Do you know when the last trident will be retired?
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National express West Midlands
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No idea of an exact time frame unfortunately, but the likes of 4590, 4595, 4622 and 4632 had received a new MOT during the Autumn months, so if no failures occur hopefully they’ll be given a few months on top of the others I’ve stated below.
The electrics will transfer some E400’s over from Wolverhampton to replace the Tridents at Walsall is my understanding, and I don’t think that’s far away now, some have already been moved to Walsall like 4855/56/57. There could be more than this which I’ve missed.
Tridents likely to be withdrawn next from MOT expiry would be 4594 at the end of the month, then 4621 in March and 4612 in April, with those being the latest dates. Failures could also change this (as stated they won’t be repaired now)
Information isn’t provided for 4599, 4606 and 4610 so those are a question mark…
Thank you, I will have to get one soon then!
Wyrleybart
Established Member
Probably best head for Walsall bus station and observe the Brownhills services and occasionally the Bloxwich circulars. Kids back to school tomorrow which usually means more Platis on the schools journeys, which means the bus allocator has to scrape a little further down the barrel
I’d heard that the Eclipses from Wolverhampton were being moved to replace some of the Omnilinks.
I think more Eclipses may end up being transferred from other garages to replace the Omnilinks due to the large amount of them left in service currently.
Wyrleybart
Established Member
I have no idea of the stats but there seem to be far more deckers enter the NXWM fleet, which means that as the Omnis and Eclipses leave, there will be many more decker operated routes. But that is entirely possible in most cases because there are probably not too many low bridge routes overall. The Walsall-Wolverhampton 69 always seems to be an Eclipse but AFAIK there is no route restriction on deckers - please tell me I am wrong. Likewise the Bloxwich circulars which do occasionally see a decker, and always were deckers back in PTE days. But I guess that is the spec laid down in the "West Midlands Bus" contract where Diamond supply similar liveried buses, although more recently Blue diamonds seem more regular - sometimes streetlites.
I notice the 52 seems to be a regular Omni role, but does it need to be a single decker ? I generally see it at the Drakes Drum crossroads and it seems solid Scania, and have recvently wondered why it is not a PB electric. .
EnviroExplorer
Member
No reason for the 52 to be single decker. It’s operated by West Bromwich now, having been moved depots to free up PB Electrics for other routes. West Bromwich manly use Scanias, the main route they use them on now, but double deckers can turn up.
Perry Barr routes 28, 64, 66, 71, 96 and X64 do all require single deckers for the record.
I saw double-deckers on the 66 a couple of Sundays ago.
Marcus Fryer
Member
- Joined
- 27 Dec 2014
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Indeed, bustimes.org shows E165 and E201 on it yesterday (4 January):
Vehicles – 66 – bustimes.org
But on a Sunday it doesn’t run between Erdington and Sutton Coldfield - the restriction to single deckers is on that section of the weekdays route, at Erdington station.
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These have left the fleet
They are with Connexions buses in Yorkshire
Wyrleybart
Established Member
They are probably not missed by many, but I did like the one in "Metrobus" livery - was it 4780.
Yes 4780 - that was also made into a model in the last couple of yearsl
Wyrleybart
Established Member
Sadly the Tridents will be toast within the next six months I am sure, and not much longer for the Geminis
Depending on what their plans are with transfers, the remaining Tridents could be gone within a matter of weeks now.
I wouldn’t be surprised if all the tridents Gemini OmniLinks were gone by the end of October.
Still remains to be seen whether there is a final running day event like 2010 & 2015 for these types.
If so they could hold one or 2 back (for use on schools maybe) in the meantime
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4590, 4595, 4622 and 4632 have MOT’s which go into the Autumn, but it depends on transfers, and depending on whether 4595 and 4622 aren’t withdrawn given their last tracked dates, they could stick around long enough to provide a potential final running day for the Tridents and Geminis. But I have thought, would NX actually want to do a running day?
The Omins haven't been around long compared to the Tridents and Geminis!
Wyrleybart
Established Member
NXWM don't seem particularly keen on nostalgia or crank stuff anymore as the West Brom liveried Gemini seemed to slide quietly into preservation at Aldridge, and Walsall's 1834 doesn't seem to be used at any events.
I get the impression that NXWM is anonymously preparing for the WM franchise.
True but I don’t think they ever will be. The older batch that were new for the 16 & 97 in 2007 have hit 18 years service. These ones seem to be fairing better than the newer batch as well atm.
Strange to think they are older than 1613 was on the final running day back in 2015.
What will also be very strange is seeing the 28 without OmniLinks as they have also frequented that route for the last 18 years.
It will be a shame if the 3 types go without a final running day.
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Will these be cascaded from another garage, or brand new buses?
Wyrleybart
Established Member
I think they are 22xx being transferred from the Birmingham garages, presumably displaced by electrics, but I think some of the platinums from Wolverhampton have moved to Birmingham.
Ok. Thank you
Wyrleybart
Established Member
Observed E1208 operating a 33 from Birmingham to Pheasey earlier his week. This is the first of the Perry Barr allocation of Electroliners I have seen in service in Birmngham. Perry Barr garage recieved a large block of BYD E400s over the last couple of years, but the final batch of the 130 Wright battery fleet are allocated and vewin delivered to Perry Barr, after the bulk of E1101 upwards have been placed at Wolverhampton.