McGill's Buses - Renfrewshire & Inverclyde

[GusB]

I appreciate that the above post has some relevance, there is already a discussion going on here:

First Scotland East (Midland Bluebird and West Lothian operations)

Combined thread carrying on the discussion from: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/first-midland-bluebird.130883/ and the First operations from here: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/west-lothian-buses.166740/

www.railforums.co.uk

Let's keep this thread for discussing the current McGill's operation. Thanks!

 

[318266]

I do wonder what cascades will happen soon with both the new FSE operation and the impending arrival of the E10s and E12s for the key local routes. It will be interesting to catalogue as I had done last time when the first set came in.

 

[Dfatcontroller]

I do wonder what cascades will happen soon with both the new FSE operation and the impending arrival of the E10s and E12s for the key local routes. It will be interesting to catalogue as I had done last time when the first set came in.

I should imagine that the ADL Enviros displaced when the new Yutongs arrive will end up in "Scotland East".

 

[Christmas]

With the news that McGill's will be reviving the Midland Bluebird and Eastern Scottish names, perhaps now they can rename the main operation as Clydeside. It makes much more sense locally.

 

[kez19]

With the news that McGill's will be reviving the Midland Bluebird and Eastern Scottish names, perhaps now they can rename the main operation as Clydeside. It makes much more sense locally.

They could always revive Tayside Buses in Dundee!

 

[Mal]

They could always revive Tayside Buses in Dundee!

Why not? It seems to work for Go-Ahead and Transdev. 'Local' brands / names eg. Burnley Bus, Salisbury Reds seems to give the operation a more 'personal' feel instead of an Arriva-type company.

 

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

The name won’t matter if they don’t get things right for their drivers before anything else.

 

[adrock1976]

A reservation I have is that whether McGills will be able to improve the fortunes of First Scotland East (FSE), bearing in mind they only recently walked away from the Coatbridge/Monklands area.

 

[Stan Drews]

A reservation I have is that whether McGills will be able to improve the fortunes of FSE, bearing in mind they only recently walked away from Coatbridge/Monklands area.

The Coatbridge depot only operated SPT tendered routes, and these were all lost in the course of routine re-tendering, so not really a useful comparison.

 

[Observer]

The Coatbridge depot only operated SPT tendered routes, and these were all lost in the course of routine re-tendering, so not really a useful comparison.

There were commercial routes as well, as they had taken the commercial routes of McNairn Coaches, Arthurs Coaches, DA Coaches and Silverdale in 2016.

Problem they had was a bus war sparking out with United Coaches soon after which McGills reacted very badly to. And then a few years later they gave up all their commercial routes only to win them back on SPT tenders.

So Coatbridge certainly was a mistake, as was Dumbarton. Most of the operators they took work from over the years are back to running the routes, and a few new companies too.

Taking over Xplore Dundee, and now Scotland East / Midland Bluebird, the conditions are different. The only place really to worry about competitors is in West Lothian with Lothian Country.

There's nobody else running any commercial routes in Falkirk other than the Stagecoach services going into Forth Valley Royal Hospital and the Dunfermline Route 28 going to the town centre, and Stirling only have a few compared to the companies that were around years ago. If they give services up and councils want to tender them out, it won't be as easy as them dropping the SPT contracts, unless other operators want to spend money to give it a go.

 

[Stan Drews]

There were commercial routes as well, as they had taken the commercial routes of McNairn Coaches, Arthurs Coaches, DA Coaches and Silverdale in 2016.

Problem they had was a bus war sparking out with United Coaches soon after which McGills reacted very badly to. And then a few years later they gave up all their commercial routes only to win them back on SPT tenders.

So Coatbridge certainly was a mistake, as was Dumbarton. Most of the operators they took work from over the years are back to running the routes, and a few new companies too.

I remember them creating a sensible commercial network of routes covering most of the area, for probably the first time since deregulation in that part of the country, which you’d think would have worked, as it does all over the country. However, it seems to be the only area in the country I can think of where small operators running one or two routes at most, with the lowest quality buses, seems to be the default scenario.
I think they tried, but like any sensible business, they realised when it wasn’t working, the smart thing to do was stop!

Whatever you might think of the First SE operations, I don’t think they fall into the same category.

 

[kez19]

Why not? It seems to work for Go-Ahead and Transdev. 'Local' brands / names eg. Burnley Bus, Salisbury Reds seems to give the operation a more 'personal' feel instead of an Arriva-type company.

I remember when McGills took over I came away with like McGills of Dundee (than Tayside Buses), but if they are planning to revive one in one area then why not go the full hog? I doubt they will change the colour scheme though for here (again just opinion).

 

[Stan Drews]

I remember when McGills took over I came away with like McGills of Dundee (than Tayside Buses), but if they are planning to revive one in one area then why not go the full hog? I doubt they will change the colour scheme though for here (again just opinion).

Tayside isn’t really a relevant name, as they only really serve the city of Dundee. Therefore the Xplore Dundee brand seems more appropriate to that operation.

 

[GusB]

As ever, please be mindful of which thread you're posting in. This one is for the McGill's Inverclyde operations; Dundee operations can be discussed here:

Xplore Dundee

So what is becoming of Xplore nowadays, not been in dundee for a few years but ever since I’ve seen some photos online where all there buses seem to be running empty! Do they have any routes worth a mention 5s or 22s maybe or the 28/29s?

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[LothianBusesPh]

As ever, please be mindful of which thread you're posting in. This one is for the McGill's Inverclyde operations; Dundee operations can be discussed here:

Xplore Dundee

So what is becoming of Xplore nowadays, not been in dundee for a few years but ever since I’ve seen some photos online where all there buses seem to be running empty! Do they have any routes worth a mention 5s or 22s maybe or the 28/29s?

www.railforums.co.uk

Got a suggestion for you, if you can please re-name the thread to McGill's Glasgow (or similar?) to avoid confusion, I know you have stated these talks but in a few months when more people have used the forum you won't see these messages.

 

[Volvodart]

McGills West is their new Twitter address.

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

I’ll assume that these will be subscription cloud-based working directly from engine manufacturers.

For engine revs to be monitored they’d need direct access to cloud based systems by Mercedes or Cummins, Cummins do have a system like this, I can only assume Mercedes will be the same.

Yutong does offer a cloud based system as well.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Sep 2022 ==

The system McGill's use is called MiX telematics and it is fitted to all vehicles they own.

From what was explained to me by the guy who runs it all for McGill's, this is separate software loaded on to the buses that can interrogate the built-in engine management and vehicle management system and collate that, plus its own information from the bus's own sensors back to the depot in real time. The information is accessible via PC and some data such as charge, fuel remaining, locations and alerts from the bus (eg low coolant levels, etc.) are displayed on a big screen in the traffic office.

If an issue is picked up by the system, the traffic office is notified instantly and can send engineering staff to meet the bus before the driver even knows there is an issue. For example, if a bus has low coolant levels and is on the 38 running to Glasgow, an engineer will be sent in a van to meet the bus at Glasgow and refill the coolant.

This tech is to be fitted to all buses in the Midland Bluebird and Eastern Scottish fleets and can be fitted to any vehicle, either at production, or retro-fitted.

If First would invest in this tech we would probably see fewer issues with breakdowns and it allows for dynamic planning.

 

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

The system McGill's use is called MiX telematics and it is fitted to all vehicles they own.

From what was explained to me by the guy who runs it all for McGill's, this is separate software loaded on to the buses that can interrogate the built-in engine management and vehicle management system and collate that, plus its own information from the bus's own sensors back to the depot in real time. The information is accessible via PC and some data such as charge, fuel remaining, locations and alerts from the bus (eg low coolant levels, etc.) are displayed on a big screen in the traffic office.

If an issue is picked up by the system, the traffic office is notified instantly and can send engineering staff to meet the bus before the driver even knows there is an issue. For example, if a bus has low coolant levels and is on the 38 running to Glasgow, an engineer will be sent in a van to meet the bus at Glasgow and refill the coolant.

This tech is to be fitted to all buses in the Midland Bluebird and Eastern Scottish fleets and can be fitted to any vehicle, either at production, or retro-fitted.

If First would invest in this tech we would probably see fewer issues with breakdowns and it allows for dynamic planning.

Impressive, it’s just a pitty the reputation they have can’t match this impressiveness.

Proper diagnostics & maintenance as and when drivers report defects is easily good enough to maintain high levels of reliablility.

Other firms in the area like Glasgow Citybus manage to keep there fleet in decent condition without such technology, it’s not as though McGills have a great deal of known importance where it comes to maintenance.

ALL operators across Glasgow however have been implored to improve and renew there fleets because of emission related politics, the real test of time is how the vehicles are once they've turned 6, 7 or 8 years old.

elsewhere theres already been discussion regarding McGills lack of communication with there new takeovers.

 

[PaulMc7]

Yesterday was probably my worst experience of maintenance with Mcgills to be honest. Our 757 driver said he had already swapped buses twice because of issues and the bus we were on at Paisley clearly had issues. We were meant to swap bus at Inchinnan when the driver was also changing over, this didn't happen and the engine power nearly cut out completely after this. We were clearly doing 5-10mph going over the Erskine Bridge.

The bus ended up being swapped over again too as it was a different bus tracking by the time it returned to Paisley from Clydebank.

 

[LothianBusesPh]

Yesterday was probably my worst experience of maintenance with Mcgills to be honest. Our 757 driver said he had already swapped buses twice because of issues and the bus we were on at Paisley clearly had issues. We were meant to swap bus at Inchinnan when the driver was also changing over, this didn't happen and the engine power nearly cut out completely after this. We were clearly doing 5-10mph going over the Erskine Bridge.

The bus ended up being swapped over again too as it was a different bus tracking by the time it returned to Paisley from Clydebank.

No surprise, in my experiences with McGill's it happened twice in one route! (A few months ago can't recall the exact date.)

 

[PaulMc7]

Short Notice Journey Cancellations

List of daily short notice journey cancellations due to the national shortage of drivers.

www.mcgillsbuses.co.uk

Nice touch from Mcgills as they've added a cancellations page to their website just like the one with their new operations in East Scotland.

 

[christopherrfc]

McGills are taking over the C and M coaches service 30 now numbered 518 from November

https://www.vehicle-operator-licensing.service.gov.uk/search/find-registered-local-bus-services/details/602878/

Bus registration details​

• Registration numberPM0000015/326
• Licence NumberPM0000015
• Variation number0
• StatusNew
• Service number.518
• Service typeNormal Stopping
• Hail & Ride
• Start pointGreenock Bus Station
• Finish pointBraeside
• Via
• Date received14 Oct 2022
• Effective date26 Nov 2022
• End date
• Supported by subsidies?No
• Local authorities covered by routeStrathclyde Partnership for Transport
• TAOs covered by routeScotland

Registration history​

PM0000015/326

0

New

Manual

14 Oct 2022

26 Nov 2022

Back to topBack to search results

 

[Stan Drews]

McGills are taking over the C and M coaches service 30 now numbered 518 from November

https://www.vehicle-operator-licensing.service.gov.uk/search/find-registered-local-bus-services/details/602878/

Bus registration details​

• Registration numberPM0000015/326
• Licence NumberPM0000015
• Variation number0
• StatusNew
• Service number.518
• Service typeNormal Stopping
• Hail & Ride
• Start pointGreenock Bus Station
• Finish pointBraeside
• Via
• Date received14 Oct 2022
• Effective date26 Nov 2022
• End date
• Supported by subsidies?No
• Local authorities covered by routeStrathclyde Partnership for Transport
• TAOs covered by routeScotland

Registration history​

PM0000015/326

0

New

Manual

14 Oct 2022

26 Nov 2022

Back to topBack to search results

It’s more a case of C+M deciding to withdraw their remaining two local bus routes (30 & 32), and McGill’s deciding to offer a reduced commercial replacement for the Braeside to Greenock 30 route.
It will be interesting to see if SPT decide to tender a replacement for the 32, or if Overton & Pennyfern will become Monday to Saturday daytime bus free zones? (They currently support the eve/Sun 330 service which covers those areas).

 

[Scotrail88]

They're proposed to be for the 3, 7, 61, 64, 517, 531, 532, 533 & 904. The CEO confirmed this on the "Official McGill's Bus Enthusiast Group" on Facebook back in March.

With the current frequency reductions and the 3 already EV operated, is there any indication where the extras will move into?
Surely the X23 (subject to range) could be a contender due to being the last city route which won’t be electric.

 

[route101]

What is the oldest McGills bus in service in the West now?

 

[318266]

What is the oldest McGills bus in service in the West now?

Probably the 11 plate B7RLEs

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

Probably the 11 plate B7RLEs

10 plate Enviro 200s

 

[route101]

Probably the 11 plate B7RLEs

I see. The oldest I saw were 64 plate E200 and Citaros out on routes and did see an 11 plate at Johnstone Depot.

 

[318266]

10 plate Enviro 200s

McGill's don't have 10 plate E200s, I assume you mean the 60 plates which were withdrawn by cascaded Stratas from the closure of Coatbridge depot.

 

[Stan Drews]

The oldest buses currently in use on regular services in the west area are the remaining four 11 plate Volvo B7RLE’s at Johnstone depot.