McGill’s Midland Bluebird

[scosutsut]

if Livi is owned outright it could raise quite a sum. Just my thoughts.

I'm not so sure, there is absolutely no shortage of available space in and around Livingston.

 

[318266]

One of my good friends who works near the 68 route confirmed that it wasn't tracking for a couple days towards the end in which it ran - to play the devil's advocate!

 

[Dfatcontroller]

I was planning on going on them for one last trip but decided against it when I saw the cancellations. I didn’t want to be stranded.

Does anyone know what the plans are for the StreetLites that were used on these? Are they replacing older buses in the McGill’s network or will they be sold on?

What does it mean to be stranded?
unable to leave somewhere because of a problem such as not having any transportation or money

How would you be stranded in Edinburgh? If the bus didn't run, you wouldn't be stuck somewhere without any other means of public transport.

 

[stevenedin]

What does it mean to be stranded?
unable to leave somewhere because of a problem such as not having any transportation or money

How would you be stranded in Edinburgh? If the bus didn't run, you wouldn't be stuck somewhere without any other means of public transport.

I was thinking of somewhere in rural Edinburgh like Ratho. It would take a while to walk to Ratho Station or Dalmahoy to get another bus. I’m not sure if there is pavements or not.

 

[Dfatcontroller]

I was thinking of somewhere in rural Edinburgh like Ratho. It would take a while to walk to Ratho Station or Dalmahoy to get another bus. I’m not sure if there is pavements or not.

How would you have got to Ratho in the first place?

 

[stevenedin]

How would you have got to Ratho in the first place?

I was meaning if I had gotten the 20 there and went for a walk and then the next bus never turned up. I could be stuck for 2, 3 hours or so.

 

[Volvodart]

I think that this is the first largish company to appear before the Traffic Commissioner in Scotland for a long time:-

From Office of the Traffic Commissioner Scotland Notices and Proceedings Publication Number: 2497 Publication Date: 08/07/2024

PSV notices and proceedings for Scotland

Notice of bus and coach operator licence applications to, and decisions made by, the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland.

www.gov.uk

Public Inquiry (90249) to be held at Level 6 (Edinburgh), EH1 3EG, The Stamp Office, 10 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, on 23 July 2024 commencing at 10:00
PM0000923 SN
MCGILL’S SCOTLAND EAST LIMITED
Director(s): RALPH ROBERTS, COLIN NAPIER, GRANT BALLANTYNE
CARMUIRS HOUSE, 300 STIRLING ROAD, LARBERT, FK5 3NJ
S17 - Consideration of disciplinary action under Section 17 (The Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981)
S26 - Consideration of disciplinary action under Section 26 (The Transport Act 1985)
S28 - Consideration of disciplinary action under Section 28 (The Transport Act 1985)

Public Inquiry (90248) to be held at Level 6 (Edinburgh), EH1 3EG, The Stamp Office, 10 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, on 23 July 2024 commencing at 10:00
PM0000003 SN
MIDLAND BLUEBIRD LTD
Director(s): RALPH ROBERTS, COLIN NAPIER, GRANT BALLANTYNE
CARMUIRS HOUSE, 300 STIRLING ROAD, LARBERT, FK5 3NJ
S17 - Consideration of disciplinary action under Section 17 (The Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981)
S26 - Consideration of disciplinary action under Section 26 (The Transport Act 1985)
S28 - Consideration of disciplinary action under Section 28 (The Transport Act 1985)

 

[roadierway77]

I think that this is the first largish company to appear before the Traffic Commissioner in Scotland for a long time:-

From Office of the Traffic Commissioner Scotland Notices and Proceedings Publication Number: 2497 Publication Date: 08/07/2024 Not yet loaded on the below link

PSV notices and proceedings for Scotland

Notice of bus and coach operator licence applications to, and decisions made by, the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland.

www.gov.uk

Very interesting. There has definitely been some questionable practices and decisions from the company since it changed hands to McGill’s. Do we have any idea what the inquiry specifically pertains to?

 

[computerSaysNo]

I think that this is the first largish company to appear before the Traffic Commissioner in Scotland for a long time:-

From Office of the Traffic Commissioner Scotland Notices and Proceedings Publication Number: 2497 Publication Date: 08/07/2024 Not yet loaded on the below link

PSV notices and proceedings for Scotland

Notice of bus and coach operator licence applications to, and decisions made by, the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland.

www.gov.uk

Section 17 (the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981) deals with "Revocation, suspension etc. of licences". I won't quote it here as it's very long but you can read it here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/14/section/17

Section 26 (The Transport Act 1985) deals with "Conditions attached to PSV operator’s licence" (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1985/67/section/26)

Section 28 (The Transport Act 1985) deals with "Power to disqualify PSV operators" (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1985/67/section/28)

 

[Observer]

Very interesting. There has definitely been some questionable practices and decisions from the company since it changed hands to McGill’s. Do we have any idea what the inquiry specifically pertains to?

Probably may be related to the few ex-Dundee E200MMCs that had a tendency to set themselves on fire. But could also be related to the whole West Lothian debacle too.

Either way it's not like they'll get hit hard. McGill's inherited the mess from First, not the other way around. And they have clearly shown signs of improvement as well.

 

[stevenedin]

Probably may be related to the few ex-Dundee E200MMCs that had a tendency to set themselves on fire. But could also be related to the whole West Lothian debacle too.

Either way it's not like they'll get hit hard. McGill's inherited the mess from First, not the other way around. And they have clearly shown signs of improvement as well.

It could also be to do with reliability with the Edinburgh tendered services.

 

[Metal Mickey]

Either way it's not like they'll get hit hard. McGill's inherited the mess from First, not the other way around. And they have clearly shown signs of improvement as well.

I’m not so sure about that considering that half the fleet purchased from First has either been scrapped or parked up in reserve.

Midland Bluebird also have Stagecoach East Scotland’s new service X22 to worry about soon which could detract significant revenue from service 51.

 

[Observer]

I’m not so sure about that considering that half the fleet purchased from First has either been scrapped or parked up in reserve.

Midland Bluebird also have Stagecoach East Scotland’s new service X22 to worry about soon which could detract significant revenue from service 51.

Yes but they still have the other half left which a lot of them aren't too great either. The sooner the StreetLites are all gone the better.

The X22 is only an hourly service, the 51 and 52 are more frequent, but we will see if McGill's do anything or let them pass by.

 

[CN04NRJ]

Probably may be related to the few ex-Dundee E200MMCs that had a tendency to set themselves on fire. But could also be related to the whole West Lothian debacle too.

Either way it's not like they'll get hit hard. McGill's inherited the mess from First, not the other way around. And they have clearly shown signs of improvement as well.

As one of (or the?) the largest independents in the UK they've had more than enough time to solve legacy issues from First.

 

[AndrewTaylor95]

As one of (or the?) the largest independents in the UK they've had more than enough time to solve legacy issues from First.

They've let's just say "extracted the Urine" out of it. It's nearing 2 years and we've still got the old First livery on the roads and the scrap lying at Larbert and Livingston is laughable.

 

[Stan Drews]

They've let's just say "extracted the Urine" out of it. It's nearing 2 years and we've still got the old First livery on the roads and the scrap lying at Larbert and Livingston is laughable.

There’s only around 15 or 16 buses in the operational fleet still in previous First liveries. That’s not a bad effort in under 2 years.
A significant number of the redundant buses parked up at Livingston in particular have been there since the acquisition.

UPDATE: 19 according to Bustimes - 12 Streetlites, 1 B7RLE, 3 B7TLs, 3 B9TLs - unless I’ve missed any.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

I’m surprised there’s not been a single new bus in the fleet. Yes they’ve modernised but not a single order (even if small) of new buses. The Streetlites are pretty awful buses and there’s so many different fleet types and ages. Hopefully over time they start to make the fleet more uniform.

 

[JKP]

I’m surprised there’s not been a single new bus in the fleet. Yes they’ve modernised but not a single order (even if small) of new buses. The Streetlites are pretty awful buses and there’s so many different fleet types and ages. Hopefully over time they start to make the fleet more uniform.

I would suggest that it gives you an indication of the profitability of the network.

 

[stevenedin]

I’m surprised there’s not been a single new bus in the fleet. Yes they’ve modernised but not a single order (even if small) of new buses. The Streetlites are pretty awful buses and there’s so many different fleet types and ages. Hopefully over time they start to make the fleet more uniform.

A uniform livery would be good but a uniform fleet would be boring to be honest. It’s nice to have variety.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

A uniform livery would be good but a uniform fleet would be boring to be honest. It’s nice to have variety.

From an enthusiast point yes I agree, however in terms of maintenance it’s better to have a more unified fleet.

 

[Stan Drews]

Some more of the many Streetlites acquired with the business from First have recently been sold to Ensign. They were 0418, 0434, 0454 & 0469.

 

[stevenedin]

Some more of the many Streetlites acquired with the business from First have recently been sold to Ensign. They were 0418, 0434, 0454 & 0469.

Interesting news. It would be good if First bought them back.

 

[Lothianbus703]

Some more of the many Streetlites acquired with the business from First have recently been sold to Ensign. They were 0418, 0434, 0454 & 0469.

Images of all 4 from Flickr below.

0469:

0469 - SN65 OJW

McGill’s Scotland East Wright StreetLite DF Larbert Withdrawn

flickr.com

0434 and 0454:

Midland Bluebird Ltd - 0454 - SN65OJE, 4114 - SN65PXH & 0434 - SN64CKG; Larbert Depot; 23-06-2023

All SORN'd and now awaiting disposal.

flickr.com

0418:

Midland Bluebird Ltd - 0418 - SN14DXW & 2302 - SN09FAU; Larbert Depot; 23-06-2023

All SORN'd and now awaiting disposal. Chassis: Wright StreetLite DF VIN: SA9DSRXXX14141496 Body: Wright StreetLite DF No: AJ890 Seating: B41F First registered: April 2014 New to First Devon & Cornwall Ltd (63219), passing to First Scotland East Ltd in August 2014. Renumbered 0418...

flickr.com

I have been informed the images are old which may mean they were already repaired.

 

[Stan Drews]

Interesting news. It would be good if First bought them back.

They have!

 

[stevenedin]

They have!

That’s great. Where are they heading?

 

[Stan Drews]

That’s great. Where are they heading?

See message #112. They went to Ensign.

 

[Observer]

From Coach and Bus buyer, Alex Hornby mentions Falkirk & Stirling, with Dundee "nearly half of its frontline fleet become zero emission."

Alex Hornby, Group Managing Director, McGill’s Bus Group, said: “McGill’s Bus Group are proud to have led the charge in investment in electric bus fleets and have already saved 11,270 tonnes of carbon, thanks to the investment of £55 million that has been made so far.

“Across Scotland, thanks to the welcome news of this latest funding round, we will soon run around 160 electric buses and 70% of our depots will benefit from complementary infrastructure. Alongside Inverclyde and Renfrewshire which now largely boast a frontline, electric bus fleet, locations like Falkirk and Stirling will now be able to experience the benefits. Our flourishing bus network in Dundee, already fully LEZ compliant, will also see nearly half of its frontline fleet become zero emission. Buses have the power to supercharge Scotland in its quest to become net zero. Here at McGill’s Bus Group, we will do all we can to ensure the potential of the sector is realised.”

I had heard a few weeks ago from a driver that there were supposedly going to be electrics coming to Midland to replace some of the fleet. Will likely be Yutongs, not sure what routes though.

 

[Metal Mickey]

Larbert Depot is over 100 years old and prone to flooding from the River Carron. If a new EV fleet is earmarked for Midland, that could mean major reconstruction to the existing sites at Larbert and Bannockburn as there isn’t much yard-space to play with or relocating to new premises.

 

[overthewater]

The only two routes that could actually use them at Bannockburn would surly be Unilink and Route 51/52? While at Larbert it could be a mix bag but I would say 3/4 and 38 to Stirling. It's a welcome boost for everyone, with plenty for everyone.

 

[Surreyman]

The only two routes that could actually use them at Bannockburn would surly be Unilink and Route 51/52? While at Larbert it could be a mix bag but I would say 3/4 and 38 to Stirling. It's a welcome boost for everyone, with plenty for everyone.

I was thinking the Unilink too, also re previous posters about depot condition, I wonder if they might find a new site to replace Bannockburn which could take charging infastructure?