First West of England (Bristol, Bath & The West)

[Pit_buzzer]

The way I'm reading it is 1 and 5 will be E200EV. 6/7/8 will be E100EV. 2 and 13 presumably continue as E200s. There's only 12 E200EVs coming, so not all of the E200s can be replaced. There's also got to be one for 373

My understanding up here in south Yorkshire is that we're only getting 3 of the E200s to replace the 3 ex gkasgow/kernow solos. 2 are already here and one more expected soon

 

[JD2168]

My understanding up here in south Yorkshire is that we're only getting 3 of the E200s to replace the 3 ex gkasgow/kernow solos. 2 are already here and one more expected soon

Yes because the Solos need to go back to Glasgow for new services that start soon

 

[Will1am]

The changes from 26 July are out with no operators officially confirmed, with first possibly winning some of the following due to all services becoming normal bus services, no more WESTlocal or WESTlink nonsense for them:

25 Eastgate to Southville
40 Avonmouth to Cribbs
65 Thornbury Town Service
K2 Keynsham town Bus
Y2C Cribbs/Severn Beach to Yate (Now Requires deckers)
X91 Bristol to Ubley
100 Bristol to Bath via Chew Valley
101 Ubley to Radstock
522 Bristol to Bath
525 Emerson’s Green to Yate
534 Fishponds to Filton
768 Bath to Writhlington (Now every 2 hours)
Y8 South Glos Circular

 

[Snow1964]

Seem to be getting a real mix on liveries on D1x Bath - Trowbridge/Warminster. Recently the variety has increased with yellow Badger line Streetlite and a Green E400 appearing

Have lost count, but think it is now 8 or 9 different liveries that have appeared on the route.

Do First West of England actually have a livery policy, or is it selected routes and anything goes on some routes.

 

[Will1am]

Seem to be getting a real mix on liveries on D1x Bath - Trowbridge/Warminster. Recently the variety has increased with yellow Badger line Streetlite and a Green E400 appearing

Have lost count, but think it is now 8 or 9 different liveries that have appeared on the route.

Do First West of England actually have a livery policy, or is it selected routes and anything goes on some routes.

They want WESTbus to roll out on most if not all buses

 

[The exile]

The way I'm reading it is 1 and 5 will be E200EV. 6/7/8 will be E100EV. 2 and 13 presumably continue as E200s. There's only 12 E200EVs coming, so not all of the E200s can be replaced. There's also got to be one for 373

Oh joy - more years of hill climbing at less than walking pace….

 

[-Colly405-]

They want WESTbus to roll out on most if not all buses

Won't it be basically WESTbus, metrobus, explore, City Sightseeing or Airport Flyer?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Seem to be getting a real mix on liveries on D1x Bath - Trowbridge/Warminster. Recently the variety has increased with yellow Badger line Streetlite and a Green E400 appearing

Have lost count, but think it is now 8 or 9 different liveries that have appeared on the route.

Do First West of England actually have a livery policy, or is it selected routes and anything goes on some routes.

They allocate on vehicle type not livery. The only ones that regularly get allocated locally are the Unibus deckers on U1 and the red e200mmc on the 5 (but they’re not exclusively allocated either).

Other than Flyer and open tops, it’ll be West green - not even certain metrobus will be retained.

 

[Will1am]

Won't it be basically WESTbus, metrobus, explore, City Sightseeing or Airport Flyer?

Yes. WESTbus is for all general services. Metrobus is its own separate identity from the council so will remain in metrobus. The explore brand is commercial and open top so no requirement (yet) for liveries. Citysightseeing and Airportflyer fall into a different category so aren’t affected.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jun 2026 ==

Other than Flyer and open tops, it’ll be West green - not even certain metrobus will be retained.

Metrobus is fine as it’s a council set livery.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Metrobus is fine as it’s a council set livery.

It is a livery provided with the councils consent but they may wish to have a single West brand rather than metrobus was my point.

 

[Will1am]

It is a livery provided with the councils consent but they may wish to have a single West brand rather than metrobus was my point.

I know what you meant but if they branded metro like everything else then it wouldn’t necessarily be special compared, also people wouldn’t realise those services worked differently.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Jun 2026 ==

Quite a lot of Scanias have gone to York Pullman without replacement. Is there no worry about vehicle availability here?

 

[aswilliamsuk]

I know what you meant but if they branded metro like everything else then it wouldn’t necessarily be special compared, also people wouldn’t realise those services worked differently.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Jun 2026 ==

Quite a lot of Scanias have gone to York Pullman without replacement. Is there no worry about vehicle availability here?

The Scanias were replaced by the Yutongs on the A1, so have been surplus for a few weeks. They appear to be being split between First Essex (to standardise most of the Essex Airlink services on the type, as they already have eight of them) and York Pullman.

 

[gka472l]

The Scanias were replaced by the Yutongs on the A1, so have been surplus for a few weeks. They appear to be being split between First Essex (to standardise most of the Essex Airlink services on the type, as they already have eight of them) and York Pullman.

A few of the former Bristol Airport Scania's have seen temporary use in the last week at Potteries, being used on the Delamere Forest contract, been sighted by myself several times on the A51 near Chester late afternoon and late night. 36827/31/3/5 personally seen by me.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The Scanias were replaced by the Yutongs on the A1, so have been surplus for a few weeks. They appear to be being split between First Essex (to standardise most of the Essex Airlink services on the type, as they already have eight of them) and York Pullman.

The ones at York Pullman (if bustimes is correct) appear to be dual door ones (36817/19/22/24 etc) rather than the 36825-36 ones that have gone to First Essex. I'd imagine the others from the A1 will be heading to Essex too in due course.

Quite a lot of Scanias have gone to York Pullman without replacement. Is there no worry about vehicle availability here?

They have received 41 Yutong deckers which has allowed the removal of the Airlink Scanias, some sending of B9s to Yorkshire and some withdrawn. Also, Bath are now receiving their Streetdeck repowers with 10 now on fleet.

It's more interesting what YP will use the Scanias for? Is it a temporary requirement or something longer term?

 

[aswilliamsuk]

The ones at York Pullman (if bustimes is correct) appear to be dual door ones (36817/19/22/24 etc) rather than the 36825-36 ones that have gone to First Essex. I'd imagine the others from the A1 will be heading to Essex too in due course.


They have received 41 Yutong deckers which has allowed the removal of the Airlink Scanias, some sending of B9s to Yorkshire and some withdrawn. Also, Bath are now receiving their Streetdeck repowers with 10 now on fleet.

It's more interesting what YP will use the Scanias for? Is it a temporary requirement or something longer term?

I wonder if they are going to bolster the Rail Replacement fleet? There's going to be a lot of RR work with the Transpennine Upgrade for months to come.

(Also, good point - I had missed that it wasn't the Airport examples going to YP. I blame the heat!)

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I wonder if they are going to bolster the Rail Replacement fleet? There's going to be a lot of RR work with the Transpennine Upgrade for months to come.

That was one of the things I was thinking of, whether it was a specific requirement that required vehicles of a certain capacity or age, or that they wanted some very high capacity vehicles for their existing work.

 

[nick291]

Really wish Hengrove Depot would stop clogging up Broad Quay with their buses that aren't going anywhere. Makes it nearly impossible for anything to move. OR BCC should consider moving the stop further out to improve traffic flow.

 

[Will1am]

The new 101 timetable is out, though it’s still unlikely first has won it

 

[Citistar]

There will be a proper public timetable out in a couple of days once the registration has been formally accepted by the CA.

 

[Will1am]

There will be a proper public timetable out in a couple of days once the registration has been formally accepted by the CA.

Do you have any idea who’s won it?

 

[-Colly405-]

Do you have any idea who’s won it?

I presume it can't be said until it is announced.
But there are visual hints in that timetable - that may turn out to be red herrings...

 

[swifty]

I presume it can't be said until it is announced.
But there are visual hints in that timetable - that may turn out to be red herrings...

I had exactly the same thought on seeing it!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Jun 2026 ==

Really wish Hengrove Depot would stop clogging up Broad Quay with their buses that aren't going anywhere. Makes it nearly impossible for anything to move. OR BCC should consider moving the stop further out to improve traffic flow.

Broad Quay isn’t fit for purpose. But now the 25 is extended to Southville that will free up space.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Uh

I had exactly the same thought on seeing it!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Jun 2026 ==


Broad Quay isn’t fit for purpose. But now the 25 is extended to Southville that will free up space.

In respect of the 101, I was thinking it would be probably be Eurocoaches given their recent investment in fleet. As regards "visual clues"... the burgundy and cream number? It would be a surprise if it were Abus/Centurion. Of course, it looks Radstock centric so could be CT or Libra????

Broad Quay is filling up despite the move to have more cross city services etc.

 

[freetoview33]

Uh

In respect of the 101, I was thinking it would be probably be Eurocoaches given their recent investment in fleet. As regards "visual clues"... the burgundy and cream number? It would be a surprise if it were Abus/Centurion. Of course, it looks Radstock centric so could be CT or Libra????

Broad Quay is filling up despite the move to have more cross city services etc.

Due to stupid timetables ect, No real reason for Broad Quay to be full up.

 

[swifty]

Due to stupid timetables ect, No real reason for Broad Quay to be full up.

The timetables aren’t the issue, the puffin crossing outside Sainsbury’s is the issue.

It’s a pinch point. I was on a 43 leaving the Sainsbury’s stop a couple of weeks ago and it took 5 minutes to pull out from the stop. The road is too narrow for buses to manoeuvre, which then blocks northbound traffic as they can’t get through when there’s a bus at the back of the lay-by opposite.

 

[DaveLondon]

Uh

In respect of the 101, I was thinking it would be probably be Eurocoaches given their recent investment in fleet. As regards "visual clues"... the burgundy and cream number? It would be a surprise if it were Abus/Centurion. Of course, it looks Radstock centric so could be CT or Libra????

Broad Quay is filling up despite the move to have more cross city services etc.

Time will tell but both Centurion and ABUS are at Welton so possibly but probably unlikely.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Time will tell but both Centurion and ABUS are at Welton so possibly but probably unlikely.

I would be very surprised - Centurion focus on coaching and ABUS just do a couple of schools workings. It feels like it should be Eurocoaches but that's just gut feeling. Could be CT Coaches and whilst Libra are local, they seem to work for Wiltshire or Somerset but not BaNES.

We'll see. I'm interested in the new 100 service timetable which looks properly crazy based on reports

 

[Will1am]

I would be very surprised - Centurion focus on coaching and ABUS just do a couple of schools workings. It feels like it should be Eurocoaches but that's just gut feeling. Could be CT Coaches and whilst Libra are local, they seem to work for Wiltshire or Somerset but not BaNES.

We'll see. I'm interested in the new 100 service timetable which looks properly crazy based on reports

I have a bad feeling about that 100 service, especially if Eurocoaches win it. Eurocoaches has been notorious for taking no payments so services which get passengers are losing money.
Hopefully whatever operators win each route know what they’re doing, and not taking the contract with no preparation.

 

[freetoview33]

I have a bad feeling about that 100 service, especially if Eurocoaches win it. Eurocoaches has been notorious for taking no payments so services which get passengers are losing money.
Hopefully whatever operators win each route know what they’re doing, and not taking the contract with no preparation.

Big Lemon were like that on the 40, mainly because the ticket machine didn't work.

 

[Citistar]

I would be very surprised - Centurion focus on coaching and ABUS just do a couple of schools workings. It feels like it should be Eurocoaches but that's just gut feeling. Could be CT Coaches and whilst Libra are local, they seem to work for Wiltshire or Somerset but not BaNES.

We'll see. I'm interested in the new 100 service timetable which looks properly crazy based on reports

I don't believe Libra (or Frome for that matter) are on the WECA tendering system.

The 100 was tendered without a timetable, but rather a specification for operators to submit their own. I did work on a timetable for an operator who was not successful (or may not even have bid), perhaps because i couldn't make it fit the spec on an hourly basis with fewer than five buses without some serious risk of it being a house of cards which would fall at the merest hint of roadworks or refuse collection.

It's also my understanding that the 101 timetable was not intended to become public this early in proceedings and that a proper public release with further information will be coming shortly.