Stagecoach North Scotland (Bluebird and Highland)

[Jordan Adam]

Enviro400EV 14041 entered service on the 727 this morning (8:15 to the Airport / 9:10 back to Aberdeen) however only lasted one trip before being replaced by 19376... It also was running with the displays showing "123 Hanover Displays" and a paper "727" in the windscreen.

They also tried to transfer two E400EVs from Arbroath where they're in storage to Aberdeen today however one only made it to Inverkeilor while the other only made it to Gourdon. Incidentally Norscot have recently bought two new wreckers...

 

[PG]

Incidentally Norscot have recently bought two new wreckers...

I'd forgotten that I saw one last week (or maybe earlier this week?) heading North past Ellon on the A90 with an interdeck. Couldn't see the number but it was one of the repainted yellow ones; are any still left in the original livery?

 

[Jordan Adam]

I'd forgotten that I saw one last week (or maybe earlier this week?) heading North past Ellon on the A90 with an interdeck. Couldn't see the number but it was one of the repainted yellow ones; are any still left in the original livery?

54245 did break down in Aberdeen on Tuesday and was towed up to Peterhead so maybe that? On Saturday something kept buzzing in the cab whenever it was going up hills. Sadly the Buchan Interdecks are showing their age now, on 54248 the doors reset at random forcing the bus to stop with the driver then having to get out the cab and manually reset the doors (open and then close them again in a particular order) much to the annoyance of passengers who think the driver is pulling over in the middle of nowhere for no reason, the brakes barely work and the engine often misfires. On 54255 the engine will randomly cut out at around 45mph and a "stop engine system failure" warning will show up for a few seconds before the engine randomly cuts back in and it's fine. A number of them also frequently have gearbox issues. 54244 has just returned from Volvo where it was getting fixed due to coolant pressure issues, on it's first day back it spilt all it's coolant on the A90 at Hatton...

All Elites and Interdecks at Bluebird are now in the yellow livery, additionally the first Panther (53641) has just been done.

 

[PG]

Sadly the Buchan Interdecks are showing their age now, on 54248 the doors reset at random forcing the bus to stop with the driver then having to get out the cab and manually reset the doors (open and then close them again in a particular order) much to the annoyance of passengers who think the driver is pulling over in the middle of nowhere for no reason, the brakes barely work and the engine often misfires.

I've obviously been lucky as I've not experienced any of those issues when I've been on-board though I don't tend to note the bus number unless something is amiss. However I do doubt that the brakes are barely working otherwise drivers wouldn't be driving it. I'm sure it is meeting the correct minimum readings when brake tested which the depot will be doing anyway.

They were new in 2015 so almost 8 years old now, obviously units will need replacing/overhauling but no reason they can't remain in Stagecoach service either here or elsewhere. Interior wise you'd be hard pushed to realise their age. I do wonder what direction they'll go in when they do decide to move them on as there was a lot of noise about their interior layout for a couple of years after their introduction given that 97% of the seats are upstairs.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I can't help wondering if they will transfer them along with the ones from the X7 onto Citylink work, given what's happened with the five from Dumfries.

 

[Jordan Adam]

I've obviously been lucky as I've not experienced any of those issues when I've been on-board though I don't tend to note the bus number unless something is amiss. However I do doubt that the brakes are barely working otherwise drivers wouldn't be driving it. I'm sure it is meeting the correct minimum readings when brake tested which the depot will be doing anyway.

Of course "Barely work" was a little sarcasm, however the brakes on it are notably poor. You'd be surprised about some of the defects that certain buses have and how long they've had them for despite constantly being reported... It's little wonder reliability and vehicle available is so poor, you just have to look on Bluebird's Twitter and you'll see many service cancellations due to "a" vehicle issue.

They were new in 2015 so almost 8 years old now, obviously units will need replacing/overhauling but no reason they can't remain in Stagecoach service either here or elsewhere. Interior wise you'd be hard pushed to realise their age. I do wonder what direction they'll go in when they do decide to move them on as there was a lot of noise about their interior layout for a couple of years after their introduction given that 97% of the seats are upstairs.

They are still quite tidy internally, although a few are starting to suffer the classic "Plaxton tri-axle roof wobble". In fairness the Buchan batch are in far better condition than the X7 batch, the less said about 54237 the better!

Can't help wondering if they will transfer them along with the ones from the X7 onto citilink work given what's happened with the five from Dumfries

I very highly doubt it, the Dumfries examples were transferred specifically to replace the Ex-Gold Astromegas.

 

[PG]

You'd be surprised about some of the defects that certain buses have and how long they've had them for despite constantly being reported...

I've experienced that first hand previously, for my sins, so I know that unless it's likely to result in a PG9 (prohibition) then it just gets put in the rainy day pile... As a driver you eventually stop reporting them!

 

[Morayshire]

Passed 5 very shiny all electric buses parked in a layby on the northbound side of the a90 just north of Finavon about 3pm today.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Passed 5 very shiny all electric buses parked in a layby on the northbound side of the a90 just north of Finavon about 3pm today.

Hopefully the movement went better than the attempted transfer of 14045 and 14052 last week... One broke down at Inverkeilor while the other broke down at Gourdon. Both requiring assistance from those brand new Norscot wreckers!

Subsequent vehicle movements have already started to happen with 53641 now repainted in to the long distance livery and transferred to Peterhead with a second (likely 53644) to follow.

 

[mbonwick]

21205/8-10 and 53624 have all gone to Geoff Ripley, Barnsley for scrap. 53615/6 to Ensign.

 

[Jordan Adam]

21205/8-10 and 53624 have all gone to Geoff Ripley, Barnsley for scrap. 53615/6 to Ensign.

21205 had been sat out of use at Inverness for quite some time, surprised 21208-10 went for scrap however. 53624 was withdrawn at the start of the year after the engine blew, of the original 11 plate batch of Panther 2s only 53623 and 53625 are left in service now

Highland are due quite a number of new vehicles over the coming months including for Skye so i'd expect 21203/4/6/7 won't have long either.

 

[Wynd]

Why do no services go to Kintore Station? They go past, but dont serve the station.

 

[computerSaysNo]

Highland are due quite a number of new vehicles over the coming months including for Skye so i'd expect 21203/4/6/7 won't have long either.

The vehicles mentioned appear to be 2007-reg (according to bustimes.org), does their withdrawal indicate that the 07-57-reg E200/300/400s are also going to be replaced soon?
What are they being replaced with, just standard long-wheelbase E200MMCs?

 

[lachlan]

Why do no services go to Kintore Station? They go past, but dont serve the station.

I guess as most services go through Inverurie it was deemed unnecessary as there's an interchange opportunity there. It would be nice to have the 37 call at the station as that would provide a link into Kintore but as its only hourly chances are it'll be quicker to walk.

 

[Wynd]

To be more specific. The Alford bus in particular, if linked with the train, would drastically shorten journey times in to Aberdeen, and widen access to Donside residents providing them links to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

 

[Volvodart]

It is a council tender, so any changes requested would have to be routed through them.

 

[lachlan]

To be more specific. The Alford bus in particular, if linked with the train, would drastically shorten journey times in to Aberdeen, and widen access to Donside residents providing them links to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Ah, I was looking at the 218 Alford bus rather than the 220. Yes it stops close to the station, you would think adding an extra stop in the station car park would be easy.

Adding the stop, and also making all the 220 services go through Kintore (some of them skip it) would make interchange journeys much easier. Though I suspect many users are concessions and may take the longer bus journey anyway as it is free.

 

[Wynd]

In principle a reasonable suggestion then? It seems a little bit of an oversight that a new station is un-served by local buses.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The vehicles mentioned appear to be 2007-reg (according to bustimes.org), does their withdrawal indicate that the 07-57-reg E200/300/400s are also going to be replaced soon?
What are they being replaced with, just standard long-wheelbase E200MMCs?

Got to remember that these are non-standard B7RLEs in the Stagecoach fleet. I'd suggest the others might have a few years yet especially the deckers.

 

[Jordan Adam]

The vehicles mentioned appear to be 2007-reg (according to bustimes.org), does their withdrawal indicate that the 07-57-reg E200/300/400s are also going to be replaced soon?
What are they being replaced with, just standard long-wheelbase E200MMCs?

Got to remember that these are non-standard B7RLEs in the Stagecoach fleet. I'd suggest the others might have a few years yet especially the deckers.

Highland don't have any of the Ex-Rapsons E200s left in service anyway, and the E300s of that era are all reserves if i'm not mistaken. The E400s won't be going anytime soon i won't think as they've just recently been belt fitted. The new buses for Skye are supposedly going to be more Evoras like those on Orkney while Inverness are also due 25 electric buses, the first are expected to be arriving around August/September.

To be more specific. The Alford bus in particular, if linked with the train, would drastically shorten journey times in to Aberdeen, and widen access to Donside residents providing them links to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Ah, I was looking at the 218 Alford bus rather than the 220. Yes it stops close to the station, you would think adding an extra stop in the station car park would be easy.

Adding the stop, and also making all the 220 services go through Kintore (some of them skip it) would make interchange journeys much easier. Though I suspect many users are concessions and may take the longer bus journey anyway as it is free.

The 421 already provides a fairly direct link from Inverurie Town Hall which is just next to the railway station to Alford via Kemnay.

Ideally there needs to be an entire network review with the 37 axed and other services revised, Having discussed this with others previously changes ideally could be as follows:

Service X10 Aberdeen - Inverurie - Huntly - Elgin - Inverness:
Renumbered to X10, Inverurie/Huntly short workings would be withdrawn and replaced by new services X40/X41.
10B/10C variations would be withdrawn as these would now be obsolete.

Service 37: Withdrawn
The Service 37 is obsolete with now end to end demand and could be replaced by other revised/improved services.

New Service X40: Aberdeen - Inverurie (Circular)
Existing hourly Service 10 short workings to Inverurie renumbered. Rerouted via Blackburn maintaining Blackburn - Inverurie link.

New Service X41 Aberdeen - Inverurie - Insch - Huntly:
New service operating hourly replacing the existing Huntly Service 10 peak extras while also reinstating the Inverurie - Insch - Huntly link. Would help address capacity issues currently experienced on the Service 10.

*Services X10/X40/X41 would be timed to provide a consistent 20 minute frequency between Aberdeen and Inverurie.

New Service 42: Inverurie (Circular) - Kintore - Kemnay
Service would operate on a 30 minute frequency with an hourly evening/Sunday frequency. It would first loop Inverurie following the existing route of the 37 before continuing to Kemnay via Kintore. One bus every 90 minutes would extend to Alford as a Service 421.

Service 43: Inverurie - Kingseat
Existing Service 403 renumbered

New Service 45: Inverurie (Circular) - Uryside - Oldmeldrum
Service would operate on a 30 minute frequency with an hourly evening/Sunday frequency. It would first loop Inverurie following the existing route of the 37 before continuing to Oldmeldrum. One bus every 90 minutes would extend to Ellon as Service 49.

*Services 42 & 45 would provide a combined 15 minute frequency within Inverurie over the shared section of route.

Service 218 Aberdeen - Westhill - Alford:
Frequency increased to every 90 minutes, rerouted between Elrick and Dunecht to operate via Kirkton Of Skene, Garlogie & Echt.

Service 220 Aberdeen - Kintore - Kemnay - Monymusk/Alford:
Revise to operate Aberdeen to Monymusk hourly and reroute via ARI, within Kintore the service would be rerouted via Hallforest Avenue & Kintore Railway Station. All journeys would operate as Service 220 with the X20 variation withdrawn, evening & Sunday services should also be improved with earlier/later Sunday runs to/from Alford

This would maintain the link from ARI to Kintore while also providing a direct service between Aberdeen and Kemnay. There's little demand for the 220 to Beryden/Woodside

Service 240 Withdrawn
Replaced by Services 42 & 45

Service 421 Inverurie - Alford:
See Service 42.

Again though these are just hypothetical ideas and highly unlikely to happen particularly given the 37 and 240 are both commercial routes and operated by different operators!

 

[PG]

In principle a reasonable suggestion then? It seems a little bit of an oversight that a new station is un-served by local buses.

This doesn't surprise me in the slightest! Decision makers who see a railway station as a driver of growth/prospects for an area simply don't see buses as relevant. Therefore they fail to make provision for them. We are now over 21 years into the 21st century yet integrated transport remains little more than a buzzword to be dropped into a press release. I doubt it'll really happened within my lifetime... [Rant Over]

Meanwhile the P&J are reporting Stagecoach drivers in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire secure 10% pay rise.

Stagecoach has offered an inflation-busting pay rise to north-east bus drivers following complaints about low wages.

The company has agreed to boost their workers’ pay by 10% over the next 18 months amidst reports of drivers leaving the industry to find better paid jobs.

Note that no annual figure is quoted so a somewhat less than 10% rise really though better than nothing. As is usual these days, the article is basically a straight copy of a union press. Obviously too much effort to seek out a quote from Stagecoach!

 

[Wynd]

Jordan, providing a link, and providing a link that links to the services to proivide integrated connections, well, the timetables need some work.

Getting to Kintore station is also a lot faster than getting to Inverurie station owing to the proximity to major roads, Kintore is right next to the A96, and having to travel through Port Elphinstone and the town center.

We can make this integrated and workable. It is possible.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Jordan, providing a link, and providing a link that links to the services to proivide integrated connections, well, the timetables need some work.

Getting to Kintore station is also a lot faster than getting to Inverurie station owing to the proximity to major roads and having to travel through Porty.

We can make this integrated and workable. It is possible.

Don't get me wrong I fully agree, and i do think especially in the less densely populated areas the lack of particularly bus and rail integration is a huge issue.

As i alluded to in my previous post i think the best option is to merge the 240/421 in to one coherent service, improve frequency and reroute them via Kintore and axe the now obsolete 37. With proper integration the 240 has real potential to act as a rail link connecting Inverurie Railway Station with Uryside and Oldmeldrum and Kintore Railway Station with Kemnay. The reason i bought up the 421 is because it already provides a link from the railway to Kemnay and Alford so the council won't see the need to fund a service to Kintore even though as you've noted (and i agree) it's significantly more convenient.

It's not a case that it can't be done, obviously it can. But it requires serious thinking and innovation from those higher up and unfortunately i don't see that happening.

 

[Wynd]

Have faith, with the passing of the Covid restrictions we should see local Bus Forums reconvene. Some local campaigning to ensure the 220 goes to Kintore station would also help, along with a quickening of that service, particularly around Kemnay.

 

[Surreyman]

The new buses for Skye are supposedly going to be more Evoras like those on Orkney while Inverness are also due 25 electric buses, the first are expected to be arriving around August/September.

Jordan, are you able to say anymore about new buses for Skye? Assume the 25 Electrics are for Inverness local services?

 

[Jordan Adam]

Jordan, are you able to say anymore about new buses for Skye? Assume the 25 Electrics are for Inverness local services?

The Public Transport contracts on Skye are up for renewal and as part of Stagecoach's bid they've committed to renew the entire fleet with Euro 6 buses similar to what happened on Orkney last year. One of Orkneys Evora's is expected to go on loan to Skye for trials and type training at some point over the summer, again similar to how one of the Stagecoach East Evoras went to Orkney last summer with the new vehicles arriving "later in the year". There unfortunately isn't much more i can add at the moment as the exact numbers of vehicles etc isn't yet known.

The 25 Electrics will be primarily for local services around Inverness yes.

 

[Surreyman]

The Public Transport contracts on Skye are up for renewal and as part of Stagecoach's bid they've committed to renew the entire fleet with Euro 6 buses similar to what happened on Orkney last year. One of Orkneys Evora's is expected to go on loan to Skye for trials and type training at some point over the summer, again similar to how one of the Stagecoach East Evoras went to Orkney last summer with the new vehicles arriving "later in the year". There unfortunately isn't much more i can add at the moment as the exact numbers of vehicles etc isn't yet known.

The 25 Electrics will be primarily for local services around Inverness yes.

Many Thanks

 

[mbonwick]

21205 had been sat out of use at Inverness for quite some time, surprised 21208-10 went for scrap however. 53624 was withdrawn at the start of the year after the engine blew, of the original 11 plate batch of Panther 2s only 53623 and 53625 are left in service now

Highland are due quite a number of new vehicles over the coming months including for Skye so i'd expect 21203/4/6/7 won't have long either.

I'm not overly surprised that the Centro bodies Volvos went; it's never exactly been a common vehicle and suffers from poor body spares availability I believe.
I'm surprised 53624 went for scrap though - yes the engine might have blown, but surely an attractive prospect for a dealer to drop a new (reconditioned?) engine in and move on...

Will be interesting to see if they can make Skye pay with the higher depreciation of newer vehicles.

 

[Jordan Adam]

I'm not overly surprised that the Centro bodies Volvos went; it's never exactly been a common vehicle and suffers from poor body spares availability I believe.

That's a fair point, i suspect once 16945-48 come off they'll also be heading straight for scrap.

I'm surprised 53624 went for scrap though - yes the engine might have blown, but surely an attractive prospect for a dealer to drop a new (reconditioned?) engine in and move on...

There must have been something more wrong with it, especially given they've sold accident damaged 53626 to Moffat.

 

[PG]

Unless I've missed it the fares increase last Sunday hasn't been mentioned.
Changes to Fares from Sunday 8th May 2022

On Sunday 8th May 2022 we are going to be revising our bus fares across the network. These changes reflect the rising costs of running services since. Since 2019 costs across the bus industry have risen by about 12%. The new ticket prices will add on average 4.9% onto single and multi-journey tickets which is still below the annual rate of inflation (CPI) of 8.2%. We will also be raising the prices on our DayRider, Flexi-5 and our MegaRider tickets - these are outlined below.

Specific fares for your journey can be found by using the Journey Planner on our website and viewing ticket results. Please make sure that the date of the journey is after the 8th May 2022.

Zone​	8th May Price​	8th May Price​	8th May Price​	8th May Price​	8th May Price​
​	DayRider​	Flexi 5​	7 day Mega​	28 day Mega	MegaRider Xtra​
Aberdeen City	£4.20​	£16.80​	£14.20​	£52.60​	£47.40​
Aberdeen Commuter	£7.40​	£29.60​	£26.40​	£94.60​	£84.00​
Banff & Buchan Area	£9.50​	£38.00​	£32.00​	£105.00​	£94.60​
Bluebird Explorer	£14.70​	£58.80​	£42.00​	£157.60​	£144.00​
Deeside Area	£9.50​	£38.00​	£32.00​	£105.00​	£94.60​
Donside Area	£9.50​	£38.00​	£32.00​	£105.00​	£94.60​
Elgin City	£3.70​	£14.80​	£9.60​	£36.80​	£31.60​
Elgin Commuter	£6.30​	£25.20​	£21.00​	£78.80​	£73.60​
Elgin-Inverness	£12.60​	£50.40​	£36.80​	£136.60​	£131.40​
Ellon Park and Ride	x​	x​	£21.00​	£78.80​	£73.60​
Fraserburgh	£3.70​	£14.80​	£9.60​	£36.80​	£31.60​
Mearns Area	£9.50​	£38.00​	£32.00​	£105.00​	£94.60​
Moray Area	£9.50​	£38.00​	£32.00​	£105.00​	£94.60​
NHS Aberdeenshire (same as Abdn Commuter)	x​	x​	£21.00​	£78.80​	£73.60​
Peterhead	£3.70​	£14.80​	£9.60​	£36.80​	£31.60​
Portlethen (to Aberdeen)	£6.30​	£25.20​	£21.00​	£78.80​	£73.60​
Westhill (to Aberdeen)	£6.30​	£25.20​	£21.00​	£78.80​	£73.60​