Transdev Blazefield

[SCH117X]

If the opportunity charging is so bad as some are making out how come Birmingham Airport and Stagecoach in Kilmarnock are using it for 7900e's. The Birmingham Airport ones are 2019 vehicles and the Stagecoach ones 2021 which consequently may have improved batteries. If that is case presumbly they could be retrofitted to the early ones. Then theres the 2024 Irizatr tram like buses on Route 358 in London.

 

[EnviroExplorer]

If the opportunity charging is so bad as some are making out how come Birmingham Airport and Stagecoach in Kilmarnock are using it for 7900e's. The Birmingham Airport ones are 2019 vehicles and the Stagecoach ones 2021 which consequently may have improved batteries. If that is case presumbly they could be retrofitted to the early ones. Then theres the 2024 Irizatr tram like buses on Route 358 in London.

I suspect you’ve answered your own question there. All of these examples are newer vehicles. Birmingham Airport’s will rarely stray a mile away from the main terminal, so operating range will not be an issue either.

 

[SCH117X]

I suspect you’ve answered your own question there. All of these examples are newer vehicles. Birmingham Airport’s will rarely stray a mile away from the main terminal, so operating range will not be an issue either.

The Kilmarnock ones are a year newer so can we expect Stagecoach getting rid of the in a years time or so?

 

[cnjb8]

The Kilmarnock ones are a year newer so can we expect Stagecoach getting rid of the in a years time or so?

They are 2-3 years younger, plus the tech may be slightly improved on the younger versions allowing them to have a longer life

 

[SCH117X]

They are 2-3 years younger, plus the tech may be slightly improved on the younger versions allowing them to have a longer life

Apologies - got mixed with the Birmingham ones

 

[Tetchytyke]

My comments are responding to Transdev wasting their money on them.

They’ve got seven years of service out of them, having paid for seven years of service. How have Transdev wasted money?

Everyone has jumped on the BEV bandwagon without fairly weighing up the alternatives, if as much government or indeed private sector spending when into developing hydrogen storage and transportation, it would make a far better alternative.

Yet Stagecoach has replaced the hydrogen buses it had in Sunderland (and which didn’t last much longer than the Transdev Volvos) with brand new Yutongs.

 

[aswilliamsuk]

They’ve got seven years of service out of them, having paid for seven years of service. How have Transdev wasted money?


Yet Stagecoach has replaced the hydrogen buses it had in Sunderland (and which didn’t last much longer than the Transdev Volvos) with brand new Yutongs.

The buses in Sunderland were CNG powered, not hydrogen. CNG as I recall had gone up in cost lately making it more expensive to run them originally planned. Reading have a larger fleet of the type, and have taken most of those replaced.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The buses in Sunderland were CNG powered, not hydrogen. CNG as I recall had gone up in cost lately making it more expensive to run them originally planned. Reading have a larger fleet of the type, and have taken most of those replaced.

Correct on all counts. In fact, CNG fleets have been culled in several places so as well as Sunderland, the Arriva ones in Runcorn and Darlington all got binned after 10 years as both CNG is more expensive (more than twice what it was in 2019) and parts are beginning to expire; I believe that the ones in Plymouth are also about to get the chop.

Always interesting on this thread (and TrentBarton to an extent) that there are such extremes of views. You have the "fanboys" who love these firms (swayed by nice liveries, printed timetables, etc?) that are then counterpointed by those who love nothing better than to criticise. God forbid you had certain Arriva or First opcos as your local firm

 

[Tetchytyke]

The buses in Sunderland were CNG powered, not hydrogen.

Ah, my mistake. I thought they were hydrogen and were having similar issues to the issues Merseyside are experiencing with their hydrogen buses.

 

[Bungle965]

Let's keep this on topic please

 

[Deerfold]

Been in Harrogate today.
Said to see that the improvements in more layers buses on some routes are not shown on timetables .
I've seen half a dozen stops on the 6 which suggest the route finishes around 90 minutes before it actually does (4 hours on a Fridays and Saturday).

 

[YorkRailFan]

2423 has transferred from Coastliner to Flyer, presuambly covering for 1860 which is in Harrogate.

 

[SCH117X]

2423 has transferred from Coastliner to Flyer, presuambly covering for 1860 which is in Harrogate.

It actually been transferred as ex Reliance 2411 needs attention although apparently tracking today.

 

[Nikkos1977]

Just been past Macadams in Colne and note 3617 (BL65 YYP) is no longer visible from the main road. It’s been in storage there since Sep 23 with accident damage. It’ll be interesting to see if it comes back into service or ends up as a parts donor.

 

[SCH117X]

Just been past Macadams in Colne and note 3617 (BL65 YYP) is no longer visible from the main road. It’s been in storage there since Sep 23 with accident damage. It’ll be interesting to see if it comes back into service or ends up as a parts donor.

The inquiry into the crash recently concluded so it is no longer part of the investigation into the crash, albeit perfectly innocent in the event, whcih is why it could not go for repair earlier.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Transdev has announced a load of service changes:
Keighley:

As we're coming into autumn, it's time for our DalesBus routes to enter their winter timetable. There will still be lots of fantastic places to go by bus this autumn and winter - just take a look at the DalesBus website to find your journey inspiration.

DalesBus 866

This service will stop running for the winter. The last day will be on 19 October.

DalesBus 862

This bus will depart Ilkley at 6.06pm in the evening during the winter.

DalesBus 864 and 873

This service will enter the winter timetable, with a smaller number of journeys. The 5.30pm 873 will instead run the route of the 864.

DalesBus is changing for the winter from 26 Oct

www.transdevbus.co.uk

The 820 & 821 will also run for the last time this year on 19 October, both are operated by Transdev's Keighley operation.

York:

As we're coming into autumn, it's time for our DalesBus routes to enter their winter timetable. There will still be lots of fantastic places to go by bus this autumn and winter - just take a look at the DalesBus website to find your journey inspiration.

DalesBus 74 will enter its winter timetable from 26 October. We'll still be running every Saturday from York and Harrogate to Otley, Ilkley, Bolton Abbey and Grassington - but with a new timetable to help us run as reliably as possible during the winter season.

DalesBus 825 will finish for the winter - the last day will be Sunday 19 October.

We're making some changes to DalesBus 74 from 25 Oct

www.transdevbus.co.uk

The 875 will also run for the last time on 19 October, this service is also operated by Transdev's York operation.

Burnley:

From this date, we're making some changes to our buses in Burnley, to improve our services for you and help our timekeeping.

The 1 - Burnley to Stoops

We'll be making a few changes to our timetable during peak times and during the evening and on Sundays. Following a survey and customer feedback earlier in the year, we're also changing our route at Bleak House - we'll no longer serve Dalton Street or Woodcourt Avenue and will instead continue along Rossendale Road before turning onto Cog Lane. We'll serve the new Brun Lea Heights housing development as well as extra stops at Linton Drive and Hanover Court. The new route will be followed on all journeys, including those in the evening and on Sundays.

A route showing the new route in green is below.

Proposed new route for the 1

The 3 & 4 - Burnley to Pike Hill and Worsthorne

We'll introduce a new timetable to improve our reliability. In partnership with Lancashire County Council, we will introduce a new evening and Sunday timetable to the 4. Buses during these times will alternate between a 3 and a 4, both running every two hours. Buses will run hourly still from Pike Hill to Burnley.

The 5 - Burnley to Rosegrove or Harle Syke

We'll be making a few changes to our timetable during peak times and during evening and Sundays.

Witchway

Manchester's Christmas Markets are almost here, and we know how popular using Witchway is to get there. With this in mind, we'll be running extra buses at the weekend - with buses up to every 15 mins on Saturdays, and extra buses at the busiest times of the day on Sundays. From 20 December, we'll change back to our current timetable.

Changes to our buses in Burnley from 2 November

www.transdevbus.co.uk

Good to see a return of the extra Witchway services this winter, they'll definitely be needed.

Team Pennine:

We're always looking at ways to improve our timekeeping for you, so we'll be making some changes to some of our routes in and around Halifax from 26 October.

We'll be making tweaks to our times on the 343, 524, 534, 563, 563A, 574 and 587. New timetables will be available to download shortly.

We're also making a change to the route of the 577 - journeys towards Boulderclough will now run straight along Sowerby New Road - and heading back to Halifax we'll serve St Peter's Avenue.

changes to our routes in and around Halifax from 26 Oct

www.transdevbus.co.uk

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Oct 2025 ==

2411 is reportedly back at Rawcliffe depot, looks like 2423 will be staying on at Flyer then.

 

[Edvid]

Some of Keighley's eCitaros have arrived:

Friends of Buses and Coaches | The new buses keighley bus company will soon be using on the 662 between Bradford and keighley | Facebook

The new buses keighley bus company will soon be using on the 662 between Bradford and keighley

www.facebook.com

 

[MCRTransitYT]

It's not Keighley - look at the buses in the background (also the post is a few weeks old by now)

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Oct 2025 ==

New Enviro200 MMCs for Blackburn to replace Versas and Eclipse Urbans.
November for eCitaros at Keighley

 

[RustySpoons]

It's not Keighley - look at the buses in the background (also the post is a few weeks old by now)

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Oct 2025 ==

New Enviro200 MMCs for Blackburn to replace Versas and Eclipse Urbans.
November for eCitaros at Keighley

279 - 293, are these both the Versas for the 6/7 routes AND the 464s?

 

[aswilliamsuk]

279 - 293, are these both the Versas for the 6/7 routes AND the 464s?

No, that's the batch for the 464 (which seem to have been more troublesome than the other batches). The 6/7 batch is 220-237

 

[YorkRailFan]

Looks like former Flyer Versa 215 has entered service in Blackburn.

 

[Andyh82]

Looks like former Flyer Versa 215 has entered service in Blackburn.

Half a trip on one day and nothing since?

No exactly a robust source

 

[YorkRailFan]

Half a trip on one day and nothing since?

No exactly a robust source

WYIS confirmed with a summary of Paul Turner's latest update as of 8th October.

Summary of a Paul Turner update a couple of days ago... Optare Versa 215 has now entered service at Blackburn.

https://www.wyis.org.uk/_files/ugd/c5cac4_d641ed4c7f9941bfad0065d8201a62fc.pdf

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Oct 2025 ==

Looks like Transdev York's last Optare Versa, 210, has been withdrawn from service.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Transdev has announced changes to York services from 9 November:

To keep your buses running as reliably as possible, we're making some changes to our buses for York, Skelton and Easingwold from 9 November, including new faster buses for Skelton.

19 York to Rawcliffe and Skelton

Most buses will now run between York and Rawcliffe, with buses extending to Skelton at peak time. Between York and Rawcliffe, we’re introducing a new timetable to help us run as reliably as possible for you.

Our route into York is changing - buses will now travel along Bootham, passing the Theatre Royal, instead of Leeman Road.

For daytime buses to Skelton, please see Service 29.

29 York to Skelton

This new route will replace most trips on the current 19 to Skelton. Buses will run fast in and out of York via Bootham, and straight along Shipton Road and into Skelton. The 29, 30, 30X provide a bus every 30 minutes along Shipton Road into York.

Take a look at the map below to see where your buses will be going.

30, 30X, 31X and 40 York to Easingwold then Thirsk or Kirkbymoorside

There will be some changes to these routes to improve our punctuality for you.

Buses to and from Askham Bryan College and York College

Our college time buses will change. We won't directly serve Askham Bryan College any more, but customers can travel with us on Coastliner or on the York Pullman College Connect bus - just change buses at York Rail Station or Station Avenue.

Heading to York College?

• 30SE from Easingwold and Thirsk remains unchanged.
• 40 from Crayke, Easingwold and Huby will now run ten minutes later in the morning to arrive at York College at 8.30am and leave as normal at 4.40pm.
• 30 will no longer run to the College. Most customers can get the direct 30SE.

Changes to our buses for York, Skelton and Easingwold from 9 Nov

www.transdevbus.co.uk

I saw some of these changes coming, running down Leeman Road has always been a pain for operators so I'm hardly surprised that Transdev is changing the route to run via Bootham. Same with the cut to Askham Bryan services, East Yorkshire also recently axed the 80 running up to Askham Bryan and it now finishes at York College.

What does surprise me is service 29. Currently, there is one morning service from York to Skelton, running directly down Shipton Road, numbered 19X. This only runs in one direction, but I'm surprised that Transdev didn't just use 19X instead of bringing back the 29. The 'reliability changes' on the 19 sees the service go from half-hourly to hourly during the day, so a downgrade in frequency for people in Rawcliffe. I suppose using 29 was done to avoid confusion between 19X and 19, although one could argue that with some bus stops still showing the 29 as running to Easingwold, this could confuse people with what is now the 80 operated by East Yorkshire.

 

[aswilliamsuk]

Transdev has announced changes to York services from 9 November:

Changes to our buses for York, Skelton and Easingwold from 9 Nov

www.transdevbus.co.uk

I saw some of these changes coming, running down Leeman Road has always been a pain for operators so I'm hardly surprised that Transdev is changing the route to run via Bootham. Same with the cut to Askham Bryan services, East Yorkshire also recently axed the 80 running up to Askham Bryan and it now finishes at York College.

What does surprise me is service 29. Currently, there is one morning service from York to Skelton, running directly down Shipton Road, numbered 19X. This only runs in one direction, but I'm surprised that Transdev didn't just use 19X instead of bringing back the 29. The 'reliability changes' on the 19 sees the service go from half-hourly to hourly during the day, so a downgrade in frequency for people in Rawcliffe. I suppose using 29 was done to avoid confusion between 19X and 19, although one could argue that with some bus stops still showing the 29 as running to Easingwold, this could confuse people with what is now the 80 operated by East Yorkshire.

The change to the 29 serving Skelton seems pretty obvious - it then groups the 29, 30, 30X and 31 as the direct buses along Shipton Road, with the 19 being the "local" serving Rawcliffe.

 

[YorkRailFan]

The change to the 29 serving Skelton seems pretty obvious - it then groups the 29, 30, 30X and 31 as the direct buses along Shipton Road, with the 19 being the "local" serving Rawcliffe.

I agree, hopefully it will mean bus stops along Shipton Road are finally updated! Some still show the 29 as running to Easingwold, something it hasn't done for years, and hasn't been updated to show the 80. The 19X was always a bit of an odball service to be fair.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Oct 2025 ==

Another change I've noticed is with the 30. There is currently a 8:00am bus from Skelton to Easingwold via Tollerton & Alne, serving Easingwold School running on school days only. There is also a 15:00 departure from Easingwold School to Tollerton Sykes Lane.

These were publicly accessible School services, operating as 30/160R. This was a hangover from the Reliance days, with the morning journey starting from Tollerton and not Skelton. Under these changes, this service will be readjusted to 160R only, running from Tollerton Sykes Lane, and seemingly isn't open to the public.

Also looks like 19A journeys have been removed.

Regarding fleet news, B8RLE Wright Eclipse 3 1774 has finally received 'York & Country' vinyls. Link to picture here: https://flic.kr/p/2rA2keL

(Not my photo, credit to original photographer)

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Oct 2025 ==

Was out on 581 today and was surprised to see that the seats had a new maquette. Blue with white spots, certainly a change from the black leather-style seat backs. Audio next-stop announcements also working well, I was impressed.

 

[SCH117X]

Fleet changes - accident damaged 3617 and Keighley Presidents 2712,2717 and 2787 are being disposed of.
Demonstrator eCitaros MB21 BUS and BF24 AHC have been purchased

 

[YorkRailFan]

Demonstrator eCitaros MB21 BUS and BF24 AHC have been purchased

MB21 BUS now has fleet number 1036 and BF24 AHC has fleet number 1037.

 

[SCH117X]

Another Merc (ex-demonstrator?) arrival at Starbeck is hybrid Citario BT25VVZ, fleet number 1516

 

[YorkRailFan]

Passed 1773 on Shipton Road today and saw its had 'York & Country' branding as well as a York Citysightseeing (which is also run by Transdev) promotional vinyl at the back. It's good to see more buses receiving branding and not just being in plain blue.