First Greater Glasgow

[awsnews]

Indeed, but they'll be coming off very soon...

There must have been a change of plan, it had been said that they would see out this year.

 

[laststop@96]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bloodbus-Tales-Glasgow-Night-Bus/dp/1845021762
Who has read this book very funny about the driving life of a glasgow bus driver.
Does anyone know the real name behind the driver.

 

[Bus Lightyear]

where did the 66b go because it would not get under bridge at busby and who was white ribbon.

Some fine motors in that film. Ailsas, Volvo Citybuses, a KCB Tiger and an Atlantean.

 

[Bus Lightyear]

Didn't the 66B go from East Kilbride to Mountblow/Dalmuir West or was it curtailed prior to First coming in?

The 66-66A-66B all went from East Kildride to Annisland with the 66 to Knightswood and the A an B to Antonine Park and Mountblow. They all went different routes around EK. Then it was all made simple when Overground started.

 

[lastbus]

Indeed, but they'll be coming off very soon...

What is replacing them?

 

[Bus Lightyear]

Seeing as it's got the the hardest seats known to man, I'll phone the chiropractor now in advance. Hopefully First don't put it out on the road. Can't think of anything worse in Glasgow these days since the introduction of the new fleet.

You hardly notice how hard the seats are on the B10ble because they have very good suspension. Different story with the Scania which are really bad for bangs and rattles. Only a small number are still running with First Glasgow now.

 

[Bus Lightyear]

What is replacing them?

I'm wondering that myself. I think FG have received all 150 new buses but I haven't heard or read of anymore coming.

 

[lastbus]

Is the 201 actually going to be route branded? Several of Blantyres E300s now have the painted front however no branding has been applied.

 

[Jordan Adam]

You hardly notice how hard the seats are on the B10ble because they have very good suspension. Different story with the Scania which are really bad for bangs and rattles. Only a small number are still running with First Glasgow now.

As i mentioned early with 62151 the seats are not an issue as the majority were reupholstered about a year ago. The back row, tip ups, Wheelchair backrest and side facing front seats were not done, however i believe they will be done when it goes down to Glasgow for the repaint and clean up.

 

[Bus Lightyear]

As i mentioned early with 62151 the seats are not an issue as the majority were reupholstered about a year ago. The back row, tip ups, Wheelchair backrest and side facing front seats were not done, however i believe they will be done when it goes down to Glasgow for the repaint and clean up.

The fabric on those seats look very clean despite the age of the bus.

That type of seating is very hard and is best suited for short distance travellers but as I said the excellent suspension on the Volvo B10ble more than makes up for it.

 

[SarahDFIG]

Is the 201 actually going to be route branded? Several of Blantyres E300s now have the painted front however no branding has been applied.

I was told they were suppose to be branded weeks ago but guessing my source was meaning paint. I have asked the Q about the branding but not got an answer regarding it but tbh they look daft painted and no branding applied.

in terms of the B10BLEs they were suppose to be withdrawn by now but plans changed. will now stay until end of the year at least.

 

[Jordan Adam]

I was told they were suppose to be branded weeks ago but guessing my source was meaning paint. I have asked the Q about the branding but not got an answer regarding it but tbh they look daft painted and no branding applied.

in terms of the B10BLEs they were suppose to be withdrawn by now but plans changed. will now stay until end of the year at least.

There may have been issues with the branding, it can quite often take months for new branding to be ordered, printed and delivered.

With the B10BLEs it's just what i have been told at the Aberdeen end of things. Obviously most things are subject to change, 62151 may not see service. It's just a possibility.

 

[KGGXXXY]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bloodbus-Tales-Glasgow-Night-Bus/dp/1845021762
Who has read this book very funny about the driving life of a glasgow bus driver.
Does anyone know the real name behind the driver.

If I'm not mistaken the busandcoach forum which died off a few years ago was previously called the "Bloodbus Forum" as bits of it still mentioned it, don't know if linked or just named after.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

If I'm not mistaken the busandcoach forum which died off a few years ago was previously called the "Bloodbus Forum" as bits of it still mentioned it, don't know if linked or just named after.

What ever happened to that forum. I used to be a member then it just disappeared one day and it still seemed pretty active to me...

 

[Volvodart]

Owner did not renew the domain.

 

[GusB]

"Bloodbus" was quite an entertaining blog. I can't remember how I came across it, but it was rather scathing in its depictions of First Glasgow customers - I remember one punter being regularly described as the "electric Scarecrow". It was a honest appraisal of the world by someone who works/worked in a customer-facing role, yet has/had no real voice against the ar******* that they have to deal with on a daily basis.

From the Hootsmon https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/it-s-been-a-journey-concludes-blogging-bus-driver-1-1354436:

IT PICKED up hundreds of thousands of loyal passengers, spawned a bestselling book and was even turned into a BBC comedy show.
But now Bloodbus, the lurid blog written by an anonymous Glasgow driver, has been driven off the road for good.

The maverick driver has abandoned the whistleblowing website in a bid to keep his job –

"The Driver" claims he was on the brink of being unmasked.

He insisted the blog, which attracted more than 75,000 hits a month, was an honest attempt to expose the routinely violent conditions he and his colleagues were exposed to.

But transport giant First, which employs the writer, were less than amused and insisted that he routinely overdramatised and misrepresented the realities of life on the buses in Scotland's biggest city.

Visitors to the site are greeted with the message: "The Bloodbus blog has finished. Thanks to everyone who visited the site, bought the book, posted comments and listened in to the radio show. But, the time has come to make my exit. See ya!"

The irreverent driver felt the site had become a victim of its own popularity.

He said: "Put yourself in my position. You run a website that could get you fired. You've told various people that you run this website and, despite swearing them to secrecy, they still go out and tell people.

"The number of people who know about you is growing out of control every day."

The former blogger rubbished claims he was closing the site down in frustration after being unable to milk it further as a cash cow: "It's the lack of cash that's making me want to disappear. I need my job."

When in May the BBC made a radio programme of the blog, the driver claims his employers intensified the hunt for the mole in their midst.

He said: "Their response was to haul in drivers and ask them, in no uncertain terms, whether they were responsible. If they ever do find out you can bet I'll be hauled off my bus.

"But I don't have any regrets about telling the truth about how things really are. I had people who fell down drunk and were smoking dope and being abusive."

The website featured a diary of profane, explicit, violent and vomit-splattered accounts about unruly passengers. It also displayed in-bus CCTV footage of passengers fighting and collapsing unconscious on to the floor, as well as graphic and unflattering caricatures of unsavoury characters who boarded the Driver's bus.

One entry told of an intoxicated young woman pulling down her tracksuit bottoms to urinate, while another had a heroin addict injecting a syringe into her eyeball.

Passengers were categorised as "drunkies", "junkies", "neds" and "muppets", pensioners were referred to as "bladder happy stinkers" and shellsuited youths as "urban cavemen".

The introduction to the site stated: "Unable to keep it to myself any longer, this blog is a chronicle of my experiences driving a bus through the murder capital of Europe. Mind how you go."

Some colleagues are dismayed at the end of the blog. One wrote in an online message: "Farewell Driver. Many of us have shared in your wide range of emotions, laughing, crying and at times being downright angry about the actions of passengers and management. The passing of the site will be lamented, but it will surely go down in folklore as a Glasgow institution."

BBC Scotland made a comedy drama of Bloodbus with the voices of Still Game actor Gavin Mitchell and Jordan Young, of hit stage play Black Watch.

The busman adapted his online writings for the radio, but turned down an invitation to take up a cameo role for fear that First executives would hear it, recognise his voice and launch disciplinary action.

A spokesman for First said: "Whilst Bloodbus was undoubtedly a blog with entertainment value for readers we feel that the portrayal of bus travel in the blog did create a false impression of the overall journey experience for our passengers."

Last month Detective Constable Richard Horton, whose anonymous blog Night Jack - An English Detective criticised government ministers and superiors, was disciplined by his force after being outed.

 

[laststop@96]

route 75 milton to castlemilk 11 mins those new buses must make a big diffrence.

 

[ScotRail158725]

Aha its nice to see people seeing my videos

 

[Bluebirdscot66]

Brings back some memories there with that route .

 

[route101]

route 75 milton to castlemilk 11 mins those new buses must make a big diffrence.

I did see 3 or 4 E400s bunched up on the 75 when the new buses came in , i think the problem is now on 77 and 38.

 

[route101]

"Bloodbus" was quite an entertaining blog. I can't remember how I came across it, but it was rather scathing in its depictions of First Glasgow customers - I remember one punter being regularly described as the "electric Scarecrow". It was a honest appraisal of the world by someone who works/worked in a customer-facing role, yet has/had no real voice against the ar******* that they have to deal with on a daily basis.

From the Hootsmon https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/it-s-been-a-journey-concludes-blogging-bus-driver-1-1354436:

Yeah , remember that forum , could someone renew the domain ?

 

[route101]

You hardly notice how hard the seats are on the B10ble because they have very good suspension. Different story with the Scania which are really bad for bangs and rattles. Only a small number are still running with First Glasgow now.

The B10bles are fast compared to the new buses

 

[Volvodart]

I think whoever got it wants an extortionate amount, or certainly did so before.

 

[route101]

The 66-66A-66B all went from East Kildride to Annisland with the 66 to Knightswood and the A an B to Antonine Park and Mountblow. They all went different routes around EK. Then it was all made simple when Overground started.

Rememeber being on a 66b and heading around Greenhills ! Used to be a 166 that went that way

 

[route101]

Again, it’s another one of those generational things.

Remember seeing my first Olympian - it seemed spaceage compared to Fleetlines and Atlanteans and VRs. Now, just the odd schools bus and a staple of bus rallies!

80S AND 90S buses were boxy and now going back to curvier models

 

[route101]

I think whoever got it wants an extortionate amount, or certainly did so before.

I see , this is the only place for First Glasgow news for me , since the mystery purge of the FB group

 

[alangla]

80S AND 90S buses were boxy and now going back to curvier models

Is it just me, or, if you squint a bit, you can see a bit of a family resemblance between an E400 City and a late model Glasgow Atlantean? Especially if you look at the upper deck domes etc. Mind you, I thought the Borismaster looked a bit like an Atlantean from certain angles so it probably is just me!

 

[christopherrfc]

First Glasgow Caledonia depot is having an open day on the 7th of July to celebrate 125 years of buses in Glasgow and are also repainting some buses into some of the original Glasgow liveries

 

[GaryMcEwan]

First Glasgow Caledonia depot is having an open day on the 7th of July to celebrate 125 years of buses in Glasgow and are also repainting some buses into some of the original Glasgow liveries

Is it too much to wish for Starthclyde Red to make a long waited resurrection?

 

[KGGXXXY]

First Glasgow Caledonia depot is having an open day on the 7th of July to celebrate 125 years of buses in Glasgow and are also repainting some buses into some of the original Glasgow liveries

Do you know when this will be publicly annocunced, would be interesting to see the new depot, been in Larkfield when my late uncle worked there, and Laotian's various open days when I lived in Edinburgh.

Is it too much to wish for Starthclyde Red to make a long waited resurrection?

Strathclyde Red, and hopefully the transclyde variants of the traditional green and gold liveries too