gka472l
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Are the ones former Manchester on hire to Rotala at Bolton an option?
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First Greater Glasgow
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Are the ones former Manchester on hire to Rotala at Bolton an option?
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ScotRail158725
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no because all the ex first Manchester fleet at Go-Ahead & Rotala are sold so first would need to buy them back
The reliability most of the time can cause big gaps that are impossible to fix. Last couple of days I've been out I've seen 3 together towards Clydebank when one or two of them have nearly been due back where I've seen them at Scotstoun West. Even at 10/11am both ways they're normally extremely late
Jordan Adam
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Aren't the Rotala vehicles just on long term lease? That's why they have 70+ outstanding Streetdecks on order.
gka472l
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Rotala ones are only on hire, some have already returned to First (South Yorkshire has had a few so far)
JumpinTrainz
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The E400s which were used for the Commonwealth Games were nice buses when new. They were far nicer than low height E400s Glasgow has. Didn’t most of them go to Manchester? I noticed a refurbished one in GoAhead colours etc.
ScotRail158725
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the ones at Go-North West are sold to them but it appears the rotala ones are leased
Jordan Adam
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They wouldn't be any use on the 6 though as they're full height (not saying that's what you were implying). Glasgow's were specifically ordered to low height specification.
Perhaps not something everyone would agree with me on but ADLs have steadily got better each year.
singlemalt
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they certainly have that is until first get their hands on them
JumpinTrainz
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As a passenger I miss the old days with builds like the B10BLEs, B7RLEs etc but I do understand you have to move with the times and think of fuel consumption and the environmental factors. I must say at first I didn’t like the E300s but they’ve grown on me. I was a fan of the E200MMCs I felt like they are very modern. The E400MMC could be counted in that too. Very nice buses.
The unbranded E200MMCs were never intended for any route. They were branded by error.
Press release for the next order of vehicles should be announced later this month/start of Jan with vehicles to start arrive March onwards. No details on what is included in the order and probably won't know until its released. Rumour going round depot we are getting streetdecks but unfortunately I can't get the info confirmed as the new order is hush hush but tbh I wouldn't be surprised as they do cost less than ADL vehicles.
I have also been told we won't be getting 12 plate B9TL's from down south anymore due to a change of plans but may change in the future.
Press release for the next order of vehicles should be announced later this month/start of Jan with vehicles to start arrive March onwards. No details on what is included in the order and probably won't know until its released. Rumour going round depot we are getting streetdecks but unfortunately I can't get the info confirmed as the new order is hush hush but tbh I wouldn't be surprised as they do cost less than ADL vehicles.
I have also been told we won't be getting 12 plate B9TL's from down south anymore due to a change of plans but may change in the future.
Pvr for that route is 12 but a few e200mmc have been of the road and then they become spare a go on any route
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Given the complete chaos on the A82 this afternoon it is fortunate anything was going anywhere. Severe flooding between Bowling and Dumbuck, problems at Cardross and entering Helensburgh are not going to result in buses running to time. In just the last hour I have seen a 1B to Clydebank, a 1 to Scotstoun and 61604 heading east out of service, presumably in an attempt to fill in gaps in the service.
Yeah the A82 in particular has always been awful. Really need a 2nd road between Dumbarton and Bowling. Even now on the app most of the 1s are still extremely late including the 1Cs due to the interworking involved at Osborne St with the 1/1A into 1Cs.
Even in dry conditions the 1/1A/1B struggle massively to stay on time. It's something that nothing has ever been done about too. They've got worse as of late though due to the Westland Drive closure at Victoria Park. Going through Scotstoun is torture at the best of times but got even worse due to that
Its always been a nightmare there but I don't think there are any palatable options.
Yeah seems that way. I know a lot of residents in Bellsmyre/Dumbarton in particular have wanted a 2nd road for some time now but it's hard to see where it would even be possible to put one
Yeah noticed a branded e300 on the 3 earlier.
Back when the 166 operated , they used to out a mini merc on the route at peak . Because it said college milton , no one would use it ha.
Theres a seat on the left hand side of the caetano dart that has no legroom and my legs were squished into the plastic
Yeah they're not great if you're particularly tall. I'm only 5 ft 10 and some seating isn't great on quite a few different buses. The ceilings on the low height e400s are my worst enemy too haha
The worst tailback I ever got stuck in for that bit was when I was heading towards Dumbarton. It started at Glasgow Airport. Think it took about 3 hours to get through. Delayed myself by stupidly thinking diving through Bowling after I got off the bridge would save time. It didn't!
No inclement weather. No accidents. Just volume of traffic.
Was in a rental van trying to do a house move. Timing couldn't have been worse.
(Sorry swerving off topic - in my defence a E300 on the 1 was stuck with me in Bowling!)
Yeah I've had a few horror stories. Used to get the bus back from Paisley into Clydebank after college and quite a few times the traffic meant my bus was stuck on the bridge for ages. I've also had quite a few long delays with the 1s too over the years and even with the 204/205/215/216 back in the day
Interesting to see West Coast Motors improving their 17 massively on January 6th so it runs considerably later. Don't expect First to do anything with the 81 in response but it always makes me wonder how nothing for First really worked out through further up Bearsden into Faifley, Hardgate and Duntocher. I remember the 51 and 59 both having that route at different times and then the 6B too that didn't last at all. I know West Coast Motors are slightly cheaper but I wonder what else made them do so much better than First.
The only thing I think First could even do is to add an express bus from the City Centre to Duntocher again like the old 217 and reduce the 81 frequency or an express bus to Faifley and cut the 2 back to Hardgate or Clydebank
The only thing I think First could even do is to add an express bus from the City Centre to Duntocher again like the old 217 and reduce the 81 frequency or an express bus to Faifley and cut the 2 back to Hardgate or Clydebank
The queue was back to the airport this evening on the M8, even once over the bridge according to the traffic reports it was an hour along the A82 to Dumbarton and 40 minutes just to get through Bowling (there was a sizeable flood at the entrance to the vilage as well). Given the circumstances to keep any kind of service running was an achievement, given the multitude of other problems on the road going north I wonder what happened to the Citylink services along this corridor.
There are plans to address the 'weak link' in the road network between Bowling and Dumbuck as part of the Glasgow City Deal, this will see a road through the old oil terminal site.
Would have been a struggle for Citylink tbh although I've not seen anything about their services today. There were a lot of train problems to Balloch/Helensburgh too earlier because of flooding and signal problems so I do feel for people along there. Hopefully the road issue gets sorted out asap as it's been a problem for too long
First have tried to take on the citybus 17 before and it didn't work
Yeah it's a strange one. Wonder what it would have taken for First to do better than them
Not running it from Dumbarton depot might have helped, far too much running to and from the depot. Not sure the limited stop approach would be of benefit outside of the peak period either. Just went searching for an image of one of the Darts used, surprised to see the X17 dates back over a decade.
http://www.gcsbromleygarage.com/127...01 to 2010-01-12/slides/fig4095101231208.html
Yeah the limited stop thing never made sense tbh. Definitely think there would be more demand for more express services given how full most of the 1s end up and how quite a lot of people swap over to 2s at Scotstoun and other buses at Clydebank