Cheshire Bus News (was East Cheshire Bus News)

[Danfilm007]

06:30 Wilmslow to Knutsford, 07:05 Knutsford to Altrincham and 08:20 Altrincham to Macclesfield all failed to show on the Longridge/Higher Downs/Boothfields/Shaw Dr section in Knutsford. I saw the 07:00 Altrincham to Knutsford (07:37 from Wilmslow), it wasn't the fullest bus I've seen on the route today but that's certainly a service which will have more passengers when the schools return.

Strange - I had seen the 07:05 just pulling into Wilmslow at 07:37 for a 07:43 departure. Might be that a few drivers have missed the road for this accidentally?

 

[pemma]

Strange - I had seen the 07:05 just pulling into Wilmslow at 07:37 for a 07:43 departure. Might be that a few drivers have missed the road for this accidentally?

Those would probably have all been the same driver. There was an issue with drivers following the wrong route when the 88A started but given the Falcon Bearer is a timing point on the new timetable a driver shouldn't be missing it out and not realising they've made a mistake.

 

[Deafdoggie]

It now extends to Congleton, not long after D&G took over the route

Indeed. They have managed to destroy two perfectly good and well used services.

 

[pemma]

Strange - I had seen the 07:05 just pulling into Wilmslow at 07:37 for a 07:43 departure. Might be that a few drivers have missed the road for this accidentally?

Those would probably have all been the same driver. There was an issue with drivers following the wrong route when the 88A started but given the Falcon Bearer is a timing point on the new timetable a driver shouldn't be missing it out and not realising they've made a mistake.

According to a local councillor the problem wasn't so much services not running on the 88 but drivers expected to take the new 88 route when they hadn't previously worked the former 88A or 300 routes or received any additional training. End result drivers going the wrong way or being directed by passengers!

 

[LOL The Irony]

According to a local councillor the problem wasn't so much services not running on the 88 but drivers expected to take the new 88 route when they hadn't previously worked the former 88A or 300 routes or received any additional training. End result drivers going the wrong way or being directed by passengers!

Absolutely disgraceful. D&G should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Or as I now call them, G&O Bust.

 

[pemma]

Was nearly full this morning as it went past Shaw Heath, even for a smallish solo!

They seem to be sticking to using 3 x 28 seater Solos and 1 slightly bigger bus on the 88 route. On Monday and Tuesday the slightly bigger bus was a 33 seater Streetlite which ran services including the 10:30 Knutsford to Altrincham (the first Altrincham bound service accepting ENCTS from Knutsford bus station), the 16:55 Knutsford to Macclesfield and 18:05 Macclesfield to Knutsford. Today the bigger bus is a 35 seater SR and was on the Macclesfield workings AM peak today and will be on the 17:35 Knutsford to Altrincham if they don't swap it. It used to be usually two Streetlites or Solo SRs under the old timetable. Not sure if they can think they can get away with a reduced service and smaller buses due to the school holiday or whether someone in their planning department has given Wincham an inappropriate allocation now the 288 and 270 have been merged and the 88A has been withdrawn. I'd be very surprised if a 28 seater Solo on the 07:00 Altrincham to Knutsford can fit everyone on every day when Knutsford Academy returns - that service will pick up between around 7 and 20 school pupils on Longridge, depending on weather conditions (more walk in good weather) and that's ignoring school pupils that might board elsewhere.

 

[Deafdoggie]

It’s what D&G though, put on a woefully small bus and hope passengers stop catching it. They’ve killed off many routes with that technique.

 

[darloscott]

Aren't these 88s tendered? If so then perhaps the council should be specifying larger vehicles. Can't blame D&G if they've tendered cost wise for a Solo after being asked for one.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Aren't these 88s tendered? If so then perhaps the council should be specifying larger vehicles. Can't blame D&G if they've tendered cost wise for a Solo after being asked for one.

D&G aren't blameless. They created the 88A instead of doing the 300 as Cheshire East told them to do. The 88A barely broke even so D&G scrapped it and caused this mess. So it's D&G's greediness and Cheshire East's ineptness.

 

[pemma]

Aren't these 88s tendered? If so then perhaps the council should be specifying larger vehicles. Can't blame D&G if they've tendered cost wise for a Solo after being asked for one.

The tender was based on 2 x 35 seater vehicles and 2 x 28 vehicles and as @LOL The Irony alluded to the tenders were written on the basis the Mon-Fri daytime 300 services remained operating as a commercial service. From what I understand under the old 88 contract (which specified 5 x 35 seater vehicles) they came to some agreement with Cheshire East that 33 seater Streetlites could be used so that they didn't need to use the 36 seater Evolutions if they were short of 35 seater Solos (which they did use initially.) Also unless the new contracts are on different terms than old ones the understanding is that if services get more passengers than predicted then the operator is required to use the extra revenue collected to fund a larger vehicle (although I imagine they could run an additional service in lieu.)

 

[pemma]

D&G aren't blameless. They created the 88A instead of doing the 300 as Cheshire East told them to do. The 88A barely broke even so D&G scrapped it and caused this mess. So it's D&G's greediness and Cheshire East's ineptness.

In fairness Cheshire East didn't tell them to run the 300 service and they can't force an operator to run a service commercially but they naively presumed all commercial services would remain the same when they did their 'bus review.' We have no idea if D&G warned Cheshire East about the 300 ahead of cancelling it, if they did it would have been much better for Cheshire East to have tendered an hourly Macclesfield service extending to Longridge as that could have been operated by 2 vehicles without the timings being too tight or without having lengthy layovers (one of the things they didn't like about the old 27 contract.)

 

[LOL The Irony]

Cheshire East still advised them to run the 300, advice they didn't take.

 

[pemma]

Cheshire East still advised them to run the 300, advice they didn't take.

Where has this suggestion originated from? You're the only person I know who says that Cheshire East advised an operator to continue running a commercial service which they claimed was no longer commercially viable, that would be an unprecedented approach for a local council to take. I know Andrew Malloy (from Knutsford Town Council not Cheshire East Council) has tried to persuade both D&G and Cheshire East to reinstate the 300 but the response he got back was the route was no longer commercially viable which is why the 88A was trailed as an alternative. If Cheshire East wanted the 300 to be reinstated they could have asked other operators to consider running it and/or put it out for tender instead of re-routing the tendered 88 services to serve Longridge.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Where has this suggestion originated from? You're the only person I know who says that Cheshire East advised an operator to continue running a commercial service which they claimed was no longer commercially viable, that would be an unprecedented approach for a local council to take. I know Andrew Malloy (from Knutsford Town Council not Cheshire East Council) has tried to persuade both D&G and Cheshire East to reinstate the 300 but the response he got back was the route was no longer commercially viable which is why the 88A was trailed as an alternative. If Cheshire East wanted the 300 to be reinstated they could have asked other operators to consider running it and/or put it out for tender instead of re-routing the tendered 88 services to serve Longridge.

I'm going off the consulatation, although that could be a case of what they tell us Vs what they tell d&g.

 

[pemma]

I'm going off the consulatation, although that could be a case of what they tell us Vs what they tell d&g.

The consultation ignored the commercial routes and like I already said Cheshire East took the naive approach that no operator would make any changes to their commercial bus services following the withdrawal of subsided bus services.

 

[spargazer]

I spied an Arriva 130 heading North on the Alderley Edge bypass at 0944 today, it seems odd to route a bus along here. Destination was Manchester, in white LEDs, and lots of cyclists clogging up narrow roads elsewhere

 

[Navigation Roa]

Part of the handforth bypass and link road is shut leading to gridlock in handforth and parts of Wilmslow. Maybe somthing to do with that

 

[spargazer]

Part of the handforth bypass and link road is shut leading to gridlock in handforth and parts of Wilmslow. Maybe somthing to do with that

It the 130 was on the Alderley Edge by pass, But SK9 will gridlocked when SEMMMS opens in 2020

 

[spargazer]

Part of the Handforth bypass and link road is shut leading to gridlock in Handforth and parts of Wilmslow. Maybe something to do with that

I spotted the jams in Wilmslow, Wilmslow is now part of Manchester.

 

[Navigation Roa]

I spotted the jams in Wilmslow, Wilmslow is now part of Manchester.

Not when it comes to the 130 drivers accepting my daughters gmpte bus pass it’s not

 

[jfollows]

I spied an Arriva 130 heading North on the Alderley Edge bypass at 0944 today, it seems odd to route a bus along here. Destination was Manchester, in white LEDs, and lots of cyclists clogging up narrow roads elsewhere

The road over the railway line in Alderley Edge is closed for two weeks, http://www.alderleyedge.com/news/ar...lays-as-railway-bridge-closes-for-a-fortnight

Drivers are reminded to expect significant delays in the village for the next two weeks as safety work will be carried out on the railway bridge.

The maintenance work, which has been scheduled to take place during the school summer holidays to minimise disruption to local residents, businesses and members of the travelling public, will commence on Monday, 6th August. As a result the main road (now called the B5359) will be closed at all times for a fortnight from the junction with Heyes Lane to Ryleys Lane.

 

[gnolife]

Not when it comes to the 130 drivers accepting my daughters gmpte bus pass it’s not

Assuming your daughter is over 16, and travelling on a section between Bank Square and Manchester, then the drivers shouldn't be trying to reject TfGM passes.

 

[Navigation Roa]

Assuming your daughter is over 16, and travelling on a section between Bank Square and Manchester, then the drivers shouldn't be trying to reject TfGM passes.

Yes it’s very annoying, it’s not all just certain drivers.Ive told her to argue the toss but they are funny teenagers. I just make sure she’s enough correct change to get across the county line if she encounters an awkward driver

 

[Deafdoggie]

Yes it’s very annoying, it’s not all just certain drivers.Ive told her to argue the toss but they are funny teenagers. I just make sure she’s enough correct change to get across the county line if she encounters an awkward driver

Always send the ticket in to the bus company and ask for a refund. Costs you nothing, but expensive and time consuming for them. They then put much more effort into making sure all drivers know!

 

[Navigation Roa]

Always send the ticket in to the bus company and ask for a refund. Costs you nothing, but expensive and time consuming for them. They then put much more effort into making sure all drivers know!

Good idea that, ta.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Not when it comes to the 130 drivers accepting my daughters gmpte bus pass it’s not

They're supposed to though. Have you tried contacting Arriva or TfGM?

 

[Navigation Roa]

They're supposed to though. Have you tried contacting Arriva or TfGM?

Not to be honest I’ve just given her a couple of quid incase she gets a picky driver. I’ll be minded to if it happens again after reading the responses on here though!

 

[pemma]

The road over the railway line in Alderley Edge is closed for two weeks, http://www.alderleyedge.com/news/ar...lays-as-railway-bridge-closes-for-a-fortnight

Arriva 130 - Alderley Edge Road Closure
The main road through Alderley Edge will be closed at the railway station for major roadworks between Monday 6 and Friday 24 August. Arriva service 130 will be diverted via the bypass and will not be able to serve Alderley Edge village. The service will continue to serve Alderley Park as normal.

https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/public_transport/bus/bus_service_changes.aspx

So presumably anyone from Alderley Edge wanting to get to Macclesfield either has a long walk first or they need to catch a train to Wilmslow or Chelford and then change to a bus.

 

[goldisgood]

https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/public_transport/bus/bus_service_changes.aspx

So presumably anyone from Alderley Edge wanting to get to Macclesfield either has a long walk first or they need to catch a train to Wilmslow or Chelford and then change to a bus.

Probably quicker to take the train up to Stockport then back down to Macclesfield...