Longton depot will be operating it.
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D&G Buses
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Thank you, is that 100% confirmed?
Pity they can't introduce a early/later journeys on 64 between Newcastle and Market Drayton, to allow connections to Newcastle/Hanley, to supplement Arriva 64 Hanley to Shrewsbury
Martin1988
Member
For anyone on here who has experience of the 84x between Crewe and Nantwich I would be interested in your opinion, do you think the service should run later into the evening or do you think 20.58 from Crewe and 21:31 from Nantwich are adequate times for the last buses? Would there be sufficient demand for later journeys should an operator ever decide to run them commercially (or Cheshire East Council decide to fund some)?
I think there is demand on Friday/Saturday evenings as Nantwich has numerous bars and a nightclub, whereas Crewe has a large population so can serve both quite well. Also, Crewe has the Lyceum Theatre and shows end at around 2130-2200 so a later bus would be beneficial to serve that.
markymark2000
On Moderation
If there's money to spend, it should be put into the main 84. You'd get significantly better patronage off running a 21:05 Chester - Crewe & 22:25 Crewe-Chester. Far better than you'd ever get returns on investment in the 84X.
That would come in handy, always thought that the 64s ended quite early
There has been a post stating that two Mercedes O295 Citaros from Blackpool Transport have been purchased by the centrebus group, registered BJ15 AVX and BJ15 BEU and are currently at the D&G Longton depot.
It may be early to speculate, however my initial thought is could these be for the high peak operation to go alongside their other O530 Citaros, as far as I’m aware D&G haven’t operated that vehicle type before?
It may be early to speculate, however my initial thought is could these be for the high peak operation to go alongside their other O530 Citaros, as far as I’m aware D&G haven’t operated that vehicle type before?
Possibly for High Peak maybe? I've heard they're for the Transpeak
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Could do with some more modern buses for the TransPeak!
Seems odd that brand new buses are allocated to the Crich area contracts that largely carry fresh air apart from at school times whilst 10 year old buses are allocated to the busy trunk TransPeak Route between Buxton and Derby.
JKP
Member
Possibly an age condition of contract by the Council?
If they are due for the Transpeak, the two O530 Mercs are newly branded for the service (one during this year) so it wouldn’t make sense to replace those, especially this soon.
The E200’s do seem the more likely to be replaced despite being newer 65 plates. I can imagine they would be tired having spent 10 years on the same demanding route.
What is the PVR for the Transpeak? two Mercs replacing four E200’s seems unreasonable but if it’s a 4 bus PVR then I could see it happening!
Trainman40083
Established Member
I am going to say 5 buses, based on Friday, when it was two Enviro 200s and three Citaros.
markymark2000
On Moderation
PVR is 5
Dwarfer1979
Member
I'm led to believe that up to 5 are being bought so I assume not all will go into TP livery, as Euro 6 vehicles they can cover all the big bus work so I would expect some to be Orange.
Partly due to contract requirements and partly due to operating from a seperate small operating site so wanting to minimise pressure on maintenance facilities by having a largely uniform fleet of brand new vehicles.
The TPs come back to Dove Holes every day so any issues can be seen to easier and the presence of the Skyline at Dove Holes & Notts & Derby at the other end mean a decent pool of replacement vehicles can be found at a push.
capitalpotter
Member
4 citaros from Blackpool Transport have been purchased. 2 are in service now. Not sure if they're going to buy the last citaro from BT but the new fleet numbers suggest they've left a gap
Are they in service with D&G or one of the other operators such as High Peak
Trainman40083
Established Member
They are still in full Blackpool livery, so I think they will get painted first.
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But clearly not from another post
capitalpotter
Member
All 4 are for D&G I'm led to believe. 1 is out on the 32 routes and the other is on the 85. Both still in BT livery
Dwarfer1979
Member
All 5 have been bought, I've been told the 5th will be coming across later (I think BT are putting it through MOT before it leaves which may explain the delay)
No they aren't, they are primarily for the Transpeak at Dove Holes, they are temporarily being used by Longton whilst they await painting which will allow other vehicle movements to happen earlier than would be the case if they waited for them to be painted before starting the cascade. There are a number of movements being made and you will probably see a couple of Longton buses covering at Dove Holes over Christmas to allow the TP E200s to move sooner, to Cannock was the last I heard, until these Mercs are ready for service.
The 4 digit numbers were adopted as they were running out of 3-digit numbers in certain series (like the E200 5-series) so in lighter used series, and ones where it wouldn't be expected to see volumes that would use up the 3-digit series (like the 7-series) then 3 digits are still being used up. It was to allow a new management system to be implemented that worked better if there were never any repeat fleet numbers (even after a vehicle was withdrawn & disposed of) so moving to a 4-digit series as required gives more identities without risking duplication.
Trainman40083
Established Member
And with the last High Peak Citaro being 808/809??? A bit of a gap. Maybe there will be others. (Other than 4)
Certainly an interesting sight, they're great buses. The seats can be a bit hard though as they're only a thin layer of leather padding. The bus is very smooth too, no rattles like other vehicles. Shame they're not staying here for too long.
capitalpotter
Member
They'll be 810,811,812,813,814
Trainman40083
Established Member
The second Citaro to carry fleet number 810, in the High Peak fleet. The first one was withdrawn in 2023.
They’ll actually be 811 to 815.
810 is not being reused.
I had to pinch myself a couple of times as there were several sightings passing my home. Not sure if it was on the 16 or 32 though. Kept thinking I was on one of my frequent Blackpool trips. Might try to get a ride on one before they disappear, if I can find the time & pin one down
markymark2000
On Moderation
While not officially announced, D&Gs open data shows that from 26th January, we are about to continue the 130 Airport Hokey Cokey. You put the 130 into the Airport, you take the 130 out. In, out, in, out, throwing money all about.....
Sadly they aren't doing this by cutting all of the extra time that they recently needlessly added into the 130, but instead they are adding another bus to the 130 cycle. The timetable is as stupid as you'd imagine and yet again, doesn't provide a service for most of the day and doesn't cover any shift patterns. Arrivals at the airport between 09:00 and 17:20. Departures between 08:20 and 16:40. The only benefit of this new timetable is that Saturdays will have an hourly run to the Airport when previously it was only every 90 minutes.
Typical D&G style too, it's padded to heck, Previously the bus got 12-15 minutes, and often the bus was doing it quicker and ending up sitting around for longer, this time taking 15-20 minutes from Wythenshawe to the Airport (just for comparison, Bee Network 284 which does the exact same route manage it in 12 minutes). Either D&G are going to start using mobility scooters for this route or D&G commercial staff are still incompetent and can't timetable services for love nor money. Amazing how everyone else manages routes in a reasonable time but D&G plan for some kind of nuclear apocalypse in their timetables.
How many times are D&G & Cheshire East going to keep squandering taxpayers money on this nonsense? Cheshire East Councillors and council staff need to give their heads a wobble as quite clearly doing this link, in this way, isn't going to work on the 4, 5, 6 or even 7th time (surely we are up to 7 times now). It's insanity to keep throwing money on it, and more so to waste another roughly £100k (conservative figure) on an additional bus just for the Airport link. Clearly there's a bottomless money pit that no one else is aware of.
Sadly they aren't doing this by cutting all of the extra time that they recently needlessly added into the 130, but instead they are adding another bus to the 130 cycle. The timetable is as stupid as you'd imagine and yet again, doesn't provide a service for most of the day and doesn't cover any shift patterns. Arrivals at the airport between 09:00 and 17:20. Departures between 08:20 and 16:40. The only benefit of this new timetable is that Saturdays will have an hourly run to the Airport when previously it was only every 90 minutes.
Typical D&G style too, it's padded to heck, Previously the bus got 12-15 minutes, and often the bus was doing it quicker and ending up sitting around for longer, this time taking 15-20 minutes from Wythenshawe to the Airport (just for comparison, Bee Network 284 which does the exact same route manage it in 12 minutes). Either D&G are going to start using mobility scooters for this route or D&G commercial staff are still incompetent and can't timetable services for love nor money. Amazing how everyone else manages routes in a reasonable time but D&G plan for some kind of nuclear apocalypse in their timetables.
How many times are D&G & Cheshire East going to keep squandering taxpayers money on this nonsense? Cheshire East Councillors and council staff need to give their heads a wobble as quite clearly doing this link, in this way, isn't going to work on the 4, 5, 6 or even 7th time (surely we are up to 7 times now). It's insanity to keep throwing money on it, and more so to waste another roughly £100k (conservative figure) on an additional bus just for the Airport link. Clearly there's a bottomless money pit that no one else is aware of.
It may not be funded by Cheshire East - it could be funded by Manchester Airport Group, as part of their expansion they have to ensure a certain amount of passengers use public transport so could be funded that way. Guess we will have to wait and seeWhile not officially announced, D&Gs open data shows that from 26th January, we are about to continue the 130 Airport Hokey Cokey. You put the 130 into the Airport, you take the 130 out. In, out, in, out, throwing money all about.....
Sadly they aren't doing this by cutting all of the extra time that they recently needlessly added into the 130, but instead they are adding another bus to the 130 cycle. The timetable is as stupid as you'd imagine and yet again, doesn't provide a service for most of the day and doesn't cover any shift patterns. Arrivals at the airport between 09:00 and 17:20. Departures between 08:20 and 16:40. The only benefit of this new timetable is that Saturdays will have an hourly run to the Airport when previously it was only every 90 minutes.
Typical D&G style too, it's padded to heck, Previously the bus got 12-15 minutes, and often the bus was doing it quicker and ending up sitting around for longer, this time taking 15-20 minutes from Wythenshawe to the Airport (just for comparison, Bee Network 284 which does the exact same route manage it in 12 minutes). Either D&G are going to start using mobility scooters for this route or D&G commercial staff are still incompetent and can't timetable services for love nor money. Amazing how everyone else manages routes in a reasonable time but D&G plan for some kind of nuclear apocalypse in their timetables.
How many times are D&G & Cheshire East going to keep squandering taxpayers money on this nonsense? Cheshire East Councillors and council staff need to give their heads a wobble as quite clearly doing this link, in this way, isn't going to work on the 4, 5, 6 or even 7th time (surely we are up to 7 times now). It's insanity to keep throwing money on it, and more so to waste another roughly £100k (conservative figure) on an additional bus just for the Airport link. Clearly there's a bottomless money pit that no one else is aware of.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
This proposal is currently under evaluation with a decision expected in early 2026. - according to Cheshire East FOI dated 27 November 2025 - https://cheshireeastportal.icasework.com/resource?id=D24674165&db=+g9uoIEeYLHej/hWC32qMw==
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