WibbleWobble
Member
Different authority BSIP monies being used. N1 is funded by Hampshire whilst the others (as stated by the company) are by Southampton.
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Vexed
Member
Ah, thanks.
Presumably the 66 plate E400s are returning for this?Bluestar changes from 31st August
Highlights include route 1 to every 10 mins and new nighbus routes N2, N17,N18
Timetable improvements from Sunday 31 August
Reliability improvements, frequency increases and NEW nightbuses...www.bluestarbus.co.uk
Back from an extended trip abroad; only saw the new 25 plates yesterday on the 1 but presumably the older E400s are about. Whether the latter are only on the 1, or whether they also do other routes, I'm not sure.
On another matter I see the 21, and the 10 on Saturday afternoons, have moved to a non-clockface pattern (1hr05 and 1hr15 respectively). This seems to be for reliability issues but I'm wondering whether (for passenger friendliness) keeping the clockface timetable and changing the interworking pattern would have been a better solution?
One thing I half-expected was a change to the 11/12 to make the Saturday timetable the same as Mon-Fri. With Saturday shopping, there must surely be demand for the combined 10-min frequency on Saturdays as well as Mon/Fri?
It seems this won’t be the case after all, even with the enhanced frequencies the 1 appears to be exclusively the 24 and 25 plate batches - a quick look at the tracker confirms this for this morning. Many of the 66 platers appear to have been found gainful employment at Salisbury Reds.
Yes I thought I saw a 24-plate but I thought that was just a substitution.
Looking at the timetable in detail it appears to be every 10 mins up to 1400 from Southampton, then every 12 minutes to 1712, then 1725, 1740 and 1755 before the evening kicks in.
Looks like a vehicle comes off the 1 somewhere between 1400-1500 as there are 6 arrivals into Southampton that hour but only 5 out. Haven't checked bustimes to see what happens to the excess vehicle, though. Presumably does school/college work or displaces an older vehicle off another route to do school/college work.
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DaveHarries
Established Member
No idea. A look at the BLOTW (Bus Lists On The Web) site lists 2x Volvo B8L / MCV as being due for Go South Coast and it looks like they will both be deckers. No idea where they will end up but the registrations are given as BU75 WLF & BU75 WLH. I think it is Bournemouth which has the MCVs though so I guess they will go there.
Dave
aswilliamsuk
Member
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- 10 Jul 2016
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- 535
I understand seven are going to Bluestar, but for Barton Peveril College work.
WibbleWobble
Member
Correct, these are tri-axles to replace the long OmniDekkas on the busiest of the college routes.
Saw one of these, 1645, today, parked up adjacent to the bus stop for the 14. At first I thought it was laying over to operate the next 14, but that proved not to be the case.
Also noticed not one but two uni-link branded vehicles on the 7. (sorry, no numbers). Are uni-link getting new vehicles?
Finally, even though most of the recent changes impact the Empress Road side, I've seen some changes in allocations on the 4 so presumably some diagramming updates on the Totton side too.
SeveerYeliab
Member
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- 122
The Uni-Links are on the 7 at the moment as the 24 plates that were used on the 7 have gone for the improved frequency on the 1.
Obviously this won’t be able to happen when the uni timetables start from Monday, so the old 66 plates from the 1 are coming back to Bluestar for use on the 7 to release the Unilinks.
Obviously this won’t be able to happen when the uni timetables start from Monday, so the old 66 plates from the 1 are coming back to Bluestar for use on the 7 to release the Unilinks.
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Do we assume the now rather elderly long Scanais (54 & 56 plate?) will leave the fleet once the tri-axles come on stream? I presume they’re the eldest vehicles still in operation?
Yes, one of the 66-reg E400s, sorry. There was still evidence of former route 1 branding if you looked carefully.
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Oldest seems to be a group of 56-plates (100x) but I don't see these much if at all.
The 58-plates (112x and 113x) are around a lot, including on normal passenger duties. The duty that does a few 16s in the middle of the day, coming off the 3 and going back onto the 3 later, gets them quite often.
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Ah yes, that makes sense (the improved frequency on the 1, obviously).
The 7 seems to get a real mix of vehicles (I believe it interworks at Lordshill with the 19/19a at peak times) but I do remember quite a few were operated by the 24-plates.
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SW Buses
Member
What routes are the new double decks going to work, does anyone know yet?
According to F/B mostly on Barton Pevrill college contracts but occasionally on the 23/24. They are too high for some routes with low bridges.
SW Buses
Member
Thank you. With the Barton Pevrill college contracts do those bus workings do anything else, or just the AM and PM contracted journey? Does anyone know the PVRfor the contract?
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Have a look here https://bustimes.org/operators/bluestar you can see there are loads of Barton Peveill services listed
Only certain services use the big Omnidekkas though, so it’ll be the same trips the new buses will operate
Most college services use more mundane standard Enviros
I must say I hadn’t realised quite such inroads had been made into the Scania fleet; a quick check of the current fleetlist on Bustimes says that the 54 plates have already gone - they were 1001/2, YN54 AFK/X, which appear to have departed in August and July respectively. So you’re quite right, that leaves the eldest now as 1003/4/6/8, all as you say on 56 plates. I’m surprised to see there are only 9 Omnicity deckers (58 plate) remaining too, I have to say I thought there were more than than! Interesting that these are seemingly being dispensed with rather than the ex-London Optare DOEs, I wonder what the reasoning is for that? Could it be that the DOEs are favoured as being dual door, their ADL400 chassis are preferred to the Scanias (seems unlikely), or even just they they’ve all had paint more recently?!
WibbleWobble
Member
Alongside the Enviro400s, a small number have been on loan at Dorset depots for the summer.
Is Morebus short of vehicles then? Their fleet still contains quite a number of Omnicity deckers I see.
No it’s standard seasonal movements, morebus have a summer uplift, Bluestar have the opposite with no colleges. Damory also have the cruise ship shuttles in Weymouth
Ah, that makes sense yes!
Have also noticed more Empress Road vehicles on the 4 to Romsey since the September changes, not sure if that's planned or there have been a lot of substitutions. There's one such working which does an out-and-back 4 and then forms the 1700 on the 2 to Fair Oak, which seems to be single-deck half the time and double-deck the other half... when it's the former it can be a little crowded, given it's on a prime route around rush-hour. Presumably it's planned as double-deck but there are some shortages at the moment.
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I think it was the 1114-1116 batch, with the 1125-1131 batch remaining at Bluestar.
They did seem to go before the end of the school year though - I'm sure they were over in Dorset in June.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
I think it was the 1114-1116 batch, with the 1125-1131 batch remaining at Bluestar.
They did seem to go before the end of the school year though - I'm sure they were over in Dorset in June.
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Wychwood93
Member
Looking at the latest bustimes.org stuff they are no longer down here:
Fleet list – morebus – bustimes.org
Looking at the latest bustimes.org stuff they are no longer down here:
Fleet list – morebus – bustimes.org
bustimes.org
Yes, I've seen 1114 over here now.
Some tweaks to workings post-Christmas on Bluestar.
An interesting one is a working which does mostly 17s in the morning and afternoon, but does a random 12 at 1240 (perhaps because a Totton bus does the midday 28, taking it off regular Totton routes for an hour):
It's quite tight as it has just 18 mins to get to Adanac Park for the eastbound 17 at 1400, after arriving at 1342 on the incoming 12. I wonder how easy this is to do?
Interesting working nonetheless. The 17s have longer westbound journey time at this time of day (surprisingly early), necessitating an extra vehicle.
Another one is the Enviro400 City which does three out-and-back 4 trips in the morning, before doing 18s in the afternoon. This is somewhat longstanding but now seems to have an extra 4 trip:
Of all the Bluestar routes, the 4 seems to be the one which features just about every vehicle type! Enviro200s, Enviro400s of all varieties, and OmniCities - they're all there.
An interesting one is a working which does mostly 17s in the morning and afternoon, but does a random 12 at 1240 (perhaps because a Totton bus does the midday 28, taking it off regular Totton routes for an hour):
It's quite tight as it has just 18 mins to get to Adanac Park for the eastbound 17 at 1400, after arriving at 1342 on the incoming 12. I wonder how easy this is to do?
Interesting working nonetheless. The 17s have longer westbound journey time at this time of day (surprisingly early), necessitating an extra vehicle.
Another one is the Enviro400 City which does three out-and-back 4 trips in the morning, before doing 18s in the afternoon. This is somewhat longstanding but now seems to have an extra 4 trip:
Of all the Bluestar routes, the 4 seems to be the one which features just about every vehicle type! Enviro200s, Enviro400s of all varieties, and OmniCities - they're all there.
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341o2
Established Member
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- 2,013
Both Bluestar and Morebus share Lymington garage, and the only route which seems to be worked only by either the Morebus Optare or the Enviro 200's is the 120. I've seen Bluestar vehicles work the X1/2, 112, 119 and 125.
On Bluestar 6, Morebus X1/2, New Forest tour Blue, and on a few occasions an Enviro 200 Edit update. This afternoon at Priestlands School, Lymington, there were two Bluestar vehicles, plus New Forest Tour blue for the school buses, a third Bluestar vehicle on Morebus X1, plus a Bluestar vehicle on service 6 which diverts to Fox Pond to serve the school
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341o2
Established Member
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Morebus 1647 has now become a New Forest Breezer, and five more NFB vehicles are on order for the X1/2 and Bluestar 6
https://www.morebus.co.uk/introducing-new-forest-breezers
I have been informed that Morebus 1014 is withdrawn due to engine failure, while 1016/7, Wilts & Dorset 1019/20 & 1824 New Forest Tour are on loan to Salisbury Reds
https://www.morebus.co.uk/introducing-new-forest-breezers
I have been informed that Morebus 1014 is withdrawn due to engine failure, while 1016/7, Wilts & Dorset 1019/20 & 1824 New Forest Tour are on loan to Salisbury Reds