First Greater Glasgow

[PaulMc7]

COP26 road closures will cause significant impact... Clydeside Expressway from near Beith Street (Partick) to Anderston will be closed for 3 weeks, with alternative routes listed as Crow Rd/Anniesland X/Gt. Western Rd/Byres Rd/ Dumbarton Rd etc.. For anyone who knows these busy roads I think we can expect gridlock at various/most parts of the day which cause horrible reliability problems on the 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 etc plus some south side routes will be impacted too. I think the advice will be avoid the West End entirely if possible or use local rail or the subway! COP26 will likely have a knock on effect onto the M8 which could result in further congestion out towards M80/77/74 etc which may further impact on other bus services too.

I'm dreading it personally if I need to go anywhere. My main buses will all be affected. I'm predicting that it'll take the 1s closer to an hour to get from Scotstoun to City Centre because of it.

 

[Strathclyder]

COP26 road closures will cause significant impact... Clydeside Expressway from near Beith Street (Partick) to Anderston will be closed for 3 weeks, with alternative routes listed as Crow Rd/Anniesland X/Gt. Western Rd/Byres Rd/ Dumbarton Rd etc.. For anyone who knows these busy roads I think we can expect gridlock at various/most parts of the day which cause horrible reliability problems on the 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 etc plus some south side routes will be impacted too. I think the advice will be avoid the West End entirely if possible or use local rail or the subway! COP26 will likely have a knock on effect onto the M8 which could result in further congestion out towards M80/77/74 etc which may further impact on other bus services too.

Related COP26 shuttle info: First Bus selected to operate official COP26 delegate shuttle between city centre and blue/green zones | Greater Glasgow | First Bus

It's going to be utter bedlam (especially on Sundays with the seemingly neverending ScotRail strike), may as well chuck the timetables for all the directly affected routes out the window for the duration as the congestion will completely wreck the timekeeping of every last one of them.

I know I'm in the minority here, but I'm grateful to have a alternative to fall back on in the form of West Coast Motors' 17 to/from Duntocher. Less frequent than First's 2 it may be (particularly on Sundays) and I admit Bearsden/Maryhill Rd and thus the 17 may well be affected by the congestion one way or the other, but one thing is certain: I'll be avoiding using both The One and 2 for the duration of this.

 

[92002]

it's started already. The expressway City bound was down to one lane today. So they could paint over the graffiti on the railway arches. So leave plenty time to get to the city or avoid the place for the next few weeks.

 

[PaulMc7]

It'll be interesting to see how the Clyde Tunnel is both ways and how used the 8 and 90 end up too on top of that. They're handy for cross city travel and I've done that in the past for the likes of Parkhead etc for the purpose of avoiding the City Centre.

 

[92002]

It'll be interesting to see how the Clyde Tunnel is both ways and how used the 8 and 90 end up too on top of that. They're handy for cross city travel and I've done that in the past for the likes of Parkhead etc for the purpose of avoiding the City Centre.

Best advice is work from home or take the train or subway. First have the contract for delegates so no doubt a driver shortage for the bread and butter routes.

 

[PaulMc7]

Best advice is work from home or take the train or subway. First have the contract for delegates so no doubt a driver shortage for the bread and butter routes.

Yeah the train isn't too bad where I stay so it'll be the most likely thing I use if needed. I feel sorry for others though that don't have as many options.

 

[92002]

Yeah the train isn't too bad where I stay so it'll be the most likely thing I use if needed. I feel sorry for others though that don't have as many options.

Few Sunday trains of course due to the ongoing strike.

 

[GALLANTON]

It would help if First Glasgow would state what their plans actually are. As of yet there is nothing on the website stating what will happen with regards to diversions. This isn't something they should be leaving until the last minute

 

[PaulMc7]

It would help if First Glasgow would state what their plans actually are. As of yet there is nothing on the website stating what will happen with regards to diversions. This isn't something they should be leaving until the last minute

I'd be shocked if we didn't know at least something before Monday if I'm honest. It's the same with service changes too. I'm wondering if the 21 moving on the 17th ties in with last minute announcements of service reductions across the board.

It's been good having the daily posts on the website of non runners from Blantyre/Overtown but it would be great to have it for the other depots too.

 

[Strathclyder]

it's started already. The expressway City bound was down to one lane today. So they could paint over the graffiti on the railway arches. So leave plenty time to get to the city or avoid the place for the next few weeks.

Was caught up in this yesterday (if nothing else, a taster of the chaos that's to come next month). They seemed to be lopping back trees/foilage as well further along heading towards the city centre, I noticed. And that perennial eyesore of a pedestrian bridge linking Exhibition Centre station with the SEC has been vinyled up (instead of, you know, torn down and replaced with something fit for the 21st century, but I digress).

 

[PaulMc7]

I had the pleasure of getting caught in the expressway issues too yesterday and it took a fair while from Thornwood onwards due to being down to 1 lane with traffic heavily backed up. It didn't help that my 1 was already 15 mins late before the traffic and the 1A with it was 25 mins late. A 1D was with both buses too but was only 5 mins late. This was just before 2pm.

 

[92002]

I had the pleasure of getting caught in the expressway issues too yesterday and it took a fair while from Thornwood onwards due to being down to 1 lane with traffic heavily backed up. It didn't help that my 1 was already 15 mins late before the traffic and the 1A with it was 25 mins late. A 1D was with both buses too but was only 5 mins late. This was just before 2pm.

It will get even worse though. I believe the expressway will be totally closed when the COP26 is on. With not only the local police around, but American military too.

It all seems to be a fair bit of excitement and we can only blame Boris for his kind organisation.

 

[Tom Gallacher]

I hope the vinyl is perfumed so that it can mask the smell of piss inside the bridge.

 

[Whiteway215]

Is it intended for all 22 of the new electric buses to be in service in time for the COP26 Conference?

 

[ScotRail158725]

Is it intended for all 22 of the new electric buses to be in service in time for the COP26 Conference?

They’ll be doing the shuttles to/from the event

 

[Volvodart]

As it is only 2 weeks, you cannot see many being in service before they are used on that.

 

[92002]

As it is only 2 weeks, you cannot see many being in service before they are used on that.

Think that was always part of the plan. Keep them fresh for the chaos of the COP conference. The paying punters will need to wait.

 

[PaulMc7]

Has Blantyre just got several new drivers or is there likely to be far more cancellations on Monday than currently listed on the website? The drop between Saturday's list and Monday is really big. To be fair though, I have seen multiple training buses in different parts of the City Centre over the last week or two.

 

[Volvodart]

I thought a route was to be transferred out then?

 

[JumpinTrainz]

I’ve noticed another electric bus in with the E200EVs at Caledonia. It’s green. Is this for Glasgow also or is this just being used for COP26?

 

[PaulMc7]

I thought a route was to be transferred out then?

The 21 on Sunday was mentioned on here but I didn't think it would make that much of a difference compared to what seems to be the case so far.

Funnily enough now that I've mentioned Monday, the buses missing on Monday post has now been deleted.

 

[lastbus]

The 21 on Sunday was mentioned on here but I didn't think it would make that much of a difference compared to what seems to be the case so far.

Funnily enough now that I've mentioned Monday, the buses missing on Monday post has now been deleted.

21 is moving to Caledonia temporarily from Sunday. Lanarkshire depots are moving to reduced service from Sunday 7th November. Details still being finalised. Unsure if this will effect city depots.

 

[PaulMc7]

21 is moving to Caledonia temporarily from Sunday. Lanarkshire depots are moving to reduced service from Sunday 7th November. Details still being finalised. Unsure if this will effect city depots.

Thanks for the info.

 

[ScotRail158725]

I’ve noticed another electric bus in with the E200EVs at Caledonia. It’s green. Is this for Glasgow also or is this just being used for COP26?

4 brand new Yutongs on loan as demonstrtators for First. Nothing to do with COP

 

[lastbus]

4 brand new Yutongs on loan as demonstrtators for First. Nothing to do with COP

Not demonstrators on loan for COP26 work.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

Not demonstrators on loan for COP26 work.

I was wondering if First were looking to branch out from the E200EVs but makes sense.

 

[cnjb8]

4 brand new Yutongs on loan as demonstrtators for First. Nothing to do with COP

Are they lime green? If so then they should be on their way to Centrebus in Leicester by now!

 

[JumpinTrainz]

Does anyone know if First will trial any other kind of electric vehicle? I see McGills have an e-Citaro demonstrator. I know they’ve kept pretty much to ADL but with the need for more electric vehicles I wonder if they’ll branch out and try different types of bus.

 

[Volvodart]

First are involved with the Arrival electric bus and are supposed to be trialling it in the first quarter of 2022, so possibly that.

 

[GusB]

Recently we've had a few speculative posts suggesting service changes. These have been moved into a separate thread so that discussion of what's actually happening can continue here.

The new thread can be found here.

[Speculative] Ideas for First Glasgow service changes

Mod note: Posts #1 to #16 were originally in this thread: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/first-greater-glasgow.164437/ I have the following suggestions for changes to First Glasgow services: Service 1: Helensburgh - Parkhead via Balloch, Clydebank, Drumchapel, Crow road, replace service...

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