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PaulMc7

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I find it amusing they've given that service an X number when there is nothing "Express" about the service.

Definitely agree with that. The X10A is just under 2 hours 30 mins from one end to the other if it's on time and the X10 is just about 2 hours too. Always thought First were a bit too quick to give the X infront of numbers especially in recent times
 

Jordan Adam

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Definitely agree with that. The X10A is just under 2 hours 30 mins from one end to the other if it's on time and the X10 is just about 2 hours too. Always thought First were a bit too quick to give the X infront of numbers especially in recent times

The time end to end is somewhat irrelevant as it's a fairly long route. But i do agree that it shouldn't really have the X prefix, if it was limited stop in Glasgow i'd maybe let them off. But it's not.
 

smtglasgow

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Was there a reason why it was the B10 before? Don’t suppose anyone is using it end to end. If you live in Balfron or Killearn it’s a probably as fast as it can be - the A81 isn’t a great road and it’s full of 4x4’s hammering along. Still surprised that they ditched the 10a school journeys down Great Western Rd. They used to be busy enough for a double decker. Are the Kelvinside Academy pupils having to walk from Maryhill Rd? That could be….interesting.
 

PaulMc7

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Was there a reason why it was the B10 before? Don’t suppose anyone is using it end to end. If you live in Balfron or Killearn it’s a probably as fast as it can be - the A81 isn’t a great road and it’s full of 4x4’s hammering along. Still surprised that they ditched the 10a school journeys down Great Western Rd. They used to be busy enough for a double decker. Are the Kelvinside Academy pupils having to walk from Maryhill Rd? That could be….interesting.

There's quite a few schools near there tbh and that 10A was definitely busy enough from what I seen. Just between Cowcaddens and towards Gartnavel I've seen uniforms of at least 3 schools. Not sure if there are others too but I know Notre Dame high and Hillhead secondary are nearby
 

alphabravo43

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There's quite a few schools near there tbh and that 10A was definitely busy enough from what I seen. Just between Cowcaddens and towards Gartnavel I've seen uniforms of at least 3 schools. Not sure if there are others too but I know Notre Dame high and Hillhead secondary are nearby
Coming from Balfron and using the 10A a few times, the service had dropped in popularity over the last few years, perhaps as people tightening spending on private school compared to before with going with the local high school at Balfron which is pretty highly rated.
As for the B10, it used to actually be the 10 and then when contracted journeys came in they were C10 and I believe the B10 came about to differentiate between the midland 10 and the Glasgow 10 as I think they used to share part of the route around Maryhill.
The services into Glasgow used to be limited stop, in the 70s when my mum was using the buses to commute to Glasgow once they were past the Glasgow boundary they were set down only and pick up only on the way back. She did say they used to be much quicker. The diversion around Kessington adds quite a bit of time as well, the service was diverted up there under some sort of agreement with Glasgow so they could withdraw their service.
 

CM

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Perhaps it's time First/Scotrail started working together and the X10 could be curtailed to Milngavie Station with through tickets being available on the bus/train. Bus wise Milngavie already has the 60A running more or less the exact same route to the City Centre and there is also the Glasgow Citybus service 15 which operates partly along Great Western Road and via Hyndland. Last but not least Milngavie has 4 trains per hour to the City as well.
 

PaulMc7

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Perhaps it's time First/Scotrail started working together and the X10 could be curtailed to Milngavie Station with through tickets being available on the bus/train. Bus wise Milngavie already has the 60A running more or less the exact same route to the City Centre and there is also the Glasgow Citybus service 15 which operates partly along Great Western Road and via Hyndland. Last but not least Milngavie has 4 trains per hour to the City as well.

Think the only chance of that happening would be if the buses were nationalised or the trains were too. The 60A usage isn't great either as Milngavie is a well off area with a lot of car use. The 15 was scrapped and then brought back too with SPT funding in part so it's definitely a tricky one. Public transport users are definitely the ones that suffer most up there though
 

Stef434

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Coming from Balfron and using the 10A a few times, the service had dropped in popularity over the last few years, perhaps as people tightening spending on private school compared to before with going with the local high school at Balfron which is pretty highly rated.
As for the B10, it used to actually be the 10 and then when contracted journeys came in they were C10 and I believe the B10 came about to differentiate between the midland 10 and the Glasgow 10 as I think they used to share part of the route around Maryhill.
The services into Glasgow used to be limited stop, in the 70s when my mum was using the buses to commute to Glasgow once they were past the Glasgow boundary they were set down only and pick up only on the way back. She did say they used to be much quicker. The diversion around Kessington adds quite a bit of time as well, the service was diverted up there under some sort of agreement with Glasgow so they could withdraw their service.
That's correct the B10 had various stipulations attached between FiG /FmB/FSE also the internal backchat between FiG/FmB/FSE bear in mind the various LA areas the service operated through
 

Stef434

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Definitely agree with that. The X10A is just under 2 hours 30 mins from one end to the other if it's on time and the X10 is just about 2 hours too. Always thought First were a bit too quick to give the X infront of numbers especially in recent times
I guess you have worked at First and registered services then ,can you give an insight as to why First were too quick to plant an X prefix in front of numbers.
 

Stef434

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Perhaps it's time First/Scotrail started working together and the X10 could be curtailed to Milngavie Station with through tickets being available on the bus/train. Bus wise Milngavie already has the 60A running more or less the exact same route to the City Centre and there is also the Glasgow Citybus service 15 which operates partly along Great Western Road and via Hyndland. Last but not least Milngavie has 4 trains per hour to the City as well.
First UK Bus were not allowed to work with First Scotrail even the buses used for rail disruptions were operated under sub contract by an outside company on a retainer basis and the X10 is operated by a different company so therefore First wont offer connections between two First Companies and never( no physical guarantees that each bus will connect) will let alone an outside company
 

PaulMc7

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I guess you have worked at First and registered services then ,can you give an insight as to why First were too quick to plant an X prefix in front of numbers.

Bit of a dramatic unneccessary response to an opinion there. I haven't but to me an X makes most sense on a service that's a genuine express route. Could make a case for limited stop services but in terms of actual expresses X's should be used on either services through motorways or genuinely fast routes that are alternative versions of other services
 

lastbus

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Bit of a dramatic unneccessary response to an opinion there. I haven't but to me an X makes most sense on a service that's a genuine express route. Could make a case for limited stop services but in terms of actual expresses X's should be used on either services through motorways or genuinely fast routes that are alternative versions of other services
Don’t see the problem with them putting an X infront of it.
 

lastbus

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X normally implies a service is Direct "Express" and/or limited stop. Arguably the X10/X10A are neither of those.
It’s the quickest bus to Glasgow from Balfron area and quickest from Stirling to Balfron so for me no issue with it being an X service. However everyone’s entitled to their opinion.
 

lastbus

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First UK Bus were not allowed to work with First Scotrail even the buses used for rail disruptions were operated under sub contract by an outside company on a retainer basis and the X10 is operated by a different company so therefore First wont offer connections between two First Companies and never( no physical guarantees that each bus will connect) will let alone an outside company
Better hope First don’t get the ScotRail franchise back it only caused problems for the bus side of it.
 

GaryMcEwan

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First UK Bus were not allowed to work with First Scotrail even the buses used for rail disruptions were operated under sub contract by an outside company on a retainer basis and the X10 is operated by a different company so therefore First wont offer connections between two First Companies and never( no physical guarantees that each bus will connect) will let alone an outside company

Interesting. In Glasgow at least not long before First lost ScotRail, First Bus were utilised to allow passengers to use local services to get to their destinations.

I remember when Abellio took over there was some concerns raised on social media if that was still going to continue. Thankfully it still continues to this day.
 
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Jordan Adam

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It’s the quickest bus to Glasgow from Balfron area and quickest from Stirling to Balfron so for me no issue with it being an X service. However everyone’s entitled to their opinion.

It's only the quickest because it's the only bus!
 

gnolife

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It’s the quickest bus to Glasgow from Balfron area and quickest from Stirling to Balfron so for me no issue with it being an X service. However everyone’s entitled to their opinion.
How does it compare with bus via Cumbernauld (I forget the number) to Stirling though?
 

PaulMc7

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How does it compare with bus via Cumbernauld (I forget the number) to Stirling though?

Stirling to Glasgow:

X10 is 1 hr 57
X10A is 2 hrs 22
X36 is 1hr 19

Glasgow to Stirling:

X10 is 1 hr 59
X10A is 2 hrs 25
X36 is 1 hr 19
 

Jordan Adam

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There are faster buses from Stirling to Glasgow yes but that’s not the point I made.

The point is still somewhat irrelevant though as it's the only service along that corridor. How can it be the express variation when it's the only variation. If the X10/X10A were limited stop within Glasgow it would be fine, but they're not. It's clearly just marketing spin to make them seem like faster routes, something Jarvis knows well about because when he was MD at Stagecoach here when our 216/217 became the X17 and the 220 became the X20!
 

PaulMc7

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The point is still somewhat irrelevant though as it's the only service along that corridor. How can it be the express variation when it's the only variation. If the X10/X10A were limited stop within Glasgow it would be fine, but they're not. It's clearly just marketing spin to make them seem like faster routes, something Jarvis knows well about because when he was MD at Stagecoach here when our 216/217 became the X17 and the 220 became the X20!

The X use is definitely marketing yet misleading to bus users. Look at the X22/X23/X24/X25/X38 too. None of them are quick either
 

lastbus

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The point is still somewhat irrelevant though as it's the only service along that corridor. How can it be the express variation when it's the only variation. If the X10/X10A were limited stop within Glasgow it would be fine, but they're not. It's clearly just marketing spin to make them seem like faster routes, something Jarvis knows well about because when he was MD at Stagecoach here when our 216/217 became the X17 and the 220 became the X20!
Just because it’s the only service doesn’t mean it can’t start with an X
 

Jordan Adam

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Just because it’s the only service doesn’t mean it can’t start with an X

Never said it can't, just that it shouldn't. It misleading.

The X use is definitely marketing yet misleading to bus users. Look at the X22/X23/X24/X25/X38 too. None of them are quick either

In fairness those listed are all limited stop within Edinburgh. But certainly in the case of the X25 i'd tend to agree given that it's probably (without checking) the slowest service from Bathgate to Edinburgh.
 

PaulMc7

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Never said it can't, just that it shouldn't. It misleading.



In fairness those listed are all limited stop within Edinburgh. But certainly in the case of the X25 i'd tend to agree given that it's probably (without checking) the slowest service from Bathgate to Edinburgh.

Yeah was thinking more route length than the limited-stop factor as I'm not too familiar with Edinburgh buses apart from reading timetables and everything on here
 

Stef434

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Better hope First don’t get the ScotRail franchise back it only caused problems for the bus side of it.
Have to agree ,the previous problems were massive for FSE ,each service that was deemed "scotrail compliant" were handcuffed to its original registration for the period of the scotrail contract ,UK Bus .I know were privately incensed to say the least, there was a service that had to service a layby even though no one used the stop as there was a stop next to it on the main road,FSE were fined £38 for each time the bus failed to take a 10 second detour absolutely shambolic,FG failed to notify UK Bus of the impending golden handcuffs surrounding their own services.
UK Bus had to accept advertisements on their buses advertising better deals on First Trains therefore taking customers off their buses to trains ,honestly no one on here knows the half of it....
First Scotrail nearly Killed all FSE/MB there were celebrations when First lost out
 

CM

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Have to agree ,the previous problems were massive for FSE ,each service that was deemed "scotrail compliant" were handcuffed to its original registration for the period of the scotrail contract ,UK Bus .I know were privately incensed to say the least, there was a service that had to service a layby even though no one used the stop as there was a stop next to it on the main road,FSE were fined £38 for each time the bus failed to take a 10 second detour absolutely shambolic,FG failed to notify UK Bus of the impending golden handcuffs surrounding their own services.
UK Bus had to accept advertisements on their buses advertising better deals on First Trains therefore taking customers off their buses to trains ,honestly no one on here knows the half of it....
First Scotrail nearly Killed all FSE/MB there were celebrations when First lost out

First must have known prior to bidding that if they won the franchise conditions would be attached due to their already present bus network.
 
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