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

M

Marcus Fryer

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27 Dec 2014
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735
D2007wsm said:
I was under the impression a Concessionary pass wherever it was issued, could be used provided the journey started or finished in the issuing country. The service will loose a lot of passengers by doing this.


That’s the wording on the leaflets put on the Severn Express buses, but in theory this would mean Aust by the services before you even go onto the Severn Bridge. If the bus was to cross the Prince of Wales bridge, it would be Cribbs Causeway.
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That's not the case for the services from Chepstow to Lydney/Beachley. An ENCTS can only be used between Tutshill and Lydney/Beachley unless it is issued by Gloucestershire CC, in which case it can be used to/from Chepstow (at least that was the position a few years ago).
 
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Whiteway215

Whiteway215

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Bath
D2007wsm said:
Wouldn’t it have made sense rather than repainting the Trident and this, to repaint another 2 of the purple B7TLs? This would mean the entire Coaster fleet is from the same batch and the same type of bus?

They may be getting on a bit, but trundling along to Burnham-on-Sea or Sand Bay is a lot less taxing for them that going up and down Bathwick Hill! They also look incredible shabby now.

Rather than adding 1 Trident and 1 President to the Weston fleet, necessitating keeping spares for 1 vehicle of each type, they would already have spares for the ALX400 B7TLs. All of the Tridents should have been based together in 1 depot and likewise with the Presidents. This would make maintenance a lot easier, what with parts and the mechanics having to get used to an odd ball vehicle.
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I quite agree with all you say. It surprised me FWE acquired Tridents in the first place but presumably they had to take what was available in an urgent situation.
The purplies are getting on but I guess Bath will want them back to join in the fun when the Unis go back. As well as Bathwick Hill it's also a hard grind up from Twerton to Southdown/Whiteway when they're on the U2.
 
D

D2007wsm

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Whiteway215 said:
I quite agree with all you say. It surprised me FWE acquired Tridents in the first place but presumably they had to take what was available in an urgent situation.
The purplies are getting on but I guess Bath will want them back to join in the fun when the Unis go back. As well as Bathwick Hill it's also a hard grind up from Twerton to Southdown/Whiteway when they're on the U2.
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How about sending all of the Tridents to bath to use on the UoB services I stead of the W Reg ALX400s? They are newer so will look better and may be better on the hills. They could be repainted into the purple easy enough
 
W

Westonian

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4 May 2018
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Location
North Somerset
D2007wsm said:
Wouldn’t it have made sense rather than repainting the Trident and this, to repaint another 2 of the purple B7TLs? This would mean the entire Coaster fleet is from the same batch and the same type of bus?

They may be getting on a bit, but trundling along to Burnham-on-Sea or Sand Bay is a lot less taxing for them that going up and down Bathwick Hill! They also look incredible shabby now.

Rather than adding 1 Trident and 1 President to the Weston fleet, necessitating keeping spares for 1 vehicle of each type, they would already have spares for the ALX400 B7TLs. All of the Tridents should have been based together in 1 depot and likewise with the Presidents. This would make maintenance a lot easier, what with parts and the mechanics having to get used to an odd ball vehicle.
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33156 Coaster is a Trident, as you say didn't make sense having one Trident in the depot (it seems to spend a fair amount of time off the road). I believe 32222 is a B7TL but from what I saw yesterday was in pretty good nick externally so painting one of the purple 'sheds' would make more sense.
 
Whiteway215

Whiteway215

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It looks as though some reallocations are happening today. Bath 63074/5 according to Bustracker are working on the 24 whilst 37396/406 are on Bath 4.
In Weston has 32007 fallen by the wayside as it's shown as last used on 15 July?
 
W

Westonian

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Whiteway215 said:
It looks as though some reallocations are happening today. Bath 63074/5 according to Bustracker are working on the 24 whilst 37396/406 are on Bath 4.
In Weston has 32007 fallen by the wayside as it's shown as last used on 15 July?
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32007 has been parked up in Weston depot for quite a while.
 
D

Dart34518

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1 Jun 2015
Messages
106
Many thanks for this.

Is Minehead outstation viewable from a public road?
Thinking of trying to photo it on Tuesday but I can't see the allocations on bus times.org.

Any help in tracking it down would be appreciated!
 
TheGrandWazoo

TheGrandWazoo

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Whiteway215 said:
It looks as though some reallocations are happening today. Bath 63074/5 according to Bustracker are working on the 24 whilst 37396/406 are on Bath 4.
In Weston has 32007 fallen by the wayside as it's shown as last used on 15 July?
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The 4 today has been 32544 (sounding rough - like a cylinder off), 32551, 37410 and 37418. StreetLite 47448 on the 3A as was 53819.
 
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D

D2007wsm

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26 Jul 2015
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Westonian said:
33156 Coaster is a Trident, as you say didn't make sense having one Trident in the depot (it seems to spend a fair amount of time off the road). I believe 32222 is a B7TL but from what I saw yesterday was in pretty good nick externally so painting one of the purple 'sheds' would make more sense.
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I know 32222 is a B7TL, but I meant more to do with spares for the bodywork. In this day and age fleet commonality is a sure way to save pennies.

33658 was out on the 376 today and it did look smart in the purple Mendip Explorer base livery, will look even better once the branding is applied. This livery does suit the E400.

On a side note, the Severn Express operated by First has left Bristol & Newport bus stations for the final time. It truly will be the end of an era at 19:43 when 33489 arrives into Bristol Bus Station for the last time. A fitting end that the final departure and arrival is one of the proper Severn Express E400MMCs, before it heads off onto city work.
 
TheGrandWazoo

TheGrandWazoo

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D2007wsm said:
I know 32222 is a B7TL, but I meant more to do with spares for the bodywork. In this day and age fleet commonality is a sure way to save pennies.

33658 was out on the 376 today and it did look smart in the purple Mendip Explorer base livery, will look even better once the branding is applied. This livery does suit the E400.

On a side note, the Severn Express operated by First has left Bristol & Newport bus stations for the final time. It truly will be the end of an era at 19:43 when 33489 arrives into Bristol Bus Station for the last time. A fitting end that the final departure and arrival is one of the proper Severn Express E400MMCs, before it heads off onto city work.
Click to expand...

Having just a few Presidents in the fleet might be an issue with spares. However, you can get the standard stuff (e.g. windows etc) pretty quickly. However, I agree it seems odd and I was surprised/gobsmacked when the repainted that one (and 32006) in Coaster colours.

I thought the Mendip colour was blue rather than purple (is it a bluey purple or a purpley blue?) but looking forward to seeing 33658. Just hope that they’ve done the interior branding as they looked a bit grim on the 50/50a.

I was going to say it was the end of an era as the successors of Bristol Omnibus cease operating over the Severn Bridge but, of course, Stagecoach West was Cheltenham & Gloucester which was cleaved from BOC.

Looking like the long StreetLites are heading to Hengrove rather than Leicester. Note how a number of 64 plate Hengrove StreetLites seem not to be out today. Also, seems like the short e200s in Bath have bitten the dust. The end of an error!
 
W

Westonian

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North Somerset
Sad to see the end of First operation of X5. The final Weston to Cribbs in the hands of 66936, but the last journey of all, 1830 Weston to Portishead worked by Excel 33550. The others on the final day were 33685 and 66934. Presumably the two B7RLE's will now leave Weston for pastures new along with 33666 going to Wells and maybe one other as X5 PVR was 4.
 
richw

richw

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Yandell01 said:
Hi All.

Is 42874 in service around Taunton?
Seen pictures of it transferred up from Kernow?

Any help appreciated.

Ant
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No.

It was at Winkleigh this week (I’ve been there twice) the heart dart no longer had an engine and one other 4287* was there in a very poor looking way.
 
H

henairs

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12 May 2014
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Yeovil
Hi All,
Not sure if it's been reported on here but just in case Solar 65763 is now out in the new 21 route livery making it 3 at least now done.
Cheers, Mike R
 
CD

CD

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TheGrandWazoo said:
The 4 today has been 32544 (sounding rough - like a cylinder off), 32551, 37410 and 37418. StreetLite 47448 on the 3A as was 53819.
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Think you mean 37408 not 37418.
On the 4 today:
32338, 32544/51, 37396, 37406/8/10/15.
On 3:
37407.
On 41:
37405.
Another ex Bolton B9 spare at bus station, didn't see the other two.
 
C

carlberry

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19 Dec 2014
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3,169
D2007wsm said:
I know 32222 is a B7TL, but I meant more to do with spares for the bodywork. In this day and age fleet commonality is a sure way to save pennies.

33658 was out on the 376 today and it did look smart in the purple Mendip Explorer base livery, will look even better once the branding is applied. This livery does suit the E400.

On a side note, the Severn Express operated by First has left Bristol & Newport bus stations for the final time. It truly will be the end of an era at 19:43 when 33489 arrives into Bristol Bus Station for the last time. A fitting end that the final departure and arrival is one of the proper Severn Express E400MMCs, before it heads off onto city work.
Click to expand...
Surely the real 'end' was when the last vehicle returns across the border (assuming one of the bridges is still open) and Bristol Omnibus stops providing international services.
 
ValleyLines142

ValleyLines142

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Really should be putting this on the Stagecoach thread but incase anyone is wondering Stagecoach Scania E400 15767 (VX61 FJZ) has the honours of doing the first X5.
 
CD

CD

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TheGrandWazoo said:
Reported by Steve White that Leeds B9s 36228-34 are heading to Bath and, reported on the WY forum, 36231-4 were seen on the M1 heading south.

StreetLite Maxes supposed to be heading to Hengrove.
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I see both 63074/75 were on Bristol 24 yesterday. As they still seem to be undecided about the route around Ashton Vale, maybe route will remain as it is and use Streetlite Max rather than double deckers?

"To meet passenger demand, Service 24 (Southmead Hospital – Ashton Vale) will be upgraded to a double-decker bus route, increasing capacity from 185 to 300 seats per hour. Owing to a low bridge around Ashton Vale, we are currently considering what further action can be taken to improve accessibility for local journeys around Ashton Vale."
 
CD

CD

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Is E400 33658 slightly higher than a Streetdeck or Gemini? I rode on it yesterday Clutton-Street and we seemed to be clipping trees the others would not.
Incidentally after 2 days on 376 33658 is today on 174.
 
F

freetoview33

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24 May 2009
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West of England
CD said:
I see both 63074/75 were on Bristol 24 yesterday. As they still seem to be undecided about the route around Ashton Vale, maybe route will remain as it is and use Streetlite Max rather than double deckers?

"To meet passenger demand, Service 24 (Southmead Hospital – Ashton Vale) will be upgraded to a double-decker bus route, increasing capacity from 185 to 300 seats per hour. Owing to a low bridge around Ashton Vale, we are currently considering what further action can be taken to improve accessibility for local journeys around Ashton Vale."
Click to expand...
The new network map shows the new 24A which will do a loop of Ashton Vale.
 
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