Recent content by smtglasgow

I reckon there might also be a market for an Airport-Lanarkshire link, but serving Bellshill, Motherwell and Hamilton instead of Uddingston & Blantyre. It’s so odd that AI *might* be involved – which is both mad and a bit depressing.

Whenever i'm in Manchester I usually buy an m-ticket day ticket on the app. At least 1 in 3 times it doesn't scan, but the driver just waves me on.

You’ve got to love First and their ability to screw every last penny out of us. In amongst the news about the £2 fares, they’ve managed to hide some increases to the FirstDay and First Week tickets – City FirstDay goes up to £6.60 and the City FirstWeek is £28 – most other tickets are up as...

I have to go to Gartnavel Hospital every few months and back in May I noticed a 156 running slowly through Hyndland just after 9 in the morning. Checking RTT there seemed to be two return workings between Eastfield and Dumbarton via the Low Level with 3XXX headcodes. Perhaps there is a longer...

I’m still fascinated by how this works for both WCM and Stagecoach. Presumably the X19 does OK, but West Coast will be looking to hit a certain margin and Stagecoach will want to make something out of it too – is it making enough to keep both happy? The City-QE Hospital section can be pretty...

I reckon First will either completely pull or at least scale back the 243 by the end of the year. 8 buses an hour to Lanark is madness. JMB will probably take a hit, but I’d imagine a lot of passengers will stay loyal to them. First won’t want to sustain the losses for long.

I still can’t believe that someone at First has thought that having another go at serving Lanark isn’t going to end up with the same result as before. JMB do a decent job and a lot of people will stick with them. The concessions will just take the first bus to turn up – and would you bet against...

For the first time since the post-Covid driver shortages First Glasgow has bid for, and won, some SPT tenders. These will require something small – especially the 141 in Thornwood – so *perhaps* a couple of Sprinters could end up here. I think these are very recent wins, so plans may have changed.

I think if Stagecoach came off the X19 First would have another go. Even if just to stop a competitor getting a foothold in Easterhouse. Not convinced First would want to go out to the hospital as that might take away some of the 77's business.

Yes, once First get some real passenger data I’m sure they’ll be quick to match resources to demand – and put in an unwieldly AI timetable to bamboozle folk with too. I wonder if concentrating on the X25A variant, but also serving Condorrat all day would work at a lower frequency? My one and...

Bet First would love to get their hands on the Easterhouse leg of the X19 – always busy. Not sure they would want to run to the QE Hospital – maybe leave it to McGills. It’ll be interesting to see what – if anything – happens with the X19. How many buses will First need for the X25? Don’t think...

That makes sense. I was wondering about Western, but their decent operations around Glasgow and Inverclyde were balanced by all the rural stuff in Dumfries & Galloway. I was too young to witness deregulation, but I’ve often wondered about how the various SBG companies around Glasgow seemed to...

Glasgow must be short of double-deckers. Saw an E300 on the X87 with a full standing load heading up Cathedral St the other day – not the most pleasant journey considering its basically first stop Lenzie. Are the repowers the solution? Seems odd to be withdrawing buses before the replacements...

If anyone lives near Kew and has some spare time there is *a lot* of NBC material in the National Archives. Unfortunately, I don't think any of it has been digitised.

Nothing wrong with a bit of ambition, but 300 coaches is a lot of coaches. What on earth would they be doing? Is there that much work to win from competitors, or can the West of Scotland market grow that much? Feels like the McGills PR machine has gone into overdrive. I know SPT have started...