When they cut back the service so much this last year they were leaving people behind - on the last bus.
Agreed. It was a complete farce - running buses that should have been scrapped
It might be the plan, but we can hope it doesn’t pan out if there is sufficient backlash!
I doubt that very much. The decision has obviously been taken, however much we think it's wrong.
Having visited Cornwall to take in the Land's End open tops and others in between over the last decade, multiple summer trips to mix it in with the usual family activities. I shall vote with me feet and cancel the planned and thankfully not yet booked in trip for late May, 2 x weekly tickets revenue for First lost and again the same in August. Closed top B9TLs in unloved acquired liveries on a tourist uplift summer service, what a complete farse! 300 mile drive was worth the effort for the overall experience as it was, Cornwall is great but take the other interest away of enjoying scenic open top runs as part of the explore and not worth the effort of cost of visiting anymore, plus be an anti climax of what was better times.
I notice that they're not being stored with tarpaulins over the open section, so the seats will be soaked through and water will have ample opportunity to cause corrosion and to get into the electrics.
Damage by self sabotage?
Indeed they might if they can get some Open Top buses and have a means of putting the roof back on at the end of the summer operating period. I can't see Open Top buses (or any double-deckers for that matter) being worth running outside of the summer period though.
Somerset Council said:
At least FDC recognised the value of open top buses even if the operation of them was a bit scrappy.
If there isn’t going to be any open tops then surely they don’t need replacing?
I think he's talking about the closed top B7TLs but I'm not clear what the connection is between getting rid of the open top fleet and the replacement of the remaining B7TLs?
I'm not certain that the PVR will increase if the Atlantic Coasters don't come back, and depends on whether the Lands End Coaster will be shorn of many of the seasonal extras. The 2024 service pattern clearly reflected and accommodated the college/uni terms and I suspect that these moves are to maximise year round vehicle utilisation.
Just if there were any updates really - there’s clearly been a review of the fleetlist and it’s slightly peaked my curiosity as to whether anything else is due in
37711/22/25 were reported to be transferring to Kernow from West Yorkshire but were diverted supposedly on a temporary basis to Eastern Counties.
Stagecoach kept the Cooks outstation on Millfield Trading Estate in Chard when they took over in 2007. As for 'dead mileage' - aren't they operating the Taunton Park & Ride from Tiverton still? Equally Hatch Green would be interested in it too - a one bus PVR service running fairly regularly.
No reasons given that I heard of on the latter point. As for the Taunton P&R being operated from Tiverton there is no out-of-service mileage involved because Stagecoach have a Service 24 (Tiverton - Silk Mills P&R) to get the vehicles up there and home again: 3 journeys each way which are 0507, 0527 and 0547 Tiverton - Silk Mills and 2005, 2025 and 2045 Silk Mills - Tiverton; journey time around 40mins.
I can understand why First might not want to run the 126, as they continue to have challenges in driver retention and recruitment at Wells and Weston depots. That's probably the equivalent of four drivers fewer they need to find. Of course, one operator that might be interested could be Libra Travel who operated it before albeit Wells to Axbridge.
The mileage might be registered but it really is dead mileage. Doubt you get anybody on those journeys.
Thanks for that info. Surprising that Honiton was dispensed with given that it could have been used for the 4, 44, 44A and now the 20. I suppose with the 20 a vehicle runs a 4/44 to Honiton and then becomes a 20. Odd way of doing it though because of the potential long distance involved if a bus on any of those routes broke down.
I don't know - might not have been their choice. Or possibly issues like vandalism or fuel theft?
It was Hemyock before the route extended, then it moved to Honiton around the time the two low floor Darts arrived in 1998.
The 99 wouldn't require BoS to use a non standard type of vehicle. I think they were operating Dart SLF/Enviro 200 sized 38 seat buses on the working. They have plenty within the fleet. Even with the rump of buses left from Taunton Towns/21/28 you'd need stuff to cover Wellington, which is commercially sustainable and unlikely to be withdrawn. Although I don't recall the electric bus announcement mentioning Service 22 it'd be part of the group of commercially viable routes out of Taunton depot. I remember travelling on the 99 over the section of route it now operates (back in 2002 before it was converted to low floor operation) and thought some of the roads 'narrow' - so if First have had a high level of accident damage on the service that'd be one thing I'd guess at!
It was mentioned by First that the electric double-deckers are to be for the 21/21A/22 with the single-deckers being for Taunton 1 & 2 and the 28.
FirstBus South & South West News Page said:
