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

Tommy Walters

Tommy Walters

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9 Nov 2017
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567
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Ottery St Mary
lx12ddo said:
And believe me, 10179 was in a horrendous state inside by 11pm. Glad it has the weekend to get fully washed and ready for the next week....
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I noticed on the tracker that it briefly went back to the depot at about 23:30, before resuming at the uni at midnight. This unfortunately often happens on the 23:00 & 23:10 departures from the uni, which fall victim to most of the clubbers. The allocation was an eclectic mix again last night, in addition to 10179, 10173, 33946 & 37759 from the X39 were running. Ironically 33947 then worked to Bristol and back on the 39 twice yesterday evening!!
 
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RailUK Forums

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Westonian

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North Somerset
henairs said:
Hi all,
Yet another tracking query for someone to solve. 32222 seems to have left Bristol but has it returned to Weston or has it gone to Bath. It has shown as being on the Burnham to Weston 20 whilst also being on the 20 in the Roman city. As the other vehicles in Bath are E200s I would think it's yet another Bath error and the Trident has gone back to the seaside.
It's also common for the 20 anywhere to be heading to Weston-Super-Mare, again dodgy Bath tracking. Has anyone seen 32222 at either location please,
Cheers, Mike R
Click to expand...
32222 in Weston Depot earlier in the week although haven't seen it in service but Bustimes shows it on Weston 20 today. 32223 definitely in Weston as I saw it on the 20 earlier today.
 
wiltshirebloke

wiltshirebloke

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25 Apr 2013
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99
The Discover changes have been published on the First Website, also announcing transfer of 179 to CT Coaches.

Service D1: from Monday to Saturday Service D1 will operate every 30 minutes between Bath and Trowbridge (Westbury Link Road) with one bus an hour continuing onwards to Warminster. Journeys to Salisbury continue to operate every two hours. There are some alterations to running times and departure times on the majority of journeys so customers are advised to check the new timetables when available. The service to Wiltshire College will stop on Bradley Road to avoid congestion on the approach to the College and improve reliability.

The Sunday service operates hourly to Warminster via Trowbridge. This doubles the frequency of buses between Trowbridge and Warminster.

Service D2: Buses will operate every 30 minutes in peak and every hour off peak Monday to Friday. There are alterations to the departure and running times of all journeys so please check the timetable (here). On Saturdays buses will operate every 30 minutes in peak, which is extended on a Saturday to reflect customer travel patterns, and hourly off peak. Sunday buses operate every two hours as currently with slightly revised running times.

All service D2 will operate the same route in Frome. Buses will travel via Brunel Way (The Clink) in both directions; from Frome Marketplace buses will operate via Critchill to Sainsbury’s and return via The Butts. The Sunday service will continue to operate every two hours as currently with slightly revised running times, so again customers are advised to check the timetable before setting off on their journey.

Service D3: there are no changes to the route of Service D3. Buses will run every 30 minutes during peak time and hourly off peak from Monday to Friday. However there are some departure and running time alterations so customers are advised to check the timetable. On Saturdays buses will operate every 30 minutes in peak which is extended on a Saturday to reflect customer travel patterns and hourly off peak. .Sunday buses operate every two hours to Urchfont as currently with revised running times.​
 
wiltshirebloke

wiltshirebloke

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99
Interestingly, The revised shorts on D1 don't even reach Westbury Haynes Road, with the turning taking place at the Outstation in the Trading Estate. Looking on Traveline, this means the first Bath bound service on a weekday now leaves at 0821, meaning the current 0632,0725 & 0755 buses have gone.
Looks like the D2A has bitten the dust too after it's quite recent arrival !
 
H

henairs

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507
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Yeovil
Westonian said:
32222 in Weston Depot earlier in the week although haven't seen it in service but Bustimes shows it on Weston 20 today. 32223 definitely in Weston as I saw it on the 20 earlier today.
Click to expand...
Thank you Westonian for your post. I was fortunate to get both 32222 and 223 today on service 20 with a bonus ride on 33031 which was on the Burnham to Taunton 21 service most of the day.
Cheers, Mike R
 
lx12ddo

lx12ddo

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12 Oct 2019
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109
Location
Dublin
Tommy Walters said:
Very bizarre Bath working tonight - MMC 33950 on the 1 & 3!! (on Sunday evenings the two interwork)
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33950 was on U1 today, so might’ve been left at the bus station and was the only one available? Shame I missed that nonetheless. I remember when catching a MMC on the U2 back in AY 2017-18 was a rarity (still sometimes is....)!
 
TheGrandWazoo

TheGrandWazoo

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wiltshirebloke said:
Interestingly, The revised shorts on D1 don't even reach Westbury Haynes Road, with the turning taking place at the Outstation in the Trading Estate. Looking on Traveline, this means the first Bath bound service on a weekday now leaves at 0821, meaning the current 0632,0725 & 0755 buses have gone.
Looks like the D2A has bitten the dust too after it's quite recent arrival !
Click to expand...

Some really intriguing and slightly baffling bits of info there (and thanks for posting).

If the shorts aren't heading into Haynes Road or even Westbury station, it's quite a bit of dead mileage just for driver changeovers especially if a number of drivers are located in Bath during the day. Seem to recall some changeovers were at Westbury and some at Trowbridge. Even more baffling is the doubling of the Sunday service to Warminster. Not too long ago (2 years or so?), that particularly section was about to be lost after council cuts and was only saved at the 11th hour as a one bus shuttle before being reintegrated into the main service.

Not entirely surprised about the D2 dropping to hourly off peak though it seemed to be doing better against Faresaver. The D3 is the one I see least often though Faresaver often seems to have more passengers on it (but don't know how many of those are from the Devizes end of the route).
 
TheGrandWazoo

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Question for the Welsh contingent (i.e. Ian, Barrie).

First Cymru is often overlooked on this thread, with it being rather Bristol and Bath centric. Since the mother in law passed away, I don't get across to FC country like I did and we don't get too many updates so was wondering...

  • 53812 has been repainted and refurbished - have the other earlier ex Bath Solos been treated yet?
  • What are the two latest 53815/7 arriving for?
  • Has the rumoured replacement of the X10 coaches with B9TLs begun to materialise? Were more due to South Wales?
  • See four Eclipses have headed to Leicester - displaced by the ex Glasgow e200mmc. Are all of those in service and are more Eclipses expected to depart or is it withdrawal of older Darts (think a number of 53 plates still exist?)
Any updates on these (or other areas) greatly appreciated.
 
lx12ddo

lx12ddo

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10177 tested - and it sounds healthy enough! Better than 167 and its persistent hissing, or 174 with the ticker. But I’m hearing some very Trident-like sounds when it leaves and approaches bus stops / traffic lights. More so when slowing down. Very interesting.
 
Tommy Walters

Tommy Walters

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lx12ddo said:
10177 tested - and it sounds healthy enough! Better than 167 and its persistent hissing, or 174 with the ticker. But I’m hearing some very Trident-like sounds when it leaves and approaches bus stops / traffic lights. More so when slowing down. Very interesting.
Click to expand...
Managed to have 10177 as my bus to uni this evening & I must say too that it is a pretty sound machine, much better than the hissing 10167 that I had on the return. Currently it is even set to do a full night shift on its first day back in service!! One unusual allocation tonight - X39 B9 37761 is on the 1, that batch really has been straying of late!!
 
lx12ddo

lx12ddo

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Tommy Walters said:
Managed to have 10177 as my bus to uni this evening & I must say too that it is a pretty sound machine, much better than the hissing 10167 that I had on the return. Currently it is even set to do a full night shift on its first day back in service!! One unusual allocation tonight - X39 B9 37761 is on the 1, that batch really has been straying of late!!
Click to expand...
saw and heard 37761 - expected 37358, the usual B9 stray for the 1 route. but what a great B9. I thought 10177 was to finish as the 2320 from campus! i'll take your word for it....!
 
Tommy Walters

Tommy Walters

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lx12ddo said:
saw and heard 37761 - expected 37358, the usual B9 stray for the 1 route. but what a great B9. I thought 10177 was to finish as the 2320 from campus! i'll take your word for it....!
Click to expand...
It's on the board 10 minutes after, will therefore be on until around 3:45!!
EDIT : 33945 has now replaced it!
 
Last edited:
Tommy Walters

Tommy Walters

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In a role reversal, Wells seem to be lending vehicles to Bath today with 37610 on the U2 & 69457 on the U1!! 30877 is also on the U3, running with the old U1X destinations!
 
iantherev

iantherev

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TheGrandWazoo said:
Question for the Welsh contingent (i.e. Ian, Barrie).

  • 53812 has been repainted and refurbished - have the other earlier ex Bath Solos been treated yet?
  • What are the two latest 53815/7 arriving for?
  • Has the rumoured replacement of the X10 coaches with B9TLs begun to materialise? Were more due to South Wales?
  • See four Eclipses have headed to Leicester - displaced by the ex Glasgow e200mmc. Are all of those in service and are more Eclipses expected to depart or is it withdrawal of older Darts (think a number of 53 plates still exist?)
Any updates on these (or other areas) greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

53812 is the only repaint although it hasn’t been internally refurbished. 53815 in in use from Ravenhill.
All seems quiet on the X10 front. The priority at the moment seem to be refurbishing the University double deckers.
 
TheGrandWazoo

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iantherev said:
53812 is the only repaint although it hasn’t been internally refurbished. 53815 in in use from Ravenhill.
All seems quiet on the X10 front. The priority at the moment seem to be refurbishing the University double deckers.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update.

I thought 53812 had been done only as I passed it in Maesteg in August and it had the lilac 2009 vintage moquette rather than the original Barbie that it would have had (as seen here). Curious.... https://www.flickr.com/photos/51738...-236rHVV-L1AvXU-yBGHj7-LJVr1r-2gGKsNA-aqpmVR/ Perhaps it was refurbished in Bath but why that one, can't say :s

Guess that the focus is on the uni deckers and once they're done, perhaps the focus will be on the X10. Mind you, seem to recall that was dependent on additional deckers heading to Swansea and with the fall out from the Wrightbus administration on cascades, might be one of many things on hold
 
CD

CD

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Tommy Walters said:
In a role reversal, Wells seem to be lending vehicles to Bath today with 37610 on the U2 & 69457 on the U1!! 30877 is also on the U3, running with the old U1X destinations!
Click to expand...
Not quite. 37767 on 376. 37762 and 37764 on 172-4.
 
Whiteway215

Whiteway215

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Bath
TheGrandWazoo said:
Question for the Welsh contingent (i.e. Ian, Barrie).

First Cymru is often overlooked on this thread, with it being rather Bristol and Bath centric. Since the mother in law passed away, I don't get across to FC country like I did and we don't get too many updates so was wondering...

  • 53812 has been repainted and refurbished - have the other earlier ex Bath Solos been treated yet?
  • What are the two latest 53815/7 arriving for?
  • Has the rumoured replacement of the X10 coaches with B9TLs begun to materialise? Were more due to South Wales?
  • See four Eclipses have headed to Leicester - displaced by the ex Glasgow e200mmc. Are all of those in service and are more Eclipses expected to depart or is it withdrawal of older Darts (think a number of 53 plates still exist?)
Any updates on these (or other areas) greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
A bit more info on this.

53815/7 are thought to be replacing similar aged vehicles in worse condition.

All the ex Glasgow e200mmc now in service and have indirectly replaced the 4 Eclipses to Leicester. Not sure if any more are leaving.
 
lx12ddo

lx12ddo

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Whiteway215 said:
A bit more info on this.

53815/7 are thought to be replacing similar aged vehicles in worse condition.

All the ex Glasgow e200mmc now in service and have indirectly replaced the 4 Eclipses to Leicester. Not sure if any more are leaving.
Click to expand...

Must say, 53815 seemed in better condition than most artics of the same age at the Bath depot, in its last few days here.
 
Whiteway215

Whiteway215

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Steve's website tells us Dawson Rentals 32231 (LR52BLK) is back with FWE. I see on the tracker a 32229 is on the 76. Is this 32229 (LR52BOH) that was with FWE before and has also returned from Dawsons?
 
TheGrandWazoo

TheGrandWazoo

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Whiteway215 said:
Steve's website tells us Dawson Rentals 32231 (LR52BLK) is back with FWE. I see on the tracker a 32229 is on the 76. Is this 32229 (LR52BOH) that was with FWE before and has also returned from Dawsons?
Click to expand...

It should be as First's fleet numbers are supposed to be "for life" and not reused, hence the gaps in the new gas buses that were previously used by Routemasters.
 
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