The replacement policy was actually fairly reasonable until 2005. Then they reduced the spend to keep cash to help fund the Laidlaw deal and then had the struggle to make the payments!
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Why odd? First operate into Camberley and anyway my interest has always been nationwide.
Volvo - personal prejudice mixed with a tiny piece of patriotism - ok most Manufacturers are multi-national 'assemblers' of parts.
Clearly I don't like First, so areas which I would like to see sold/closed down/ decline would cause me disappointment if they receive new buses.
Sentiment and prejudice aside, if i was an investor in First I would want to see investment in areas which clearly have a future.
It would seem that despite the best efforts of Firsts revitalised Management, FSE and D & C are fighting a losing battle, at some stage they are going to have to bite the bullet and make some hard decisions.
Good news just in, I note that First have lost a P & R contract in Cardiff to Cardiff Bus.
It's odd because First are hardly a major purveyor of bus services in Surrey. Wow, a service to Camberley? Hardly a major insight. As for interested nationally, fair enough but if you had First as a local operator, then you'd have a bit more knowledge to rely on. I'd not get too excited by FC losing the P&R in Cardiff. Guess it balances out the wins for the T9 and the 40/40c?
Also, I think you'll see some First areas getting new kit; christ, even Weymouth got some new kit this year (2013) for the first time since 1999 (excluding those funded for the X53 by LAs)
I'd expect new kit appearing in places like Potteries and Cornwall (though perhaps Somerset and other places may still have to rely on the cascading of kit across the fleet). As Winston says, some of these will need to get some new kit to change the old problems so perhaps (for instance) the 14/18 in Cornwall might attract some new machinery.
Whilst I applaud your jingoism, sadly the worst machines I have travelled on recently have been ADL e200s and they're all British. Appreciate the higher fuel consumption, but the Volvos are very good kit in terms of reliability and ride. The reason why Solos don't have the issue so much with DDA is that on kit like Darts and B6s, the problem is to do with wheelarches and wheelchair access. So the odd retrofitted ramp and ironing board with the Solo and you're largely there. As Mr Bonwick rightly says, the larger machines (B10BLEs/Wt Renown with First, MAN/ALX300 with Stagecoach) may actually only need a relatively light makeover.
Now, you may be right but there's no guarantee that the new buses are showing how lucrative the Borders are but assuming that is the case, I'd still expect BN and Larbert to be profitable following a bit of investment and management focus.
