First devon and Cornwall tender gains

[robertclark125]

Might be old news now, but Western Greyhound of Newquay had lost 12 contracts to First from 1st April. In addition, First Devon and Cornwall has also gained a 13th contract. It's not clear what this will mean for jobs and buses at Western greyhound, but First estimate the fleet will expand by about 20 buses.

Given the fact that over the last few years First has cutback in Cornwall, this comes as a major surprise.

 

[starrymarkb]

I believe Cornwall is now tendering on a lowest cost basis rather then a best cost/value basis. First have gone in very low.

Also a lot of the lost WG work was remote from their bases and close to First depots.

Expect the Vario fleet to be trimmed and a shuffle round of Solos.

 

[Ivo]

Very sorry for WG, but I am pleased in a selfish way. D&C can have these horrid things we inherited from Taunton last weekend

It's a manual for crying out loud!

 

[richw]

Wg are a joke at some of their remote locations, be glad to see less of them, as some of their drivers are appalling. A associate of mine worked for them 1 shift and was so appalled by some of his colleagues he never returned for day 2 of his employment.

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[richw]

Very sorry for WG, but I am pleased in a selfish way. D&C can have these horrid things we inherited from Taunton last weekend

It's a manual for crying out loud!

Ain't seen one of them in years in d+c. Well cornwall at least. we have some newer shaped versions with regs S***rwp

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[Ivo]

Ain't seen one of them in years in d+c. Well cornwall at least. we have some newer shaped versions with regs S***rwp

That's just it; we have three of those anyway and have done since certainly before I arrived (September 2009). Those three are far better than the two pieces of junk Taunton gave us. Interesting how I haven't seen them around since their first day in service (Monday)

 

[richw]

A friend, who was a first d+c driver before relocation, he now drives in oxford somewhere, whilst on holiday to krakow found a s***rwp operating in krakow city centre, still in first livery!

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[anthony263]

Might be old news now, but Western Greyhound of Newquay had lost 12 contracts to First from 1st April. In addition, First Devon and Cornwall has also gained a 13th contract. It's not clear what this will mean for jobs and buses at Western greyhound, but First estimate the fleet will expand by about 20 buses.

Given the fact that over the last few years First has cutback in Cornwall, this comes as a major surprise.

Great that means they will try and nick some of our buses. The South wales operation is experiencing a bit of a shortage already.

We even had a yellow schoolbus being used on some bus services as well as coaches. We were supposed to be having some solo's from Bristol & Bath (Although a lot of people want some double deckers)

 

[83G/84D]

First Devon & Cornwall rarely get any new buses, apart from the dozen 692xx Volvo's and a handful of 429xx Dart's most of Cornwall's fleet is rather ancient. There is a N reg Dart based at Camborne and a few K and N reg Olympian's still going strong.

If the rumours are true Plymouth are to lose it's relatively new Park & Ride Enviro's (334xx series) which will be replaced by fuel thirsty Volvo bendybuses!

Sad to see WG losing routes and feel for the staff who might lose their jobs.Unlike others on here found the staff friendly, helpful and services generally good.

 

[richw]

We've also got a load of 05 plates and 08 plates (poss 58 thinking bout it) so were not that ancient, there's just a few older vehicles about. We've had the 05 and 08s since brand new!

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[Schnellzug]

have they really? Well, that's a turn round. Everyone always said that W. Greyhound was the best Bus company in the world, didn't they.
They seem to use Varios and Solos rather a lot, even on some pretty long routes, which I'm not sure how is really compatible with quality.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Very sorry for WG, but I am pleased in a selfish way. D&C can have these horrid things we inherited from Taunton last weekend

It's a manual for crying out loud!

Ah, ex Southern National 51747. They're quite robust things, Alexander 709s. i could think of worse (e.g. varios and early Solos..)

 

[starrymarkb]

have they really? Well, that's a turn round. Everyone always said that W. Greyhound was the best Bus company in the world, didn't they.
They seem to use Varios and Solos rather a lot, even on some pretty long routes, which I'm not sure how is really compatible with quality.

The Varios were a good fit with the roads on their network, a lot were coach spec with luggage space as well. The Solo is also the only narrow bodied SLF on the market as well, as the narrow Dart (Caetano Nimbus/Slimbus) was discontinued with the launch of the Enviro200

 

[Ivo]

We were supposed to be having some solo's from Bristol & Bath (Although a lot of people want some double deckers)

I can see a trend here. All the old junk is steadily moving into Bath while all of our modern vehicles are sent away (apart from the Darts). Bristol don't have one single Solo, and I'm not certain Weston do either. Our fleet is steadily getting smaller, and then the company wonder why their popularity and reliability are plummeting. Look at the picture of the old MB I posted last night, and you'll see what I mean.

Ah, ex Southern National 51747. They're quite robust things, Alexander 709s. i could think of worse (e.g. varios and early Solos..)

I know it's ex Southern National. It still says as much inside!

First Devon & Cornwall rarely get any new buses, apart from the dozen 692xx Volvo's and a handful of 429xx Dart's most of Cornwall's fleet is rather ancient. There is a N reg Dart based at Camborne and a few K and N reg Olympian's still going strong.

They may be ancient but at least the fleet doesn't change every other week!

If the rumours are true Plymouth are to lose it's relatively new Park & Ride Enviro's (334xx series) which will be replaced by fuel thirsty Volvo bendybuses!

And I bet I can guess where they're coming from! I ask the University once every so often if there are any plans to lose our artics. In 2010, they said no - three left. Last year, they told me no - three left (although one returned). Last week, they said no - but I would be willing to bet that either all the W-reg ones (10035-7) or the remaining 55-reg ones (10174-7) will be gone come September.

I'm led to believe that the drivers want the bendies off the University routes, coupled with some structural changes to Oldfield Park bridge to allow decker usage on the two routes - and then the redundant B7LAs put on the X39 Bristol/Bath express!

And speaking of the University services, our timetable is changing at the end of term - with some of my suggestions factored in!

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Something that may be useful in the long run...

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=60930

 

[DaveHarries]

If the rumours are true Plymouth are to lose it's relatively new Park & Ride Enviro's (334xx series) which will be replaced by fuel thirsty Volvo bendybuses!

In case anyone wonders what is being referred to here, it was recently reported in the Bristol edition of the "Metro" newspaper that Service X1 (Weston-s-Mare - Bristol) is to see an increase in frequency to 3 buses per hour (currently 2) and will be equipped soonish with new buses that will have free wi-fi. It has been suggested that the FDC Enviro400s will turn up on the X1, thereby displacing some of the B7TL / Wright and B9TL / Wright to Bristol, where First will shortly commence operating Service 903 (Long Ashton Park & Ride).

I doubt the Enviros will turn up here as they would be older than most of the vehicles used on the X1.

Dave

 

[anthony263]

In case anyone wonders what is being referred to here, it was recently reported in the Bristol edition of the "Metro" newspaper that Service X1 (Weston-s-Mare - Bristol) is to see an increase in frequency to 3 buses per hour (currently 2) and will be equipped soonish with new buses that will have free wi-fi. It has been suggested that the FDC Enviro400s will turn up on the X1, thereby displacing some of the B7TL / Wright and B9TL / Wright to Bristol, where First will shortly commence operating Service 903 (Long Ashton Park & Ride).

I doubt the Enviros will turn up here as they would be older than most of the vehicles used on the X1.

Dave

Those enviro 400 deckers will be very welcome in Swansea especially on routes to Morriston and Oystermouth/Mumbles