If the connection works that might be worthwhile, that section of the 270 is very scenic, though it has to be single-deck due to 2 low bridges, one of which (under the Bluebell Railway) you would pass under.
I suspect they'll get some branding on top of the base livery.
I really miss the old route branding but I guess fair enough on why they would want to get rid of it.
Correct, no clue when it's starting but from what i've heard it'll run out of Crawley, although some duties will be staffed by B&H's Eastbourne depot.
I would expect the 500 and the night buses included in the same document to start in Early April as thats when the funding starts. That is a guess though.
Am I right in thinking that the 54 and 261 are run by B&H rather than Metrobus? In which case, will the current complement of the 54 and 261 transfer to Crawley, and if so will these be sufficient to provide the 500 service. Or are new buses expected for this service? And Metrobus are still short of buses at the moment due to the Hydrogen bus incident.
Compass Bus run the 261 currently.
The Electric buses for Conway St are currently in final production and will be delivered soon - although when they can be in service is a different question. That may help with vehicles
Compass run the 261, but I wouldn't be surprised if the 3 Regency B9TLs allocated to the 54 currently transfer to Metrobus after the route becomes the 500. Not necessarily for the 500, but the rest of the batch is already with Metrobus and those 3 probably would be too if they didn't take over the 54.
The 28 always used to go to Tunbridge Wells. From 2005 to 2023 it went there in early mornings and late evening and sundays. It was only 2023 when the 28 ceased to serve Tunbridge Wells. So they have clearly not bothered to update the faretable.
I'd suspect it is just a simple copy and paste error between the 28 and 29 faretables if they were split out, and the Tunbridge Wells line on the 28 should be replaced by the Eastbourne one. A quick e-mail to B&H alerting them to the error will probably see it fixed quite quickly.
I’m intrigued to know how they have managed to squeeze two wheelchair bays and a minimum of four accessible seats into a dual door bus! I’m sure all will become clear soon.
Something was posted on a Facebook enthusiasts group a few days ago (which appeared to be an excerpt from a staff newsletter, as slightly fuzzy):
There are 20+ Electroliners due in the coming months at Conway St, which theoretically would allow some Streetdecks to possibly be cascaded, temporarily.
I would think it’s more likely that the Aberdeen buses will be rebuilt as battery-electric vehicles.
AFAIK the vehicles are owned by Surrey County Council, not Metrobus.
They were funded by Surrey County Council, not purchased, I misunderstood my source. Funding also came from West Sussex CC, DfT and Gatwick Airport. Apologies.
ZEBRA funding is always made to the local transport authority (in this case Surrey County Council) which then passes it on to operators. In the case of Metrobus I think that the 34 buses used on routes 430, 435, 420, 460 and 480 are owned by the council and leased to the operator. I do recall seeing some papers from an SCC meeting that mentioned this but can’t find them now. This feature (from CBW) appears to support my recollection though - https://cbwmagazine.com/surrey-invests-in-hydrogen-buses/
Are the double deckers with a green band near the rear the hydrodeckers? In which case, I'm sure I have seen a few out in recent days, e.g. the 400
The ones I saw were single decker, looked like there were around 5-8 of them but it was hard to see
I didn't think the single deckers were affected - unless a common fault has been found.
Ah OK, possibly my mistake - I thought it was the snigle deckers based on the image in this news story, but admittedly I didn't have much to go by. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c36z7rdd4d4o
It's the single deckers that are withdrawn, the doubles are still running. They have been much more common on the 400 recently, with the usual assortment on other Surrey routes, though there seem to be more white hired-in single deckers lately and fewer exotic GA buses.
