Hyebone
Member
36444 has also returned home. My photo from tonight: https://www.flickr.com/photos/hyebonebuses/54087860932/in/album-72177720312856919
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Stagecoach Yorkshire and Chesterfield
- Thread starter JD2168
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Is it usual to tow vehicles when doing transfers? Could it just be due to the age they don't have faith it would complete the journey?
Saturday is the last day of operation for the Sightseer so any others not staying at Stonegravels will presumably also be moving soon.
Busmansholiday
Member
Not unusual. The First Group transfers from Leeds to First South West have been done by the Barnsley scrap men, basically taking one down and returning with a withdrawn one.
Trainman40083
Established Member
I have known Trentbarton do it, when late
YorkRailFan
Established Member
Service changes for Stagecoach services in Chesterfield from 27 October:
www.stagecoachbus.com
Positive news all round!
ServiceUpdatesArticle
www.stagecoachbus.com
Positive news all round!
Hyebone
Member
It's been off the road.
Thanks. Any idea what's up - a long time for a newish bus to be VOR.
My wife had fun on the X17 this morning. 15536 wouldn't re-start in the coach station, meaning the whole bus load had to decamp on to the following bus. Seemed to get going and actually arrived in to Sheffield first, but I note it's been pulled off the road and replaced by a non-Gold E400 now. It's a shame the new timetable doesn't do anything to address the provision for commuters in to Sheffield. The 7:05 ex Chesterfield is very early - we can't get a connecting bus for example, while the 7:55 is very tight for anyone who has to start before 9 and doesn't work next to the Interchange. An extra bus and better spacing between those two would be popular I feel. Same in the evening coming back, at peak commuter time the frequency actually extends out beyond half-hourly.
Hyebone
Member
11119 and 11124 have both been off for extended periods of time in the recent past, due to receiving new engines. Perhaps 11120 is getting a new one too?
For lack of a better word, the Gold MMCs are absolutely knackered. 6 years old, a lot of that spent on local routes or VOR entirely. Slack Hill among other rough bits of terrain mustn't do them any good.
In a way I'd expected the X17 buses to last better than others. They do more miles, but it's less stop-start. Do you think they were just under-specified? After all, the 64 plate E400s have seemed to soldier on with very few problems, but if an X17 is broken down somewhere it's rare to not be an MMC.
Actually, that's a question - when Stagecoach had the various EVs on loan before deciding what to order for their Zebra bid, did they run anything on the X17? It's likely the most challenging route operated from the depot in terms of high speed / motorway runs, as well as steep hills. You'd hope they would make sure what they are buying can meet the existing timetable, or if there is scope to speed things up.
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syjunkie
Member
Barnsley 10659 and holbrook 11712 have both been painted into poppy livery and revealed at rawmarsh depot today
Hyebone
Member
The Scanias are solid workhorses; except 15194
syjunkie
Member
37101 has now been repainted into the new blue livery
Two of the open top buses are tracking on 'normal' services, 18186 on the 90/90a and 19107 on the 141.
I'm assuming at least the former of these is a swapped ticket machine, and most likely the latter as well. Does this mean at least two of the E200s have returned from their holiday in the sun?
I'm assuming at least the former of these is a swapped ticket machine, and most likely the latter as well. Does this mean at least two of the E200s have returned from their holiday in the sun?
Hyebone
Member
All three are back with us! I’ve ridden them all. My recent Photos of 36444 and 36446 attached
Attachments
Hyebone
Member
47958 YJ15 AEL has appeared in service at Chesterfield according to bustimes.org. It appears to have attempted a 25 and went straight back to the depot!
Since the October timetable change, the 90/90a have become very unreliable. There have been a few occasions how where the first bus in the morning from Spring House Farm hasn't turned up, but the worst from a passenger perspective was on Wednesday this week. The service due to leave Chesterfield for Walton at 17:31 was 13 minutes late. This bus is meant to come back to Chesterfield to form the 18:08 departure. It didn't. It just sat at Spring House Farm for over 20 minutes, then departed 8 minutes early on what was supposed to be the 18:30 departure of the 91.
This not only stranded a lot of passengers at Chesterfield, where the next bus is the 91 at 19:17, but also meant anyone waiting for the 18:30 from Spring House Farm most likely missed it as they were unlikely to be at the stop 8 minutes early.
To make matters worse, the departure boards in Chesterfield kept showing the 18:08 as coming but delayed, despite it being obvious from 18:00 that the bus wasn't going to come back to form that service.
As this is a busy commuting time, it also isn't great for passengers that the last bus in the frequent service pattern didn't run. From a passenger perspective, it would surely have been better to delay the initial departure from Chesterfield rather than cancelling the last service completely, leaving people stranded.
As usual of course very poor response from Stagecoach when you complain.
This not only stranded a lot of passengers at Chesterfield, where the next bus is the 91 at 19:17, but also meant anyone waiting for the 18:30 from Spring House Farm most likely missed it as they were unlikely to be at the stop 8 minutes early.
To make matters worse, the departure boards in Chesterfield kept showing the 18:08 as coming but delayed, despite it being obvious from 18:00 that the bus wasn't going to come back to form that service.
As this is a busy commuting time, it also isn't great for passengers that the last bus in the frequent service pattern didn't run. From a passenger perspective, it would surely have been better to delay the initial departure from Chesterfield rather than cancelling the last service completely, leaving people stranded.
As usual of course very poor response from Stagecoach when you complain.
YorkRailFan
Established Member
Stagecoach has announced fare changes in the Sheffield area from 1 January:
www.stagecoachbus.com
Changes to fares from 1st January 2025
Find details of upcoming changes to Stagecoach fares in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire.
www.stagecoachbus.com
Respectfully I have to disagree, you will know where I work when I say the offices behind the Portland and I have a view of all buses going past during working hours. The 90/90A usually runs bang on time and like you I was apprehensive about the long circular route around Walton but passenger numbers seem to be up on the 90/90A since the change
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You know you don't have to disagree, as it's possible we are both correct.
When we use the bus it is common to have a delay. But that's a small subset of all the journeys that run. Maybe you notice the ones that are on time, we suffer from the ones that get cancelled or run very late. Of course, on occasion late running helps as it means a better connection from the X17.
It is likely the issue is peak time journeys don't have enough recovery built in. For example, it's rare that the departures from Yew Tree between 9 and 10 run to time as they were delayed on earlier journeys. It also seems to be one of the first buses cut when there are driver or vehicle shortages. Many times the first bus from this end gets cut or the journey truncated.
Another issue we've had to get used to - they introduced a 2 minute pause at Spring House Farm recently, but most drivers seem to forget about this and plough on. As we are only a couple of stops away from there when things are running well the bus is often early, especially as the Somersall loop is very loosely timed. I've seen buses running 4-5 minutes early until they get back to Walton Shops.
Second rise in recent months. Went up from £5.60 to £6.20 not long ago, that'll be a 16% rise. I wonder if this is related to the fare cap going up?Stagecoach has announced fare changes in the Sheffield area from 1 January:
Changes to fares from 1st January 2025
Find details of upcoming changes to Stagecoach fares in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire.
py_megapixel
Established Member
Holbrook based Enviro400 YX73 PFJ, which is in the new navy livery, has had its seat covers replaced with new ones in a darker colour. This is surprising to me as these buses are only a year or two old so surely the seat covers aren't worn out already. Presumably has something to do with the rebrand?
EnviroExplorer
Member
Yes this bus has been confirmed by a source at Stagecoach Yorkshire to be a trial for the new interior going forward for new buses. The dark blue seats have extra padding although it doesn’t appear that way just looking at them, and lots of ‘light-hearted’ extra stickers have been added.
New buses already being ordered to Local livery and the grey interior will retain this, but going forward new buses should match 11716/YX73PFJ internally. Refurbishments to this standard may occur if so wished by operating companies.
Attached are some photos I took a few days ago.
py_megapixel
Established Member
This does seem to be repeating a couple of mistakes of the past. Dark coloured plastic seat covers like that get very hot in summer which makes them highly unpleasant to sit on.
"Light-hearted" brand devices might look good... until the service falls apart, at which point as a passenger they just come across as out-of-touch and unwelcome. Also from a practical perspective, several of the letters are already either missing or starting to peel off, and I can't imagine sticking them back on again is going to be much of a priority for anyone
MAN E300 22544 is now withdrawn with engine failure leaving 22637 as the last MAN E300 at Barnsley. 22544 was also the last bus brand new to Shafton depot in service.
22766 & 22771 are still running from Rawmarsh depot.
22766 & 22771 are still running from Rawmarsh depot.
Hyebone
Member
I had a go on 22766 last night and it's definitely on its last legs
syjunkie
Member
Yeah personally can't see it been long before these come off
studio_two
Member
- Joined
- 28 Nov 2011
- Messages
- 28
I couldn't find the Local Dayrider Ticket within the App on Saturday, but was advised by the driver that it has been "merged" with the Day Silver. So, that is quite a jump from £5 to £6.50.
Hyebone
Member
Correct. The Chesterfield, Barnsley and Rotherham DayRiders have been discontinued in favour of the much more expensive Silver DayRider...
The problem with this arrangement for Chesterfield residents is that with the aforementioned Silver DayRider ticket, you can Travel between Chesterfield and Pontefract some 50km away as the crow flies, yet you cannot get past Kelstedge 8km away to the south-west!
Even using local Matlock/Crich services requires the £9.50 Gold Dayrider. Mental!
There does seem to be a deliberate cut back of ticket options in the name of "simplification", also to some extent pushing passengers onto multi-operator products such as Derbyshire Wayfarer and South Yorkshire Travelmaster, maybe in preparation for bus franchising in the near future?
Trainman40083
Established Member
You'd wonder if it was an attempt to increase fares across the board.