I take it First still don't sell their buses to have a second life with another operator like Lothian Buses do?
Are the other big groups like Stagecoach, Arriva or Go-Ahead running buses just old as First's oldest?
First do sell their buses now for further service - saw former FHD Trident 32849 just outside Lincoln a few weeks ago with just fleet names removed.
Arriva still have a few fleets with some old tat running about such as Midlands with some fairly peachy SB120s. However, they are fewer and the fleet mix is better. Stagecoach are very good - a few older Tridents but most is 2003/4 at worst and generally a decent age profile though some fleets are now needing investment (cough - Newcastle)
First have a real lack of vehicles from 2010-2 when the spending really dried up outside London.
I'm quite interested were the fleet will end up actually. From what i can gather, only the B7s (05,56,06), very few B9s and all the E400s are being loaned to Rotala. That makes 11 plate B7s and many 08,58 and 09 B9s available to be moved around straight away.
Yep, that’s about the size of it so c.40-50 vehicles I think available.
Surely it is more attractive to a prospective buyer, because: -
1. The buyer pays less for the business (The assets are depreciated).
2. The new buyer can visibly make improvements by bringing in newer buses.
Not necessarily. Can soak up a lot of capital and time sorting it out.
Different firms have different views as we’ve seen with First Manchester (GAG vs Rotala)
