Search results

Sad news about the upcoming D&G cuts. I really thought they were on to something with the 2, certainly the ones I’ve seen seem to be carrying fair loads. Wonder if the issues are more to do with timekeeping as Waterloo Rd, Festival Park, Etruria and Basford can be a nightmare at peak. Never see...

Unfortunately I've lost it now, but I once worked on a project that showed 40% of bus stops in existence in Hartlepool are disused. All of which have had their flags replaced in recent years, complete with 'No Services' labels, presumably at grotesque expense. The 'relic' infrastructure I love...

https://www.firstgroup.com/potteries/news-and-service-updates/news/changes-services-monday-11-june-2018 First have taken their tiny hammer out again to chip away at the network. 21A & 23A effectively withdrawn outside of the peaks. These corridors have now had the frequency halved throughout...

Some I’ve spotted, still up around Staffordshire today ]47439[/ATTACH]

Porthill & Wolstanton to be left without a bus service for 8 weeks https://www.firstgroup.com/potteries/news-and-service-updates/current-issues/closure-porthill-high-street Link to First's bulletin explaining the two areas, which usually enjoy 4 buses per hour, are being diverted due to...

Have you got the Metrolink growth figures for the same period? I’m constantly reading bus ridership in GM is declining but surely this is balanced by Metrolink growth. The most recent expansions; Wythenshawe, Ashton and Didsbury were always key bus, train-less corridors. Met’s passengers can...

Stagecoach Hartlepool has journies that run just once a year - in that service 6 has a ‘Good Friday Only’ timetable at a 12 min headway; regular Mon-Sat timetables are 10 mins and Sunday 20.

RE D&G - at a quick look through I think the net PVR reduction at the end of the month is minus 7? Open to corrections here. I've not included closed contracts and the Alton Towers services which I presume are staying the same. Any ideas if anything is due to be leaving the fleet?

Same as the 20 in its current form. When it was first launched as the 3 it was a mammoth route from Leighton Hospital to Madeley, via the World. Most journeys however worked either Leighton - Keele via Hanley or Talke - Madeley via Hanley. Unreliability, bunching and overcrowding on the Keele...

The changes only result in detracting from the 1 between Meir and Longton. I was rather hoping D&G would have another go at extending the 40 now that they have a greater presence in the city. Perhaps a circuitous route from Hanley - Stoke Station - Fenton - Mount Pleasant - Longton - Meir -...

Your 6/A theory sounds disappointingly plausible. As for the 11, I think this change may be it’s downfall as a through route. It’s already quicker and more frequent for the good folk of Bentilee to change onto a 25 in Hanley to reach Stoke/Hospital/Newcastle and there isn’t much promise of...

We could start taking bets on the next round of cuts. My guess is: 3: Butt Lane journeys curtailed to Kidsgrove, perhaps awkwardly interworking with the 7 4: Wood Lane section cut out 6: Cut back to Meir, D&G given free reign in Weston Coyney. 8A: Withdrawn 12: Changed to Haney - Adderley...

I think you're trying to form a parallel that just isn't there between Potteries & Teesside, perhaps except the decline of industry. As it happens, I grew up in Hartlepool, where my family still live, and I now live in Stoke-on-Trent - so I feel fairly well qualified to comment. Granted, since...

Indeed the market is changing, generally against the bus operator. That said, the issues you bring up are fairly universal, yet service provision in the Potteries is disproportionally in decline. For as much as some factors are out of First's control, they really don't help themselves. Hanley...

For the moment at lease I can't see any pending cuts to allow for the new introductions. The majority of the gains are evening & Sunday so I imagine existing duties will just be extended. It does look like they'll need 3 buses for the new 10, wonder where they'll come from?

Considering the changes were announced simultaneously and First are actively promoting the D&G replacements is almost certainly an indication the parties had communcated regarding the changes. The 'shady' aspect would be for competition authorities to look at - it's not entirely dissimilar to...

tha Sentinel website: 'First cuts another 64 journeys...and here's the list they didn't want you to see. The Sentinel can now reveal the full list [of cuts] which has not yet been made publicly available' *Copy & pastes press release from First's website which has been there a week* It's all...

Indeed, Potteries are facing a fleet age crisis in a few years - with maintenance woes and the VOSA trappings that come with that. I think it's clear significant amounts of new vehicles are off the table; Potteries has averaged 5 new vehicles per year lately - which considering the PVR results...

First are trying to have their cake & eat it with the Bentilee evenings. Saying they need subsidy to provide a service while running pointless duplicates presumably to get BSOG for vehicles returning to Adderley Green: This shows the evening service pattern on Benitlee routes in the form of...

D&G have registered a 21(A), 23(A) and a 10(A) from November. Could indicate Stoke Council calling First's bluff on funding evening services by awarding the contract to someone else - or could D&G be launching their biggest commercial attack yet on First? Since their September changes D&G...