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Stagecoach North Scotland (Bluebird and Highland)

GusB

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It's a message sent by the regional director (Robert Andrew) to all Stagecoach employee's through the 'blink" app.
In which case it probably wasn't intended to be for public consumption yet, and you shouldn't be sharing it here (or have access to it in the first place if you're not an employee).
 
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Jordan Adam

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In which case it probably wasn't intended to be for public consumption yet, and you shouldn't be sharing it here (or have access to it in the first place if you're not an employee).

It has already been leaked about. In all fairness there's nothing confidential about it.
 

Jordan Adam

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It was also reported in Coach and Bus Week, so definitely no problem with it being here?

Indeed, as i say it doesn't reveal any confidential or delicate information so i don't see the issue. Not to mention it can be viewed by all Stagecoach employees!
 

Volvodart

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After the end of the school holidays, D&E Coaches are taking back three school bus services that Highland have been doing since the start of 2019.
 

Red Onion

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Aberdeen
Made a return trip on 747 today (Ellon to Kingswells, to connect with x17) for the first time since the timetable change. Noticed a few passengers using it between Ellon and Balmedie which can only be a good thing, especially as it’s not much of a diversion. Still hoping leadings can improve on the route, it’s of great use to me!
 

Jordan Adam

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Made a return trip on 747 today (Ellon to Kingswells, to connect with x17) for the first time since the timetable change. Noticed a few passengers using it between Ellon and Balmedie which can only be a good thing, especially as it’s not much of a diversion. Still hoping leadings can improve on the route, it’s of great use to me!

Fully agree, the 747 is a great and really useful route for getting around the outer city without going in to the city centre. Airport to Stonehaven in 30 minutes by Public Transport would've been an insane idea 5 years ago, however it's now a reality. I just wish it served Dyce Victoria Street. The main let down for the 747 has been poor marketing, appalling laughable vehicle allocations and the lack of bums on seats.
 

Jordan Adam

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Some changes in a few weeks time, mostly just winter timetables in the Highlands and revisions in Moray including revised times for the 11/11A, the extension of the 33A/33C to Moray Sports Centre and with withdrawal of the 39 over the winter period.

https://www.stagecoachbus.com/servi...rticle?SituationId=ID-08/10/2019-17:29:14:350

Service changes from 28th October 2019
Stagecoach North Scotland would like to advise customers of timetable revisions which are planned to take effect from Monday 28th October 2019 in Orkney, Skye, Inverness and Elgin, please see the timetables available to download below.

Highlands
Orkney Guide - will return to winter timetables providing vital connections across the islands.

Isle of Skye Travel Guide - will return to winter timetables.

Inverness City Travel Guide – revisions made to the service 11 to Inverness Airport in line with the reduced flight schedule over the winter months.

Badenoch & Strathspey Area - will return to winter timetables.


Moray
Elgin City Guide - services 33A and 33C will be revised to serve the new Moray Sports Centre in Elgin, there are minor changes to the timetable across the route but the frequency of service will remain unchanged. Service 39 connecting Aviemore and Grantown-on-Spey with Elgin was introduced over the summer period following feedback to improve the links in Moray Speyside, the service will operate for the last time in 2019 on Saturday 26th October.

Remember you can tweet us @StagecoachNScot

There are also changes registered for the Bluebird 59 at the start of next month and Kemnay services on 18/10, but these are yet to appear. I suspect it'll just be minor revisions to improve reliability, specifically the 220 which gets 24 minutes to go from Northern Hotel to Craibstone Park & Ride when in reality it could be done in about 10.
 

Jordan Adam

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Hydrogens 29901-6 are officially now off the fleet and returned to the council (although still in storage at Tullos) pending transfer (eventually) to First.
 

Jordan Adam

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Good grief - that bridge is 12'3"!

Indeed, not sure what made them think a decker (even a low height one) would make it under!

75627560_2489788501135477_1563545091346268160_n.jpg
76710794_2489788397802154_5310480118064349184_n.jpg

Norths Scotland's new Open Topper...

I suspect it's more likely a write off, the whole rear end has been ripped off and i can imagine the lower body frame will be severely damage too.

And I'm guessing Stagecoach now have 1 less driver....:|

Almost certainly! There's not really much excuses for this one as the bridge is just along the road from the depot so all the drivers will be well aware of it's presence and not to head that way!
 

GusB

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And I'm guessing Stagecoach now have 1 less driver....:|
Definitely a P45 job, that one!

When did this happen? If it was during rush hour it would have caused traffic mayhem, not to mention disruption to the railway as well.
 

Jordan Adam

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Definitely a P45 job, that one!

When did this happen? If it was during rush hour it would have caused traffic mayhem, not to mention disruption to the railway as well.
About 7pm according to Inverness Courier......
https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/double-decker-bus-hits-bridge-in-inverness-185973/

(Google is marvious lol :lol::p)

18:57 if you want to be exact... hehe. The bus was recovered by 20:52 and back in the depot at 20:59.

It appears to me the bus was coming back from the Bus Station after working a 22, turned off Longman Road on to Harbour Road as normal, but missed the turn for Seafield Road and continued along until hitting the bridge.
 

Jordan Adam

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Following the breakup of Stagecoach North Scotland the twitter accounts have finally been split with a new account for Highlands.

Stagecoach Bluebird (Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire & Moray) - twitter.com/StagecoachNScot
Stagecoach Highlands (Inverness, Caithness, Skye & Orkney) - twitter.com/StagecoachHLand

I'd assume the "NScot" page being used for Bluebird will probably get renamed at some point, so if the link stops working then that will be why.
 

Volvodart

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I see Peter Knight from Scottish Citylink is now a director, I presume he is the new Bluebird MD.
 

Volvodart

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D&E Coaches are doing the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival shuttle buses next year instead of Stagecoach Highlands.
 

Jordan Adam

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Stagecoach Highland Service Consultation.
05 Dec 2019 - 19 Dec 2019

Stagecoach Highlands is inviting customers to review their proposed timetables before finalising the schedules for 2020. All feedback will be welcomed from Thursday 5th December until Thursday 19th December and will be reviewed ahead of completing the registration process. The new timetables are planned to take effect from Monday 10th February 2020.

We have completed an analysis of current travel trends in order to make a series of improvements to the local bus network in Inverness and the Black Isle. The routes operated have been simplified which has also made it easier for non-existing bus users to plan their journey by bus with confidence. Feedback received at community council meetings has also been used to shape the plans.

David Beaton, Managing Director at Stagecoach Highlands said: “We have been reviewing our network ahead of the new bus priority opening between Inverness Campus and the Retail Park. We really want to make travelling by bus as easy as possible for the local communities and we believe these proposed changes will do just that. All feedback during this two week public consultation period will allow us to ensure we have optimised departure times and routes. We will be grateful for all feedback to be submitted by Thursday 19th December 2019 either via email or in person at our drop-in session at the Spectrum Centre on Wednesday 11th December to allow us to take it into consideration for these changes. Any feedback received after this time will be used in our continuous analysis of the performance of our services.”

How to give your feedback
Email –
Send via email no later than Thursday 19th December to [email protected].
In person -
Stagecoach representatives will be available to discuss the proposals at the below drop-in session –
Wednesday 11th December 2pm – 6pm, Spectrum Centre, Inverness

Summary of the proposals –

Service 1/1A
Timetable revised to offer a 20 minute frequency linking Culduthel, New Hilton and direct link to the City Centre via Culduthel Road and Castle Street, extending through to the Shopping Park and Balloch, replacing Service 5. Services to and from Old Hilton will be covered by Service 4.

Service 2/2A
Service 2 will operate from Craig Dunain to Westhill, Croy and Cawdor. Operating every 30 minutes between Craig Dunain and Westhill with hourly extensions to Croy and Cawdor Village. Sunday services will operate every hour between Highfield and Balloch, and with Service 3, provide a 30 minute service between the City Centre and Culloden.

Service 3
Frequency will continue to operate every 30 minutes, a number of daytime journeys to operate via South Kessock. Service 3B to and from South Kessock will be replaced by Service 6. Sunday frequency every hour, with service 2 operating at the opposite half hour between the City Centre and Culloden.

Service 3S/3U
Service renumbered from Service 2U with some adjustments to departure times.

Service 4/4A
Service 4 will now operate only between City Centre and Milton of Leys. The service will operate via Old Hilton, offering faster journey times to/from the city centre. Miller Street and Boswell Road will be served by Service 4. Early mornings, evenings and Sundays journeys will operate as Service 4A and operate via New Hilton.

Service 5
Service withdrawn and replaced by extensions on Service 1.

Service 6
New Service will link South Kessock with the City Centre every 30 minutes in place of Service 3B and extensions every hour to Raigmore, Drakies, Old/New Hilton in place of Service 1A/1B. Peak Services in the South Kessock area will be covered by Service 3.

Service 7A/7C
Minor adjustment to departure times and revised evening journey between City Centre and Ardness Road End, to link with Service 1.

Service 8
New service to link Raigmore Estate, City Centre and Dalneigh every 30 minutes for most of the day.

Service 9
Frequency revised to every 2 hours with the service also extending through to the City Centre via Dunain Road in place of Service 13. On Saturdays Service 9 will operate every two hours between the City Centre and Fairfield Road.

Service 11/11A/11B
Service revised to improve the punctuality between Inverness city centre and Inverness Airport with extensions to Ardersier introduced. Service 11 will extend to Sainsburys in Nairn and divert into Tradespark. Evening and Sunday services will divert via Smithton and Culloden, Service 11 will operate through Inverness Shopping Park and Barn Church Road.

Service 12
Current service linking City Centre and Bishops Road will be withdrawn.

Service 13
Service revised and will only link Scorguie and the City Centre twice a day, with extensions through Union Road and Wimberley Way.

Service 113
Schoolday links between Croy and Nairn withdrawn from Service 5 and will now operate on Schooldays only as Service 113.

Service 25/65
Service 25 during the daytime will operate between Inverness and Milnafua with a diversion via the Morrisons Store in Alness, will operate to an hourly frequency, out of school opening/closing times. Service 25 will divert via Tulloch on all journeys in place of Service 27.

Service 24X/25X/X98
Revised timetable to allow offer faster links to and from Tain. Service X98 will operate on an hourly frequency in place of Service 25X and will provide a faster link between Invergordon and Tain. Some Service 25X journeys will extend through to Milton Village.

Service 26
Revised timetable. All Service 26 journeys with the exception of early morning and late evening trips will now serve Chanonry.

Service 27
Revised timetable with only a limited number of extensions between Strathpeffer and Contin. Service 27 during the daytime will no longer serve Tulloch, with Service 25 replacing it.

Service 28
Revised timetable with the frequency through Kiltarlity increased Monday to Saturday. Revised peak and late evening frequency in line with demand. Sunday service will operate via Kilarlity. Service 28X will offer a link between Inverness, Tore, Beauly, Muir of Ord and Dingwall, with the introduction of a 1720 journey from Dingwall on Saturdays to improve transport links for football supporters.

Service 30A/30B/30C
Timetable revised to compliment Service 25X/X98.

Service 145
Departure time revised by 5 minutes.

See below the proposed timetables:

Inverness City services revised timetable.

Highland services revised timetable.

The Inverness city map with revised routes.



https://www.stagecoachbus.com/servi...rticle?SituationId=ID-05/12/2019-09:13:07:804

Own comment:
These are quite interesting change and generally offer improvements. It's interesting to note though that much of the changes are reverses to stuff made under the "Whitelocks era". Certainly a step in the right direction imo, although i'm not sure reducing the Raigmore Service to Every 15 Minutes is the best idea given that deckers are not allowed on the 3.

For Example:
Service 1: Reverts back to the old route of the 5
Service 2: Reverts back to old route
Service 4: Reverts back to the old route of the 6
Service 6: Reverts back to the old route of the 4
Service 8: Reverts back to old route
 
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Bluebird has got the 29 (now running stonehaven to edzell) and 104 (which they lost back in August) off of smith and son coaches from the 6th January
 
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Hi all, just had a few questions about the service between Aberdeen and Elgin, and Inverness and Elgin.
  • I've seen a few E200 MMCs (or they might have been E300 MMCs, I'm not sure which Elgin have) operating the 10 from Elgin to Inverness, do these operate the full 10 route from Aberdeen? Or are they only on specific short workings between Elgin and Inverness?
  • Is the 35 still operated by deckers? Is every single service a decker?
  • Will the 10 and 35 be operated by the usual vehicles on Thursday the 2nd of January (a special timetable operates on that day so I was unsure if that would impact what vehicles run on what routes)?
Thanks in advance, and happy new year to all!
 

GusB

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Hi all, just had a few questions about the service between Aberdeen and Elgin, and Inverness and Elgin.
  • I've seen a few E200 MMCs (or they might have been E300 MMCs, I'm not sure which Elgin have) operating the 10 from Elgin to Inverness, do these operate the full 10 route from Aberdeen? Or are they only on specific short workings between Elgin and Inverness?
  • Is the 35 still operated by deckers? Is every single service a decker?
  • Will the 10 and 35 be operated by the usual vehicles on Thursday the 2nd of January (a special timetable operates on that day so I was unsure if that would impact what vehicles run on what routes)?
Thanks in advance, and happy new year to all!
The full Aberdeen to Inverness runs are usually Elites, with the occasional Panther substituted. The shorter Elgin to Inverness journeys usually have the E200MMCs and the occasional E300.
 

Volvodart

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The 35 seems to have more spares than the 10, which has old coaches on quite regularly. You occasionally see an Enviro200 or Enviro300 on the full route 35 though. If Aberdeen have to chuck something onto the 35, it could be anything they have lying around like a Trident or the various types of Enviro300s they have if they do not have a spare coach available.
 
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19212-7 are apparently joining the bluebird fleet from North East, presumably to replace the old age tridents/olympus'
 

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