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

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D2007wsm

Established Member
Joined
26 Jul 2015
Messages
1,310
An interesting one for you, a South Glos Lynx gas bus has today ventured into North Somerset in service!

39453 was used to dupe 33419 on he 13:25 X1 from Bristol to Weston due to the number of passengers travelling from Bristol to Weston.
 

Class 33

Established Member
Joined
14 Aug 2009
Messages
2,362
No mention of the new 2A in the new timetables. This service was supposed to be introduced back in April, but that didn't happen then for obvious reasons. But I wouldn't be surprised if First has forgotten all about this new service they were planning to introduce!

Still no 9 re-introduced. But I very much doubt we'll be seeing it back after it was quietly axed back in March when the lockdown happened.

Still awaiting news about changes to the 72/services serving Cotham and Redland and linking with Clifton. We were supposed to find out the results of the consultation back in late May. But nothing yet. Chances are they will probably go with the 72 & 72A services they were proposing, though a chance as they originally said that they may go with a completely different plan. We'll have to see.
 

freetoview33

Established Member
Joined
24 May 2009
Messages
3,721
Location
West of England
No mention of the new 2A in the new timetables. This service was supposed to be introduced back in April, but that didn't happen then for obvious reasons. But I wouldn't be surprised if First has forgotten all about this new service they were planning to introduce!

Still no 9 re-introduced. But I very much doubt we'll be seeing it back after it was quietly axed back in March when the lockdown happened.

Still awaiting news about changes to the 72/services serving Cotham and Redland and linking with Clifton. We were supposed to find out the results of the consultation back in late May. But nothing yet. Chances are they will probably go with the 72 & 72A services they were proposing, though a chance as they originally said that they may go with a completely different plan. We'll have to see.
I Think we will see a 72/72A and 2A just not quite yet.
 

northken

Member
Joined
23 Apr 2016
Messages
106
I do question the purpose of the X1x when it's hardly an express route - it saves only 3 mins end-to-end between Bristol and WSM. There's no reason to specifically take it over the X1 to save time, so why not just make the X1 4bph?
 

D2007wsm

Established Member
Joined
26 Jul 2015
Messages
1,310
I do question the purpose of the X1x when it's hardly an express route - it saves only 3 mins end-to-end between Bristol and WSM. There's no reason to specifically take it over the X1 to save time, so why not just make the X1 4bph?
The X1 is going to be 4 buses per hour, every 15 minutes.

I think the purpose of introducing the X1x is because it runs non-stop from The Merchant Arms to St Georges turn. This gives customers living inbetween these points along the A370 a better chance of getting on a bus, rather than it being full of customers travelling Weston to Bristol or Bristol to Weston.

A lot of customers like the X1x, it may only be a few minutes shorter but the perception is it generally seems quicker as once on the motorway it doesn’t stop again until either Hotwells or St Georges turn. Also, if it is busy you know even more customers won’t board making it rammed.
 

carlberry

Established Member
Joined
19 Dec 2014
Messages
3,169
I do question the purpose of the X1x when it's hardly an express route - it saves only 3 mins end-to-end between Bristol and WSM. There's no reason to specifically take it over the X1 to save time, so why not just make the X1 4bph?
I suspect it's not as much the saving as the fact that it wont stop. And the X1 is going to a frequency it's never had before anyway. The number of buses in service is going to be impressive but where are all the drivers coming from? I imagine that some will still be isolating so even with loads of Saturday duties that don't need covering they must be getting near to a full house with the July changes.
 

D2007wsm

Established Member
Joined
26 Jul 2015
Messages
1,310
I suspect it's not as much the saving as the fact that it wont stop. And the X1 is going to a frequency it's never had before anyway. The number of buses in service is going to be impressive but where are all the drivers coming from? I imagine that some will still be isolating so even with loads of Saturday duties that don't need covering they must be getting near to a full house with the July changes.
Yes it won’t stop, between Bristol and Weston. So the villages have a better chance of catching an X1, rather than them sailing past full.

There has been a 15 minute frequency to Weston before split between the X1/X1a/X2 . It was every 15 minutes up until the major excel changes last April.

A lot of drivers who have been furloughed are returning from 04 July. Only staff who fall into the ‘High Risk’ category or who live with or care for someone is this category will remain off. The A3 is still not running so that will release around 10 drivers as well.

Also, some services will be operated by different depots temporarily based on the number of staff they have. For example, the X8 and X9 will temporarily be operated by Marlborough Street rather than Weston, to release drivers for the extra Portishead and Weston services. This is because they don’t currently have the 35 and 37 and some of the South Glos Lynx services have a reduced frequency.
 

matt_splat

Member
Joined
19 May 2012
Messages
897
So what on the extra 376s

the wells fleet will be to full strength and with just 7 busses needed for the 173 174 and 2 for the 126 thats 9 required so the 376 will use the rest remember you save one maybe 2 from street and wells being fully E400 with the B9s back should be more than enough to go around
 

Streamr_MXP

Member
Joined
4 Jan 2020
Messages
85
Location
Paulton
20200625_170023.jpg
36232 is at Wells as of 9:10 yesterday. I presume its replaced an Enviro 400, with their reliability being awful.
These B9tl Gemini 2s would suite Wells much better than the Enviros, as they are far better reliability wise, and are much more comfortable to travel on.
I do wonder what is going on with 33834/7 as they were painted into Blue and Gold in April, but have not entered service.
(Photo taken by myself yesterday)
 

ValleyLines142

Established Member
Joined
25 Jul 2011
Messages
6,844
Location
Gloucester
The X1 is going to be 4 buses per hour, every 15 minutes.

I think the purpose of introducing the X1x is because it runs non-stop from The Merchant Arms to St Georges turn. This gives customers living inbetween these points along the A370 a better chance of getting on a bus, rather than it being full of customers travelling Weston to Bristol or Bristol to Weston.

A lot of customers like the X1x, it may only be a few minutes shorter but the perception is it generally seems quicker as once on the motorway it doesn’t stop again until either Hotwells or St Georges turn. Also, if it is busy you know even more customers won’t board making it rammed.

I'm hopefully getting a house by St George's Turn, so the X1x will come in much handy.

In other news, 32350 and 37319-37322 have transferred to Weston, ready for increase in services on the 3 and 7 according to a Facebook page, the latter of those providing even more to Weston's already heavy orange fleet! :lol:
 

Whiteway215

Established Member
Joined
15 Sep 2015
Messages
1,989
Location
Bath
Last Saturday on the First Kernow thread it was reported from Firstbus Enthusiasts page that 10037/174, two single decks and some deckers were due to be removed from Bath for scrap at the end of this week. Anyone know if this has happened or happening?
 

Tommy Walters

Member
Joined
9 Nov 2017
Messages
567
Location
Ottery St Mary
Last Saturday on the First Kernow thread it was reported from Firstbus Enthusiasts page that 10037/174, two single decks and some deckers were due to be removed from Bath for scrap at the end of this week. Anyone know if this has happened or happening?

I assume the two single decks were 65726 & 69501.

As for the deckers, that's probably all the W-DWXs, 32090 & 32099!
 

Whiteway215

Established Member
Joined
15 Sep 2015
Messages
1,989
Location
Bath
I assume the two single decks were 65726 & 69501.

As for the deckers, that's probably all the W-DWXs, 32090 & 32099!
The singles could be 66885 and 66731. Although having seen the state of 66731 and 30873 I think they would collapse in a heap if they were moved!
 

D2007wsm

Established Member
Joined
26 Jul 2015
Messages
1,310
I'm hopefully getting a house by St George's Turn, so the X1x will come in much handy.

In other news, 32350 and 37319-37322 have transferred to Weston, ready for increase in services on the 3 and 7 according to a Facebook page, the latter of those providing even more to Weston's already heavy orange fleet! :lol:
Slightly the wrong shade, but close enough lol

I heard Weston will be inheriting around 15 preloved deckers from Lawrence Hill. These will be used to continue a double deck service on the 3, supplement the 7 when it goes to every 10 minutes, cover the boards on the 1 & 20 summer timetable which is not covered by the Coaster fleet and 32222/3 and the X5s.

When last operated the X5 was 1 E400 and 2 B7RLEs, since then Weston has lost both of the B7RLEs and several E400s to Wells. They are allready short of deckers atm, with the X2 often being subbed for a Streetlite when no decker is available. I suppose with the X9 being temporarily being operated by Marlborough Street that will free up a few E400s for the enhanced X1/X1x/X3/X3a/X3x/X4 timetables, but the extra deckers are welcome. It’s just a shame the Volvos were not sent to Bath, with the E400s going to Weston.

A Streetlite will have to be resurrected wt Lawrence Hill too for Marlborough Street to use on the X8, unless a couple of excel Streetlites are temporarily transferred. Bar 2 Urban Streetlites or the dildo for the 5, Weston will be entirely decker operated. I wonder if we will ever see the Darts returning to service?
 

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