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It seems that the usual experts claiming money into back pockets, problems with the taxman and so on have never heard of emergency tickets, with which all drivers are still issued. But hey, when has the truth ever got in the way of the know-it-all element and their ranting and raving?

Or more accurately, a service where the subsidy paid by an outside body will cease and thus it will be discontinued - but why let facts get in the way of the usual ill-informed 'glass half empty' garbage?

I can't see the top-spec Gemini 3s that are on the 36s having happened without deregulation. Or the electric Volvos that are coming to Transdev. Or the app that it has. Or the various refurbishments, late-night services, City Zap services or anything else. Yup, deregulation was a real kick in...

The other good one is where he continually moans that Transdev won't engage with Connexions, seemingly with a view to co-operation of some kind, despite Connexions having attempted to make contact. Having seen the content of many of Connexions' Tweets that are directed towards Transdev, it...

I wonder how it will end up? Perhaps the normal Twitter whining about a nasty foreign-owned company forcing the poor, downtrodden, unfairly-treated local outfit off the road, as appears to be the normal tactic.

Things like that are par for the course with Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Local authorities in general are hardly ever good examples of anything, but SoTCC is particularly riddled with gross incompetence, not to mention the delusion of grandeur that has always been present in the Potteries. A...

No near monopoly in Stoke any more, although like most things that's entirely of their own making and D&G has been allowed in slowly but surely. First's problems are a mixture of a poor economy in Stoke and a City Council that is the definition of ineptness, but far above both those is dreadful...

In a way I can see why buses are being targeted in Glasgow. While First has some new kit, a fair chunk of the fleet there is presented poorly and looks well overdue for replacement. While those old Tridents and B7s are, I am sure, entirely roadworthy, they create a very poor image in the eyes of...

It is highly unlikely that artics would return to the Red Arrow routes given the amount of money that has been invested in the BYD ADLs that are on them now, along with the huge amount that has gone into the charging equipment for them. Rumour has it that it was a very 'creative' finance...

There was something about this in Route One recently and I'm sure if you go on its website a bit of searching will find the article. There is no consultation. Instead it's demanding commercially-sensitive information of operators with a threat to report them to the Traffic Commissioner if...

The body used on the B5TL and as the StreetDeck is the same Gemini 3. The only differences concern air intakes and such at the rear. The StreetDeck is no more a true integral than the B5TL is because it has a separate chassis that is manufactured at the EN-Drive plant in Antrim and then taken by...

Route One is partially wrong about this. Some of them may work short-term on Metrobus, but straight diesel even at Euro 6 (which is what the MMC-bodied Scanias are) does not satisfy the emission requirements for Metrobus, although it has been given a two-year derogation, I believe. The...

Yes, Optare is owned by Ashok for now. The problem is that Ashok was searching for a buyer for Optare a few months ago, to the extent that a number of interested parties had a sniff around it. A prospectus went round all that may have been in the market.

Re the Metrodecker, there is a fear in some quarters for the future of Optare, and the implications for aftermarket support should the worst happen. That's a justified concern, albeit perhaps a bit OTT. The other rumour is that it isn't actually production-ready even now, and that Optare will...

There was one Gemini that was withdrawn from use with First South Yorkshire after a bad accident, in which the driver was either seriously injured or killed (?) if I remember rightly. It then turned up with Williams Hybrid Power where it was rebuilt and fitted with a flywheel for use as a...

One of those silver Olympians is preserved currently in that livery. The local First subsidiary also painted one of its B7TL Wright Geminis into the same scheme last year as a heritage-type thing.

Just a hunch fella, but I think it may well be something to do with the fact that they require space for luggage to be underneath them. :roll: An 'exemption' to what? The PSVAR standards for coaches used on registered services are already laid down and there is nary a mention in there about steps.

The Mellor Sprinters are a different animal to the City 45s that Stagecoach is using in Kent as they are coachbuilt on chassis cowls and with 2+2 seating, rather than van conversions and 2+1. One of the Mellor examples is around £90k. That may compare well with the purchase price of a Solo...

Wright's rather optimistically-named Micro Hybrid is exactly the same type of device that ADL fits, at least to E200 MMCs and I think also to E400 MMCs. Optare also has something of its kind. It's a kinetic energy recovery system - quite a clever one that is highly beneficial, but there is...

I don't know why it is happening, but from some of the recent journeys that I have made on LM's Brum to Liverpool services one could be forgiven for thinking that the bad old days of Central Trains are returning. Filthy trains, toilets often out of use, regular lateness and cancellations too...