Stagecoach North West Discussion

[mbonwick]

What reg is the Marshall? Might be one of Kendal's, I don't know.
Open top Titan will be waiting for its trip to Barnsley and the Blow lamps I guess.

17013/4 are now based at Chorely, and presumably will not be O/T'd

Attached is the latest allocation card

 

[driver9000]

No idea on the registration, only caught a glimpse of it as I drove through White Lund the other day

 

[mbonwick]

Doesn't matter really

Stagecoach Cumbria Leyland Olympian 14197 is currently covering for an accident damaged vehicle in Preston, having just come back from refurb.

 

[driver9000]

ex-Prston Optare Solos are on the scene at Morecambe, 47022 was in service last night, along with an unidentified sister.

 

[mbonwick]

Indeed. 47021/2 have come up from Fleetwood for medium/Long term loan. They will probably be replaced in a few months with 2 other ex-Fleetwood Solos, which will be permanant. This is because several B6's (unfortunatly I don't have numbers) are being withdawn.

Apparently some MAN HOCs are to arrive from Manchester for a trial VHF timetable to/from the university....something to do with not enough capactiy and too many students. Some Olympians are also rumoured to be coming out of store for this, but I can't vouch for the accuracy.


Wednesday - Lancaster came to a stand for White Line Painting - services were upto 45mins late and failures were in abundence: 20131 and 20544 with electrical faults (looked like life expired batteries), 18xxx with UID fault and several B6s (No surprises there )


All the B10Ms and Tridents are now back in service.
1701x has been reupholstered - presumably this is at the front of the queue for LED fitting.

 

[driver9000]

Indeed. 47021/2 have come up from Fleetwood for medium/Long term loan. They will probably be replaced in a few months with 2 other ex-Fleetwood Solos, which will be permanant. This is because several B6's (unfortunatly I don't have numbers) are being withdawn.

Wednesday - Lancaster came to a stand for White Line Painting - services were upto 45mins late and failures were in abundence: 20131 and 20544 with electrical faults (looked like life expired batteries), 18xxx with UID fault and several B6s (No surprises there )

Nice to see the horrible B6 being consigned to the bin - awful buses to drive! Im still bemused by the one that has been preserved!!

I wondered why Lancaster was so busy on Wednesday, typical council picking a fine time to go painting the roads - all it needs is for one little thing and Lancaster city centre becomes a car park :-x

 

[mbonwick]

Totally agree with you there Driver9000
For some idea of the disruption, it was taking an hour to get to the railway station from the bus station.
I had to walk down to rowing in Skerton on Wednesday. Our teacher and some 6th formers drover down, arriving 45mins after we did at about 1430 (school finishes at 1530 and it takes 1/2 houor to get boats out and put them away)

 

[mbonwick]

B10Ms 20309, 20661 and 20702 have arrived at Morecambe from Gilmoss. Not sure what they're for though.

 

[mbonwick]

B10Ms 20309, 20661 and 20702 are only for store, pending further onwards movement. 17012 has nearly finished being open topped and will head to Preston for certification next week. 17015 is also nearing completion and Gez delivered 17016 to Lillyhall today.
http://gez.fotopic.net/p54343678.html shows 17012/15 in the workshops. Allegedly, Stagecoacha are looking at running them on Biofuel.

B10Ms 20301 and 20306 have arrived at Barrow.

Titan 11100 is for scrap after a "major" engine failure during the week. Lancaster's last Merc 709D 40461 is also going to the same fate.

On a happier note, 10179 was still plying it's trade on the Seatoller route 79 this week.

 

[driver9000]

Good, more rubbish being removed from the fleet. I never liked B10s or the 709D. The Tridents look like they've had a decent job done on them, and the green livery looks good too - it brings Maidstone & District livery to my mind for some reason......

 

[mbonwick]

Period 6 fleetcard.

Note there are some discrepancies between this and reality.

It is rumoured that there may be some enviros going spare, so Lancaster could be in line for some more Trident2 s cascaded.

Also, there is the likelihood of the 2 B6s being swapped with 2 B10Bs from Lillyhall. The B6s would then be stored/scrapped.

A friend went round the Morecambe depot at the weekend - hopefully his pictures will be online soon. He says that he was told that STL are carrying out a trial with new coach-style seating on some Solos. If sucessful, this will be rolled out to all the Lancaster Solos.

 

[robertclark125]

Some stagecoach Fife optare solos have coach seating in them. These mean they can be used on private hires, or the 747 service

 

[driver9000]

Period 6 fleetcard.

Note there are some discrepancies between this and reality.

It is rumoured that there may be some enviros going spare, so Lancaster could be in line for some more Trident2 s cascaded.

Also, there is the likelihood of the 2 B6s being swapped with 2 B10Bs from Lillyhall. The B6s would then be stored/scrapped.

A friend went round the Morecambe depot at the weekend - hopefully his pictures will be online soon. He says that he was told that STL are carrying out a trial with new coach-style seating on some Solos. If sucessful, this will be rolled out to all the Lancaster Solos.

There always was discrepancies between the ground and the cards.

Its a shame Lancaster cant have the Enviro400s instead of more Tridents. Ive not managed a ride on the B10Bs that Lancaster operates, I rarely use the bus these days as its easier to walk, but less B6 buses is always a good thing, and it means Heinz can have more tin cans for its produce

Is the trial seating similar to the seating fitted to the ex-Kirkby Lonsdale 04 plate Optares?

Have you noticed in the local press the amount of readers letters regarding driving standards at Lancaster? Im inclined to agree to a point, but its unfair to tar all the drivers wit the same brush - we werent all lunatics treating the city as our own private racing track!

 

[mbonwick]

I'd prefer enviros as well, but I can see the logic behind more Tridents. A standard, uniform fleet of 20 odd Tridents is easier to maintain than 20 and a handul of Enviros. Same with the B6s - Easier to operate 6/7 B10Bs than 4/5 and 2 B6s. Interestingly, I was told that B6s (here at least) are banned after 2100 because the mechanics are off shift!

I'm not 100% sure about the seating types, I haven't seen any yet. However, I believe it will be something like this - high backed seats with grab handles on the shoulders.

I'm afraid I don't get to read the Lancaster press, with being in a different county, however I do know the editor of the Lancaster Guardian; he gets on the bus in the morning two stops after me!
I totally agree, you can't tar all drivers with the same brush. From personal experience, you get some who will say "Hi, morning, how are you" etc; you can have a conversation. Then theres those who set off as soon as your feet are on board and don't give a toss.


Such is the way of life.

 

[driver9000]

I was half way! not chatty but I never set off until people were sat down.

When Lancaster got the B6 back in 2002/2003 they were to be used exclusively on the 5 (Overton-Carnforth) to replace the 709D and the duplicates that operated at school times. It was soon discovered that they had a habit of running out of fuel around 22:00 after running in service since 07:00 so the descision was taken to change buses when the evening driver took over at 19:15 usually with a 709D or if certain inspectors were on a full size bus would go out (I used to use 14174 or a VR). Soon after the B6 began to spread its wings onto the 6/6A/6B/6C circuit and the 5 gradually became a B10M operation, as the 6A is the only service left at night on Westgate the B6 buses were usually in bed by 19:00.

 

[mbonwick]

Good man! Personally, I like the drivers who are half way. I like to be able to say "hello" and sit down when I get on the bus, but I don't really feel like talking at 0720, more like falling asleep!


Thanks for that useful bit of info bout the B6s - seems to me we're coming to the end of another era. 1st it was the NC examples, recently the Titans and Leyland Olympians (bar 14204/8)(although they are still in service - just not in Lancaster), 709Ds and Varios

Could it be the B6s next? Certainly that's why 47021/2 have arrived from Preston, as B6 replacements.

I can't remember if I've said this before, but Lillyhall's Versa has not been living up to expectations. It has had to be moved of its planned route due to poor fuel consumption (6mpg!)
I think it would make sense for it to be swapped for a Solo with Morecambe. This would then allow the entire 6/6A schedule to be Versa operated, rather than leaving one service at peak times short (as it is atm)

 

[driver9000]

I can't remember if I've said this before, but Lillyhall's Versa has not been living up to expectations. It has had to be moved of its planned route due to poor fuel consumption (6mpg!)
I think it would make sense for it to be swapped for a Solo with Morecambe. This would then allow the entire 6/6A schedule to be Versa operated, rather than leaving one service at peak times short (as it is atm)

Thats a good idea and dangerous territory - your not supposed to use logic in public transport

 

[mbonwick]

I know, I know.

Another example being the withdrawal of 14201-14210 (J2xx HFR), why replace them with 14195/6 (H195/6 WFR) which are older and surely therefore more likely to breakdown?

 

[mbonwick]

B10Ms 20309, 20661, 2002 are currently stored at Morecambe, ex-Stagecoach Merseyside.
On the 21st they were joined by B10M 20725 and Darts 33174, 34213, also ex-Merseyside.
The darts moved up to Carlisle on friday afternoon, but two more darts; 33162 & 34216 arrived ~2100hrs the same day.


14199 is currently at Lillyhall, having just finished a refurb.

It was pointed out to me that since 14203/8 were reseated with bus seats a year or so ago, capacity has increased on both from CH43/27F to ????? for 14203 (I can't check as it's at Carlisle) and from CH47/27F to a total of 82 seats for 14208, probably in CH51/31F

 

[driver9000]

It was pointed out to me that since 14203/8 were reseated with bus seats a year or so ago, capacity has increased on both from CH43/27F to ????? for 14203 (I can't check as it's at Carlisle) and from CH47/27F to a total of 82 seats for 14208, probably in CH51/31F

Correct, they used to be DP seated carrying 74 seated passengers and the reseating with bench seats increased the capacity to match the Volvo Olympian which are 87 seaters.

I dont think 14195 etc being a year older will increase their failure rate by a anything noticable.

 

[mbonwick]

34048 and 34212 also arrived at Morecambe today.

 

[Tom B]

Some stagecoach Fife optare solos have coach seating in them. These mean they can be used on private hires, or the 747 service

Last time I saw a Solo on the 747 it had bog standard seats!

 

[cainebj]

there are a few things i have noticed on this thread that need cleared up.

Stagecoach Lillyhall recieved 11 brand new Man Enviro 300's in March 2008, to run the 30 (maryport to thornhill) and the 31 (maryport to frizington), which are bus no's 22595 - 22600 and 22607 - 22611 (PX08 CSV, CSY, CSZ, CTE, CTF, CTK, CTO, CTU, CTV, CTY and CTZ), all of which recieved branding for this route (click here to see 22597). they also got 1 optare versa, 25225 (PX08 CSU), which was originally for the 2 (whitehaven to greenbank), but was later taken off the 2 and placed on the 30 / 31, alongside some 56reg ADL darts, 35246 35247 35248 35249 (PX56 CWM, CWN, CWO, CWP) and the enviro 300s. the versa is also sometimes on the 31A (whitehaven to frizington) which is also covered by these 56reg darts.

The Lillyhall depot also has ex preston optare solo's 47023 (PO51 WLP) and 47024 (PO51 WLR), which were transferred to run the moorclose circular (50 / 51). there are also 2 optare solos purchased new, 47616 (PX08 FMP) and 47617 (PX08 FMU), which run the mirehouse circular (3 / 4). 47617 was recently involved in an accident, and is now back in service after repair.

Stagecoach NW olympian 16329 is at Lillyhall, after being involved in an accident (click here for photo).

Alexander Trident 17012 has been deroofed (click here for photo) and will replace a Leyland Titan on the 599 open top service in kendal.

other recent transfers at the lillyhall depot include 20107 (N207 LTN) being transferred to carlisle, 16733 (N733 LTN) being transferred from preston, and 16338 (N338 NPN) being transferred to carlisle.

 

[mbonwick]

You're absolutely right in what you say. Being closer to Morecambe and Kendal I can get a better idea of what is changing there, but Lillyhall and Carlisle are a bit far away!

 

[driver9000]

Lo-Liners are making regular appearances on the 40/41/42 (Morecambe/Lancaster-Preston/Blackpool) services. This used to be very rare, I only took a Lo-liner to Preston once and that was in desperation for an X41 service.

 

[mbonwick]

Well.
Since the introduction of the ex-Manchester tridents (183xx), the ex-London examples (170xx) have been moved from University runs to Preston/Blackpool runs.
This means that the Volvo Olympians have been reallocated to the other odd jobs - 49 and 55A for example.

17020 will be the next Trident to get an LED destination blind, when it has been repaired following its accident.

Not much else to report, 14208 has seating in the latest Stagecoach motif and the blue and red flooring (not all red as fitted)
I've noticed an increasing number of old Tridents which have the latest motif (instead of stripes) and the MAN HOCs seem to be being refitted with old style bus seats, but in the latest motif.
I assume this is an attempt to increase capacity per bus and hopefully solve the university problem.

 

[cainebj]

42577 and 42584 are recessed at Morcambe, en route from Stagecoach East Midlands to Carlisle (though why they want them I don't know..)

not sure if it has been said on this thread, havnt read through it all properly yet, but these are stagecoach NW vehicles, and are being stored at carlisle as reserves. would make much more sense to put these in service at lillyhall, replacing some of the many 709d's.

allocated buses at lillyhall have been changing routes for some reason. PX08 FMP and PX08 FMU (47616 and 47617) were supposed to be for the 3 / 4 mirehouse circular, but they have been appearing on 47 / 50 / 51. 47023 and 47024 were supposedly for the 50 / 51 moorclose circular, but have been on mirehouse circular recently. today (08/11/2008 ) the moorclose circular was operated by 47024, and Dennis Dart L119 HHV (32917).
for some weird reason, the 30 (Maryport - Thornhill) was covered by one of the 56reg darts, which have a maximum seated capacity of 38. the 30 is normally ran by some of the enviro 300s (max seated of 46) or a K reg B10m (max seated 49) if a enviro 300 is unavailable

 

[driver9000]

The University problem will never be properly solved unless the services are increased to run every 1 or 2 minutes. It was always a joke when I drove for NW buses would come out of the Underpass full and standing then you had to drive past other passengers waiting along the route. Buses ran every 3 or 4 minutes combined on 2/2A/X2/3/4 with certain journies on routes 41 & 42 diverted into the University and they were very busy all day, every day! Im not sure how the loadings are now that the 3 & 4 run at 10min frequency combined and the new X1 service has replaced the X2 and the additional 3s most X1 seem to running quite empty though.

Also noted that Kirkby Lonsdale seem to be running a Dennis Lance on NI plates, possible ex Lough Swilly perhaps?

 

[cainebj]

Another example being the withdrawal of 14201-14210 (J2xx HFR), why replace them with 14195/6 (H195/6 WFR) which are older and surely therefore more likely to breakdown?

the H reg's have a max seated capacity of 85, the J reg's have a max seated of 70 apparently.
14202, 14203, 14205, 14206, 14207, 14209 and 14210 are all in service in carlisle, or they were the last i knew of them!

 

[mbonwick]

Yes, all ex-Lancaster Leylands have moved to Carlisle, primerely as school contract vehicles.