Transdev Blazefield

[Leedsbusman]

Been quiet in here recently!

There isn't much to report from my area of Transdevland.

There's a total of 7 ex Keighley Solos at Burnley now - fleet numbers 154 - 160. So along with the Mellor Mercs, E200 MANs (MEN..?), remaining B10BLEs are various B7 and B9 deckers there's a good bit of variety on local services at the moment! I believe there's 5 B10s left for now, although I hear they're becoming increasingly problematic.

Ribble 100 is apparently now based at Queensgate, though it hasn't been out in service yet. Again I'm lead to believe this has/had various mechanical issues, something that seems to be affecting an increasing number of the older B7s now.

The ex Pendle Wizz B7s are mostly restricted to school services, still in the full Wizz branding. Once of a day as a service was withdrawn the branding would have been removed before the bus went out in service again. Bit disappointing that it hasn't.

There are still massive capacity issues on the M5 and M6 services. Surprisingly, and pleasingly, this has been publicly acknowledged that things haven't gone to plan and solutions have been put forward. It's been said that 'two modern double deck buses' are being prepared for use on the busier Mainline journeys, though they won't be here until the summer. Not sure if these are existing vehicles within the fleet or second hand buys from elsewhere.

Not quite - 158 and 159 are not ready yet - 159s still green and 158 only went for repaint last week.

I don’t think 100 is really at Burnley. WYIS thought it was because it ‘tracked’ on the 5 but when you check the map on Bustimes it was logged in at the Bus Station about two hours early and never moved. I doubt it’s left Blackburn.

I’m told 2751-3 are only hanging on due to cover three others which are long term off the road and are expected to go in the summer.

 

[northernchris]

The transferred Solos are dual purpose 30 seaters (154 is 34) while the Mellors are bus seated 27.

Hence why I said smaller Solos, i.e. 155-160 which are 28 seaters.

 

[Ashly_Jethro]

It's been said that 'two modern double deck buses' are being prepared for use on the busier Mainline journeys, though they won't be here until the summer. Not sure if these are existing vehicles within the fleet or second hand buys from elsewhere.

Interesting, I would think that with them not being immediately available would suggest that their either A in another livery (unlikely as I can’t think of any branded vehicles going spare accept for possibly a couple Witchway MMCs) and any Pride of the North/Transdev Go vehicles would be available to use straight away without any work. Or B that it would be either second hand or dealer stock being brought in. Though now I think about it more, the WW MMCs are becoming increasingly more likely as a minimal cost solution.

In any case, I wonder if this means a return of a Mainline branded decker? I did rather like 2750 when it had its Mainline Livery.

 

[JetBlast]

Interesting, I would think that with them not being immediately available would suggest that their either A in another livery (unlikely as I can’t think of any branded vehicles going spare accept for possibly a couple WW MMCs) and any POTN/TG vehicles would be available to use straight away without any work. Or B that it would be either second hand or dealer stock being brought in. Though now I think about it more, the WW MMCs are becoming increasingly more likely as a minimal cost solution.

In any case, I wonder if this means a return of a Mainline branded decker? I did rather like 2750 when it had its Mainline Livery

Are there any Ex City Zap buses spare?

 

[Ashly_Jethro]

Are there any Ex City Zap buses spare?

They only have 4 to begin with, even if they could spare 1 it wouldn’t make sense to have just one of them and another from somewhere else. Whereas since Witchway dropped its frequency, it doesn’t need all it’s vehicles anymore. Only 9 out of 14 have been out today, at least 2 or 3 could go spare and still leave enough wiggle room for WW.

 

[Dallamlad]

They only have 4 to begin with, even if they could spare 1 it wouldn’t make sense to have just one of them and another from somewhere else. Whereas since WW dropped its frequency, it doesn’t need all it’s vehicles anymore. Only 9 out of 14 have been out today, at least 2 or 3 could go spare and still leave enough wiggle room for WW

It’s been suggested elsewhere that some Witch Way MMCs are being painted into Burnley Bus Company livery which would tie in with what you’re saying about spares.

 

[SCH117X]

Hence why I said smaller Solos, i.e. 155-160 which are 28 seaters.

155-160 are listed as Dual purpose 30 seaters on the West Yorkshire Information Service fleet list.
https://www.wyis.org.uk/

 

[RustySpoons]

They only have 4 to begin with, even if they could spare 1 it wouldn’t make sense to have just one of them and another from somewhere else. Whereas since WW dropped its frequency, it doesn’t need all it’s vehicles anymore. Only 9 out of 14 have been out today, at least 2 or 3 could go spare and still leave enough wiggle room for WW

Funnily enough I spotted a completely unbranded orange and orange freshly repainted MMC this morning. The reg ended BWL so I believe that's fleet no 2014.

 

[Ashly_Jethro]

Funnily enough I spotted a completely unbranded orange and orange freshly repainted MMC this morning. The reg ended BWL so I believe that's fleet no 2014.

Aww, I was hoping for MainLine livery haha oh well

 

[Leedsbusman]

Funnily enough I spotted a completely unbranded orange and orange freshly repainted MMC this morning. The reg ended BWL so I believe that's fleet no 2014.

It’s 2013 SK70BWJ which was delivered today with 2014 going for repaint.

 

[northernchris]

155-160 are listed as Dual purpose 30 seaters on the West Yorkshire Information Service fleet list.
https://www.wyis.org.uk/

Thanks, I could have sworn they had 28 seats but happy to be corrected

 

[Leedsbusman]

Thanks, I could have sworn they had 28 seats but happy to be corrected

They are 28 seaters.

 

[RustySpoons]

It’s 2013 SK70BWJ which was delivered today with 2014 going for repaint.

Cheers. Saw it in passing, must have misread the J.

Aww, I was hoping for MainLine livery haha oh well

I think they'd probably suit the slightly less garish red and orange Mainline colours more than the 'standard' orange and orange.

 

[stevieinselby]

The 62 / 64 / 72 circuit has the potential for serious late running. There are only a few minutes between each leg, especially in Ilkley and Skipton, which in some cases hardly looks like enough time to get folk off and on again.

Any congestion or roadworks en route will lead to all sorts of problems.

There is no reason that these curcuits couldn't be full sized single deck buses if needed, they will fit everywhere. They can't be deckers however due to a low bridge at Rylstone on the 72. Services which avoid Hetton and go main road between Rylstone and Cracoe could be deckers however, if needs be.

There is also an arch bridge signed at 14'6" between Linton and Threshfield. The only journeys that miss out Hetton and Linton are the positioning moves at the start and end of the day, so using double-deckers is a non-starter except for Sundays.

While it might just be possible to run a full-size single decker through Hetton and Linton, it would be very tight in a couple of places, and would put the service at unnecessary risk of being delayed – a Solo is considerably more nimble. Has a full-size single decker ever run the route? The biggest bus I'm aware of having been used is an 11m Versa when Transdev first took over from POTD.

The fact that they have reduced the frequency suggests that the bus is hardly full and so I would question why you think they need bigger buses.

 

[Redmike]

There is also an arch bridge signed at 14'6" between Linton and Threshfield. The only journeys that miss out Hetton and Linton are the positioning moves at the start and end of the day, so using double-deckers is a non-starter except for Sundays.

While it might just be possible to run a full-size single decker through Hetton and Linton, it would be very tight in a couple of places, and would put the service at unnecessary risk of being delayed – a Solo is considerably more nimble. Has a full-size single decker ever run the route? The biggest bus I'm aware of having been used is an 11m Versa when Transdev first took over from POTD.

The fact that they have reduced the frequency suggests that the bus is hardly full and so I would question why you think they need bigger buses.

I think the issue is whether the Solo is big enough for Keighley to Ilkley duties on the 62, several of which are double decker.

 

[Deerfold]

I've been catching the 1549 or 1619 on the 62 weekly from Ilkley recently.

On several occasions I've expected to get the later bus, but have caught the earlier one.

Yesterday it was 12 minutes late at Ilkley and 25 late by Keighley.

The Solo journeys are causing some crowding on the 62 - I've seen standing on the 1600 out of Keighley.

At the moment, on a typical day, over two hours on the 62, there's two double decker, one single decker and a Solo.

It probably didn't help yesterday that the 1245 from Keighley broke down at Low Mill, just after Addingham.

 

[JetBlast]

Has Transdev / Rosso lost routes with the latest be network franchises?

 

[Dallamlad]

Has Transdev / Rosso lost routes with the latest be network franchises?

Yes they’ve lost all their Rochdale work to First. It means that only the 464, Irwell Line and Rossendale Rovers will remain for Rosso. Fully expect those routes to be folded into Blackburn and Burnley bus companies so the Rosso name could disappear for now…

Full announcement from TFGM here…

Home

Better off with the Bee Network: New tickets to make travel 20% cheaper in Greater Manchester

www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk

 

[JetBlast]

Yes they’ve lost all their Rochdale work to First. It means that only the 464, Irwell Line and Rossendale Rovers will remain for Rosso. Fully expect those routes to be folded into Blackburn and Burnley bus companies so the Rosso name could disappear for now…

Wow. What’s that in terms on number of buses / drivers please? I assume we will see the Rochdale Depot go?

I’m surprised First bid for it. I thought they wanted to exit Greater Manchester.

 

[Dallamlad]

Wow. What’s that in terms on number of busses / drivers please? I assume we will see the Rochdale Depot go?

I’m surprised First bid for it. I thought they wanted to exit Greater Manchester.

Not sure on staffing but it’s around 60 buses at Rochdale. Depending on what kind of agreement has been made some of those could be shipped out to other depots within Transdev (they are short on deckers) or sold to First.

If you look at what’s happening in Bolton and Wigan it’s a mixed bag. Diamond are selling a majority of their fleet to Go Ahead but Stagecoach I believe aren’t selling theirs.

 

[JetBlast]

Not sure on staffing but it’s around 60 buses at Rochdale. Depending on what kind of agreement has been made some of those could be shipped out to other depots within Transdev (they are short on deckers) or sold to First.

If you look at what’s happening in Bolton and Wigan it’s a mixed bag. Diamond are selling a majority of their fleet to Go Ahead but Stagecoach I believe aren’t selling theirs.

Thank you. That’s a sizeable loss. I wonder if Transdev bid? From what I understand the school contracts aren’t part of this?

 

[Dallamlad]

Thank you. That’s a sizeable loss. I wonder if Transdev bid? From what I understand the school contracts aren’t part of this?

I believe they did bid yes. Not sure where we are with school contracts.

 

[Volvodart]

The tender deadline is Monday and there are only 9 school franchises for this area, the other tranche areas had/have 23 and 25 franchises.

 

[Delenn]

It is a sizeable loss, and I've been told they did bid. But there could be upsides for them, if they can keep some of their drivers for other operations (If I was a Transdev driver, I wouldn't want to work for First), and if there are any vehicles they want to keep to replace other stuff. Lots of the Rosso vehicle types are used elsewhere in the group, so could be of use.

I know this isn't related to Rosso, but does anyone know about Witchway? Is it one of the grandfathered routes that Transdev will be able to run, or has it been sucked into the franchising? I haven't been able to find anything out, other than a TfGM document where Transdev were arguing Witchway should not be sucked in (because of how much of the route is not in the TfGM area).

 

[Dallamlad]

It is a sizeable loss, and I've been told they did bid. But there could be upsides for them, if they can keep some of their drivers for other operations (If I was a Transdev driver, I wouldn't want to work for First), and if there are any vehicles they want to keep to replace other stuff. Lots of the Rosso vehicle types are used elsewhere in the group, so could be of use.

I know this isn't related to Rosso, but does anyone know about Witchway? Is it one of the grandfathered routes that Transdev will be able to run, or has it been sucked into the franchising? I haven't been able to find anything out, other than a TfGM document where Transdev were arguing Witchway should not be sucked in (because of how much of the route is not in the TfGM area).

It won’t be sucked in. Very much a Lancashire origin route. They will have to apply for a license to operate in GM tho which should be very straight forward.

 

[RustySpoons]

Info from Transdev regarding the Rochdale ops...

All our colleagues are eligible to transfer to the new employers under TUPE so while this will be a time of uncertainty, everyone will be protected...
...Colleagues based at Burnley and on the 464 are unaffected

Full announcement from TFGM here…

Home

Better off with the Bee Network: New tickets to make travel 20% cheaper in Greater Manchester

www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk

A current System One adult day ticket for any bus and any tram is £9.50. Under the Bee Network an adult day ticket for any bus and tram is 20% cheaper at £9.50. Are they just making up headlines now or am I missing something?

 

[Deerfold]

A current System One adult day ticket for any bus and any tram is £9.50. Under the Bee Network an adult day ticket for any bus and tram is 20% cheaper at £9.50. Are they just making up headlines now or am I missing something?

Zonal tickets will start at £5.40 valid on some of Metrolink and all buses.

 

[M60lad]

Interesting thing is that I know that there are currently a number of drivers at Rosso's Rochdale Depot that came from First so it's a case of wait and see whether they will go back.

As for vehicles for the Rochdale Routes I wonder what vehicles First will get for them and where from as currently nothing in Oldham's fleet is small enough to operate some of them.

 

[Andyh82]

If only they’d known a few months ago Transdev could have planned to retain the Streetlites and move them back to Burnley for the local services, so they wouldn’t have had to proceed with this big move around of Mellors and Solos

I’m guessing Transdev might sell most of the single decks to First as they don’t really have much alternative work for them. It might be useful if they could offload a number of the surplus Mellors as well

We don’t know what is happening with the schools work, but if that is also lost, I imagine Transdev would want to retain the double decks as they would have alternative uses, helping to start removing the old Presidents.

 

[childwallblues]

Not sure on staffing but it’s around 60 buses at Rochdale. Depending on what kind of agreement has been made some of those could be shipped out to other depots within Transdev (they are short on deckers) or sold to First.

If you look at what’s happening in Bolton and Wigan it’s a mixed bag. Diamond are selling a majority of their fleet to Go Ahead but Stagecoach I believe aren’t selling theirs.

Stagecoach are reported to be retaining Bryn (Wigan) Depot. With them winning Oldham, Middleton and Queens Road franchises maybe it will become some sort of storage area.