mainly due to the reliability of the older B7RLEs which were beginning to struggle on the 178, particularly during the hot weather.
They were then swapped to Streetlites due to fuel economy and it was thought that they may cope better.
 

freetoview33

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Nothing as radical as a further rebrand, rerouting or renumbering. Further fleet changes to occur in due course. It was figured it was a waste rebranding a lot of vehicles which would not be staying. Which for once actually makes sense.


Orignally the Mendip Explorer B7RLES we’re destined to be repainted and used inn South Glos Lynx services, however it was decided to brand the 177/178 as a Mendip Explorer service and use them on these. This was mainly due to the reliability of the older B7RLEs which were beginning to struggle on the 178, particularly during the hot weather.
They were then swapped to Streetlites due to fuel economy and it was thought that they may cope better.
Maybe the E400's off the 48/48A/49? That would make sense.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Orignally the Mendip Explorer B7RLES we’re destined to be repainted and used inn South Glos Lynx services, however it was decided to brand the 177/178 as a Mendip Explorer service and use them on these. This was mainly due to the reliability of the older B7RLEs which were beginning to struggle on the 178, particularly during the hot weather.
They were then swapped to Streetlites due to fuel economy and it was thought that they may cope better.

Obviously, 69439-42 did move for the 177/8 but I was alluding to the others (as 69448 did) moving over for stuff like the T2 or whatever is single deck on SGL (Y3/4, If at all??)

Last summer’s heat saw a lot of Eclipses failing on the 177/8 including one at Hicks Gate in the evening rush hour. Not good!
 

freetoview33

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There is still the question of what the 19/19A will interwork with otherwise they have a 37 min wait in Bath, which seems quite a lot. Unless it is only temporary until they are split.
 

Robertj21a

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Obviously, 69439-42 did move for the 177/8 but I was alluding to the others (as 69448 did) moving over for stuff like the T2 or whatever is single deck on SGL (Y3/4, If at all??)

Last summer’s heat saw a lot of Eclipses failing on the 177/8 including one at Hicks Gate in the evening rush hour. Not good!

??? 69438-69442 have been with First Leicester for some time.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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??? 69438-69442 have been with First Leicester for some time.

Let me explain :)

Wells depot HAD 14 2009 Eclipses, all of which had been refurbished and gained Mendip Explorer livery in late 2016/early 2017. However, 5 were subsequently replaced in summer 2018 by B9TLs, with 69439-42/48 moving to Bristol, with the remaining Eclipses expected to move, to replaced by further B9TLs. 69439-42 retained ME livery for 177/178 (which gained that branding having not had it earlier), whilst 69448 gained the new South Glos Lynx scheme. The belief was that more of these would head to Bristol, possibly for Lynx branding.

Subsequently and surprisingly, 69439-42 left Bristol and headed to Leicester (whilst 69438 joined them) in the early part of 2019. The remaining Wells based Eclipses are apparently still to be replaced by further B9s but where they will head to, who knows?

Hope that clears any confusion up
 
Last edited:

freetoview33

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Let me explain :)

Wells depot HAD 14 2009 Eclipses, all of which had been refurbished and gained Mendip Explorer livery in late 2016/early 2017. However, 5 were subsequently replaced in summer 2018 by B9TLs, with 69439-42/48 moving to Bristol, with the remaining Eclipses expected to move, to replaced by further B9TLs. 69439-42 retained ME livery for 177/178 (which gained that branding having not had it earlier), whilst 69448 gained the new South Glos Lynx scheme. The belief was that more of these would head to Bristol, possibly for Lynx branding.

Subsequently and surprisingly, 69439-42 left Bristol and headed to Leicester (whilst 69438 joined them) in the early part of 2019. The remaining Wells based Eclipses are apparently still to be replaced by further B9s but where they will head to, who knows?

Hope that clears any confusion up
Yes with Bolton being sold and service changes have mixed things up again!
 

DaveHarries

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Whereas the route and timetable changes for Service 24 (Southmead Hospital - Ashton Vale) were registered a few weeks ago wef 15-Sep-2019 another entry has appeared for Service 24 in the VOSA Bus Service registrations for today, 12th August 2019, also to be effective 15-Sep-2019. The entry is this:

PH0000132/331 Registered
FIRST WEST OF ENGLAND LIMITED
Route: Ashton Vale, Langley Crescent to Southmead Hospital
Service Number: 24 (24A)
Service Type: Normal Stopping
Effective date: 15 Sep 2019

A look at the CSV version reveals that this is for changes to route, timetable and stopping places on all days of operation and the previous registration of the changes to Service 24 did not include a Service 24A variant.

I know that there has been some stuff in the Bristol Post about the impending changes to the Service 24 with residents commenting that they would have to walk further to catch the bus. I wonder if First might be introducing a Service 24A in response to this. Anybody know?

Dave
 

Luk3y

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Saw on Facebook that 32225 has been repainted in Scotland in a livery that is identical to the 3/4, possible replacement for the one that was written off, was it 32090?
 

Whiteway215

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Saw on Facebook that 32225 has been repainted in Scotland in a livery that is identical to the 3/4, possible replacement for the one that was written off, was it 32090?
On this forum's First Greater Glasgow thread for last Saturday there are pictures of 32225 along with 31143/46 which appear to have been repainted in similar fashion. Perhaps they're all coming our way?
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Saw on Facebook that 32225 has been repainted in Scotland in a livery that is identical to the 3/4, possible replacement for the one that was written off, was it 32090?
There are two vehicles so painted in 31143 and 32225 and yes, that shade of purple is very close if not identical to the 3/4 livery.
Well 37011 - 37014 were due to get the engine upgrades for Euro VI but seems like now they will be replaced with gas buses so.
Were they? I thought the 17/17A was always due to get gas buses because of the Kingswood AQMA

So fleet changes are (reportedly)....

  • 28 mid life deckers for Bristol (24) and Bath (3/3a/4) - 10 x B9TLs have arrived from Bolton and the temptation is to assume some others made spare from Bolton will appear. Note: the PVR currently for these are 16 and 19 (I think) and whilst the Bath one will drop (by 3 or 4 vehicles), be interested to see how the 24 changes and the impact on PVR
  • 7XP deckers freed up by relinquishing route to Stagecoach will move to the 2 (for the increased PVR on there)
  • Swap of Wells Streetdecks with Hengrove e400s though possibly augmented by "spare" e400 from Weston from the X5 withdrawal??
  • Couple of single decks (poss Eclipses?) freed from X5 withdrawal?
  • Loss of substantial number of Streetlites and e200s to other First Opcos, likely to include the 11 x Streetlite Maxes to Leicester?
  • 20 additional Q buster deckers from across the First empire of which 2 received from York, 2 from Oldham and 2/3 allegedly from First Scotland East
In the TBC column are...
  • Bath P&R e400Hs - no news of their future (though interestingly, the slightly older Glasgow examples are being repowered for use in Potteries allegedly)
  • Additional B9s for Mendip Explorer?
  • The future of the Mendip Explorer Eclipses?
That a fair summary?
 

-Colly405-

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Stoke Gifford
Whereas the route and timetable changes for Service 24 (Southmead Hospital - Ashton Vale) were registered a few weeks ago wef 15-Sep-2019 another entry has appeared for Service 24 in the VOSA Bus Service registrations for today, 12th August 2019, also to be effective 15-Sep-2019. The entry is this:

PH0000132/331 Registered
FIRST WEST OF ENGLAND LIMITED
Route: Ashton Vale, Langley Crescent to Southmead Hospital
Service Number: 24 (24A)
Service Type: Normal Stopping
Effective date: 15 Sep 2019

A look at the CSV version reveals that this is for changes to route, timetable and stopping places on all days of operation and the previous registration of the changes to Service 24 did not include a Service 24A variant.

I know that there has been some stuff in the Bristol Post about the impending changes to the Service 24 with residents commenting that they would have to walk further to catch the bus. I wonder if First might be introducing a Service 24A in response to this. Anybody know?

Dave
It might be the Silbury Road "occasional" journeys shown dotted on the map in this post?
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-wales-discussion.60930/page-750#post-4137509
 

freetoview33

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There are two vehicles so painted in 31143 and 32225 and yes, that shade of purple is very close if not identical to the 3/4 livery.
Were they? I thought the 17/17A was always due to get gas buses because of the Kingswood AQMA

So fleet changes are (reportedly)....

  • 28 mid life deckers for Bristol (24) and Bath (3/3a/4) - 10 x B9TLs have arrived from Bolton and the temptation is to assume some others made spare from Bolton will appear. Note: the PVR currently for these are 16 and 19 (I think) and whilst the Bath one will drop (by 3 or 4 vehicles), be interested to see how the 24 changes and the impact on PVR
  • 7XP deckers freed up by relinquishing route to Stagecoach will move to the 2 (for the increased PVR on there)
  • Swap of Wells Streetdecks with Hengrove e400s though possibly augmented by "spare" e400 from Weston from the X5 withdrawal??
  • Couple of single decks (poss Eclipses?) freed from X5 withdrawal?
  • Loss of substantial number of Streetlites and e200s to other First Opcos, likely to include the 11 x Streetlite Maxes to Leicester?
  • 20 additional Q buster deckers from across the First empire of which 2 received from York, 2 from Oldham and 2/3 allegedly from First Scotland East
In the TBC column are...
  • Bath P&R e400Hs - no news of their future (though interestingly, the slightly older Glasgow examples are being repowered for use in Potteries allegedly)
  • Additional B9s for Mendip Explorer?
  • The future of the Mendip Explorer Eclipses?
That a fair summary?
The routes that had funding to upgrade engines were:

The bus routes that will benefit from these environmental upgrades are:

• 73: Bristol Temple Meads – Cribbs Causeway via Filton
• 78/79: Bristol – Thornbury via Filton & Cribbs Causeway
• 2: Cribbs Causeway – Stockwood via City Centre
• 505: Long Ashton – Southmead Hospital (Park & Ride)
• 506: Bristol – Southmead Hospital
• X46: Bristol – Yate via Winterbourne
• 47: Bristol – Chipping Sodbury via Downend
• 17: Keynsham – Southmead Hospital via Kingswood
• X39: Bath – Bristol
• 3: Foxhill – Bathford via Bath City Centre
 

swifty

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19 Sep 2012
Messages
1,672
It’s a bit confusing. The order now is for 77 rather than 110; 30 were for Metrobus though of which 21 are now represented by CT Plus on the m1?

Indeed, only 3 short of the 80 that were proposed for the east Bristol services. The 17/17A had a PVR of 10 back then but obviously we’ve now got additional PVR onto the main services.
 

Whiteway215

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15 Sep 2015
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Location
Bath
*****RUMOUR ALERT***** 32015 is having an engine rebuild and 32090 will be repaired to become a Bath bus.
 

carlberry

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19 Dec 2014
Messages
3,169
bustimes are reporting 33416/17/18 on the X5 yesterday, 33418 and 33440 the day before and 33667/827 today plus 66936. Nothing unusual about that you might say however they're all being reported as part of Stagecoach in Gloucester, not First!
Isn't technology wonderful!
 

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