First West of England (Bristol, Bath & The West)

[Marc]

Who are "they"? Genuinely don't know if you mean Wessex or First. If the latter, it is something I have already mentioned!

i meant first.

Hengrove currently have a surplus of drivers as a result of the 70 &71 transferring to Lawrence Hill

except there are several hengrove drivers currantly covering weston work becuase theyre short. what happens then? does weston go to ruins again? on avverage over all depots first bristol and somerset and avon are short of staff.

 

[Volvodart]

It is funny that this always seems to be a problem with First doing it and not the likes of Stagecoach and McGills.

 

[winston270twm]

Hi Winston

My twopenneth is that First have clearly targeted Wessex over the last three years; granted, Wessex have been guilty of First style complacency,

I have no issue with Wessex retaliating against First on the 90. Likewise, I can see why First have sought to protect that route; getting bent out of shape in respect of the actions of either firm seems not to understand the commercial environment. The issues would seem to be :

• The choice of the 90 as a place to have a fight - I could've expected going onto the 2 as it would allow a Wessex corridor with the 51 along the Wells Road and so help season tickets etc
• Linked to this, I'm not certain that there's that much trade for two firms and clearly the respective frequencies are clearly going to be unsustainable, so not really certain what Wessex's USP will be - First have very modern vehicles and the service was relatively frequent before these changes
• The hope First have sufficient drivers to cover these additional workings rather than impact on any other services

It's going to be interesting

Hi TGW,

Totally agree on First targeted attack of Wessex over past few years, however, Wessex have also done themselves no favours with poor service delivery & reliability either.

First are just employing 1990's style bus war tactics of flooding the 90 route with buses, there's nothing any more innovative in that than Wessex introducing Mon - Sat daytime competiting services. Ultimately people are saying there isn't enough trade during the day to support such combined frequencies & two opertors, why an earth would Wessex consider introducing an evening & Sunday service until a daytime service had built up sufficient trade. At least the Wessex service will benefit the cash payers with lower fares. I wonder how long the First frequency increase will last after Wessex disappear......

I agree that Wessex would be better off building competing routes along main corridors so that their day / week tickets are of more use to a greater number of potential passengers

 

[freetoview33]

Possibly a direct service to Hengrove Park.

 

[Marc]

Possibly a direct service to Hengrove Park.

there is no need for it. hengrove park is a communaty hospital and college. both are aimed at local people who use the local services to get there. there is barely any demand between hengrove park and the centre zone direct.

a new route doing 51 to broadwalk then 36 to imperial park or hengrove park might have been more popular.

 

[freetoview33]

there is no need for it. hengrove park is a communaty hospital and college. both are aimed at local people who use the local services to get there. there is barely any demand between hengrove park and the centre zone direct.

a new route doing 51 to broadwalk then 36 to imperial park or hengrove park might have been more popular.

And studios + leisure centre

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

there is no need for it. hengrove park is a communaty hospital and college. both are aimed at local people who use the local services to get there. there is barely any demand between hengrove park and the centre zone direct.

a new route doing 51 to broadwalk then 36 to imperial park or hengrove park might have been more popular.

Agree with both your comments. End to end Hengrove to Centre is a bit misleading and a combo of the 51/36 may have made more sense than the 90. As I said, the 2 would've been more conventional as it would've given Wessex the majority of vehicles on that corridor or even perhaps trying the old route (55?) so that they could compete with the 376 up the top end of Wells Road and then around the main bit of Stockwood though missing out the trade on Sturminster Road?

That said, there is often this idea of "not duplicating services" and "why aren't firms more innovative and try new links". Well, travel patterns are well established and, in this case, there's not the time for Wessex to nurture some new route. As we saw with the 637 where a man was paid to drive an empty Solo around south Bristol.

 

[swifty]

And studios + leisure centre

And everyone drives to the studios because of the long anti social hours involved with TV Productions and the need to regularly pop out and pick something up on a whim, add to that the lack of shops/food in the vicinity.

 

[diffywood]

accident on Long Ashton bypass today

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/crash-involving-bus-three-cars-58274

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

accident on Long Ashton bypass today

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/crash-involving-bus-three-cars-58274

Not a First vehicle. Looks like Abus's ex Somerbus Mercedes OC500

 

[D2007wsm]

i meant first.



except there are several hengrove drivers currantly covering weston work becuase theyre short. what happens then? does weston go to ruins again? on avverage over all depots first bristol and somerset and avon are short of staff.

Yes, there are some drivers currently on loan to Weston as well as from other locations within the group. Surely it is better that the drivers are down in Weston atm driving a bus rather than sitting idle in the canteen?

By the time these extra services start on the 90, they may return to Hengrove as Weston are actively recruiting and the need for the loan drivers will start to diminish.

Within First West of England, certain depots are short others aren't it's like peaks and troughs e.g. the beginning of the year Marlborough Street was short and Weston wasn't and now it is the other way round. A situation can turn full circle in the blink of an eye and no dought other minor service changes will happen when the 90 changes, freeing up both drivers and vehicles.

 

[diffywood]

the first branded bus for 8 route was seen today SK63-KNG 47435

https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=4c6c9455f734cebe787b7470307b3770&oe=597D3044

 

[spw24]

I'd like to think that most people on the forum see Firsts increase as a joke too. It's ridiculous.

Be interesting to see how well it does and what vehicles are used. Darts maybe?

just seen a picture on Facebook of ex Leicester 32093 in Hengrove in 90 red front livery.

 

[Private Baxter]

Wells seem a bit short of buses atm. Bath darts 42905 and 42955 working 175 and 173 yesterday, whilst a streetlite (possibly 47449) was working the last 172 arrival in the early hours of this morning, though I suppose they could have swapped 42955 for that in Bath.

 

[freetoview33]

the first branded bus for 8 route was seen today SK63-KNG 47435

https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=4c6c9455f734cebe787b7470307b3770&oe=597D3044

Wonder if these will be used on rail replacements too! They normally are

 

[Whiteway215]

Wells seem a bit short of buses atm. Bath darts 42905 and 42955 working 175 and 173 yesterday, whilst a streetlite (possibly 47449) was working the last 172 arrival in the early hours of this morning, though I suppose they could have swapped 42955 for that in Bath.

There was a Wells B7RLE parked outside Bath Depot maintenance shed early last Friday morning. But who would do bigger maintenance jobs on Wells' buses? BH or WM!

 

[ValleyLines142]

just seen a picture on Facebook of ex Leicester 32093 in Hengrove in 90 red front livery.

Interesting! Looking forward to seeing this!

Wells seem a bit short of buses atm. Bath darts 42905 and 42955 working 175 and 173 yesterday, whilst a streetlite (possibly 47449) was working the last 172 arrival in the early hours of this morning, though I suppose they could have swapped 42955 for that in Bath.

Wouldn't have been 47449 as that's a Hengrove vehicle.

the first branded bus for 8 route was seen today SK63-KNG 47435

https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=4c6c9455f734cebe787b7470307b3770&oe=597D3044

Have to say this looks incomplete. It's difficult with the coloured branded for it to blend with Olympia livery. The duck egg Enviro 400MMCs and the Streetdecks look good but this is missing something!

 

[D2007wsm]

There was a Wells B7RLE parked outside Bath Depot maintenance shed early last Friday morning. But who would do bigger maintenance jobs on Wells' buses? BH or WM!

Maintenance for Wells now falls under Bath again, but operations resides with Weston.

 

[THarris123]

Wells seem a bit short of buses atm. Bath darts 42905 and 42955 working 175 and 173 yesterday, whilst a streetlite (possibly 47449) was working the last 172 arrival in the early hours of this morning, though I suppose they could have swapped 42955 for that in Bath.

B7 was taken into Bath yesterday evening and swapped with 42955. 42905 has been around for a few weeks now. I think there's a Streetdeck off.

The Streetlite would be 47549 and might have worked last 172 due to a breakdown?

 

[THarris123]

Maintenance for Wells now falls under Bath again, but operations resides with Weston.

I was under the impression that Wells is a separate depot. Bath do MOTs and major maintenance. The staff manager is also in charge of Weston. When there's issues in Wells and there's not an inspector around, they usually have to go to Bath first.

 

[D2007wsm]

I was under the impression that Wells is a separate depot. Bath do MOTs and major maintenance. The staff manager is also in charge of Weston. When there's issues in Wells and there's not an inspector around, they usually have to go to Bath first.

Wells is a depot, but being small the overall responsibility for maintenance falls under the Engineering Manager for one of the bigger depots. Up until 29 April Wells maintenance fell under the responsibility of Weston, but from the 30 April this reverted to Bath. Mainly due to the increase in vehicles in Weston. This was publicised several weeks ago in 'The Word'.

The Staff Operations Manager from Weston is still responsible for the drivers, inspecterate and day to day running of the depot.

 

[Private Baxter]

Amazing how everyone see's the forthcoming Wessex competition on the 90 as a joke and causing congestion along the route, yet First can all of sudden justify doubling the frequency of their 90.....

I see your point, and agree that the new fequencies will be overkill, especially after the 90 was reduced in frequency not too long ago (from 10 mins to 12 mins). But the way I see it they are protecting a service they invested quite heavily in during 2015 with brand new streetdecks, something I might argue involved an element of risk and I suppose they want to prove it was a risk worth taking.

 

[Whiteway215]

Do we?
We're in the process of having a clear out actually. We've been offering the Royales to enthusiasts in case anyone wants one for preservation before we have them, a few other Olympians and the Excels removed.
Our scrap coaches are in the process of being removed.
We're about to advertise a number of B6s for sale.
We've sold a batch of Solos and just have one left.
Apart from the odd Solo Trident and B7 that we are using for parts that's about it.

Another forum states 40585/90/93 sold to Wigley dealer/breaker

 

[FSW Official]

Another forum states 40585/90/93 sold to Wigley dealer/breaker

That's right. They're taking about 20 vehicles. Defective B6BLEs from Bridgwater and Taunton, Olympians from storage in Minehead and Taunton, 3 of the Excels from Bristol, donor Solos and B7TLs from Camborne, the accident damaged Trident from Bridgwater ... sure there are a few others I've forgotten.

 

[Whiteway215]

That's right. They're taking about 20 vehicles. Defective B6BLEs from Bridgwater and Taunton, Olympians from storage in Minehead and Taunton, 3 of the Excels from Bristol, donor Solos and B7TLs from Camborne, the accident damaged Trident from Bridgwater ... sure there are a few others I've forgotten.

Thank you for the update.

 

[THarris123]

That's right. They're taking about 20 vehicles. Defective B6BLEs from Bridgwater and Taunton, Olympians from storage in Minehead and Taunton, 3 of the Excels from Bristol, donor Solos and B7TLs from Camborne, the accident damaged Trident from Bridgwater ... sure there are a few others I've forgotten.

What's happening with the 4th Excel? Back into service or preservation

Thanks for update. 40590 was in Taunton depot on Sunday fyi.

 

[FSW Official]

What's happening with the 4th Excel? Back into service or preservation

Thanks for update. 40590 was in Taunton depot on Sunday fyi.

It's going to a different dealer / breaker.

 

[FSW Official]

What's happening with the 4th Excel? Back into service or preservation

Thanks for update. 40590 was in Taunton depot on Sunday fyi.

I'm not good with five digit fleet numbers. There are B6BLEs departing to various places - some defective ones direct for scrap, some sold for further use, one donated to a school on behalf of FWoE, one to Penzance as a temporary waiting room while the bus station is demolished and rebuilt imminently.

 

[Blackpudding]

That's right. They're taking about 20 vehicles. Defective B6BLEs from Bridgwater and Taunton, Olympians from storage in Minehead and Taunton, 3 of the Excels from Bristol, donor Solos and B7TLs from Camborne, the accident damaged Trident from Bridgwater ... sure there are a few others I've forgotten.

And here is a link to a photo (not mine) of what I believe to be 34259 at journeys end:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/61188429@N06/33776519184/in/dateposted/

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

And here is a link to a photo (not mine) of what I believe to be 34259 at journeys end:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/61188429@N06/33776519184/in/dateposted/

Indeed, stored at Minehead for a good while and clearly in the Barnsley area when snapped