First Greater Glasgow

[E400Lover101]

I see that First have started to run mostly double deckers on the 57A again to combat the capacity issues caused by the 57 still being all single decker due to the issues at Silverburn. The 3 and X8 also seem to have a couple of double deckers today.

Also they would keep the 57 ALL Single decker's as it does go through: South Nitshill, Priesthill, etc

 

[PaulMc7]

Also they would keep the 57 ALL Single decker's as it does go through: South Nitshill, Priesthill, etc

Occasionally, there is one or two that is a double decker but it always seems to be very late evening or the night bus for the 57. Everything else seems to be single deckers. I've not seen any update on what happened though so whether First put double deckers back on is anyone's guess. The 6/6A situation with Knightswood Secondary School is the same. I've not seen anything else regarding issues since that one day where kids were banned from using them in the afternoon.

 

[E400Lover101]

Also they would keep the 57 ALL Single decker's as it does go through: South Nitshill, Priesthill, etc

It may cause capacity issues but it is to stop neds from setting fire to the back of the bus and it would be better for the newer buses to go on the 57A, 10, 57 and X8 as they have a fire alarm sounder. It means if one starts up, everybody evacuates.

 

[route101]

Anyone know what routes the Yutongs are on today?

 

[Volvodart]

Only one is tracking on the 7 on bustimes.org so far.

 

[E400Lover101]

Anyone know what routes the Yutongs are on today?

65101 is on the 7A and 65102 is on the 7.

The Rest are sitting in Caley.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

Only one is tracking on the 7 on bustimes.org so far.

Nice to see it tracking again. I hope it’s not just a one off again and it remains.

 

[route101]

65101 is on the 7A and 65102 is on the 7.

The Rest are sitting in Caley.

Never seen them. There was a crash on Dumbarton Road near Yoker which meant services were diverted.

 

[PaulMc7]

Are First planning any other service changes in June/July? I'm wondering because I'm in the middle of getting back into employment and I was looking to widen my prospects but only if the buses allow for it. Some areas get a bit close for timings due to me getting 2 or 3 buses.

 

[zero]

Going to Glasgow again in a few weeks and planning what buses I might need.

Looks like there was a price rise on the start of the month... are the prices now the same on the app as buying on the bus? I hate m-tickets.

Also can I confirm that an airport single of £10 lets me take the 500 plus one other First Glasgow bus anywhere?

Alternatively I can pay £7.25 for a day ticket which includes the 77 from the airport?

 

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

Going to Glasgow again in a few weeks and planning what buses I might need.

Looks like there was a price rise on the start of the month... are the prices now the same on the app as buying on the bus? I hate m-tickets.

They're cheaper on the app.

Also can I confirm that an airport single of £10 lets me take the 500 plus one other First Glasgow bus anywhere?

That is correct.

So for example, the number 9 to Buchanan Bus Station, then the 500 to the airport.

Alternatively I can pay £7.25 for a day ticket which includes the 77 from the airport?

No, you cannot do this; it will scan or print outside the airport area but if boarding at the airport it won’t scan or print given the Ticketer's GPS location, even on the 77 service.

To do so you need the specific Glasgow Airport All Day which includes all other services and costs £15.

 

[AndrewTaylor95]

They're cheaper on the app.


That is correct.

So for example, the number 9 to Buchanan Bus Station, then the 500 to the airport.


No, you cannot do this; it will scan or print outside the airport area but if boarding at the airport it won’t scan or print given the Ticketer's GPS location, even on the 77 service.

To do so you need the specific Glasgow Airport All Day which includes all other services and costs £15.

Prices are the same on the app as on the bus now.

 

[gnolife]

No, you cannot do this; it will scan or print outside the airport area but if boarding at the airport it won’t scan or print given the Ticketer's GPS location, even on the 77 service.

I'm pretty sure that this isn't right. I'm sure I've bought network day tickets on the 77 in the past, travelling from the Airport.

 

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

Prices are the same on the app as on the bus now.

I’ve not been in Glasgow for quite some time, they certainly used to be..

 

[sannox]

I'm pretty sure that this isn't right. I'm sure I've bought network day tickets on the 77 in the past, travelling from the Airport.

Network tickets were accepted to the airport in the past. No idea if that's different now?

 

[hexagon789]

Network tickets were accepted to the airport in the past. No idea if that's different now?

The T&Cs don't say anything about not being valid to the airport, but do state 'Not valid on Night Bus services or Glasgow Airport service 500'.

 

[lastbus]

Heard the yutongs may be redirected to Glasgow with new BYD buses going to Aberdeen instead.

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

Heard the yutongs may be redirected to Glasgow with new BYD buses going to Aberdeen instead.

That makes sensel the Yutongs have full Glasgow branding.

 

[PaulMc7]

Heard the yutongs may be redirected to Glasgow with new BYD buses going to Aberdeen instead.

Would that make it 24 Yutongs and 26 E200EVs to Scotstoun then, given that it was initially 50 E200EVs to Scotstoun and 24 Yutongs to Aberdeen?

 

[JumpinTrainz]

I’m here for the Yutongs staying at Glasgow, however it seems really backwards and poorly thought out considering that all 24 Yutongs would need to be repainted.

Would the routes being covered at Aberdeen be better suited to E200EVs than Yutongs?

 

[fife_circle]

That makes sensel the Yutongs have full Glasgow branding.

Only 6 of them have some sort of Glasgow branding, all 24 are in the Aberdeen livery. It would be sad to see the yutongs not go to Aberdeen. And of course 3 or 4 are already up there.

I’m also not too sure how different the 200MMC and 200EV are but Aberdeen are currently in the process of transferring all of their MMC’s down to Glasgow anyway.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Heard the yutongs may be redirected to Glasgow with new BYD buses going to Aberdeen instead.

This is just an unsubstantiated rumour that has been ongoing since the day the first six arrived in Glasgow.

It had always been intended that six would go on loan to Glasgow for around a month. Delays with the installation of the chargers in Aberdeen has seen that extended. Aberdeen is still expecting the Yutongs to transfer by the end of this month and they're also already training staff on them.

That makes sensel the Yutongs have full Glasgow branding.

Vinyls are easy to fit and remove. As mentioned above, the Yutongs were always due to go on trial in Glasgow so they would've ordered the vinyls for them beforehand. I wouldn't read in to it too much.

 

[lastbus]

This is just an unsubstantiated rumour that has been ongoing since the day the first six arrived in Glasgow.

It had always been intended that six would go on loan to Glasgow for around a month. Delays with the installation of the chargers in Aberdeen has seen that extended. Aberdeen is still expecting the Yutongs to transfer by the end of this month and they're also already training staff on them.

Vinyls are easy to fit and remove. As mentioned above, the Yutongs were always due to go on trial in Glasgow so they would've ordered the vinyls for them beforehand. I wouldn't read in to it too much.

Given it came from the Managing Director of Scotland on his podcast to staff I wouldn’t say it’s unsubstantiated.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Given it came from the Managing Director of Scotland on his podcast to staff I wouldn’t say it’s unsubstantiated.

Is there any link/source to this? If so then it's certainly news at Aberdeen end... As I say people have been making this claim since the day they arrived in Glasgow even though the loan and trial period had been in the planning months in advance.

 

[lastbus]

Is there any link/source to this? If so then it's certainly news at Aberdeen end... As I say people have been making this claim since the day they arrived in Glasgow even though the loan and trial period had been in the planning months in advance.

It’s a podcast available to employees only.

 

[AndrewTaylor95]

It’s a podcast available to employees only.

Yutongs have far better battery life than the BYDs too. The ones we have now last a full day in full service most of the time. 65105 had been on the 34 all day and the 21:30 from Ardencraig Road to Govan still had 48% battery left and where I got off in Cardonald it was only down to 46% so they're certainly a far superior Electric bus than the BYDs. The BYD is a terrible product in my opinion, the build quality on them is abysmal; the amount of panels that move about on them is astonishing.

 

[PaulMc7]

Yutongs have far better battery life than the BYDs too. The ones we have now last a full day in full service most of the time. 65105 had been on the 34 all day and the 21:30 from Ardencraig Road to Govan still had 48% battery left and where I got off in Cardonald it was only down to 46% so they're certainly a far superior Electric bus than the BYDs. The BYD is a terrible product in my opinion, the build quality on them is abysmal; the amount of panels that move about on them is astonishing.

I fully agree with you on everything here. The E200EVs and E400EVs feel really flimsy and poorly built and the layout of them really isn't good either. The Yutong battery life is very good but I didn't quite realise it was that impressive. As a passenger, I hope we are done with E200EVs because the Yutongs are vastly superior in every way and clearly from an operational point of view, they're also better in every way. I hope First find an alternative to the E400EVs too soon given that a lot of double deckers are nearing the end of service in the next few years.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

Yutongs have far better battery life than the BYDs too. The ones we have now last a full day in full service most of the time. 65105 had been on the 34 all day and the 21:30 from Ardencraig Road to Govan still had 48% battery left and where I got off in Cardonald it was only down to 46% so they're certainly a far superior Electric bus than the BYDs. The BYD is a terrible product in my opinion, the build quality on them is abysmal; the amount of panels that move about on them is astonishing.

Which begs the question why First aren’t just ordering Yutongs for both Glasgow and Aberdeen. Now we have 50 BYD’s coming to Scotstoun for routes that would benefit from the longer range.

 

[Buzby]

As I recall on a visit to ADL at Camelon, UK service providers are ‘encouraged’ to purchase UK product with various incentives that are not limited to price so there may well be political pressure that precludes operators fully accepting Yutongs exclusively, even if a better product.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

As I recall on a visit to ADL at Camelon, UK service providers as ‘encouraged’ to purchase UK product with various incentives that are not limited to price so there may well be political pressure that precludes operators fully accepting Yutongs exclusively, even if a better product.

Agreed. There will be a certain pressure into ordering ADL/BYD products, however surely when they already have 59 E200EVs and 91 E400EVs in the fleet - I’d say ordering a further E200EVs is lunacy this point. Scotstoun should be getting Yutongs for the 2 and 3 as they are long routes and would be perfect. The Yutongs have also proven to be a success in Glasgow as expected.

I get that there are expectations for ordering but when it becomes impractical surely that has to be taken into consideration. Most current EV’s are in the depot for tea time while the diesels continue on throughout the night due to range.

No doubt in the very near future when the B9TLs need replaced they’ll opt for the new generation ADL E400EVs which have improved range. I suspect there will be some re-jigging in the future with the current E200EVs and E400EVs as newer more improved range buses are added to the fleet.