First Aberdeen

[JumpinTrainz]

Anyone have a photo of the recently painted 37636? I’ve seen it in person briefly but would be nice to see a photo

 

[Jordan Adam]

Anyone have a photo of the recently painted 37636? I’ve seen it in person briefly but would be nice to see a photo

Here's a photo taken from Facebook.

If the original owner wants the photo removed just Message me.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

Here's a photo taken from Facebook.

If the original owner wants the photo removed just Message me.

I must say that looks incredibly smart. I find that anything in the Aberdeen or FSE livery will look really good. The ‘urban’ livery has definitely grown on me. At first it was a little too plain but it works I think.

 

[Jordan Adam]

I must say that looks incredibly smart. I find that anything in the Aberdeen or FSE livery will look really good. The ‘urban’ livery has definitely grown on me. At first it was a little too plain but it works I think.

Agree the Aberdeen and FSE liveries are much better than the Glasgow one. I can understand why people find it too plain, but i think you just have to remember it's plain for a reason, if they added too much colour on the front it could lead to confusion with branded buses.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

Agree the Aberdeen and FSE liveries are much better than the Glasgow one. I can understand why people find it too plain, but i think you just have to remember it's plain for a reason, if they added too much colour on the front it could lead to confusion with branded buses.

It leaves you wondering if they’ll brand the Aberdeen buses. Can’t imagine too much would go with 2 tone green...

 

[Jordan Adam]

It leaves you wondering if they’ll brand the Aberdeen buses. Can’t imagine too much would go with 2 tone green...

I wouldn't mind seeing the Ex-FSE B7RLEs re-trimmed and branded up for the X27. The publicity is the same style as FSE's X35/X36/X37 and the gold goes really well with green.

https://www.firstgroup.com/aberdeen/routes-and-maps/x27

 

[JumpinTrainz]

I wouldn't mind seeing the Ex-FSE B7RLEs re-trimmed and branded up for the X27. The publicity is the same style as FSE's X35/X36/X37 and the gold goes really well with green.

https://www.firstgroup.com/aberdeen/routes-and-maps/x27

The B7RLEs need a retrim! With a good overhaul inside these buses have years on them. When the eLeather is applied the buses will have almost the same seats that are being fitted on to the new stock.

I wonder if they’ll brand the artics and E500s red for the 1&2 services given that’s the colour they seem to be going with.

 

[Jordan Adam]

First Aberdeen have refreshed their bus leaflets in the new green style, must say it looks very smart.

Even more of a surprise however is the X27, the original timetable on the website was incorrect so the service is actually better than it appeared in the consultation. There's much more buses to Howe Moss Road now (increase from 6 per day to 29 per day), while the route to Dyce is also interesting as it goes over the North of the Airport and serves Victoria Street. This means that a large chunk of Dyce now has a link to the Airport, while Victoria Street gains another service meaning First will now have 7 buses per hour. There's also proper early morning journeys too.

https://www.firstgroup.com/uploads/node_images/aberdeen/X27_WEB_Oct2019.pdf

 

[Deltic1961]

That's if it lasts. Every one of them I've seen so far has had literally nobody on.

Its just the 16 rekindled and look how much money they lost on that....

 

[Jordan Adam]

That's if it lasts. Every one of them I've seen so far has had literally nobody on.

Its just the 16 rekindled and look how much money they lost on that....

It's not the 16 rekindled at all, two totally different services at this point. The X27 isn't in competition with anything except the very limited Union Square to TECA market and compliments the 727, the 16 was basically a slower 727 that served the Craibstone Ghost & Ride.

I can't comment on what you've been seeing, however while loads are nothing to shout out about there are decent enough numbers, merging the service with the 117 along with the frequency reductions in Bucksburn (from 7/8 minutes to 10 minutes) should make the service sustainable long term. At least give credit to them for coming up with an idea that hasn't been done before and has lots of potential.

The new route and timetables are a huge improvement and set it in the right direction. All it needs is some decent branded vehicles and a marketing push. The fact it will now serve CHC Helicopters Terminal properly gives the impression that some sort of partnership deal maybe on the way.

 

[Jordan Adam]

37636 is now back at King Street currently being prepared for her return to service.
67783 is at Caledonia getting RTC repairs and will probably get a repaint while there.
69124 is also at Caledonia for repaint and will be treated to a internal refurb too.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

37636 is now back at King Street currently being prepared for her return to service.
67783 is at Caledonia getting RTC repairs and will probably get a repaint while there.
69124 is also at Caledonia for repaint and will be treated to a internal refurb too.

Is there any reason why 69124 in particular is being treated to an internal refurb? I’d have thought the ex-FSE examples were among the worst internally. Will it be receiving new leather seating?

 

[Volvodart]

Someone with connections to transport in the Aberdeen area tweeted about its state in First Aberdeen's Twitter. As it is only one of 4 non standard ones, I would have thought it might be the next to leave Aberdeen after the Wright Renowns get withdrawn.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Is there any reason why 69124 in particular is being treated to an internal refurb? I’d have thought the ex-FSE examples were among the worst internally. Will it be receiving new leather seating?

As Volvodart mentions, someone with industry connections tweeted about it. It should also be noted that 69124 was in particularly poor condition, probably the worst bus in the fleet and much worse than the other 06 plates. Although they all could do with a retrim now.

There was also signs of accident damage and a fuel spill on the offside as shown in this photo from late August, i wouldn't normally photo oil spill damage however i was rather shocked by how bad 69124 was looking.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

As Volvodart mentions, someone with industry connections tweeted about it. It should also be noted that 69124 was in particularly poor condition, probably the worst bus in the fleet and much worse than the other 06 plates. Although they all could do with a retrim now.

There was also signs of accident damage and a fuel spill on the offside as shown in this photo from late August, i wouldn't normally photo oil spill damage however i was rather shocked by how bad 69124 was looking.

Oh my! Now that doesn’t look good...

It’s a shame because the B7RLEs are nice buses they would be great with a tidy up. Were these the buses that were originally for Glasgow but re-registered for Aberdeen back in 2006? Can’t say Glasgow’s are much of an improvement internally but have noticed many are starting to appear in the new colours!

 

[Jordan Adam]

Oh my! Now that doesn’t look good...

It’s a shame because the B7RLEs are nice buses they would be great with a tidy up. Were these the buses that were originally for Glasgow but re-registered for Aberdeen back in 2006? Can’t say Glasgow’s are much of an improvement internally but have noticed many are starting to appear in the new colours!

Indeed they are, 69110/122/123/124 are the examples Aberdeen "Stole", there's actually a photo of 69123 kicking about (although i've not seen it online) which shows 69123 at King Street when new still carrying it's SF06 plate. Until a few years ago they still had the small plates in the cab which stated the original registration. They were diverted from the Glasgow so First Aberdeen could relaunch the Service 5 on a doubled frequency as the "Lime Green Line" for the University returning in September 2006. To make up for the loss Glasgow got 66988/89/90/91 later that year which were the vehicles originally intended for Aberdeen. Generally they've been good reliable workhorses, however their age is showing, the later D7E engine examples (SV07/57/08 plates) are better imo.

Here's a list of all 4 registrations:
69110: SF06GZW > SV06GRF
69122: SF06HBD > SV06GRK
69123: SF06HBE > SV06GRU
69124: SF06HBG > SV06GRX

 

[JumpinTrainz]

Indeed they are, 69110/122/123/124 are the examples Aberdeen "Stole", there's actually a photo of 69123 kicking about (although i've not seen it online) which shows 69123 at King Street when new still carrying it's SF06 plate. Until a few years ago they still had the small plates in the cab which stated the original registration. They were diverted from the Glasgow so First Aberdeen could relaunch the Service 5 on a doubled frequency as the "Lime Green Line" for the University returning in September 2006. To make up for the loss Glasgow got 66988/89/90/91 later that year which were the vehicles originally intended for Aberdeen. Generally they've been good reliable workhorses, however their age is showing, the later D7E engine examples (SV07/57/08 plates) are better imo.

Here's a list of all 4 registrations:
69110: SF06GZW > SV06GRF
69122: SF06HBD > SV06GRK
69123: SF06HBE > SV06GRU
69124: SF06HBG > SV06GRX

Oh thanks for the info! That makes sense. Always thought the 56 plates were just the remainder of the batch but that adds up now. I always loved these buses in Glasgow they were always far superior than the B7Ls but like Aberdeen’s examples they are starting to show their age and are nowhere near as good as they once were.

It’ll be interesting to see Aberdeen’s branding schemes. They’ve always did it pretty well (what with the Sunshine route and Northern Lights etc). I wonder if they’ll now be replaced with just colours. Like the sunshine route being yellow for example or the northern lights being blue. It’ll be interesting to see what they do.

 

[Deltic1961]

Be better if they actually spent money putting buses out instead of culling services. Nobody cares about paint and branding they don't even stick to.

Let's paint some buses to cover up major issues with the business. Hmmm.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Be better if they actually spent money putting buses out instead of culling services. Nobody cares about paint and branding they don't even stick to.

Let's paint some buses to cover up major issues with the business. Hmmm.

Really? You can't gain new passengers when you have buses with 6/7 year old paint coats, most of the vehicles done so far would've been up for repaint, 69124 for example was last repainted Summer 2012. As for the branding, it's proven that it does increase passenger numbers and even when the vehicles are off route it's still a mobile billboard for the service, so it's not pointless. At the moment there are vehicles going about with branding missing, this was due to the fact that in the 2018/19 financial year the marketing budget was cut to make up for the strikes. there is a budget for 2019/20, a good portion of which has been spent on the X27, while some more was spent over summer tidying up the fleet, in particular you may notice most of the buses with accident repairs have finally had the paint sorted, most notably the E200MMCs and Geminis.

I agree the service changes proposed are stupid, however not painting buses is not going to help save those services and most certainly will not help with revenue growth long term.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Oh thanks for the info! That makes sense. Always thought the 56 plates were just the remainder of the batch but that adds up now. I always loved these buses in Glasgow they were always far superior than the B7Ls but like Aberdeen’s examples they are starting to show their age and are nowhere near as good as they once were.

It’ll be interesting to see Aberdeen’s branding schemes. They’ve always did it pretty well (what with the Sunshine route and Northern Lights etc). I wonder if they’ll now be replaced with just colours. Like the sunshine route being yellow for example or the northern lights being blue. It’ll be interesting to see what they do.

I think the Aberdeen branding will be just the same style as Glasgow (1/2: Red, 3/3A: Purple, 11: Orange, 12: Green, 13: Pink, 15: Salmon, 17/18: Blue, 19: Turquoise, 20: Indigo, 23: Yellow & X27: Gold).

 

[overthewater]

More changes for 11th Nov , whats going on now.

 

[Volvodart]

The usual Christmas closure of Broad Street diversions.

 

[Jordan Adam]

More changes for 11th Nov , whats going on now.

As per Volvodarts reply it's just the Christmas market.

I suspect more changes may appear for the 3/12 in the coming weeks due to Union Terrace being shut for the redevelopment of the gardens.

 

[overthewater]

It might have made more sense to have made the made changes then.

 

[Jordan Adam]

It might have made more sense to have made the made changes then.

It's entirely possible First had not been aware of when the closure was taking place until after the changes were sent to the TC.

 

[Deltic1961]

First being questioned over charging too much for subsidised fares.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/f...adding-stages-to-journeys-to-claim-more-cash/

 

[Jordan Adam]

First being questioned over charging too much for subsidised fares.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/f...adding-stages-to-journeys-to-claim-more-cash/

To be perfectly honest i think it's just a politician wanting a press story. I highly doubt drivers are deliberately over charging pass holders, granted there will be cases where this happens by accident but they'll be fairly few and far between and cases where drivers "under charge" will make up for any loss anyway. Not to mention the fact that the vast majority of journeys in the city will be more than 2 stages so it's a fixed fare anyway!

As for the Ferryhill argument, again a politician who doesn't know what they're talking about. The Ferryhill evening service was withdrawn because residents asked for it to be as there was endless issues with parked cars! First did try and resolve this by diverting the Kincorth service via Holburn Junction and extending the 20 as a service 25, however residents had been requesting the service was removed for quite some time, besides Ferryhill is well within walking distance to other services

I wouldn't disagree that the fares in Aberdeen are expensive compared to the level of service. However if MSPs want to make a case they need to do their research before spouting rubbish to Aberdeen Journals.

 

[Deltic1961]

I agree and the amounts involved aren't great.... however even if its small scale it's still fraudulent and First Aberdeen don't need any more bad publicity.

They're still tweeting about the night bus service, be interesting to see if that changes next week when 50 per cent of the journeys are culled.

For me personally it's now gone from £3.20 to £18 to get home after work and I have used the service constantly since 1997.

 

[Volvodart]

The short fare only applies for up to 5 stops as a maximum, it could be only 3 stops in the city centre (depending on the fare stage). Anything else has the standard fare. I would not have thought there were a great amount of people travelling that distance. Some drivers record the short fare anyway although I am travelling further and it should be recorded for the higher level of reimbursement.

 

[Jordan Adam]

The short fare only applies for up to 5 stops as a maximum, it could be only 3 stops in the city centre (depending on the fare stage). Anything else has the standard fare. I would not have thought there were a great amount of people travelling that distance. Some drivers record the short fare anyway although I am travelling further and it should be recorded for the higher level of reimbursement.

From where i live i can get to Music Hall on the short fare and that's 7 stops away. But i'd agree, the number of people travelling that distance would be fairly small, especially given the main areas where OAPs and pass holders tend to live are slightly further out (outwith the short fare area anyway).

I agree and the amounts involved aren't great.... however even if its small scale it's still fraudulent and First Aberdeen don't need any more bad publicity.

They're still tweeting about the night bus service, be interesting to see if that changes next week when 50 per cent of the journeys are culled.

For me personally it's now gone from £3.20 to £18 to get home after work and I have used the service constantly since 1997.

Yeah i can see you're point. As i say the people undercharged make up for those overcharged. It's not an issue specific to First Aberdeen, nor any company. I just didn't see the need for the MSP to make a press story about it as it's clearly just trying to purposely draw publicity to what is somewhat of a non-issue.

I can't see the night services lasting much longer after these changes, especially not given that they've cut most of the last buses which typically are the busiest.

I feel sorry for those like yourself further out, I can get from Union Square to Home for about £7 in a taxi! Handy if i've just came back to Aberdeen on the train in the late evening and can't be bothered walking up to Union Street to catch a bus. That being said i think that also reflects one of the issues with the night buses, if you're in a group of 4 or more then you're most likely going to find the taxi is cheaper and easier.