Lothian Group discussion (Lothian City, Lothian Country Bus and East Coast Buses)

[VioletEclipse]

Dont know if this is a one off thing or not but im on 708 and all its next stop announcements are all in French both the audio ones and on the screen

That would be for the planned extension of service 8 to Lyon via Calais in December (joking)

 

[ScotRail158725]

769e and 771e now arrived at Central
841 842 and 849 seem to be trakcing alongside them despite not actually moving with them, i assume they’re double tracking

 

[Bus9120UK]

769e and 771e now arrived at Central
841 842 and 849 seem to be trakcing alongside them despite not actually moving with them, i assume they’re double tracking

I'm not sure what they have been doing. All the 75 plates moved to Central initially, then over to Marine briefly, and now are all back at Central (minus 760e).
It's 761, 763 and 771 tracking as 841, 842 and 849 respectively.

759e has entered service now. 937 is at Livingston.

 

[ScotRail158725]

I'm not sure what they have been doing. All the 75 plates moved to Central initially, then over to Marine briefly, and now are all back at Central (minis 760e).

759e has entered service now. 937 is at Livingston.

Does Livingston even need 937? Even with the upcoming changes there seems to be a few spare Hybrids and Ex London Geminis to cover everything

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

Does Livingston even need 937? Even with the upcoming changes there seems to be a few spare Hybrids and Ex London Geminis to cover everything

Myself and @Bus9120UK reckon they need 65 buses from the changes, up 4 from 61. That’s with or without 1045. When it and 937-939 are added that’s 65. Therefore 936 remains.

This is made up from the 2 extra buses on the 72 and then the 2 buses needed for the new 73. The existing 2 buses on the current 73 and 2 buses on the 74 are now just 4 74’s so no change for that.

 

[Resuwen]

Presumably 936-9 will be replaced by some more Gemini 3s once more BZLs come on stream at Lothian

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

Presumably 936-9 will be replaced by some more Gemini 3s once more BZLs come on stream at Lothian

I suspect the long term plan will see 464-490 end up at Livingston with 491-496 at Musselburgh. The former replacing the 22 Gemini2’s at Livingston (936-939, 1033-1050) with a gain of 5 buses for improvements. 491-496 would be a direct replacement for 945-950 at Musselburgh. Clearly this would require new buses for the 26 for it to work. This will no doubt happen at somepoint in the near future, with the 17 plates getting on a bit now for a route of that popularity.

 

[ScotRail158725]

Myself and @Bus9120UK reckon they need 65 buses from the changes, up 4 from 61. That’s with or without 1045. When it and 937-939 are added that’s 65. Therefore 936 remains.

This is made up from the 2 extra buses on the 72 and then the 2 buses needed for the new 73. The existing 2 buses on the current 73 and 2 buses on the 74 are now just 4 74’s so no change for that.

Is the 72 going up in PVR by 2? i thought they’d have got away with 1

I suspect the long term plan will see 464-490 end up at Livingston with 491-496 at Musselburgh. The former replacing the 22 Gemini2’s at Livingston (936-939, 1033-1050) with a gain of 5 buses for improvements. 491-496 would be a direct replacement for 945-950 at Musselburgh. Clearly this would require new buses for the 26 for it to work. This will no doubt happen at somepoint in the near future, with the 17 plates getting on a bit now for a route of that popularity.

Any long term plan like that is a long time away though 751-798 have only just started entering service. I wouldnt like to see electrics on the 26 with their lower capacity. Im surprised the XLBs haven’t found their way onto the 26 as a permanent allocation to be honest

 

[Bus9120UK]

Is the 72 going up in PVR by 2? i thought they’d have got away with 1

Any long term plan like that is a long time away though 751-798 have only just started entering service. I wouldnt like to see electrics on the 26 with their lower capacity. Im surprised the XLBs haven’t found their way onto the 26 as a permanent allocation to be honest

Yes it's going up by 2.

Today there were 9 Lothian Country Buses out of service (590 is not tracking correctly, so it may have been out).
Without 937/8 as spares, that would reduce to 7.
Accounting for the PVR change of 4 next week, that would reduce to 3 without any extras. That's too little in my opinion.

 

[ScotRail158725]

Accounting for the PVR change of 4 next week, that would reduce to 3 without any extras. That's too little in my opinion.

Central have managed recently with next to no spare if any at all. When 1035 and 1045 are back out there should be enough to spare

 

[NorthEastern]

That would be for the planned extension of service 8 to Lyon via Calais in December (joking)

Haha brilliant !

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

Central have managed recently with next to no spare if any at all. When 1035 and 1045 are back out there should be enough to spare

Might be stating the obvious, but having more buses generally results in more spares. From what I have worked out multiple times, it’s close to (but not always) a rule for 1 spare/in maintenance for every 5 buses out on the road - 20% on top of the depot PVR when it’s all combined basically. This means if a garage had 100 buses, it should have a total allocation of 120 as there would be 20 buses as spare/in maintenance. Generally this is split 50:50 so 10 in maintenance, 10 spare. Of course the spares would go down if for whatever reason there was an influx of buses not available.

Lothian Country’s requirement as of Sunday, during the week is approximately 55. I’ll be a few buses off but that’s just a quick calculation in my head. Again if you apply the same theory, you end up with 66 as it is 11 needed (20% of 55). Of those 11, it’s likely a 50:50 split in terms of spare buses or buses in maintenance. Hence 65 is a reasonable amount when you put the maths all together.

Hope that makes a bit more sense. I’ve generally found the 1 for every 5 rule to work pretty consistently.

 

[Graeme Duncan]

352 now has a Black Square wrap.

 

[Bus9120UK]

841-850 are being sprayed with "sold sold" on the lower side panels. Reminds me of the yellow strip that used to be applied

 

[ScotRail158725]

841-850 are being sprayed with "sold sold" on the lower side panels. Reminds me of the yellow strip that used to be applied

Do they really need to be painted out of Lothian livery that badly?

 

[mabosh]

Do they really need to be painted out of Lothian livery that badly?

I took a picture of them this morning, it looks like a vinyl transfer has been applied.

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

I took a picture of them this morning, it looks like a vinyl transfer has been applied.

I’m not sure it is. Look more like a spray can job, with the letters sprayed through a template.

 

[mabosh]

I’m not sure it is. Look more like a spray can job, with the letters sprayed through a template.

Could be. First time I've seen anything like it. Tidier then slapping some paint on it I suppose.

 

[stevenedin]

Good to see that they have been sold. They are decent machines. I'm sure that they will have many years left in them probably as school buses.

 

[scosutsut]

Knowing that they are likely to go to operators that won't paint them, hence the desire to force the issue somewhat, I can't help but wonder if repainting them white for their last in fleet respray, and running them with fleet names until they are retired and sold would be a better strategy.

 

[LothianBusesPh]

Knowing that they are likely to go to operators that won't paint them, hence the desire to force the issue somewhat, I can't help but wonder if repainting them white for their last in fleet respray, and running them with fleet names until they are retired and sold would be a better strategy.

I suppose it’s nothing to do with them what the vehicles do after being sold.

 

[318266]

It's the most recent reincarnation of preventing used vehicles from being confused for in-service Lothian ones. Originally, yellow vinyl was used - operators just peeled this off. Then, orange paint was haphazardly applied - some vehicles retain this to this day, other companies repainted it back to Lothian colours! To encourage repaints, having the word "SOLD" on your vehicle in massive letters may accelerate full repaints.

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

It's the most recent reincarnation of preventing used vehicles from being confused for in-service Lothian ones. Originally, yellow vinyl was used - operators just peeled this off. Then, orange paint was haphazardly applied - some vehicles retain this to this day, other companies repainted it back to Lothian colours! To encourage repaints, having the word "SOLD" on your vehicle in massive letters may accelerate full repaints.

The thing is, if it’s been done with a spray can, it should polish out. I doubt this new logic will actually work as none of the others have.

 

[paravostok]

Does anyone know what's up with 1034? Sitting in Armadale near the cross not moving and everyone on it got sent off onto the next bus.

 

[scosutsut]

I suppose it’s nothing to do with them what the vehicles do after being sold.

This is true, but it clearly bothers them hence all these various efforts to force repaints.

The thing is, if it’s been done with a spray can, it should polish out. I doubt this new logic will actually work as none of the others have.

Agreed. Repaint them all over white and add it to the price. Problem solved.

 

[ScotRail158725]

Does anyone know what's up with 1034? Sitting in Armadale near the cross not moving and everyone on it got sent off onto the next bus.

nothing significant as its running empty to catch up to time

It's the most recent reincarnation of preventing used vehicles from being confused for in-service Lothian ones.

A mostly pointless exercise, whats the odds that these buses are sold to an English operator

Originally, yellow vinyl was used - operators just peeled this off. Then, orange paint was haphazardly applied - some vehicles retain this to this day, other companies repainted it back to Lothian colours! To encourage repaints, having the word "SOLD" on your vehicle in massive letters may accelerate full repaints.

As long as the Lothian names are off it i dont see the issue, these measure dont speed up repaints considering half the Geminis and tridents sold in 2019/20 weren’t repainted at all and left with that yellow paint

 

[VioletEclipse]

I took a picture of them this morning, it looks like a vinyl transfer has been applied.

a sad sight, and 847 there turns 18 today if you go by the day it was first registered. I believe the longest lasting buses in service since the F-reg Olympians were withdrawn in 2009

 

[stantheman]

Due to resurfacing of Riccarton Mains Road on October the 45 is to follow the route of the 32 to the Herriot Watt . Might this mean the use of single decks as there are tight turns around Curriehill station ?

 

[ScotRail158725]

Due to resurfacing of Riccarton Mains Road on October the 45 is to follow the route of the 32 to the Herriot Watt . Might this mean the use of single decks as there are tight turns around Curriehill station ?

No it wont. If a single decker can handle tight turns then how wouldnt a decker? Single deckers are longer and harder to manoeuvre than a double decker

 

[stevenedin]

Was just on 437 and it sounds awful. The engine doesn't sound right at all. These batch seem to have not aged well.