Olympic Bus Transfers/ Loans

[83G/84D]

I think the new Scanias in Torbay are going up, they haven't been branded beyond small Stagecoach logos. (I suspect they will gain branding on their return)

The new Plymouth Park and Ride E400s entered service with "Your Venue SHUTTLE" Fleet names so they'll be going :roll:

The Plymouth P&R E400's have gone to be replaced in the most part by Barnstaple Trident's and ex London dual door Dart's. Barnstaple get ex London Dart's as well plus a few Camborne based Olympians.

Just as well the Olympics are taking place during school holidays or some depots would struggle to provide suitable vehicles for school contracts.

 

[TrainBoy98]

Stagecoach South is meant to be sending quite a few out. Worthing has been warned but none have been taken yet and no-one has been told whats going. (I dont know their official names but i suspect that the buses 27xxx and 18xxx (our new single and double deckers) may disappear for a while...

 

[starrymarkb]

Interesting that they're blanking the logos, I'd have thought that as an 'official partner' Stagecoach would be permitted to display their branding.

I don't believe they are an official partner. I suspect money would have had to changed hands or services provided free in turn for the right to be associated with the Games (like Heathrow is spending £20m, but not passing it on to the IOC/LOCOG in return for being allowed to call themselves "Official Airport" in their marketing, BA is giving free flights to teams from poorer countries that would be unable to compete otherwise in return for being 'Official Airline')

 

[richw]

Probably covering for the Plymouth Park and Ride buses (which were delivered in Olympic Livery so safe to assume they are going)

The step vehicles I've seen have been around the far west of Cornwall, and Truro - Penzance routes normally worked by mx56*** registered vehicles

 

[Schnellzug]

South transferring a number of it's buses is causing a bit of a stir in my neck of the woods. The ones with notices all come from the Route 1 'Gold' service running between Aldershot and Camberley. Heavily publicised locally with it's free wifi, big comfy seats etc, local people don't seem to be happy that the money they pay for it will see them with an inferior service for a few months!

exactly. lord Coe and his gimmick claim everything, and no one is allowed to argue with him, and the ordinary punters, who aren't the Eyes of the World, and who therefore aren't important, have to put up with old junk until "Lord" coe has no more need for the new stuff. This is exactly the kind of reason why why not as many people love the "Games" as lord coe thinks there ought to be.
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The Plymouth P&R E400's have gone to be replaced in the most part by Barnstaple Trident's and ex London dual door Dart's. Barnstaple get ex London Dart's as well plus a few Camborne based Olympians.

Just as well the Olympics are taking place during school holidays or some depots would struggle to provide suitable vehicles for school contracts.

Oh, you know that the schools would just have to put up with it because the "Games" are so much more important. it'd be a price worth paying for the Eyes of the World being upon us.

 

[tbtc]

Interesting that they're blanking the logos, I'd have thought that as an 'official partner' Stagecoach would be permitted to display their branding

I thought that it was First who had the official contract (but I could be wrong)

 

[sonic2009]

I thought that it was First who had the official contract (but I could be wrong)

First have the official contract for coach travel, and i believe park & ride facilities at events such as weymouth etc.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

 

[jonesy3001]

Credit to sludgeulper on these showing buses in use for the olympics a few of Morecambes E400s and the E300s from merseyside with the stagecoach logo covered and the orange ball vinyl removed at the rear.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sludgeulper/

 

[Schnellzug]

It appears that one Go-Ahead South or one or other of its many branches have the contract for the shuttle to the Olympic Site round here; I've noticed three or four Scania deckers and one or two new, unbranded More B7RLEs. In fact, they seem to have started work already; here's 1001 (YN54 AFX) with Solent Blue Line legal lettering, outside Weymouth Train Station (as it regrettably says on the windscreen sticker ) only today.

 

[starrymarkb]

It appears that one Go-Ahead South or one or other of its many branches have the contract for the shuttle to the Olympic Site round here; I've noticed three or four Scania deckers and one or two new, unbranded More B7RLEs. In fact, they seem to have started work already; here's 1001 (YN54 AFX) with Solent Blue Line legal lettering, outside Weymouth Train Station (as it regrettably says on the windscreen sticker ) only today.

I've seen pictures of Brighton and Hove buses in London too, I wouldn't be surprised if Stagecoach (who I believe have the master contract) haven't rung round the other major groups and independents and said "we need x low floor deckers we can pay £xxx per vehicle per day, what can you spare?"

 

[mbonwick]

I believe B&H have a contract in their own right.

First - Spectator transport
Stagecoach - Media and "Family" transport
Local consortium of coaching companies - Police transport
Various other firms from all over the UK are also involved with security transport etc.

 

[MCW]

Leicester wise we are dead, Arriva are having problems with keeping their normal services afloat, all of the Leicester and Burton Reserve fleet is now operating in Leicester, bar 2 scanias.

First haven't moved anything either.

Centrebus haven't either.

Stagecoach ALX400 spotted 3 days ago ish on the X7 at St. Margeret's bus station, indicating the normal enviros have gone southwards.

EDIT: if anyone has any info for god sake please PM me!!! LOL i want to get the rare shots and rides before they are gone for good.

 

[OMGitsDAVE]

Not much has changed in Teesside & Hartlepool, can anyone tell me if anything has gone down for the Olympics?

Only thing i've really noticed is some Service 36's, usually ran by Enviro 300s, are now ALX 300's...

 

[tamesidedepot]

I thought that it was First who had the official contract (but I could be wrong)

Stagecoach are providing a free service from Piccadilly to Old Trafford for games ticket holders only (must be shown to driver) which would imply some form of official contract. First are doing the park and ride services to OT from Eastlands, Trafford Centre and Salford Reds stadium.

 

[BestWestern]

Credit to sludgeulper on these showing buses in use for the olympics a few of Morecambes E400s and the E300s from merseyside with the stagecoach logo covered and the orange ball vinyl removed at the rear.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sludgeulper/

How utterly pathetic that the companies have to go to the trouble of peeling off their logos whilst the vehicles still carry a nationally recognisable livery, as well as legal lettering. I'm surprised the Games Gods didn't demand the vehicles to repsprayed plain white to be honest :roll:

The commercial side of this fiasco really is farcical. How can anybody be expected to respect this 'event' (best not to use the official name in case we get sued) when so much emphasis has been placed on the money making side of things. I heard a whisper there might be some sport taking place if time can be found during all the franchising and corporate sponsorship...

 

[David10]

Noticed sizeable fleets of First liveried buses stabled at their Hayes depot and at Reading Buses' depot on Thursday.

Stagecoach buses carry legal signwriting for Stagecoach UK Bus Events Limited.

 

[Dstock7080]

Very many UlsterBus coaches and Translink (Belfast) buses now appearing on Games transport services in London:
http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/24772733@N05/7610346006/

 

[trentside]

How utterly pathetic that the companies have to go to the trouble of peeling off their logos whilst the vehicles still carry a nationally recognisable livery, as well as legal lettering. I'm surprised the Games Gods didn't demand the vehicles to repsprayed plain white to be honest :roll:

I wouldn't be surprised if they did - and got told where to go.

I've been slightly annoyed to discover that Stagecoach have sent 15651-6, our nice leather seated Scania N230UDs not to London, but to Cambridge for the duration of the games. I don't really understand this, as if Cambridge didn't have sufficient reserves - then why were some of their vehicles sent to the Olympics? The Scanias are very much missed here, as it turns out months in storage hasn't done the Dennis Darts and Volvo Olympians much good...

 

[mbonwick]

Cambridge is mostly all-ADL E400s.

Only all-ADL products are being sent to the Olympics by Stagecoach, as they have ADL staff on site(s) carrying out maintainence, who for obvious reasons are familiar with ADL stuff but not the Scania chassis.

 

[trentside]

Ah, that makes sense, sort of. It's just slightly odd that vehicles regularly used on inter-urban work, and according specced, have been sent away for use on city services - surely, some of our various integral E400s or Tridents could have gone to Cambridge instead.

Mind you, I'm trying to apply logic to Stagecoach - and the two don't sit well together.

 

[mbonwick]

Believe me, what's happening is very logical and there's a lot of work involved.
It's just very difficult trying to explain when people don't have the full picture.

 

[trentside]

Believe me, what's happening is very logical and there's a lot of work involved.
It's just very difficult trying to explain when people don't have the full picture.

I'm sure there has been a great deal of work put into it, and I was making a tongue in cheek comment.

As for the full picture - to passengers round here, the picture is lower quality vehicles that are already proving unreliable and less accessible than those that are normally used. The drivers are being very frank with people about it, and are explaining about the Olympics - people are frustrated enough about that, it's probably a good thing that they don't know some of our vehicles are just being used in Cambridge. Can't wait for the Olympics to be over!

 

[317 forever]

Cambridge is mostly all-ADL E400s.

Only all-ADL products are being sent to the Olympics by Stagecoach, as they have ADL staff on site(s) carrying out maintainence, who for obvious reasons are familiar with ADL stuff but not the Scania chassis.

It is an excellent initiative for Stagecoach to have ADL Engineers on site to carry out maintenance to reduce the instance of any having to be kept off the road. Stagecoach tend to have E400 integrals on urban work and Scania-E400s on interurban work anyway, although there may be exceptions.

 

[Deerfold]

Believe me, what's happening is very logical and there's a lot of work involved.
It's just very difficult trying to explain when people don't have the full picture.

Which unfortunately includes most people whose nice modern buses suddenly disappear off to the Olympics with no prior warning.

 

[David10]

Stagecoach appear to be using West Ham depot as their main base, presumably some of its usual residents have been transferred to other depots. As well as its own buses, a number of deckers from the London General charter fleet and Brighton & Hove were visible from the Jubilee line at West Ham station.

First have established a depot at Box Lane, Barking visible from the c2c line between Barking and Dagenham Dock.

 

[mbonwick]

Which unfortunately includes most people whose nice modern buses suddenly disappear off to the Olympics with no prior warning.

No, for the average passenger, just saying "because of the Olympics is enough"

I was referring to trentsides view that the way vehicles have been moved is illogical - it really isn't. It's one of those cases where knowing a little is worse than knowing nothing.


West Ham is indeed the logistics centre for Stagecoach, with maintainence done there. Vehicles are stabled at Upton Park depot and another new, temporary one which I've forgotten the location of.

 

[trentside]

No, for the average passenger, just saying "because of the Olympics is enough"

I was referring to trentsides view that the way vehicles have been moved is illogical - it really isn't. It's one of those cases where knowing a little is worse than knowing nothing.

Unfortunately, for those of us on the outside - we just have to put up with knowing a little, and sometimes need to just vent some frustrations. I witnessed an incident yesterday, where a wheelchair user was unable to board a bus (despite it being low-floor) because it lacked the required equipment. The driver was apologetic but the 'because of the Olympics' comment caused quite a lot of discontent amongst the passengers - some got quite vocal, and put the driver in a slightly unenviable position. The next bus I was on had a faulty air buzzer, and the driver thumping the dashboard also drew comment - again the 'because of the Olympics' reason didn't go down well with the passengers who were left with the impression that the vehicle they were travelling on wasn't in the best condition.

I'm sure that the vehicle swaps and loans are well planned and logical, but you can't just assume that ordinary passengers won't notice or don't care. Going from a leather seated, comfortable double decker to a rattly and elderly Dart with no wheelchair facilities is very obvious and it's no wonder people don't like being told "it's because of the Olympics".

 

[mbonwick]

That wasn't what I meant.

Are you seriously suggesting telling passengers about all the details of where their new buses have gone and which they've allowed to depart for London? I think not.
Whilst its far from ideal, its only for a month or so and all regions are suffering equally.

What I meant was that you are wrong to be angry that your vehicles have gone to Cambridge. You don't know how many vehicles they are sending (73 btw - all deckers), how many they will be getting in (41, but just 27 of them decker) or what their contractual obligations are with regards tendered or QBP services. YOu also weren't aware of the all-ADL policy until I told you, hence the "knowing a little is worse than not knowing" comment.

EDIT: I will tell you how East Midland's figures stack up for comparison.
You will lose 42 vehicles to London, 10 of which haven't even *officially* entered service
6 Scania E400s to East (as mentioned)
3 MAN E300s to South. Total 51 (less 10 spare anyway gives 41)

There are 41 vehicles down to cover while your vehicles are away, a significantly better position than that of East/Cambridge I think you'll agree, who will be operating with less vehicles than normal.

 

[sonic2009]

Have Stagecoach West sent any buses to London?

 

[mbonwick]

Nope, just 14 of various types to East AFAIK.