IF they applied for the original Scotzeb2 funding but were unsuccessful, they would have been eligible to join the consortium for the revived Scotzeb2 funding.Methinks the news from Alexander Dennis today would suggest pressure will be put on local operators to buy their products.
Can see potentially some new Lothian orders going through ADL.
Alexander Dennis bus maker jobs rescued in £4m furlough deal
Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL), which has eight sites across the UK including Falkirk and Larbert, announced in June that up to 400 jobs could be axed.news.stv.tv
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Lothian Group discussion (Lothian City, Lothian Country Bus and East Coast Buses)
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FlybeDash8Q400
Established Member
I can only see it if for some reason they started bodying Volvo again. This seems very unlikely given Volvo’s partnership system and ADL’s desire to stick to integrals only.Methinks the news from Alexander Dennis today would suggest pressure will be put on local operators to buy their products.
Can see potentially some new Lothian orders going through ADL.
Alexander Dennis bus maker jobs rescued in £4m furlough deal
Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL), which has eight sites across the UK including Falkirk and Larbert, announced in June that up to 400 jobs could be axed.
Political pressure may mount, but that’s no reason for buying what is in my opinion, an inferior product. I can see an E400H style order albeit repeated with E400EV’s, much like 201-215. This would be a one off order, albeit in this case to get the orders rolling.
There’s a wider discussion to be had on tariffs on the Chinese market, which is the biggest reason why we’re in this situation with ADL. It can’t be forgotten how poor ADL has gone too. However, that comes with some major consequences if it was ever decided to go down that route.
stevenedin
Established Member
Just saw 35 with yet again another font change for the number. These buses must hold a record for the amount of times the font is changed on the destination blinds.
VioletEclipse
Member
that record might still go to some 7900s
stevenedin
Established Member
Have these definitely been withdrawn now then?
Auld reekie
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Unusual to see a single decker on a 44(81).
It's operating one of the various extra scheduled buses today - it ran as a 36 to Ocean Terminal, then as 34s until this evening when it changed to the 44 in the city centre.
Why it's running as a single decker, no clue. Maybe a genuine mistake with it starting as a 36?
The 36 itself isn't extra, but it and another were ran by Longstone buses before the Central buses took over at Ocean Terminal.
I am curious as to why its advertised as purely a Saturday service today, when I've been able to find improved timetables on more than half of the routes. The 26 is an example, which saw 725e running a short run to Levenhall after coming off the 9.
Auld reekie
Member
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Thanks for that.
paravostok
Member
I've noticed some weird allocations recently, like the 47 moving to mostly Gemini 2s instead of XLB's, which is weird because though I admittedly don't know every route, I don't know the last time a route had a "downgrade" allocation wise.
ScotRail158725
Established Member
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What would you class as a downgrade though? The 27 isnt admittedly the best route for XLBs the’d be better off on the 37. Or if we were to talk about routes outwith Central the 26 isnt an ideal candidate
LothianBusesPh
Member
940 is now to be/a donor bus.
CSB0241
Member
Wished I’d been quick enough on the ball to snap a picture, but just earlier today around 4pm I saw an MCV Evotor in all grey with the dest blinds displaying Lothian Motorcoaches passing Riddrie on the M8 Westbound (I presume headed to Volvo Cardonald). It didn’t have any vinyls on it but I could see clearly that it said Lothian Motorcoaches on the dest blinds (in the same font their other coaches have) & it was in the exact same grey as other LMC vehicles so I can only assume vinyls would be applied soon. If anyone else knows anything about this feel free to add on.
paravostok
Member
I moreso mean the fact that I'm used to the 47 being "nicer" buses, and now its the kind of wimpy feeling gemini 2's obviously it doesn't really mattter that much but I feel like it absolutely changes people's perceptions on a company if the bus they get is a "nice" bus, also unrelated but as someone who really doesn't know much, how likely/when is lothian country expected to receive any kind of variation vehichle wise, i.e. not just gemini 2 and 3's, and whats with the reluctance for single deckers? sometimes their decisions seem completely superfluous
Why ought they to receive anything other than the Gemini 2/3??
The only other option would be cascades of the E400MMC which is still many years away.
There is some logic to it. The less types you have at a garage the less spare parts you need to hold.
If you run a mixed single decker and double decker fleet, there is a danger that singles end up on double boards whenever you have a failure, having an all decker fleet removes that risk.
Lothian runs singles on a bunch of routes and uses the single deck rota to graduate new drivers onto double decker routes. It works.
East Coast Buses have some low bridges to run under, so they have to have a mixed fleet.
Lothian Country have neither issue, so have the simplicity of an all decker fleet. One less headache for their schedulers.
Very few vehicles are route branded across the fleet, and that gives flexibility to move whatever type onto whatever route they want, which they regularly do.
There is some irony in the fact that Lothian made a thing of it being more modern buses when they entered the area, yet, once again West Lothian, becomes the area for the hand-me-down buses. Yes, they are better maintained than First’s were, but it is still quite ironic that so much of the fleet are some age now (average age of the Lothian Country fleet is nearly 11yo if BusTimes fleet list is right).
FlybeDash8Q400
Established Member
I think everything still points towards an eventual all Gemini3 fleet. Single body type, only two chassis types. I’d eventually expect ECB to be the same with an all B5TL/Gemini3 fleet, albeit mixed in with Eclipse3’s. I can’t see this realistically being more than 2 years away, 3 at an absolute most.
Resuwen
Member
Yeah, once something else is allocated to the 26/Zoo bus vinyls, then there's an obvious batch freed up
LothianBusesPh
Member
Lothian have ordered some MCV Evotor B8R coaches. Notably the Temsa MD9 (YJ16 EPC) has been sold to Coast To Coast alongside Eve Mercedes Sprinter EV10 EVE.
Also if it is of note to anyone, new radios coming soon and antennas.
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Baileygirl
Member
Ye I agree that Lothian were economical with the truth. When they started the X18, there were adverts on the radio and in local papers stating that new buses were coming to West Lothian to operate it, which turned out to be the ex Londons with personal registrations to hide their age.
Graeme Duncan
On Moderation
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- 3 Mar 2018
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According to the Lothian buses tracker Bus 49 has been out of service for several months and Bus 50 has been out for several weeks. Are they both having teething problems.
stevenedin
Established Member
Regarding Lothian Country. The state of the network right now makes it hard to put investment but over time it should hopefully grow and become more popular. I think a lot of bus users were scared off and now drive due to the service in recent years but with trust being regained slowly they hopefully will get back to a decent profitable operation.
LothianBusesPh
Member
At least it’s not making a loss like East Coast Buses!
stevenedin
Established Member
I always thought that they were the most profitable of the 2.At least it’s not making a loss like East Coast Buses!
I've asked about 49 before but no answer. I'm curious as to what's up with it.
At least it’s not making a loss like East Coast Buses!
Important Context: They recorded a £41k loss when the group made a £3.3m profit.
Don't rush to put your nan on eBay.
LothianBusesPh
Member
It was a lighthearted comment!
I’m sure they wouldn’t heavily invest in East Coast Buses if it was so very concerning.
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overthewater
Established Member
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Lets be fair here 41k is nothing, in the grand scheme of things. As such East coast is pretty much balanced, however It makes me wonder which route within the company is not pulling its weight?
Didn't mean to suggest otherwise, just didn't feel like scrolling through the three pages of factless debate it might have otherwise triggered!It was a lighthearted comment!
It'll be interesting to see what effect the route changes have, and also what the margins might be on the tendered work as those will start to come through in future statements.
What is refreshing though is over the last two financial years it's been almost completely cost neutral - and in that time the fleet has been modernised (with more Gemini 3s.)
Which, considering First closed Musselburgh less than 10 years ago, with an absolute wretched dog eared fleet, it's been quite the transformation.
I don't use the services every day, but I'm grateful to have the option!