First Greater Glasgow

[jazza374]

I don't think the X44 will last the next round of Changes, Always only about 3 or 4 people you see on board

It’s not being helped with the roadworks in Glasgow causing late running up to 30 mins on some journeys and daily cancellations. If a new service is unreliable (which is not First’s fault) people will not use it.

 

[AndrewTaylor95]

It’s not being helped with the roadworks in Glasgow causing late running up to 30 mins on some journeys and daily cancellations. If a new service is unreliable (which is not First’s fault) people will not use it.

It only has Cathedral Street closure on its route so it’s not that bad the X11 is still always packed

 

[jazza374]

It only has Cathedral Street closure on its route so it’s not that bad the X11 is still always packed

Well it took over 20 mins yesterday to get from M8 to the bus station on the X44. The X11 is well established and more than one bus per hour so is better equipped to cope with the disruption to the timetable.

 

[AilsaBus]

Well it took over 20 mins yesterday to get from M8 to the bus station on the X44. The X11 is well established and more than one bus per hour so is better equipped to cope with the disruption to the timetable.

Delays due to roadworks and diversions are not First's faults, but cancellations are.

 

[jazza374]

Delays due to roadworks and diversions are not First's faults, but cancellations are.

Even cancellations caused by the roadwork meaning journeys need to be skipped due to excessive late running?

 

[camro]

On Saturday 16th last I was at Asda Bishopbriggs and expecting to catch any number of First services (88, 89, 89B etc) into Buchanan at 0735, as I was due to catch a AWC London train from Central. The shelter display showed three of the aforementioned routes due in 3, 12 & 18 minutes. As the timers decreased and changed to ‘Due’, they dropped off the display and the bus never arrived. Interestingly, only 1 bus (an 88) passed in the opposite direction. After 45minutes there was a very real danger I’d miss my train so hot-footed it to Bishopbriggs Station to catch the train to Queen Street at 0828. All the while there were no buses in either direction and queues at the stops.

I did make my train with seconds to spare, and I emailled First CS asking what happened, and why (rather than show timetable timings) was there a countdown for a non-tracking bus? Their reply was apologetic but went onto say they had no details of any problem, but would ‘pass on’ my concern. Anyone know why the A803 became the ‘Twilight Zone’?

Saturday 16th was a heavily difficult day for the North side of First. The A803 had been shut for a week to allow resurfacing of the road, between the Westerhill Road lights and Cadder Roundabout.

Latterly we had been diverting via Inverary Drive where workers would move cones to let us get past the works at the roundabout, and vice versa to make it possible to do the full routes during the day. On Friday 15th at roughly 4:30 pm we were notified by the council that the roads would be fully shut on Saturday and that we would not be able to get past, which is not what had originally been agreed on.

At that point it was too late to change any running boards and we were forced to run on diversions in the morning via the motorway so that any 88 due to start it's duty in Harestanes could still start in Harestanes. By 9 am there were no more 88's starting from Harestanes but all the 89's were using the motorway to get to and from Kilsyth.

Only buses that had first done an outbound trip from Buchanan could then go on to do an inbound trip that served Bishopbriggs, but they would be subject to an hour or more of sitting time at the 57 terminus in Westerhill, because the timetable was still running as if buses were able to get past the works, so we couldn't start from Westerhill until the scheduled time of the inbound trip. This meant that there was probably no Glasgow bound bus at Bishopbriggs until around 8 am.

The road was completed that day and does look great, but I'd rather have lived with whatever potholes were there before than have dealt with that chaos.

 

[Metal Mickey]

Saturday 16th was a heavily difficult day for the North side of First. The A803 had been shut for a week to allow resurfacing of the road, between the Westerhill Road lights and Cadder Roundabout.

Latterly we had been diverting via Inverary Drive where workers would move cones to let us get past the works at the roundabout, and vice versa to make it possible to do the full routes during the day. On Friday 15th at roughly 4:30 pm we were notified by the council that the roads would be fully shut on Saturday and that we would not be able to get past, which is not what had originally been agreed on.

At that point it was too late to change any running boards and we were forced to run on diversions in the morning via the motorway so that any 88 due to start it's duty in Harestanes could still start in Harestanes. By 9 am there were no more 88's starting from Harestanes but all the 89's were using the motorway to get to and from Kilsyth.

Only buses that had first done an outbound trip from Buchanan could then go on to do an inbound trip that served Bishopbriggs, but they would be subject to an hour or more of sitting time at the 57 terminus in Westerhill, because the timetable was still running as if buses were able to get past the works, so we couldn't start from Westerhill until the scheduled time of the inbound trip. This meant that there was probably no Glasgow bound bus at Bishopbriggs until around 8 am.

The road was completed that day and does look great, but I'd rather have lived with whatever potholes were there before than have dealt with that chaos.

Almost the entire bus network would’ve been a shambles on 16th May due to the football crowds.

 

[Buzby]

The A803 was completely shut for a week between Westerhill Road and the retail park. With nowhere to turn the buses had to terminate at Bishopbriggs Cross.

That was only until Tuesday, priority was given to buses (only) and they used a private diversion along Inveraray Drive to bypass the closure. My issue is why, after 3 days of special working, they stopped on the Saturday yet the displays still showed them tracking.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 May 2026 ==

The road was completed that day and does look great

The council mis-management of this requires an inquiry. The buses were off well past 0800, probably 0900 but the false dawn displays made the whole event more stressful. ScotRail saved the day!

 

[sannox]

All very true, especially the part about the roadworks/diversions. In my over 25 years living near Glasgow and having to commute into it regularly for the last 10 or so of those years, I genuinely can't remember it ever being as bad as it is now.

Union Street is hammering reliability for a lot of services. Routes are comfortably 10 minutes late by the time they get to the River.

Councils and politicians talk a good game about public buses but no support at all for them.

 

[Buzby]

Mayhem continues today… the Cathedral Street closure and subsequent diversions for all eastbound buses via a convoluted route meant my bus took 10minutes to get to Baird Street as tempers frayed. No matter which direction you travelled lane reductions and closures meant public transport was seriously impacted. This ‘Avenues Project’ better be worth it!

 

[olddriver]

This ‘Avenues Project’ better be worth it!

Spoiler: It won’t be.

 

[Strathclyder]

Union Street is hammering reliability for a lot of services. Routes are comfortably 10 minutes late by the time they get to the River.

Councils and politicians talk a good game about public buses but no support at all for them.

Of those, the 2 may see a slight improvement time-keeping at the western end as Faifley Road is due to close yet again (I think for at least the 3rd time this year; beginning to lose track of it all) for at least 2 weeks (starting from 1st June) due to it being partially resurfaced. Good for recovering a bit of lost time, but I and all bus users in Faifley are screwed by this no matter what route we need to get in/out of Faifley, as the 17 will by-pass Faifley entirely using the 'back-road' (aka Glasgow Road) and the 2 will do the same as far as Faifley Road, ducking in and out of the terminus before heading back down to Hardgate.

So in effect Faifley will lose it's bus service for a fortnight right when summer starts properly, thanks to the utter half-wittery going on at West Dunbartonshire Council. Both are about a 10 minute walk from my front door at the back of Faifley and while having to plan another 10 minutes at least into my journey time on top of what I was having to do before is getting to be more than a little exasperating, it's a overall mild inconvenience. For those less mobile than me, it's into a taxi they likey will get, as the nearest bus stop to them that hasn't been cut off is over a 10-15, maybe even 20 minute walk away. That or they either get a lift.

WDC may be skint, but at the same time, they seem to be going out of their way to inconvenience those of us who rely on the bus services up here.

Mayhem continues today… the Cathedral Street closure and subsequent diversions for all eastbound buses via a convoluted route meant my bus took 10minutes to get to Baird Street as tempers frayed. No matter which direction you travelled lane reductions and closures meant public transport was seriously impacted. This ‘Avenues Project’ better be worth it!

I'm not at all convinced it will be. It's a good enough idea in principle, but when the council and all other local government/transport bodies do jack-squat to incentivize increasing public transport use in the city beyond the usual boiler-plate press releases and statements all while car usage continues to increase despite the reduction in the number of available lanes at the likes of Cowcaddens Rd, expect traffic and therefore bus travel, to get even worse.

 

[AilsaBus]

When are the rest of the Repowers transferring to Scotstoun or is this not happening now?

 

[Dfatcontroller]

One of the BYD/E400s has received a wrap for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. Don't know the number as yet.

 

[Fletcj10]

Probably been asked before but what's the height of the enviro 400's that normally do the route 6? is it 13-9?

 

[AilsaBus]

Probably been asked before but what's the height of the enviro 400's that normally do the route 6? is it 13-9?

Yes.

 

[Fletcj10]

Yes.

Ah thanks! So a question then the 400MMC & 400EV both say their 13-9 as well so why hasn't these been brought for the route 6?

 

[ScotRail158725]

Ah thanks! So a question then the 400MMC & 400EV both say their 13-9 as well so why hasn't these been brought for the route 6?

they are 13”10

 

[Dfatcontroller]

One of the BYD/E400s has received a wrap for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. Don't know the number as yet.

38459 is the vehicle treated

 

[AilsaBus]

they are 13”10

They can't be as they need to fit under the bridge at Busby which is clearly marked as 13'9.

 

[ScotRail158725]

They can't be as they need to fit under the bridge at Busby which is clearly marked as 13'9.

Im on about MMCs/EVs not the original e400s

 

[Fletcj10]

Im on about MMCs/EVs not the original e400s

Many Thanks

 

[route101]

Is the 60/61 only running the newer e400ev citys?

 

[AndrewTaylor95]

Is the 60/61 only running the newer e400ev citys?

They get anything except Gemini's

 

[AilsaBus]

Is the 60/61 only running the newer e400ev citys?

It gets more singles these days because all of a sudden and for whatever reason they've stopped putting Geminis on anything that goes up Maryhill Road.

 

[AndrewTaylor95]

It gets more singles these days because all of a sudden and for whatever reason they've stopped putting Geminis on anything that goes up Maryhill Road.

Already mentioned in here previously it's due to the Bridge on Maryhill Road

 

[Joerf21]

Noticed their has been no deckers on the 2 for 2 days in a row, how strange as it is a very buisy route

 

[JumpinTrainz]

Noticed their has been no deckers on the 2 for 2 days in a row, how strange as it is a very buisy route

First have historically prioritised singles on the 2 over deckers. There are Yutong deckers due which I imagine will see service on the 2.

 

[AndrewTaylor95]

Noticed their has been no deckers on the 2 for 2 days in a row, how strange as it is a very buisy route

There's 4 on it today, 3 Streetdecks and 1 E400

 

[route101]

First have historically prioritised singles on the 2 over deckers. There are Yutong deckers due which I imagine will see service on the 2.

Same with the 3 service. I think it may come down to Scotstoun does not have many deckers to go around. I wonder if it is cheaper to run the 2 or 3 as all singles.