gka472l
Member
Purely speculation but there will be plenty of 64-15 plate E400's from Merseyside looking for new homes over the next couple of years......
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Arriva Midlands
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Trainman40083
Established Member
But is there an age limit on the Nottingham Uni buses? I think many of the buses brought in, seems to be "tired"
Zakaria Fadel
Member
4418 still in service here in MK.
derbybusdepot
Member
- Joined
- 17 Dec 2015
- Messages
- 346
Used route 20/1 in Derby yesterday. Trip on 20 completely cancelled due to bus arriving in late off x38. Following 21 delayed by 15 minutes. The waiting passengers seemed unfazed, saying it's always like this now.
What was recently a 15 minute service now runs every 30 or less. I would suggest fewer use it now due to the cut in frequency and poor reliability.
Bsip funding covers the Spondon area, another funded service in Derby which is operated in such an unreliable way, no patronage is likely to be built up.
What was recently a 15 minute service now runs every 30 or less. I would suggest fewer use it now due to the cut in frequency and poor reliability.
Bsip funding covers the Spondon area, another funded service in Derby which is operated in such an unreliable way, no patronage is likely to be built up.
Qwerty133
Established Member
Arriva have confirmed the long expected news that they have lost a number of contracts in the Coventry area (operated out of Hinckley).
They have also moved a number of vehicles between Hinckley and Thurmaston over the weekend with Hinckley no longer operating Pulsars with the exception of 3803 and gaining further deckers for the 158 (despite Thurmaston already being short).
They have also moved a number of vehicles between Hinckley and Thurmaston over the weekend with Hinckley no longer operating Pulsars with the exception of 3803 and gaining further deckers for the 158 (despite Thurmaston already being short).
aswilliamsuk
Member
- Joined
- 10 Jul 2016
- Messages
- 527
Presumably that's the 73-75 and 78/79 groups?
Confirmed on Arrivas Website. Stagecoach Midlands will now operate these services.
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joieman
Member
3119, spotted by me in St. Margaret's Bus Station in Leicester this morning, has had its offside advert removed, revealing its remaining service 5/6 branding from Milton Keynes again! I was previously told the branding had been removed, but obviously not!
How many routes/buses will be left at Hinckley?
Penfold@658
Member
How many routes/buses will be left at Hinckley? 7 Burbage 8 Lutterworth 27 Ratby & 28 Leicester from January 2nd 2026 LC14 Fosse Park X84 Rugby 158 Leicester 64 Nuneaton X6 Coventry 625 Rugby School Total 11 routes 30 buses
Thought those Merc Breadvans were staying in Southport for local routes Arriva Green Lane for 201 service unless plans have changed on Merseyisde
Tbh since Manchester operations and Winsford operations finished these Mercs have been wasted really
SSmith2009
Member
afaik the PVR should drop by 3 buses come January - the Nuneaton-Coventry network of 73-79 routes requires 5 buses and the 27/28 requires 2 buses.
joieman
Member
I'm surprised the 153 hasn't been transferred to Hinckley given that it's the closest Thurmaston-run service to Hinckley.
Trainman40083
Established Member
No idea where this minibus ended up. Was talking of Luton.
Penfold@658
Member
Coach 7204 On Loan at Hinckley Due to short of X6 coaches 7104 not been out since March
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7204 is here as X6 spare, type training for it started today. Though, the company have branded it a “trial for a new bus on the X6”, so who really knows what’s going to happen with it?
7104 is at Thurmaston, work is nearly complete from what I’m told, then it’ll have its service, MOT and ramp testing done before returning to service, hopefully this side of Christmas!
joieman
Member
For some reason, the electric buses seem to be doing a switcheroo today, with most 73-plate Electroliners on the 127 and 74/25-plates on the 47, 48, 50 and 51!
SSmith2009
Member
I wonder if the low hanging tree branches around the villages are causing issues again and they've swapped them as a preventative measure.
since the swapping last weekend there's been some oddities around like versas and solos on the 50/51.
Trainman40083
Established Member
If only that was enough to turn around the terminal decline we're seeing at Arriva Midlands!
derbybusdepot
Member
- Joined
- 17 Dec 2015
- Messages
- 346
Delays on the A38, and x38 continue to cause disruption to the 20/21 which interworks with it.
20/21 often get cancelled, run very late or only cover part of the route to make up time, rendering it pretty unusable. Assume some now get Trent Barton (indigo/i4) and walk from the main road.
They seem to try to alleviate issues when they can, like today when they put 2 buses on a 21 trip (one just before 9am).
So yeah, it all paints a very bleak picture, that's before you look at the state of the fleet, outside of Leicester.
Derby, Tamworth, Telford, Shrewsbury... The fleet is a disgrace.
Trainman40083
Established Member
I'd be surprised if many operators across the country were making big profits. No profit, no investment... Reliant on Government support for the fare cap...
So that's the reason then, nothing to do with DB or mismanagement?
Arriva stopped investing long before the others...
Trainman40083
Established Member
Well I thought DB had sold off Arriva a while back.
They did, but the rot set in during the DB era, quite early on in fact.
Trainman40083
Established Member
I guess they needed the money to find the German Railway... Which also seems run down, compared to what it once was
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
Arriva was born of the purchase of British Bus Group by Cowie Group. When Cowie did that, in 1998, they inherited a set of firms that had been underinvested in for years as BB was a hand to mouth existence, buying firms with the profits of others and having to service debt without having a stock market floatation.
So Arriva spent 10 years sorting out its UK fleet replacement though, it must be said, that it also was overly focussed on route by route profitability and so it also contracted in size in that time with its UK ops. DB bought it in 2010 and they did invest especially as PSVAR was looming. However, after 2014, DB was strapped for cash and so fleet replacement took a back seat. I remember commenting about how posters on this board were obsessed with First Group (who were actually turning the supertanker) and ignoring the impending issues of Arriva.
There was then the hokey-cokey as DB weighed up what to do (sell, keep, float), and they were naturally impacted by Covid too. The challenge is that Arriva now has too few decent operations. That backlog hasn't really eased even with some investment. Therefore, you have fleets like Arriva NE that are dominated by 2009-2014 era fleet, and have also been treated to receiving ex Murkeyside Pulsars like Midlands. And of course, they are likely to lose their best performing operations to franchising in Merseyside and West Yorkshire.
So Arriva spent 10 years sorting out its UK fleet replacement though, it must be said, that it also was overly focussed on route by route profitability and so it also contracted in size in that time with its UK ops. DB bought it in 2010 and they did invest especially as PSVAR was looming. However, after 2014, DB was strapped for cash and so fleet replacement took a back seat. I remember commenting about how posters on this board were obsessed with First Group (who were actually turning the supertanker) and ignoring the impending issues of Arriva.
There was then the hokey-cokey as DB weighed up what to do (sell, keep, float), and they were naturally impacted by Covid too. The challenge is that Arriva now has too few decent operations. That backlog hasn't really eased even with some investment. Therefore, you have fleets like Arriva NE that are dominated by 2009-2014 era fleet, and have also been treated to receiving ex Murkeyside Pulsars like Midlands. And of course, they are likely to lose their best performing operations to franchising in Merseyside and West Yorkshire.