First Greater Glasgow

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

66 was the Strathclyde Buses route that they extended from Sheddens to EastKilbride in competition with then Central Scottish routes via Busby to EK, which were the 137/8/9/140 group.

Theres a lot of grey area from the 60s till today with what route did what, from the days of Central Scottish to Central Buses to KCB to First Glasgow/Lanarkshire.

 

[Stan Drews]

Theres a lot of grey area from the 60s till today with what route did what, from the days of Central Scottish to Central Buses to KCB to First Glasgow/Lanarkshire.

Services through Busby to East Kilbride have been relatively consistent.
Central: 180/181 > 138/139 > withdrawn
SBL/First: 66 > 6
The 180/1 became the 138/139 (with 137/140 variations, which I think only ran eve/Suns), when they were joined up with the Clydebank - Glasgow routes out of Gavinburn.
The 66 added A and B variations, and then evolved into the 6 with ‘SimpliCity’.

 

[Bus Lightyear]

Services through Busby to EK have been relatively consistent.
Central: 180/181 > 138/139 > withdrawn
SBL/First: 66 > 6
The 180/1 became the 138/139 (with 137/140 variations, which I think only ran eve/Suns), when they were joined up with the Clydebank - Glasgow routes out of Gavinburn.
The 66 added A and B variations, and then evolved into the 6 with ‘SimpleCity’.

That sounds about right regarding the Central routes from East Kilbride to Glasgow via Clarkston and I recall them being operated by Bristol Lodekkas then Dennis Dominators to fit under Busby bridge.

There was also the short lived Strathclyde PTE/Buses routes 26 and 27 which operated in 1985/86 before being replaced by the extended 66. The small batch of Leyland Nationals and low height Leyland Olympians normally operated these routes.

Strathclyde National GGE174T

Seen in East Kilbride

www.flickr.com

Credit to the photographer

 

[Jarcoed]

44675 is now in urban/2018 livery

 

[JumpinTrainz]

44675 is now in urban/2018 livery

View attachment 120577

I think the plan will be to debrand all routes over time - as they have done with the 34/34A, 65 and 61 services.

 

[GusB]

44675 is now in urban/2018 livery

View attachment 120577

What is the source for this information, please? (Link required)

Could you also post a readable text equivalent as well. Thanks

 

[PaulMc7]

Do First have a particular way of choosing what services to cancel each day? I do find it interesting how the same buses seem to get cancelled an awful lot on certain services and how some services are hit so hardly compared to others.

I'm hoping there isn't long to go with the cancellation testing on the app as it will help significantly and it does seem to have gone on for quite a while now. The thing I've also noticed is that they can't seem to test all depots at once either.

 

[stevenedin]

First Glasgow 33256 in Edinburgh today.

I also uploaded to Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/steveneh8/52351274835/in/dateposted/

 

[JumpinTrainz]

First Glasgow 33256 in Edinburgh today.

I also uploaded to Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/steveneh8/52351274835/in/dateposted/

Good catch. What was this for exactly?

First in Edinburgh will soon be a thing of the past.

 

[stevenedin]

Good catch. What was this for exactly?

First in Edinburgh will soon be a thing of the past.

Thanks, it looks like it was for the police like some sort of shuttle. I just saw it when I was waiting at the traffic lights.

Yeah it’s sad that First will be a thing of the past in Edinburgh soon.

 

[ScotRail158725]

Good catch. What was this for exactly?

First in Edinburgh will soon be a thing of the past.

Police shuttle buses. Lothian had to suspend a route to use staff/buses on them

 

[computerSaysNo]

Is there an up-to-date Network Map available anywhere? The one on the First Glasgow website seems a bit out-of-date/misleading.

 

[PaulMc7]

Are First making any changes in October? I'm surprised we've not had a yes or no yet on whether they are given the time needed for registrations etc

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

1 change I think that is long overdue is night buses doing the return leg in service. Even if this was limited to services like the N9, to provide a 24hr service between Glasgow and Paisley.

 

[route101]

1 change I think that is long overdue is night buses doing the return leg in service. Even if this was limited to services like the N9, to provide a 24hr service between Glasgow and Paisley.

Is there much demand for them?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Sep 2022 ==

Is there an up-to-date Network Map available anywhere? The one on the First Glasgow website seems a bit out-of-date/misleading.

The website has route maps for each service.

 

[PaulMc7]

Is there much demand for them?

I'd be shocked if there was to be honest. You'd maybe get demand for some earlier buses but not 24/7. The likes of the 1s for example could probably gain an extra 2 buses at each end of the timetable and be busy but not many services probably could.

 

[route101]

I'd be shocked if there was to be honest. You'd maybe get demand for some earlier buses but not 24/7. The likes of the 1s for example could probably gain an extra 2 buses at each end of the timetable and be busy but not many services probably could.

Yes, I would have a few later and earlier services. Midnight is quite early. I remember catching a 66 at 2am once on a weekday after flying into Edinburgh.

 

[PaulMc7]

Yes, I would have a few later and earlier services. Midnight is quite early. I remember catching a 66 at 2am once on a weekday after flying into Edinburgh.

I think the problem with the 6 these days is that the south side of the route is significantly busier than the west. The last 6 to Clydebank is at Clydebank just after midnight and it can be really quiet from experience.

Considering the demise of it compared to the 44, I'm amazed the last 4 is so late from the City Centre. Even the last 38 to Newton Mearns is quite late compared to a lot of the network.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

With the recent E400MMC arrivals from FSE - can we assume the remaining B7TLs will finally bow out?

 

[route101]

I think the problem with the 6 these days is that the south side of the route is significantly busier than the west. The last 6 to Clydebank is at Clydebank just after midnight and it can be really quiet from experience.

Considering the demise of it compared to the 44, I'm amazed the last 4 is so late from the City Centre. Even the last 38 to Newton Mearns is quite late compared to a lot of the network.

The 44 used to have a night service. With the 6 operating from Scotstoun depot no reason the/ could run Clydebank to East Kilbride night services.

 

[PaulMc7]

The 44 used to have a night service. With the 6 operating from Scotstoun depot no reason the/ could run Clydebank to East Kilbride night services.

I think the problem with the 6 is that it can be a lot quieter towards Clydebank from the City Centre than the other direction from City Centre to Calderwood. Even if there was a surplus of drivers I don't see the 6 gaining much. The 3 is the one I could see deserving a frequency increase out of the Scotstoun services although with the morning peak, the 2 could go every 8 mins again. It's gotten so much busier again out of nowhere and First seem to be incredibly inconsistent with what buses are on it.

 

[vla50]

With the recent E400MMC arrivals from FSE - can we assume the remaining B7TLs will finally bow out?

4 seem to be listed on bustimes as having transferred however not sure as to whether UniLink examples will transfer back? All but 2 Geminis would be withdrawn if all 7 MMCs transferred back

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

4 seem to be listed on bustimes as having transferred however not sure as to whether UniLink examples will transfer back? All but 2 Geminis would be withdrawn if all 7 MMCs transferred back

It was reported on the FirstBus Enthusiasts group on Facebook earlier today that 33202, 33203 and 33207 had moved from Larbert to Caledonia, with just the 3 Unilink ones to return now.

 

[stevenedin]

It was reported on the FirstBus Enthusiasts group on Facebook earlier today that 33202, 33203 and 33207 had moved from Larbert to Caledonia, with just the 3 Unilink ones to return now.

Any news on if the remaining 66 reg E400MMCs are being transferred as well?

 

[adrock1976]

The 44 used to have a night service. With the 6 operating from Scotstoun depot no reason the/ could run Clydebank to East Kilbride night services.

Has the 6 or former 66 always operated from Scotstoun/Knightswood?

I remember red Leyland Olympian double deckers from during and before the Overground days, and if my memory is not playing tricks on me, the Olympians were based at Larkfield and Possilpark, with Knightswood and Parkhead having the Volvo Citybus as their main/sole double decker.

 

[Stan Drews]

Has the 6 or former 66 always operated from Scotstoun/Knightswood?

I remember red Leyland Olympian double deckers from during and before the Overground days, and if my memory is not playing tricks on me, the Olympians were based at Larkfield and Possilpark, with Knightswood and Parkhead having the Volvo Citybus as their main/sole double decker.

The 66 was all operated out of Larkfield Depot for a long time. Not sure when Knightswood/Scotstoun first gained workings on it, but it was late 90s at the earliest.

 

[jazza374]

Anyone know where Overtown’s 44672 is? Not been seen since July

 

[sannox]

I'd be shocked if there was to be honest. You'd maybe get demand for some earlier buses but not 24/7. The likes of the 1s for example could probably gain an extra 2 buses at each end of the timetable and be busy but not many services probably could.

Think it depends. I think some routes could justify it but has to be balanced against extra vehicle/driver need over running back fast.

Back when they ran 24/7 in overground days, you tended to find 1.30am-3.30am was quiet but people started using them more at 4am for early shifts. You could probably justify on certain routes extra late buses and extra morning buses but that's all.

 

[lastbus]

Anyone know where Overtown’s 44672 is? Not been seen since July

Long term VOR

 

[PaulMc7]

Think it depends. I think some routes could justify it but has to be balanced against extra vehicle/driver need over running back fast.

Back when they ran 24/7 in overground days, you tended to find 1.30am-3.30am was quiet but people started using them more at 4am for early shifts. You could probably justify on certain routes extra late buses and extra morning buses but that's all.

This is definitely something I can agree with. I think a few routes could but not when there's still major issues with cancellations. When I looked at the app to see what was going on with the cancellation feature 8 out of 9 buses were showing as cancelled at the top of Lenzie where you get the 88, X85 and X87.

Some services have became shocking for cancellations compared to others. I wonder when the cancellations feature will be fully up and running because it's still clearly being tested a bit with how depots have days where it's just not used at all then others where it's used in overload.