Stagecoach North Scotland (Bluebird and Highland)

[Jordan Adam]

There was a batch of 4 Volvo B9TLs/East Lancs (SY07CUW/X and SY07CVA/B) that were purchased by Highland Country two years before and they were all Jet branded at one point, so that's perhaps why they only required two singles with leather seats.

Indeed. From the Rapsons take over until 2017 the 11 was joint operated by both Bluebird and Highland. Initially Bluebird used E300s 27601/2 while Highland used the B9TLs, in 2012 Highlands received a number of Scania K230UBs replacing the B9TLs while Bluebird received more E300s albeit in Beachball in 2014.

SCANIA K320UB Alexander Enviro 300 - 'JET' Stagecoach in Inverness

28649 SV12 AYK........seen here in Inverness.

www.flickr.com

Stagecoach 27105 SL14DCF brand new and on it's first day in service, seen at Nairn bus station

20 May 2014

www.flickr.com

The 11 was then revised to only operate as far as Nairn and the short working 10s were introduced. The joint operation has now ceased as the 10 is a Bluebird route while the 11 is Highland.

27601/2 are now allocated to Buchan and are regulars on the "50/50B/X50/N50/52/53/53A/X53/54/54B/55/56".... between Aberdeen, Balmedie, Newburgh and Ellon which has gradually replaced the old 50, 62 and 254... 27601 is probably the slowest E300 on planet earth while 27602 is one of the fastest! 27602 came out the paintshop just the other week in the new local livery.

SV59 DEU

Explore kdbarclayG750's 36307 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

The B9TLs are also down this way currently with all 4 based at Stonehaven, that is if you exclude 16947 which is sat at Aberdeen needing engine work. None of the 4 are that great and if it wasn't for the fact they need them for schools they would've been gone years ago, they've proven troublesome buses since new.

Stagecoach Bluebird 16947 SY07CUW (23rd July 2019)

Stagecoach Bluebird Volvo B9TL East Lancs Olympus 16947 SY07CUW sits at Kingswells Park & Ride while operating a Service X17 from Aberdeen to Westhill. Photo date: 23/07/2019 ©Jordan Adam

www.flickr.com

 

[computerSaysNo]

Indeed. From the Rapsons take over until 2017 the 11 was joint operated by both Bluebird and Highland. Initially Bluebird used E300s 27601/2 while Highland used the B9TLs, in 2012 Highlands received a number of Scania K230UBs replacing the B9TLs while Bluebird received more E300s albeit in Beachball in 2014.

Ahh okay. So the Scanias must have been the JET branded ones without the leather seats then.
Is there any difference between the normal E200s and the Scania ones? The only difference I can see is that the rear destination display is in a slightly different position.

 

[mbonwick]

The B9TLs are also down this way currently with all 4 based at Stonehaven, that is if you exclude 16947 which is sat at Aberdeen needing engine work. None of the 4 are that great and if it wasn't for the fact they need them for schools they would've been gone years ago, they've proven troublesome buses since new.

Stagecoach Bluebird 16947 SY07CUW (23rd July 2019)

Stagecoach Bluebird Volvo B9TL East Lancs Olympus 16947 SY07CUW sits at Kingswells Park & Ride while operating a Service X17 from Aberdeen to Westhill. Photo date: 23/07/2019 ©Jordan Adam

www.flickr.com

Schools or not, I can't believe they've lasted so long given how many issues they've had (not all related to the Volvo parts admittedly), and the amount of different things that have been tried!
They've been all at Inverness (to be near the Volvo dealer there), all at Aberdeen (same reason), split between the two (to give both dealers a better crack at them), various trips away to other major service centres...etc etc.

At the very least I've always expected them to get shipped off to an area with lots of Volvos (East Midlands), and possibly converted to open top to avoid some of the body issues.....

 

[cnjb8]

Schools or not, I can't believe they've lasted so long given how many issues they've had (not all related to the Volvo parts admittedly), and the amount of different things that have been tried!
They've been all at Inverness (to be near the Volvo dealer there), all at Aberdeen (same reason), split between the two (to give both dealers a better crack at them), various trips away to other major service centres...etc etc.

At the very least I've always expected them to get shipped off to an area with lots of Volvos (East Midlands), and possibly converted to open top to avoid some of the body issues.....

You'd think that they'd have some spare Tridents somewhere for replacement. In fact East have sold a number of AE55/AE06 Tridents to Ensign which I thought would be perfect to oust some older Tridents or East Lancs.

 

[Volvodart]

The previous Bluebird MD had a plan to get rid of all the non standard types to help with maintenance, which would have included the East Lancs, but he did not stay around long.

 

[overthewater]

Surly Peter Knight would carry on this idea, mind you with this covid its not going to be easy now.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Surly Peter Knight would carry on this idea, mind you with this covid its not going to be easy now.

Not if there isn't suitable vehicles to replace them. Older Stagecoach E400s are like a game of bingo, you'll either get a very solid reliable runner or a total raft. Just look at the two E400s we got from Newcastle in July, one blew up in under two weeks and the other is superb and probably the best E400 in the fleet.

Schools or not, I can't believe they've lasted so long given how many issues they've had (not all related to the Volvo parts admittedly), and the amount of different things that have been tried!
They've been all at Inverness (to be near the Volvo dealer there), all at Aberdeen (same reason), split between the two (to give both dealers a better crack at them), various trips away to other major service centres...etc etc.

At the very least I've always expected them to get shipped off to an area with lots of Volvos (East Midlands), and possibly converted to open top to avoid some of the body issues.....

Agree, Bluebird typically never had more than two based at the same depot so that the affects of their unreliability were more spread out and avoided a fleet shortage at any specific depot, so it's quite a surprise that all are now at Stonehaven. Of the 4 B9TLs 16945 is the only reliable one, although even it has it's moments, the cooling fan has been stuck on for years too. The other 3 are constantly on and off the road, with 16946 you never know if you'll actually make it to your destination without it breaking down. I suspect part of the reason Bluebird kept them is because the Volvo B9 is a standard type in the fleet, and as mentioned before they're belt fitted. I wouldn't be surprised if the Ex-Dublin B7TLs despite their age outlive the them, the B7TLs are very popular with both drivers and management and the most reliable deckers in the fleet. Even now they're still on pretty high mileage work and it's no bother.

Lets not forget this infamous video of 16948... "Chuggy"

Ahh okay. So the Scanias must have been the JET branded ones without the leather seats then.
Is there any difference between the normal E300s and the Scania ones? The only difference I can see is that the rear destination display is in a slightly different position.

The Scanias are around 30CM longer, have larger wheels and the interior layout is different, main difference externally is the rear end with the rear window region being entirely different.

You'd think that they'd have some spare Tridents somewhere for replacement. In fact East have sold a number of AE55/AE06 Tridents to Ensign which I thought would be perfect to oust some older Tridents or East Lancs.

The issue with that is they'd need to send the Tridents away to have belts fitted which can be quite costly, especially on an older bus. Bluebird did have 18000/110/111 but they weren't of much use due to the lack of belts so were fairly limited on the duties they could do. Bluebird loosing the 9U contract along with 19212/213 moving up from Newcastle meant they were no longer needed in the fleet, albeit 19212 only lasted two weeks before self combusting. Covid has put a stop to everything but the plans at the start of the year were that the JET727 would receive a batch of new E400MMCs and the existing E400MMC fleet would be retained at Aberdeen likely displacing the B9TLs and what was left (at the time) of the remaining Tridents.

Thankfully the mass decker shortage Bluebird had in 2019 is now gone, the real issue at the moment is they have too many minibuses. Currently the fleet has 21 (19 solos & 2 Sprinters). 11 in Aberdeenshire, 10 in Buchan, and 1 in Moray but they only realistically need 7 in Aberdeenshire and 6 at Buchan. So it means that nearly daily Solos are on duties which should be using much larger buses.
47484 yesterday was a prime example - https://bustimes.org/vehicles/73979?date=2020-11-20
Perhaps even worse was 47585 which is a shorter 7.8M Solo! - https://bustimes.org/vehicles/52581?date=2020-11-20

 

[cnjb8]

Not if there isn't suitable vehicles to replace them. Older Stagecoach E400s are like a game of bingo, you'll either get a very solid reliable runner or a total raft. Just look at the two E400s we got from Newcastle in July, one blew up in under two weeks and the other is superb and probably the best E400 in the fleet.

Agree, Bluebird typically never had more than two based at the same depot so that the affects of their unreliability were more spread out and avoided a fleet shortage at any specific depot, so it's quite a surprise that all are now at Stonehaven. Of the 4 B9TLs 16945 is the only reliable one, although even it has it's moments, the cooling fan has been stuck on for years too. The other 3 are constantly on and off the road, with 16946 you never know if you'll actually make it to your destination without it breaking down. I suspect part of the reason Bluebird kept them is because the Volvo B9 is a standard type in the fleet, and as mentioned before they're belt fitted. I wouldn't be surprised if the Ex-Dublin B7TLs despite their age outlive the them, the B7TLs are very popular with both drivers and management and the most reliable deckers in the fleet. Even now they're still on pretty high mileage work and it's no bother.

Lets not forget this infamous video of 16948... "Chuggy"

The Scanias are around 30CM longer, have larger wheels and the interior layout is different, main difference externally is the rear end with the rear window region being entirely different.

The issue with that is they'd need to send the Tridents away to have belts fitted which can be quite costly, especially on an older bus. Bluebird did have 18000/110/111 but they weren't of much use due to the lack of belts so were fairly limited on the duties they could do. Bluebird loosing the 9U contract along with 19212/213 moving up from Newcastle meant they were no longer needed in the fleet, albeit 19212 only lasted two weeks before self combusting. Covid has put a stop to everything but the plans at the start of the year were that the JET727 would receive a batch of new E400MMCs and the existing E400MMC fleet would be retained at Aberdeen likely displacing the B9TLs and what was left (at the time) of the remaining Tridents.

Thankfully the mass decker shortage Bluebird had in 2019 is now gone, the real issue at the moment is they have too many minibuses. Currently the fleet has 21 (19 solos & 2 Sprinters). 11 in Aberdeenshire, 10 in Buchan, and 1 in Moray but they only realistically need 7 in Aberdeenshire and 6 at Buchan. So it means that nearly daily Solos are on duties which should be using much larger buses.
47484 yesterday was a prime example - https://bustimes.org/vehicles/73979?date=2020-11-20
Perhaps even worse was 47585 which is a shorter 7.8M Solo! - https://bustimes.org/vehicles/52581?date=2020-11-20

Oh ok that's fair enough

 

[mbonwick]

I suspect part of the reason Bluebird kept them is because the Volvo B9 is a standard type in the fleet, and as mentioned before they're belt fitted

I think it's more just the fact that they are deckers (and being belted obviously helps too) - Bluebird and Highlands have both been desperately trying to bin as many coaches as they can over the past couple of years to bring the depreciation bill down and make the fleet more versatile.

I really hope they've not just kept them because they have B9Rs - although on the face of it they are the same engine, there are subtle differences to account for the different layout arrangements so maintenance isn't a complete "read-across".

 

[Jordan Adam]

29004 is now in for repaint which means 29007/8 are the only Hospital Direct branded E350Hs left.

Repaints as of 26/11/2020...

Bluebird:
Enviro400: 19374 & 19541
Enviro300: 27538 & 27602
Enviro350H: 29001/02/03/04/05/06/09/10/17/21
Enviro200: 36033/46/47/68/959
Optare Solo: 47257/601/605/875
Panther: 53107/110/112 (Training)
Elite: 53715 (Long Distance)
Interdeck: 54241/42/43/44 (Long Distance)

Highland:
Enviro300: 27587
K230UB: 28601/03/04/49
Panther: 53612/13/15/16/17/18 & 54038 (Long Distance)
Panther2: 54130/31/32/33/34/35/37 (Long Distance)

Stagecoach Highlands are to face yet another Public Inquiry....

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/941550/np_2310_7_December_2020.pdf

Public Inquiry (82726) to be held at Level 6 (Edinburgh), EH1 3EG, The Stamp Office, 10 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, on 16 December 2020 commencing at 11:00

PM0002294 SN HIGHLAND COUNTRY BUSES LTD
Director(s): BRUCE DINGWALL, DAVID BEATON, SAMUEL GREER, CARLA STOCKTONJONES
1 SEAFIELD ROAD, INVERNESS, IV1 1SG
S17 - Consideration of disciplinary action under Section 17 (The Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981)
S26 - Consideration of disciplinary action under Section 26 (The Transport Act 1985)
S28 - Consideration of disciplinary action under Section 28 (The Transport Act 1985)

 

[PG]

Stagecoach Highlands are to face yet another Public Inquiry....

Wonder if the DVSA been up that way recently dishing out some PG9's...

 

[Jordan Adam]

Wonder if the DVSA been up that way recently dishing out some PG9's...

I suspect it may be related to this... https://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/stagecoach-staff-bullied-driving-faulty-buses-1418899

One of Scotland’s biggest bus firms is being investigated after a whistleblower claimed drivers had been bullied into operating faulty vehicles.​

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency said one of its intelligence officer was investigating the claims at Stagecoach North Scotland.
The allegations against Stagecoach included buses being operated from its Inverness depot with red or amber brake, engine, and emission warning lights coming on, and holes in the side of vehicles.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) said one of its intelligence officer was investigating the claims at Stagecoach North Scotland, which carries some 16 million passengers a year.

The allegations against Stagecoach included buses being operated from its Inverness depot with red or amber brake, engine, and emission warning lights coming on, and holes in the side of vehicles.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) said one of its intelligence officer was investigating the claims at Stagecoach North Scotland, which carries some 16 million passengers a year.

A worker at the firm told Scotland on Sunday: “I have personally found faults with multiple vehicles, such as amber engine management lights, amber emissions lights, amber anti-lock braking system lights and others, which, when presented to a fitter are merely signed off without them even looking at the affected bus. Rules are blatantly being ignored. If a driver refuses to take a bus out, they may feel intimidated by controllers/managers. If drivers feel threatened they generally back down and take the bus out. Very few drivers have the courage or know the rules well enough to stand their ground. On occasions, certain controllers rip up defect cards. The other day, a driver found a defect. He took the card into the office and it was torn up in front of him and the controller said ‘Look, no more defect’ and gave the bits back to the driver laughing. Fitters say they aren’t given the time to fix the buses and they get threatened/an ear bashing if they take buses off the road.”

The worker also claimed the bodywork of several buses had sharp edges or holes, which posed a safety risk. He further alleged several buses had gone out without the operator’s licence that must be displayed to carry passengers.

Walter Brown, DVSA enforcement delivery manager for Scotland said: “Our priority is to protect everyone from unsafe vehicles and drivers. We are aware of the allegations against Stagecoach’s operations in the Highlands. These have been sent to a DVSA intelligence officer and it will be dealt with appropriately.”

Greig Mackay, acting director of watchdog Bus Users Scotland, said: “We will check for any sharp edges and general standards within the vehicles.”

A spokeswoman for Stagecoach said: “As soon as these claims were raised with us, we began a thorough investigation, undertaken by a director from outwith the North Scotland business. That on-going review has identified some deficiencies around the way some processes were being followed, and these appear to be linked to the additional work taken on by the depot at the beginning of the year, which temporarily caused added work pressure that is now being managed more effectively. As a result of our review, we have identified a number of areas where we will be strengthening our management and putting additional checks in place. We expect our people to be able to work in a professional and supportive environment where they can undertake their roles effectively and raise any concerns freely. However, our investigation so far has shown a number of the claims made are not currently supported by our findings. Certain other claims appear to have resulted from a simple misunderstanding.”

Although there have been a few thermal incidents, reliability issues and the deroofing of an ALX400 since then!

 

[Caleb2010]

Which is an article from April 2019!!

if it does relate to this I’d be surprised considering it was dealt with over 18 months ago. Didn’t a reshuffling of management following a licence reduction take place?

Highland are still guilty of bullying drivers into taking defective vehicles out though, I know this first hand - they probably won’t have changed that much. So it could be!


Anyone who takes the time to look up the relevant sections of the relevant acts could probably make an educated guess at what they’ve done this time!

 

[Jordan Adam]

Which is an article from April 2019!!

if it does relate to this I’d be surprised considering it was dealt with over 18 months ago. Didn’t a reshuffling of management following a licence reduction take place?

Highland are still guilty of bullying drivers into taking defective vehicles out though, I know this first hand - they probably won’t have changed that much. So it could be!


Anyone who takes the time to look up the relevant sections of the relevant acts could probably make an educated guess at what they’ve done this time!

Indeed, someone had mentioned elsewhere about this Public Inquiry being delayed by "18 Months", not sure if that's the case as i've not had a chance to look in to it more yet.

The licence reduction was back in 2015, there was a management reshuffle around 2016 with Bluebird and Highland being merged in to North Scotland. It is quite notable that Stagecoach North Scotland was split up again in October 2019. As i'm sure you'll probably know Highland has been like a revolving door ever since Stagecoach took over Rapsons, they'll have a series of major incidents, get in trouble with the TC, get away with a fine and/or licence reduction, promise improvements and then be back to square one six months later.

There has been speculation that the reason for the Bluebird/Highland split in October 2019 was actually so that if there was to be another Public Inquiry Bluebird (which is profitable) wouldn't be dragged in to it.

Aberdeenshire did have some fairly severe vehicle shortages in 2019 with services not running, however following the management changes with a new MD taking over and other changes within the company things have improved drastically and 2020 has been a fairly smooth year for them overall. Even more recently a few deckers were off the road and they managed to cover services fine.

There has also been a network review which has helped improve links (especially between Aberdeen and Buchan) while making better use of vehicles. For example the 54 was replaced with the 50/52/53/54 which basically doubled the frequency of low floor buses between Aberdeen and Ellon without increasing the peak vehicle requirement.
While the Buchan Xpress services now have stopping restrictions between Aberdeen and Tipperty/Balmedie meaning that there's no longer capacity issues and journey times are much faster. For example the X67 between Aberdeen and Fraserburgh is now about 15 minutes faster than it was a year ago.

 

[GusB]

My trip into town yesterday was on a plain white E200, registered YX18KUE. Bus lists says it was new to First South West, and a Flickr search suggests it did a spell with Bay Travel.

I didn't see the usual 5-digit fleet number, nor did it show it on the ticket, but it did carry the number FM47. What's the significance of this?

 

[awsnews]

My trip into town yesterday was on a plain white E200, registered YX18KUE. Bus lists says it was new to First South West, and a Flickr search suggests it did a spell with Bay Travel.

I didn't see the usual 5-digit fleet number, nor did it show it on the ticket, but it did carry the number FM47. What's the significance of this?

FMnn are Ferrymill Motors fleet numbers for the vehicles they loan to operators whilst they are repairing one of the operators own or to cover fleet shortages.

 

[Jordan Adam]

My trip into town yesterday was on a plain white E200, registered YX18KUE. Bus lists says it was new to First South West, and a Flickr search suggests it did a spell with Bay Travel.

I didn't see the usual 5-digit fleet number, nor did it show it on the ticket, but it did carry the number FM47. What's the significance of this?

What route was it on? I'm guessing in the Moray area?

"FM47" will be a Ferrymill Motors lease vehicle, usually they come on loan if another bus is away for major repairs or off the road with severe accident damage. Moray do have both 54826 and 36067 off the road with major accident damage, but neither were recent and both have been replaced. 54826 by 53715 and 36067 by 36032.

 

[GusB]

It was on the 32 Burghead route. It's a pity that it's not a permanent resident; it's a decent enough motor.

Thanks for clearing up that little mystery for me!

 

[cnjb8]

My trip into town yesterday was on a plain white E200, registered YX18KUE. Bus lists says it was new to First South West, and a Flickr search suggests it did a spell with Bay Travel.

I didn't see the usual 5-digit fleet number, nor did it show it on the ticket, but it did carry the number FM47. What's the significance of this?

Was new to Somerset Passenger Solutions, so 50% First

 

[jamieintercity]

What route was it on? I'm guessing in the Moray area?

"FM47" will be a Ferrymill Motors lease vehicle, usually they come on loan if another bus is away for major repairs or off the road with severe accident damage. Moray do have both 54826 and 36067 off the road with major accident damage, but neither were recent and both have been replaced. 54826 by 53715 and 36067 by 36032.

FM47 was briefly with east Scotland last year covering for 13046 but was mainly on the 30 between arbroath and stracathro hospital.

Meanwhile, an awful lot of service changes planned for January (some aberdeenshire and skye journeys) and February (most of the highland network)

 

[Jordan Adam]

FM47 was briefly with east Scotland last year covering for 13046 but was mainly on the 30 between arbroath and stracathro hospital.

Meanwhile, an awful lot of service changes planned for January (some aberdeenshire and skye journeys) and February (most of the highland network)

The Bluebird changes are nothing much.

X17: Additional short working from Union Square to Kingswells P&R (Placing Journey for the vehicle allocated to the 44)
44: Reverts back to operating Countesswells to Kingswells P&R due to the link road being reopened.
59: Minor timetable revisions.
66/66A: No visible change.
69/69B: 7:50 Peterhead - Fraserburgh and 16:35 Fraserburgh - Peterhead are duplicated (Not sure if this is an error or to allow the use of a single decker)
81: One additional round trip at 23:11
84A/84C: No visible change.
727: Minor timetable revisions.

Not had a full look yet but i'd imagine the Skye revisions will just be minor adjustments. The February Highland changes are not yet publicly available, but it's anticipated these could be quite big and possibly related to the recent Public Inquiry.

*Disclaimer... This is unconfirmed and just speculative*

Having had a look through the Highland service registrations for next month the main changes i can see are as follows...

Service 1/1A (Culduthel - Balloch):
Timetable changes
Service 2/2A (Craig Dunain - Westhill):
Croy service withdrawn (replaced by new Service 5)
Service 3/3A/103 (Craig Dunain - Culloden or Tornagrain):
Extended to Tornagrain Village (Evening+Sundays Only)
Service 4/4A (Inverness - Milton of Leys):
Timetable changes
NEW Service 5/5A/5B (Dalneigh - Tornagrain Village):
New service operating half hourly from Dalneigh to Tornagrain via Inverness, Culcabock, Raigmore Hospital, Westhill, Culloden Battlefield & Croy. Replaces sections of the 2, 6 & 8
Service 6 (South Kessock - Raigmore Hospital):
Rerouted via Hilton then Raigmore Hospital, Inverness Shopping Park Extension axed.
Service 7/7A (Inverness - Ness Circle):
Timetable changes
Service 8 (Inverness - Raigmore Estate):
Dalneigh Section axed
Service 11/11B (Inverness - Ardersier):
Reduced to hourly, all journeys operate as per the current 11A.
NEW Service X12 (Inverness - Narin Loch Loy):
New Hourly Service operating Inverness to Nairn (Loch Loy) direct replacing the Nairn variations on the 11.
Service 13 (Inverness Shopper Service):
Service reinstated on Thursdays only
Service 23 (Inverness - North Kessock)
Service Reinstated.
Service 24X/25/25X (Inverness - Tain):
Withdrawn (See below for new services)
New Service 25 (Inverness - Invergordon/Tain)
Existing Service 25X renumbered.
New Service 25A (Dingwall - Invergordon/Tain)
New service variation replacing Sections of the 25 along with the 64/65. Unsure if the services runs through to Inverness.
New Service X25 (Inverness - Tain - Caithness)
New Service replacing the X98/X99. Hourly service as far as Tain.
Service 64/65 (Alness - Invergordon - Tain)
Replaced with new Service X25
Service X98/X99 (Inverness - Tain - Caithness)
Replaced with new Service X25

Additionally pretty much every other service within the Highland region not listed above has timetable changes!

 

[route101]

Is the X99 still running up to Thurso?

 

[Jordan Adam]

Is the X99 still running up to Thurso?

No the X98/X99 have been cancelled with the new X25 filling their place.

 

[Pat1105]

The Bluebird changes are nothing much.

X17: Additional short working from Union Square to Kingswells P&R (Placing Journey for the vehicle allocated to the 44)
44: Reverts back to operating Countesswells to Kingswells P&R due to the link road being reopened.
59: Minor timetable revisions.
66/66A: No visible change.
69/69B: 7:50 Peterhead - Fraserburgh and 16:35 Fraserburgh - Peterhead are duplicated (Not sure if this is an error or to allow the use of a single decker)
81: One additional round trip at 23:11
84A/84C: No visible change.
727: Minor timetable revisions.

Not had a full look yet but i'd imagine the Skye revisions will just be minor adjustments. The February Highland changes are not yet publicly available, but it's anticipated these could be quite big and possibly related to the recent Public Inquiry.

*Disclaimer... This is unconfirmed and just speculative*

Having had a look through the Highland service registrations for next month the main changes i can see are as follows...

Service 1/1A (Culduthel - Balloch):
Timetable changes
Service 2/2A (Craig Dunain - Westhill):
Croy service withdrawn (replaced by new Service 5)
Service 3/3A/103 (Craig Dunain - Culloden or Tornagrain):
Extended to Tornagrain Village (Evening+Sundays Only)
Service 4/4A (Inverness - Milton of Leys):
Timetable changes
NEW Service 5/5A/5B (Dalneigh - Tornagrain Village):
New service operating half hourly from Dalneigh to Tornagrain via Inverness, Culcabock, Raigmore Hospital, Westhill, Culloden Battlefield & Croy. Replaces sections of the 2, 6 & 8
Service 6 (South Kessock - Raigmore Hospital):
Rerouted via Hilton then Raigmore Hospital, Inverness Shopping Park Extension axed.
Service 7/7A (Inverness - Ness Circle):
Timetable changes
Service 8 (Inverness - Raigmore Estate):
Dalneigh Section axed
Service 11/11B (Inverness - Ardersier):
Reduced to hourly, all journeys operate as per the current 11A.
NEW Service X12 (Inverness - Narin Loch Loy):
New Hourly Service operating Inverness to Nairn (Loch Loy) direct replacing the Nairn variations on the 11.
Service 13 (Inverness Shopper Service):
Service reinstated on Thursdays only
Service 23 (Inverness - North Kessock)
Service Reinstated.
Service 24X/25/25X (Inverness - Tain):
Withdrawn (See below for new services)
New Service 25 (Inverness - Invergordon/Tain)
Existing Service 25X renumbered.
New Service 25A (Dingwall - Invergordon/Tain)
New service variation replacing Sections of the 25 along with the 64/65. Unsure if the services runs through to Inverness.
New Service X25 (Inverness - Tain - Caithness)
New Service replacing the X98/X99. Hourly service as far as Tain.
Service 64/65 (Alness - Invergordon - Tain)
Replaced with new Service X25
Service X98/X99 (Inverness - Tain - Caithness)
Replaced with new Service X25

Additionally pretty much every other service within the Highland region not listed above has timetable changes!

Cue Highland’s annual network changes! I’ve lost count of the amount of times they’ve changed things

 

[overthewater]

One of these days Skye and Wick depots will be sold and that will be the end of that. Will these changes see a reductions in PVR?

 

[Jordan Adam]

One of these days Skye and Wick depots will be sold and that will be the end of that. Will these changes see a reductions in PVR?

Again purely speculative, but i'm pretty certain by the end of this decade Highlands will be cut back to just the Inverness area services and merged in to Bluebird, basically how it was pre-Rapsons sale... Skye is probably next to go, Caithness will go once the Dounreay Contracts end in 2025-27.

Cue Highland’s annual network changes! I’ve lost count of the amount of times they’ve changed things

The changes generally look like improvements, but i agree. At least with Inverness if a route you like is axed you know it'll be back again in 2-3 years!

Enviros are very standard in the fleet, the B7RLEs aren't so much. So isn't the best comparison

Do all Highland buses have seatbelts then?

*Replied here as we were veering off topic.*

That doesn't matter anywhere near as much as you'd think. Just look at Bluebird where they've retained the unique Ex-Dublin B7TLs instead of the far more common Tridents. The same is happening with the Solos where the belt fitted Rapsons/Strathtay examples are being retained instead of the slightly newer Stagecoch spec examples. Typically vehicle withdrawals in the North Scotland region are not based on age or standardisation but rather vehicle condition and suitability. If a vehicle has seatbelts or not is often the deciding factor. Even then Highland currently have around 35 B7R/LEs so its not at all an unfamiliar type, especially when you remember that Inverness also have the 3 Centros.

Most of the fleet do have belts, but not all. Some of the Tridents/E400s, 27515, SV57 E300s, SP60 E200s and all the Stagecoach spec Solos lack belts.

 

[Blindtraveler]

If they were to dispose of sky and Caithness and most likely Orkney as well, are there any good quality local independence in any of those areas who could take over and particularly provide from Caithness to Inverness the long-distance x99 soon-to-be x25 operation with a suitable spec vehicle?

Having previously been married to an orcadian there were certainly no obvious outfit up there that could step in and reliably provide a a locally run and managed "buses of Orkney" type operation

 

[Jordan Adam]

If they were to dispose of sky and Caithness and most likely Orkney as well, are there any good quality local independence in any of those areas who could take over and particularly provide from Caithness to Inverness the long-distance x99 soon-to-be x25 operation with a suitable spec vehicle?

Having previously been married to an orcadian there were certainly no obvious outfit up there that could step in and reliably provide a a locally run and managed "buses of Orkney" type operation

It depends how exact the sale is done. D&E Coaches or West Coast Motors seem the obviously choices. However if depots were sold individually i could see the likes of Shiel or even one of the many private hire operators showing interesting, i wouldn't rule out some of the Shetland Independents when it comes to Orkney.

The Inverness - Caithness corridor is harder to predict because it's likely if Stagecoch did pull out of Caithness but remained in the Easter Ross region the X99/X25 would remain to some extent albeit operated from Tain. Keep in mind when the X99 was launched in 2009 Stagecoach has the 25X running half hourly to Tain and hourly to Dornoch with some 25X journeys even going as far north as Brora and Helmsdale.

Below is a preview of the 25X/X99 timetable from May 2009.

*Separate post*

Hydrogen Vanhool 29906 has now been donated to Grampian Transport Museum for use as an outdoor exhibit.

 

[PG]

Hydrogen Vanhool 29906 has now been donated to Grampian Transport Museum for use as an outdoor exhibit.

Must surely qualify as their most pricey exhibit! Do they even have a hydrogen supply at Alford or would the bus require removal to Kittybrewster for refuelling if they ever used it as a non-static exhibit?

 

[Jordan Adam]

Ah wow that's a fantastic bit of History! I'll keep an eye out on Flickr for any other Vehicles. I know this isn't East Scotland so I apologise but Stagecoach Highlands have a Sole Optare Solo SE for Airport Services believe it or not but will that or any other Airport Vehicles for example the 747 Edinburgh Airport Service be repainted too? Hope to see some branded Vehicles soon enough.

Replied here since this is the appropriate thread.

The Optare Solo in question (47574) is currently withdrawn and stored at Thurso. There won't be any branded vehicles, the JET services will be getting the specialist livery.

Must surely qualify as their most pricey exhibit! Do they even have a hydrogen supply at Alford or would the bus require removal to Kittybrewster for refuelling if they ever used it as a non-static exhibit?

I think it was donated... No one is wanting to buy them so i'm not surprised. I'd imagine it'll be towed around the site rather than driven, Atlantean 154 which is inside the museum is a non-runner for example.