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First Greater Glasgow
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Scotstoun's location is too valuable for me to ever see it closing, unless they invest heavily in a new depot somewhere. The 2 and 6 are the only services that really have dead mileage issues, given that they're fully operated by Scotstoun. The 8 and 90 has some due to the Parkhead starts on some early journeys. The only way of getting around that would be having a major swap around of services between depots and giving Scotstoun part of a few services that terminate nearby, like at Clydebank/Milngavie for the 60/60A and Summerston for the 7/7A and 61. The 4/4A for Broomhill would also be another easy one but I don't really ever see it happening.
On another note, 67090 is currently on the 1B. I've seen it in Glasgow just now.
I've now also just seen a Streetlite on the 6 again too.
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First 60 and 60A were previously operated by Scotstoun when they had a share of workings at Scotstoun. Similarly the last ones at night. However currently totally Caledonia. Until the service frequency gets increased.
I don't know if they'll get increased in frequency again and I'd imagine there are quite a few services ahead of them in terms of priority for increases. At peak times, the 60/60A are incredibly busy but outside of that they've not been great when I've used them. I don't imagine that the reliability convinces people to use them though. I noticed multiple times today where there was bundles of them close by then about 40-50 minutes between buses.
If I had to hazard a guess at what services will see frequency increases when resources allow for that, it'll be the 2, 3, 9/9A, 41, 57/57A, 61, 75, 87, 88, 201 and 240. This is based on my experience of using the network over the past couple of months. I go a lot of random wanders so I use quite a lot of services at different times.
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Having seen the new Pride livery on 34362, are there any plans to paint more buses into it? I know First wouldn't ever do it but if it was made into a livery for the entire fleet, I'd be pretty happy as it's easily the best livery any bus has had for First.
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ScotRail158725
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Jordan Adam
Established Member
Aberdeen were meant to be getting one done, although i won't be shocked if those plans have been shelved too - much like the second heritage livery Enviro500 has been!
JumpinTrainz
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Now the pride livery on an E500 is one I’d like to see! It’s such a smart livery. I prefer it to the boring urban livery.
This is exactly why I asked about the Pride livery. The urban one is incredibly dull. I get why they use the urban one but being very corporate is probably part of why First aren't very liked here although it's not the only reason. Everything feels very soulless.
The problem with the urban livery is, its all over the place. disregarding the branded vehicles, some have plain fronts (E400evs as example), small purple section (B9TLs), large purple section (E200,E300,E400classic), near full purple front example (44679). Flickr link to 44679 By Kieran
It also is a livery which gets grotty very easily with that being muck, rust or oil/fuel spillage etc. Livery looks its best just out the paintshop and after a decent wash
I fully agree with you on everything here and I'm glad I'm not the only one who notices this. Speaking of cleanliness etc, I got a 1C earlier that was a Streetlite and the destination and number were barely visible because of how dirty/sticky it looked. I don't know what happened but it was almost impossible to tell what it was until it was practically at the bus stop. It was as if someone had just poured litres of Coca Cola down the front from the roof of the bus.The problem with the urban livery is, its all over the place. disregarding the branded vehicles, some have plain fronts (E400evs as example), small purple section (B9TLs), large purple section (E200,E300,E400classic), near full purple front example (44679). Flickr link to 44679 By Kieran
It also is a livery which gets grotty very easily with that being muck, rust or oil/fuel spillage etc. Livery looks its best just out the paintshop and after a decent wash
GusB
Established Member
Do passengers actually care what livery a bus carries? The biggest concern is whether or not the bus turns up.
Trnsprt4Sctlnd
Member
Well you’ll certainly very seldom look at one and think it’s well presented and clean..
But I suppose your right as long as it shows up..
Jordan Adam
Established Member
Even if that were the case they likely wouldn't notice either. The general public only tend to notice things when there's change or something goes wrong...
I think cleanliness and presentation are probably more important now than ever especially with Covid having been a thing so a lot of people expect better. I still see people every so often using their own wipes to clean poles and window ledges on buses too. It isn't always First's fault that buses aren't the cleanest but I can see why it could easily make someone stop using them.
I agree that service changes and things going wrong like buses being mega late or not turning up are the biggest issues. I will say that I've seen almost no reaction to the Dumbarton changes this coming Sunday, although they're minimal so that's probably why. If there are changes elsewhere soon which I'd be pleasantly surprised if there isn't then I'd imagine there will be more reaction depending on what happens. So far, the only things are SPT related with the 11 and 71A being lost by First in July.
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passenger numbers went up here because the buses were repainted into a new livery for the route!
From experience before Covid, it definitely seemed like this happened with the 65 at least. Getting better buses probably helped a lot more than people realise and that's why I think First hugely underestimate the importance of comfort and presentation. If the fleet was more well-maintained, clean and the seats were far more comfortable, I'd imagine that it would buses a million times more enticing to use than they currently are for some people.
I don't disagree with the first two, but what's wrong with the seats? How much more comfortable can they be realistically be made?
A lot of seats, especially on some of the older buses but certainly not excluding the E300s and E400s, are absolutely worn to bits and really threadbare to the point it feels like sitting on concrete sometimes, especially on the E400s. I'm not saying I expect luxury coach levels of comfort but replacing the really badly worn ones as soon as they get really bad, instead of letting them get worse and just never replacing them, would be a good start.
Trnsprt4Sctlnd
Member
Does any other eagle eyed person notice a lot of the CCTV camera outer lenses that have been cleaned up? This is from 37741.
When buses keep getting trashed the reality is there seems no point in doing them up.
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All the Blantyre E300s have had and worn headrests or seats re-trimmed.
The problem is that Blantyre has a minimal amount of E300s compared to Scotstoun and Dumbarton. Those two depots are also the two that operate the main services I use too. Outside of the odd trip to East Kilbride and Hamilton, I don't use Blantyre based services as often compared to Scotstoun and Dumbarton services especially as my journey has to start or end with a service operated by them due to where I live. I use the 267 to Rutherglen and Cambuslang sometimes but it's very rarely not an E400MMC from experience.
Obviously the public don't always help by leaving litter, spilling juice and peeling material off of the seats but the standards should be much higher and also more consistent across every depot. From the experiences I have had, the 2 Lanarkshire depots seem to put more effort into a lot of things. On another note, my experience of drivers follows this too. Other than one Blantyre driver on the 263, the drivers from Blantyre and Overtown have been very pleasant. It's been getting better overall across the board though with so many new starts.
That's "ensure seats are in good condition", not make them "far more comfortable".
By doing the first, you are far more likely to do the second.
Seats in good condition are very rarely uncomfortable whereas seats in dreadful condition are never comfortable. Even for short journeys, it can be really off-putting if seats are in poor condition. I can see why it would make people choose other methods of transport and I know people that did change because of things like comfort. The main reason I stick to the bus despite having issues with my shoulder and back in particular is the cost difference compared to the train for monthly tickets. If the trains were reasonably priced over longer distances then it becomes much closer in what I'd choose to use.
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Yes, but I read "If the fleet was more well-maintained, clean and the seats were far more comfortable..." as meaning that the current seats, even if perfectly maintained, were nowhere near good enough - which does make it seem like you were suggesting luxury coach seats were necessary.
I can see your point and how that was taken. My apologies. Luxury coach seats aren't necessary but if the current ones are kept in great condition, they'll definitely be a lot more comfortable and acceptable. The E300s and E400s at First were pretty good from my use of them but the standards really slipped. The only buses I've never liked for comfort and the rather annoying rattle are the Streetlites. The seats downstairs at the back on an E400EV aren't great but upstairs on them is a good journey. Out of everything at the moment, I prefer the E400MMCs and Yutongs which is why I'm hoping that First go down this road in future after the E200EVs get here for Scotstoun.
34396
I feel really bad for drivers of the 3 now with the roadworks at the junction of Barrhead Road and Crookston Road to add to the ones still going on in Partick. The route is bad enough for reliability without any roadworks. My 3 from Govan to Queens Park took an hour and 15 minutes. A 3 came in and left as a "not in service" then my 3 was only running to Oswald Street and another 3 was immediately behind that too. Some people had been waiting 35-40 minutes as a result at Govan too. My one was practically full from Cardonald Aldi to Silverburn Bus Station.
I rarely use services operated by any of the Lanarkshire depots either but it was an observation I made when using a 201 which I rarely do. Blantyre E300s are in far better condition than any of Scotstoun‘s which most of the services I use are operated from.
Also talking about Lanarkshire. Does anyone know why some buses operated from Blantyre carry “Lanarkshire” fleetnames and some carry “Glasgow” ones, oh and some don’t carry any at all?