Nottingham 'Bus War'

[tom1649]

Nottingham is lucky in the sense that most services run until a reasonable hour at night. I seem to remember last buses on all main routes being at midnight or a few minutes either side when I lived there. There are other cities which aren't so lucky in this respect. There are also night buses on Friday and Saturday nights, thanks to both NCT and Trent Barton. Many non-PTE area cities do not have this service.

With regards to the tram livery, I hope it stays the same. I like the extensive use of corporation green throughout the city. Even the colour of the lamp posts will instantly tell you that you're in Nottingham!

 

[Deerfold]

Nottingham is lucky in the sense that most services run until a reasonable hour at night. I seem to remember last buses on all main routes being at midnight or a few minutes either side when I lived there. There are other cities which aren't so lucky in this respect. There are also night buses on Friday and Saturday nights, thanks to both NCT and Trent Barton. Many non-PTE area cities do not have this service.

With regards to the tram livery, I hope it stays the same. I like the extensive use of corporation green throughout the city. Even the colour of the lamp posts will instantly tell you that you're in Nottingham!

Late buses have improved enormously since I lived in Nottingham. I was lucky to live on a route with a last bus at 0005 - but I lived somewhere well served by NCT and Barton buses (at the time Trent and Barton weren't quite so well integrated) and tended to swap between period tickets for the two. When on an NCT ticket my last bus was 2300.

Now NCT broadly serves most city areas at weekends and Trentbarton's night services aer quite amazing to say they receive no subsidy for them - and run one of the few 24/7 routes (on every day of the week) in the country to not receive subsidy.

In the areas I used to live it seems main routes have got better but at the expense of more lightly used services. The indigo for example is a great service on the mian roads but some of the sections of routes it replaced are no longer served. On NCT the 36 (was 38) is more frequent but other buses to Beeston have disappeared or reduced in frequency. It probably makes it easier for people who don't use the buses every day or are new to them to know there'll be both a 36 and an indigo from Beeston bus station to Nottingham in the next 7 minutes instead of knowing they could catch a 1, 3, 3c, 10, 12, 13, 37, 38, 310, 506, R5, R5b, R5c each with frequencies of betwen 1bph (3bpd on the 3c) and 4bph into Nottingham.

 

[nctx]

Getting back to Premiere's Red 8 they have had one of the 10 plate Volvo Gemini 2's on it for past two days , The Capital One Wifi Decker has moved onto Red 1 .

No doubt the Gemini will go back to its Uni Hopper role next week .

Good Luck to them and Yourbus.

 

[MCR247]

Good Luck to them and Yourbus.

Edited! :P

 

[Smethwickian]

There are also night buses on Friday and Saturday nights, thanks to both NCT and Trent Barton. Many non-PTE area cities do not have this service.

Birmingham no longer has any night buses on any night of the week, and that is in a PTE area.

 

[Jordeh]

I think that's a lame excuse. I always say 'thank you' as I get off and I'm lucky to get a grunt from NCT's drivers. On the contrary Trent (and to a lesser extent Premiere) always happily return the thanks.

It's not just the drivers though - their Travel Centre staff are some of the rudest I've met. There is no respect for the customer whatsoever.

South Notts and Pathfinder drivers are a totally different breed I accept.

Couldn't help but think of this post earlier today. On a NCT 28 I said "hello single please" and put the exact change in. Waited for my ticket only to be met with the reply from the woman "go then!". Every other passenger got a ticket, I can't understand such rudeness.

Needless to say it's the only time I've got off a bus and not said thank-you.

Also watched on Friar Lane today the RED 1 battle it out with Trent Barton's Radcliffe Line. Both of which are timed every 15 minutes on Solos, Red 1 is timetabled 1 minute after Trent Bartons but needless to say it always left before it, and usually with more passengers. It really is pathetic timetabling which doesn't benefit the customer (unsurprisingly) and is unnecessarily frequent.

 

[Jay]

Seen the Red8 double decker today.

Look like it has been hand painted red. Shame it doesn't start early/late enough for my shifts or I would use it every day.

 

[Deerfold]

Birmingham no longer has any night buses on any night of the week, and that is in a PTE area.

Nor Bradford or Wakefield and the towns of Halifax and Huddersfield all of which used to have nightbuses. Leeds has nightbuses but none of its traditional ones - they're all ones which serve student areas (nothing wrong with serving them but no use if you don't live in one).

 

[nctx]

Public Inquiry (43227) to be held at The Public Inquiry Room, Suite 4, Stone Cross Place, Stone Cross Lane North, Golborne, Warrington, WA3 2SH, on 06 October 2011 commencing at 14:00(Previous Publication2598))
PC1094655 SN
DUNN MOTOR TRACTION LTD T/A YOUR BUS
Director(s): ANTHONY SCOTT DUNN.
HEANOR GATE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, HEANOR GATE ROAD , HEANOR DE75 7RJ, GB
PSV - S17 - Consideration of disciplinary action under Section 17 (The Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981)
PSV - Sch.3 - Consideration of Transport Managers Repute under Schedule 3 (The Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981)
PSV - S14 - Consideration

 

[WillPS]

Couldn't help but think of this post earlier today. On a NCT 28 I said "hello single please" and put the exact change in. Waited for my ticket only to be met with the reply from the woman "go then!". Every other passenger got a ticket, I can't understand such rudeness.

Needless to say it's the only time I've got off a bus and not said thank-you.

Also watched on Friar Lane today the RED 1 battle it out with Trent Barton's Radcliffe Line. Both of which are timed every 15 minutes on Solos, Red 1 is timetabled 1 minute after Trent Bartons but needless to say it always left before it, and usually with more passengers. It really is pathetic timetabling which doesn't benefit the customer (unsurprisingly) and is unnecessarily frequent.

Pretty poor.

 

[tbtc]

Nor Bradford or Wakefield and the towns of Halifax and Huddersfield all of which used to have nightbuses. Leeds has nightbuses but none of its traditional ones - they're all ones which serve student areas (nothing wrong with serving them but no use if you don't live in one).

Sheffield has none at the moment, but will get the N52 in a few weeks (the "night" version of the Stagecoach 52).

 

[WillPS]

A night bus duplicating the purple tram route would be nice.

 

[ivanhoe]

I was at the traffic lights yesterday by Loughborough Station when a Premier Travel X9 was closely followed by a Kinchbus number 9. For those who are not aware, Kinchbus is part of the Trent Barton empire who started this spoiler route earlier this year. If you ever hear the Trent Barton Group trying to play on the moral highground , they are not too dissimilar to the bad boys of Stagecoach and First.

Feel sorry for bus drivers as they along with Joe Public have to play these school ground games imposed on them by Managers. Pathetic, but nobody in the media or Parliament gives a toss.

 

[Deerfold]

I was at the traffic lights yesterday by Loughborough Station when a Premier Travel X9 was closely followed by a Kinchbus number 9. For those who are not aware, Kinchbus is part of the Trent Barton empire who started this spoiler route earlier this year. If you ever hear the Trent Barton Group trying to play on the moral highground , they are not too dissimilar to the bad boys of Stagecoach and First.

Feel sorry for bus drivers as they along with Joe Public have to play these school ground games imposed on them by Managers. Pathetic, but nobody in the media or Parliament gives a toss.

To be fair they only introduced it after Premier set up on several of their routes. It'd be nice for a new starter to start up some novel rotues for a change.

 

[trentside]

Premiere are very keen to be seen as the victim of a larger company. The larger company who's profitable and successful network it chose to target. Premiere are the aggressor, not TrentBarton. If anyone remembers when the X1 (later Red1) first started, there was no reaction at all from Trent. They chose to continue as normal, it was only when Premiere decided to target Cotgrave and Stapleford that they retaliated. People criticise Trent for this, but at the end of the day, they're protecting a business they've worked very hard to turn into one of the most successful bus operators in the country.

 

[nctx]

Premiere are to run a coach service to ..... called Red X.

 

[trentside]

Premiere are to run a coach service to ..... called Red X.

No doubt Derby, duplicating the Red Arrow. :roll:

If they were sensible, they'd launch in competition with the Transpeak. Not often I'd encourage them, but Trent have seriously neglected this service in recent years - as far as I know, the coaches on it are now gone, with Optare Excels running the full journey through to Manchester.

 

[radamfi]

Maybe Transpeak isn't particularly profitable, hence its downgrade.

 

[Deerfold]

No doubt Derby, duplicating the Red Arrow. :roll:

If they were sensible, they'd launch in competition with the Transpeak. Not often I'd encourage them, but Trent have seriously neglected this service in recent years - as far as I know, the coaches on it are now gone, with Optare Excels running the full journey through to Manchester.

Coaches still run when it's to/from Manchester - though there's only 3 a day do the whole route and another 1 Derby-Manchester.

http://www.trentbarton.co.uk/transpeak

The service does not seem to be particularly popular - it went back up to every 2 hours for a while with council money paying for the extra (but still without the 7ish arrival and departure at Manchester).

On the other hand Trentbarton don't promote it nearly as well as many of their services and various of their tickets aren't valid on it.

 

[tom1649]

Coaches still run when it's to/from Manchester - though there's only 3 a day do the whole route and another 1 Derby-Manchester.

I live in Matlock and the Manchester service is now always an Excel when I see it. Not seen a coach for a good few months now. It is usually pretty well loaded too.

 

[Deerfold]

I live in Matlock and the Manchester service is now always an Excel when I see it. Not seen a coach for a good few months now. It is usually pretty well loaded too.

Ah - not caught it for a while so trusted Trentbarton's description. Used to catch it regularly, but not for over 10 years.

 

[WillPS]

On the other hand Trentbarton don't promote it nearly as well as many of their services and various of their tickets aren't valid on it.

I don't think that's true. Until recently there were onboard advertisements pushing the concept of taking the Transpeak to Bakewell with ZigZag Plus on the Rainbow 3. It's easy to balk at the Excels which run it, but really this is the Liverpool - Norwich of bus routes - nobody in their right mind would use it end-to-end, and it's really used primarily as a local shuttle around the towns and villages in the Peaks.

I think Wellglade have really had a fair crack at Transpeak, and the truth is that it just isn't a concept set to thrive in the same way the Red Arrow, Indigo and all the rest have done.

 

[gordonthemoron]

is it possible to connect into skyline 199 at Buxton from Transpeak?

 

[Deerfold]

is it possible to connect into skyline 199 at Buxton from Transpeak?

Yes. How good the connections are varies - but with the 199 being basically half-hourly the connections can't be absolutely dire. Great if you want to go to stockport or Manchester airport - perhaps that last one might be an angle for them to promote.

 

[tbone]

I live in Matlock and the Manchester service is now always an Excel when I see it. Not seen a coach for a good few months now. It is usually pretty well loaded too.

Former Transpeak coaches are now as follows:

56- Withdrawn due to fire damage
59- TM Travel
60- Withdrawn dur to corrosion damage
61- Notts & Derby
62- Red Arrow spare

63 (Trent Barton spare coach)- Notts & Derby

 

[WillPS]

Where/why do Notts & Derby use the coaches? Does it ever appear on Transpeak (as the Palatins frequently used to)?

And wow - I wonder what caused one to corrode so quickly? Surely this is to be expected about 10 years further than we are now?

 

[MCR247]

Where/why do Notts & Derby use the coaches? Does it ever appear on Transpeak (as the Palatins frequently used to)?

Paladins are still often used on it

 

[starrymarkb]

Where/why do Notts & Derby use the coaches? Does it ever appear on Transpeak (as the Palatins frequently used to)?

And wow - I wonder what caused one to corrode so quickly? Surely this is to be expected about 10 years further than we are now?

Didn't one get caught in flooding at Matlock a few years ago, I remember seeing a TP coach underwater on the news

 

[tbone]

Where/why do Notts & Derby use the coaches? Does it ever appear on Transpeak (as the Palatins frequently used to)?

And wow - I wonder what caused one to corrode so quickly? Surely this is to be expected about 10 years further than we are now?

The Notts and Derby coaches are currently caught up in the back log in the paintshop- a former swift excel was first seen today in service with kinchbus, it was released from Swift in May!

 

[WillPS]

The Notts and Derby coaches are currently caught up in the back log in the paintshop- a former swift excel was first seen today in service with kinchbus, it was released from Swift in May!

How stupid! Let them run debranded (or on Transpeak!).