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

[diffywood]

One of the new airport flyers has been delivered

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Looks very impressive.

With all these e400s, Class33 will be complaining there’s too many! With the 12 for the A1, that will be 84 plus the 7 on loan at Bath.

 

[carlberry]

On the topic of paint jobs, the B7s which recently transferred from Hengrove to Weston, even though in Urban look very tatty. In several places the red is coming though from there previous guise in London. Also on the back, the darker purple is rubbing away in places. These didn't receive a very good job!

They do look odd running around Weston promoting Bristol on the sides, I assume they're too scared to remove the vinyls in case the red shows through even more!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

They do look odd running around Weston promoting Bristol on the sides, I assume they're too scared to remove the vinyls in case the red shows through even more!

If only - I had 32353 on the 76 about three months ago still displaying the Bath area fares on the window!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

One of the new airport flyers has been delivered View attachment 42025

Forgot to ask - these single or dual door?

BTW, thought I'd post a photo of the interior of the U1 vehicles (33491 etc) - think they're really quite impressive too

 

[freetoview33]

Forgot to ask - these single or dual door?

BTW, thought I'd post a photo of the interior of the U1 vehicles (33491 etc) - think they're really quite impressive too

They should be dual door.

 

[D2007wsm]

They do look odd running around Weston promoting Bristol on the sides, I assume they're too scared to remove the vinyls in case the red shows through even more!

Lol probably the case. Who knows perhaps route branding for the 7s or Weston Town services are on the cards to sort this. Isn't the 'Bristol' logos covering up 'West of England's anyway, some buses in Bristol you can see the outline underneath.

Forgot to ask - these single or dual door?

BTW, thought I'd post a photo of the interior of the U1 vehicles (33491 etc) - think they're really quite impressive too

After speaking to a driver of the A1, they believe them to be single door. Apparently too much space for seating would be lost downstairs if a middle door was included with the luggage racks.

 

[Private Baxter]

Hi all

Had to visit Brizzle yesterday. Caught the 178 in from MSN on one of the former Southampton B7s (66885). Not bad in splashing through the countryside and certainly the loadings are better now the 379 is no more. After doing what I needed to do and with some time on my side, I had a few little trips around the city etc and it really did show the best and worst of First WoE.

Had my second trip on one of the new U1 deckers and, it has to be said, they are absolutely lovely inside. Much better quality seating than the standard or even the P&R e400mmcs. If you've not had chance, I'd recommend that you experience them. Also had a trip on 39401 (the Biobus) back down from Clifton. In addition, I had a trip on one of the more venerable machines, 32257 that has been refurbished for the 6/7. Very nicely done and hardly a rattle on a 15/16 year old bus. As with other services, the internal advertising and promotion is pretty good. Good for an older machine.

I also decided to have a last trip on a Bristol Dart, if the rumours of their imminent demise are true, on the 5 with a very busy journey on 42966 through St Werburghs and St Pauls. Amazingly, I'd never done that bit of the route and so glad I did - I think it may be my favourite city route in Bristol!! Not a bad machine but I can't see the short e200s managing on that route. This was 3.30 so lord knows what the peak loading would be like!

Now the downsides. I also had a journey on another ALX in 32281 of Bath depot, working the 19. Unlike the older one, it hadn't been refurbished. Threadbare seating aplenty (though again an absence of rattles - I never liked the ALX but they have proved to be really well built).

I also caught the 177 home - 66731 duly arrived. Went well but again, the interior is very, very tired. The only promo ads inside were for pensions and the NHS - not a thing about First and promoting their product! Also, 66731 has lost all its headrests, instead getting standard seat handles with the curious exception of any seats where a handrail slots into the headrest. The headrests there are still in situ but without any padding at all. Not being OCD - it just looks weird. One wonders whether more of these might not head away, hence the lack of money spent on their cosmetics.

Incidentally, the 177 was a curious thing. I was wondering how the loadings would be. For a layperson seeing it leave Temple Meads, it seemed impressive with a healthy 34 people. However, 5 got off at the top of Totterdown, another 4 at Broadwalk, 1 just after, 2 at Happy Landings. That was 12 that could have got the 2 or 376. Upper Wells Road meant 2 more off and 4 more at Whitchurch - yep, more than half the load had gone by Whitchurch. More left at Pensford and Temple Cloud so that we had a hard core of a dozen who actually needed the 177 (rather than the 376). Makes you think given that at the same time as the 379 being withdrawn (and the 177 being introduced because of the uproar), the 178 lost its late night run.

Thanks for the report; some interesting observations.
Agree about those U1 deckers, they do look very good inside. Had one once (or a similar one) on rail replacement a couple of months ago. Don't know yet if that is the new standard interior for First buses, or designed specially for U1. I hope the former, as the pink and beige is horrible! Can't say I've ever been on one of those 6/7 deckers, could never decide what to make of them, so thanks for your insight. No idea why they are starting to be debranded, esp after a relatively short period on the 6/7. There hasn't been a pvr drop as far as I am aware. Agree that the 1/2 geminis do look a little odd in plain front!

No idea whether the darts from the 5 are on the move. I think their white underlay is vinyls so their branding only ever seemed half done, but all seem decent machines. I shall be moving to an area on the route soon, so may become a semi-regular on the 5.
The Bath ALXs are very well built indeed and look pretty decent. I actually rather like them. Had 32281 on the 19 a couple of weeks ago, thought it was ok and does look better than some of the others, such as 32283. Nonetheless your comments are true of quite a few Bath buses! 66731 is a former Bath bus and has been in that state for a good couple of years, though last I saw it it still had a few head rests dotted about so looked very patchy! I believe recently departed 66730 was in a similar state. Who knows what the plan is for these buses. They do look a little neglected compared to those in Bath and Wells, although 66728/9 still look pretty good and go well.

 

[Private Baxter]

Forgot to ask - these single or dual door?

BTW, thought I'd post a photo of the interior of the U1 vehicles (33491 etc) - think they're really quite impressive too

Disregard my previous comment about the interior of these - I was referring to the ones that work UWE Express!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Lol probably the case. Who knows perhaps route branding for the 7s or Weston Town services are on the cards to sort this. Isn't the 'Bristol' logos covering up 'West of England's anyway, some buses in Bristol you can see the outline underneath.

After speaking to a driver of the A1, they believe them to be single door. Apparently too much space for seating would be lost downstairs if a middle door was included with the luggage racks.

That is exactly what I was wondering - having dual doors does lose a fair chunk of space when you factor in the luggage racks too.

As for the Weston B7TLs, the West of England fleetname is often covered up by the Bristol logo AND a piece of plain vinyl (as the Bristol logo is too small on its own). I was wondering if the B7TLs are perhaps a stop gap?

Thanks for the report; some interesting observations.
Can't say I've ever been on one of those 6/7 deckers, could never decide what to make of them, so thanks for your insight. No idea why they are starting to be debranded, esp after a relatively short period on the 6/7. There hasn't been a pvr drop as far as I am aware. Agree that the 1/2 geminis do look a little odd in plain front!

No idea whether the darts from the 5 are on the move. I think their white underlay is vinyls so their branding only ever seemed half done, but all seem decent machines. I shall be moving to an area on the route soon, so may become a semi-regular on the 5.
The Bath ALXs are very well built indeed and look pretty decent. I actually rather like them. Had 32281 on the 19 a couple of weeks ago, thought it was ok and does look better than some of the others, such as 32283. Nonetheless your comments are true of quite a few Bath buses! 66731 is a former Bath bus and has been in that state for a good couple of years, though last I saw it it still had a few head rests dotted about so looked very patchy! I believe recently departed 66730 was in a similar state. Who knows what the plan is for these buses. They do look a little neglected compared to those in Bath and Wells, although 66728/9 still look pretty good and go well.

No worries on the Uni bus confusion - I'd get yourself a trip on the U1s as they're probably (IMHO) the best spec'ed of all of them.

I wonder if the 6/7 just had a spare liveried example and they decided to instead have the spare as an unliveried one? Can't be @rsed to check the maths on that though They've been nicely refurbished and they're robust machines - good for a couple more years yet, I'd suggest. Wish they do the Bath ones but patience is a virtue. That said, at least Bath's B7RLEs got a brush up for the 5.66731 only had the headrests where a down stanchion comes in so looks very peculiar. You do wonder if FWoE keep the paintbrush hidden if they're trying to offload certain vehicles/types. 5.5 years in and barbie is still very much with us, especially in Bath.

I've been on most of the Bristol routes, yet the 5 through St Werberghs and St Pauls was one of those missing bits and I really enjoyed the ride through there. Where you looking to move to (if you don't mind me asking)?

 

[90sWereBetter]

66730 has been treated to a full repaint at Chelmsford. 66719 is still running around in Barbie, but with Essex seemingly on a quest to eliminate the old livery as fast as possible (think they've painted over 50 buses and counting in the last year) it can't be too long until it finally gets done.

Incidentally, I wonder when 32283-85 and 32291 will be repainted, given the rest of this batch of B7s were done ages ago.

 

[D2007wsm]

As for the Weston B7TLs, the West of England fleetname is often covered up by the Bristol logo AND a piece of plain vinyl (as the Bristol logo is too small on its own). I was wondering if the B7TLs are perhaps a stop gap?

I would have thought that these are a stop gap, someone in the know has stated that the intention for the 7s is to source some more E400s or Streetdecks.

It certainley is a bit of a retrograde step with these deckers. Going from 54/55 plate B7RLEs to 14 plate Streetlites and back to 53 plate B7TLs which are older than what was on them before the Streetlites. This has surely put the age profile of Weston's fleet back compared to what it was last year.

Deckers are needed on the 7s now due to the reduced 15 minute frequency, hopefully something better will come along soon.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

66730 has been treated to a full repaint at Chelmsford. 66719 is still running around in Barbie, but with Essex seemingly on a quest to eliminate the old livery as fast as possible (think they've painted over 50 buses and counting in the last year) it can't be too long until it finally gets done.

Incidentally, I wonder when 32283-85 and 32291 will be repainted, given the rest of this batch of B7s were done ages ago.

32291 was the last barbie decker in Bristol. To be fair, they've eliminated quite a bit in 2017 with the ALXs for the (90) 3/4 and 6/7.

Quite a bit has just been left though - notably, the B7Ls sent to West Yorkshire were usually extensively repanelled and then painted either before entering service or not long after.

 

[Private Baxter]

66730 has been treated to a full repaint at Chelmsford. 66719 is still running around in Barbie, but with Essex seemingly on a quest to eliminate the old livery as fast as possible (think they've painted over 50 buses and counting in the last year) it can't be too long until it finally gets done.

Incidentally, I wonder when 32283-85 and 32291 will be repainted, given the rest of this batch of B7s were done ages ago.

Would like to see a picture of that at some point. 66730 was looking a little tatty last I saw it!
Yes, 32281/2 were done back in 2013, and at the time it did look as though a decent start would be made with buses across Bath, but it seemed to just all come to a halt.

 

[Private Baxter]

I would have thought that these are a stop gap, someone in the know has stated that the intention for the 7s is to source some more E400s or Streetdecks.

It certainley is a bit of a retrograde step with these deckers. Going from 54/55 plate B7RLEs to 14 plate Streetlites and back to 53 plate B7TLs which are older than what was on them before the Streetlites. This has surely put the age profile of Weston's fleet back compared to what it was last year.

Deckers are needed on the 7s now due to the reduced 15 minute frequency, hopefully something better will come along soon.

It's quite common when increasing capacity of a service to have to go backwards in age, although that was obviously quite a significant step back. Don't know if newer streetdecks will come or not, but would love to think a town livery will be applied, whether to the 53 plates or whatever else.

 

[vicbury]

A sneak peak of the branding for metrobus (note: no longer spelled as MetroBus) is available courtesy of a new map that has been published:

Looks smart to me - simple and clear. Looks like routes will be colour-coded too which presumably will also be used on the buses.

 

[vicbury]

One of the new airport flyers has been delivered View attachment 42025

So much better than the current livery! And no more stickers on windows - hurray!

 

[Colly405]

A sneak peak of the branding for metrobus (note: no longer spelled as MetroBus) is available courtesy of a new map that has been published:

Looks smart to me - simple and clear. Looks like routes will be colour-coded too which presumably will also be used on the buses.

Interesting that Parkway has disappeared off the map!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

A sneak peak of the branding for metrobus (note: no longer spelled as MetroBus) is available courtesy of a new map that has been published:

Looks smart to me - simple and clear. Looks like routes will be colour-coded too which presumably will also be used on the buses.

Colour coding - is that orange for the M2 a match for the e400 (36801 et al) currently on loan in Bath?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Interesting that Parkway has disappeared off the map!

More interesting - what about the M2 not running to Hengrove and missing the SBL road?

 

[Colly405]

More interesting - what about the M2 not running to Hengrove and missing the SBL road?

maybe these omissions are just for a "phase 1"...?

 

[Marcus Fryer]

A sneak peak of the branding for metrobus (note: no longer spelled as MetroBus) is available courtesy of a new map that has been published:

Looks smart to me - simple and clear. Looks like routes will be colour-coded too which presumably will also be used on the buses.

Does UWE Campus mean metrobus will divert off Coldharbour Lane after all?
And where is the Begbrook stop going to be? (I know Begbrook is the area around the Frenchay Park Road/Stoke Lane junction, but I wasn't aware of any stop being built between Stoke Park and the M32.

 

[Dhassell]

How long has 42910 been in Weston for? Just found it on the 3 in a purple livery

 

[WelshBluebird]

I haven't been keeping up with the MetroBus stuff at all, so that is the first route map I have seen in a long time. I hadn't realised only one of the routes would serve Temple Meads. Seems a bit of a shame!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

How long has 42910 been in Weston for? Just found it on the 3 in a purple livery

Just over 2 months

I haven't been keeping up with the MetroBus stuff at all, so that is the first route map I have seen in a long time. I hadn't realised only one of the routes would serve Temple Meads. Seems a bit of a shame!

That’s the problem with a station that’s some distance from the centre!

 

[freetoview33]

So it looks like the U.W.E service might be absorbed into metrobus afterall with the diversion of the M3 to now serve U.W.E (Not in the original plans) the Begbrook stop is on the short section of new road between the M32 Bus Junction and Stoke Lane. I guess there just isn't the money yet to run the South Bristol Link route, but seems a bit of a cop out considering it was one of the main selling points of metrobus.

Also the M1 was never intended to serve Parkway, only the Emersons to Parkway service.

This seems like a compromise with first to get some routes operating as soon as possible.

 

[DaveHarries]

Anyone who might try to stop me and offer me a ticket for a free journey on metro****e would be advised not to bother. Trying to make it sound cool and attractive by calling it a metro (which it very clearly is not) is a stupid idea and spending in excess of £250m on a scheme which mainly involves replacing two existing routes with a glorified bus route when the council is trying to plug a £108m gap is also stupid. IMO the money would have been better spent elsewhere and I won't use this [.....] come hell or high water.

Dave

 

[BPWUser1]

36824 was in Bath today on the Lansdown P&R. Replacing the M2 E400s (mostly 36801) which have been regularly filling in for one bus a day for the majority of January.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Anyone who might try to stop me and offer me a ticket for a free journey on metros***e would be advised not to bother. Trying to make it sound cool and attractive by calling it a metro (which it very clearly is not) is a stupid idea and spending in excess of £250m on a scheme which mainly involves replacing two existing routes with a glorified bus route when the council is trying to plug a £108m gap is also stupid. IMO the money would have been better spent elsewhere and I won't use this [.....] come hell or high water.

Dave

Dave - stop the Bristol Post hystrionics and misreporting of figures.

The £250m includes ALL of the road building. That includes the building of the South Bristol Link. It also includes the new road link around the back of Harry Stoke.

 

[vicbury]

This seems like a compromise with first to get some routes operating as soon as possible.

Or Stagecoach

Or Wessex