Thanks to Ron (and his update on ticket prices), I was able to enjoy a bit of time on First Wessex on Saturday. My first visit was in Southern National days but it's been a good few years since I had a day out (though I've visited Weymouth a several times in the meantime). Hence I was keen to get out though the day was truncated by other non-transport considerations; there is more to life, after all!
I drove down to Weymouth (Radipole) and after strategically dumping the car, I got my first bus of the day. This was the 10, operated by one of the numerous ex Fareham Eclipses that were redeployed to Weymouth. 69548 duly arrived and despite my concerns, I was able to spend £12 on a day ticket no problem. We left and quickly passed the former Southern National garage at Radipole - there used to be three depots locally!! First impressions were that the Eclipses are well suited to the 10, climbing up out of Upwey. There was route branding and other information on the cove panels which was good though the plethora of different tickets was a bit baffling (and the day ticket wasn't mentioned at all). I remember back in the day when this route was almost sporadic with SN and W&D only operating a handful of journeys each day en route to Bridport or Blandford - now it's every 15 mins and operates into the evening and Sundays. Some improvement that!
A short pit stop at Dorchester before my next bus arrived in the form of now veteran Omnidekka 36003 for the X51 to Bridport. This exits the town via the toytown of Poundbury and it is an exhilarating run across the rolling countryside with the occasional divert from the A35. As I sat back, I mused about my first time on this route back in 1991. Then it was the 31, and I probably had no other distractions. Now I had my Spotify playlist. However, one parallel was in 1991, I'd clambered on board a 15 year old decker and oddly, so I had this time. That said, 36003 was a lot nicer than VR 1102 had been back then. We crawled into Bridport with queuing traffic for the last mile or two though First clearly have factored this in as we were on time. I had hoped to get a trip on the Wed/Sat town service but it wasn't in view so gave up and had an early lunch. I did eventually see the town service being operated by Solo 53615. I aimed for the X53 back to Weymouth and 36001 duly arrived. Was a bit disappointed that it wasn't one of the ex Green Line B9s. Have to say that 36001/3 are both excellent vehicles. Despite being 15 years old, they are powerful and smooth. However, they are looking their age internally despite a refurb in grey eLeather a few years back. After fighting the traffic to West Bay and the traffic on the narrow road to Burton Bradstock, it was a glorious run over the tops and then down into Abbotsbury with commanding views of Chesil Beach and the Fleet. I'd deliberately chosen the route to get that view and it never disappoints.
Thoughts on the Jurassic Coasters? Loadings were ok on both the X51/53 with the summer timetable now in use. There were some bugbears in terms of the promotion of the route. Some new bus flags but also plenty of old ones with just a First logo and service number. Praise though for the roadside publicity - up to date on every stop I saw so clearly a job well done there. The waiting area at Bridport is pretty awful - perhaps a bit of TLC there and promotion might be welcomed - Bridport Depot - home of the Jurassic Coaster? Both the routes are great in their own way.
I got off at Chickerell to sample the local Weymouth service, this being the 8. I waited and bang on time, Streetlite 47408 arrived. This was new to Weymouth for the Littlemoor service but was sent to Slough for a year or two. It's back and whilst it went well, it was rather rattlesome, more than most. Other observations were the lack of anything promotional on the interior, something I'll come back to. We completed the Chickerell loop and headed back through bits of Weymouth I was less familiar with and picked up a good number of people for early afternoon. I was dropped off at the bus garage and had a quick snoop and then made a crucial error. I caught my bus for Portland from there with long Streetlite 63181. We turned at Debenhams but getting to the Kings Statue took an eternity; I'd have been better walking. Then getting out from the stop and turning left to the Station - ages again. This is what is killing bus services in towns (in part) - you wonder why First bother at times when traffic on a Saturday about 1415 is so bad. Little bus priority in the town really doesn't help. I travelled up to Easton to get some photos of the view and the various statues and stuff up there. Contrary to naysayers, the Streetlite was absolutely fine in climbing up Fortuneswell though I did wish we been quicker through the traffic as B9 37585 came back the other way - clearly, I wasn't going to enjoy a Gemini! We have all had bad experiences with Streetlites and they're no B7RLE but when they're set up right, they are fine (except the emergency door rattling like a f***ing machine gun).
I returned back on 63185 and as with the earlier examples, almost a total absence of promotion internally - bit disappointing as First H&D is one of the better OpCos in that respect whether in Weymouth, Portsmouth or Southampton. My view, FWIW, is that there are some good elements of branding in Weymouth but they are missing some obvious improvements. Why the Portland service isn't branded and have a positive identity? They could also promote the 3/8 services that are common and linked in the timetable? Instead, they do a lot right but just miss the mark a bit!
Back into town and the traffic had eased. Time was marching on so I caught the 2 to Littlemoor, one of the traditional main routes in Weymouth along with the Portlands. This was Eclipse 69552, branded with a bright green slash and internal branding as per the 10. We had a decent load towards Littlemoor, a large residential area to the north of the town. As with Chickerell, it is a one way loop and I exited at the end, and walked the half mile or so to Preston. Here I grabbed another Eclipse 69550, painted with a bright blue front but no internal promotion. My hunch was well founded - this and another had been branded for the 2/10 but with cuts in the PVR, they had been reallocated to the 4. One other observation is that the Eclipses are great vehicles. They are a little abused internally thanks to idiots but they really are good machines. Using them on the Littlemoor service is odd enough - using them on Preston runs is overkill.
I finished off with a run back to Radipole on the 10 on 69542 to reclaim the car!
My overall impressions. First do a lot right in Weymouth and Dorset as a whole. They don't entirely help themselves but then again, they are also hamstrung by the traffic and this is in April, let alone August. The network is much smaller than it was thanks to various factors - First cuts, Dorset CC award to Damory years ago and the cuts in 2017. Promotion is good in places (esp roadside timetabling being excellent), yet lacking elsewhere so it could be improved. The drivers were very good and I must say the fleet was quite impressive - 5/6 years ago the fleet was elderly with the 10 operated by 15 year old Darts. With the exception of the Omnidekkas (now 15 years old) and a solitary Omnicity in the depot, the fleet is much more modern. Much as they've been good servants, you do wonder if the Omnidekka should be getting moved onto less demanding routes?
This thread is dominated by Bristol, Baff and Wesson so hope this proves of interest for a bit of a taste of First's Dorset ops.
