First Greater Glasgow

[PaulMc7]

The B9s are going nowhere. The YN08s will be the only ones going

Thanks for the info. Did some of the others have their engines upgraded to Euro 6?

 

[Jordan Adam]

Thanks for the info. Did some of the others have their engines upgraded to Euro 6?

Engines are the same, they've had Eminox exhaust kits fitted.

 

[PaulMc7]

Engines are the same, they've had Eminox exhaust kits fitted.

Thanks for the info. I'm no expert in that kind of thing so it's definitely not easy to keep up with everything in that sense especially as our low emission zone quite incredible hurts bus companies more than car users.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

I imagine when the time comes to replace the B9TLs in the near future it’ll be done with one big order.

 

[PaulMc7]

I imagine when the time comes to replace the B9TLs in the near future it’ll be done with one big order.

I do wonder if Covid didn't last as long, things would have been wildly different with a mega diesel order being made to clear out a lot of older stock before the commitment to electric vehicles. I also think having to cut frequencies due to the driver shortage has played a massive part in strategy changes when it comes to arranging orders.

It's actually quite wild to think just how watered down our network is in terms of frequency for a lot of services. It's saved an awful lot of buses and fuel costs these days.

 

[Dfatcontroller]

Interestingly First Glasgow has one e400 diesel on order, to be numbered 34402. Presume it's the insurance replacement for 34368 which was burnt out at Glasgow Fort.

 

[route101]

We have a lot of 07, 57, 08 and 09 plate double deckers in Glasgow still but the current order of E400 EVs is covering the replacing of a fair load of them. Some of them are incredibly worn down in terms of seating. In terms of single deckers, I think it's just one 55 plate and 2 06 plates left.

Any eclipse's still running?

 

[PaulMc7]

Any eclipse's still running?

It's probably best to check bustimes.org for that as I'm not as familiar with what types of buses are which from before the E300s and E400s.

Speaking of Bustimes.org, 38466 and 38469 are now on the list as 72 plate E400 EVs. Is it a site error that there is no 38459, 38467 and 38468 or is that genuinely the case with the numbering?

I've also noticed on there that the 5:03am 2 from Faifley has had a couple of Streetlites in recent times. I guess that's expected though due to the fact the number of vehicles required for the 2 is still fairly high and First seem to have a generally relaxed attitude to allocation as we've seen in recent years.

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

Is it a site error that there is no 38459, 38467 and 38468 or is that genuinely the case with the numbering?

No, because the fleet list on bustimes.org "is an unofficial and probably incomplete list of First Greater Glasgow vehicles (or their ticket machines), created purely as a by-product of the live bus tracking system."

i.e. only buses which have tracked will be listed

 

[PaulMc7]

No, because the fleet list on bustimes.org "is an unofficial and probably incomplete list of First Greater Glasgow vehicles (or their ticket machines), created purely as a by-product of the live bus tracking system."

i.e. only buses which have tracked will be listed

I didn't know if that was solely the reason hence my previous post. Thank you for confirming though. Is there anywhere with an actual official fleet list that is complete for First and regularly updated?

 

[Dfatcontroller]

It's probably best to check bustimes.org for that as I'm not as familiar with what types of buses are which from before the E300s and E400s.

Speaking of Bustimes.org, 38466 and 38469 are now on the list as 72 plate E400 EVs. Is it a site error that there is no 38459, 38467 and 38468 or is that genuinely the case with the numbering?

I've also noticed on there that the 5:03am 2 from Faifley has had a couple of Streetlites in recent times. I guess that's expected though due to the fact the number of vehicles required for the 2 is still fairly high and First seem to have a generally relaxed attitude to allocation as we've seen in recent years.

It'll be because 38459, 38467 + 38468 haven't entered service yet.

I have photographed 38459 at a 3rd party transmission repair firm in Wardpark, Cumbernauld.
38467+38468 have entered service on the 57 today.

 

[PaulMc7]

Service 11 Revision

Service 11 - Service Revision From Sunday 18th December, a revised Sunday timetable will be introduced to improve reliability. Please view the link below for new timetable information. https://www.spt.co.uk/media/yyhbztmv/service-11-december-2022-update.pdf

www.firstbus.co.uk

The new timetable for the 11 starting from December 18th is on SPT's site and First have added a link to it in the page linked above. It consists of adjustments to the Sunday frequency during the day down to every 70 minutes from every 60.

On another note, is the 500 service change still going ahead? There hasn't been anything on First's website and it is meant to take effect from this Sunday.

 

[Volvodart]

It has been available on Traveline for some time.

 

[PaulMc7]

It has been available on Traveline for some time.

I'm surprised First haven't been advertising it then given that it's on Traveline. You'd think with an airport service, they'd want to advertise the change as soon as possible.

 

[APT618S]

I didn't know if that was solely the reason hence my previous post. Thank you for confirming though. Is there anywhere with an actual official fleet list that is complete for First and regularly updated?

UPDATES to the First Fleet List can be found in the link below:
Unsure how "offical" it is.

First Fleet changes

 

[PaulMc7]

UPDATES to the First Fleet List can be found in the link below:
Unsure how "offical" it is.

First Fleet changes

Thank you for sharing this.

 

[Volvodart]

UPDATES to the First Fleet List can be found in the link below:
Unsure how "offical" it is.

First Fleet changes

It is from First Bus so it is "official"!

 

[GaryBrown156]

Does anyone know where the former Airport/500 branded Enviro 400 MMC's with 'city' bodywork that were repainted into standard fleet livery are at the moment? For a while they where a fairly common sight on the 87/88/89 and X3 but for the past month or so I haven't seen these kicking about. Have they been reallocated elsewhere or repainted back into the airport livery perhaps?

Thanks

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

Does anyone know where the former Airport/500 branded Enviro 400 MMC's with 'city' bodywork that were repainted into standard fleet livery are at the moment? For a while they where a fairly common sight on the 87/88/89 and X3 but for the past month or so I haven't seen these kicking about. Have they been reallocated elsewhere or repainted back into the airport livery perhaps?

Thanks

They were repainted back into the Airport livery a few months ago so are exclusively used on the 500 again

 

[PaulMc7]

I had mentioned app cancellations a lot previously in order to get a few answers regarding the feature which I know has annoyed people and now having received the email below regarding it from First's customer service team it's quite clear that they really aren't on the same page from the depots given the response on here compared to the email. I've taken the person's name out for obvious reasons.

I value insider knowledge on this forum a lot due to not having any myself and it's clearly more trustworthy than the shambles that is the customer service system.

Good Morning Paul,

Thank you for contacting us.

I can inform you that I have spoken with the team and we still do not have a definite date for the roll out yet. As soon as we hear anything we will let our customers know.

Once again, many thanks for taking the time to raise this issue with us. If we can help you with any other matter in the future, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Kind Regards,

Customer Service Advisor
First Bus National Contact Centre
Phone: 0345 646 0707
Email: ssc-customerfeedback@firstbus.co.uk
Website: www.firstbus.co.uk

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Dec 2022 ==

Is it normal now for E200 EVs to be used as driver training buses now or is it just a lack of the normal ones being available? I have seen 2 E200 EVs being used as driver trainers at Rutherglen today as well as seeing the normal buses used too.

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

Is it normal now for E200 EVs to be used as driver training buses now or is it just a lack of the normal ones being available? I have seen 2 E200 EVs being used as driver trainers at Rutherglen today as well as seeing the normal buses used too.

Perhaps being used for vehicle familiarisation and/or route learning with drivers who've never driven them before, rather than new recruits?

Edit: additionally I doubt they will be fitted with the necessary equipment to be used as actual training vehicles (instructor seat/handbrake, extra mirrors, etc.)

 

[PaulMc7]

Perhaps being used for vehicle familiarisation and/or route learning with drivers who've never driven them before, rather than new recruits?

I was thinking it might be that too. With the amount of electric vehicles now it would be a smart move. I didn't notice how many staff the first E200 EV had as well as the driver but the second one had 4 or 5 from what I could see.

 

[83G/84D]

No, because the fleet list on bustimes.org "is an unofficial and probably incomplete list of First Greater Glasgow vehicles (or their ticket machines), created purely as a by-product of the live bus tracking system."

i.e. only buses which have tracked will be listed

Also on the subject on fleet numbers some of the Bristol based Scania buses in the 39xxx series miss out some numbers.
This is because First do not generally re-use fleet numbers.

 

[Volvodart]

2 of the newer Aberdeen Hydroliners were reused numbers, but the person responsible said this was a special case because of the amount of work involved to do it.

 

[Stef434]

Service 11 Revision

Service 11 - Service Revision From Sunday 18th December, a revised Sunday timetable will be introduced to improve reliability. Please view the link below for new timetable information. https://www.spt.co.uk/media/yyhbztmv/service-11-december-2022-update.pdf

www.firstbus.co.uk

The new timetable for the 11 starting from December 18th is on SPT's site and First have added a link to it in the page linked above. It consists of adjustments to the Sunday frequency during the day down to every 70 minutes from every 60.

On another note, is the 500 service change still going ahead? There hasn't been anything on First's website and it is meant to take effect from this Sunday.

So all SPT tenders cancelled from January

 

[PaulMc7]

So all SPT tenders cancelled from January

There is just a slight change to the 11, not any cancellations. I wouldn't be surprised though if First did look at getting rid of more SPT tenders in order to focus on using resources for commercial services as soon as they're up for retender. There actually isn't too many more to get rid of to be fair though.

The 7A is part SPT, 11, 14, 49, 59, 71A, 93, 189, 190, 193, 210, 244, 251 and M4 are the remaining ones. The 49 and M4 are subcontracted to West Coast Motors too. There may be others that First have subcontracted too but I'm not sure. It also appears that the 65's Sunday service is SPT tendered too according to the SPT site.

On another note, a bit of transferring seems to be taking place with the E400s. 33903 tracked on the 267 today and 33908 tracked on the 18.

 

[lastbus]

There is just a slight change to the 11, not any cancellations. I wouldn't be surprised though if First did look at getting rid of more SPT tenders in order to focus on using resources for commercial services as soon as they're up for retender. There actually isn't too many more to get rid of to be fair though.

The 7A is part SPT, 11, 14, 49, 59, 71A, 93, 189, 190, 193, 210, 244, 251 and M4 are the remaining ones. The 49 and M4 are subcontracted to West Coast Motors too. There may be others that First have subcontracted too but I'm not sure. It also appears that the 65's Sunday service is SPT tendered too according to the SPT site.

On another note, a bit of transferring seems to be taking place with the E400s. 33903 tracked on the 267 today and 33908 tracked on the 18.

M4, 14, 49, 59, 93, 193, 210, 244, 251 all going at the beginning of February.

 

[PaulMc7]

M4, 14, 49, 59, 93, 193, 210, 244, 251 all going at the beginning of February.

Thanks for the info. I'm not remotely surprised by that at all.

 

[Stan Drews]

M4, 14, 49, 59, 93, 193, 210, 244, 251 all going at the beginning of February.

If you hand back SPT tenders before the end of the contract, they are entitled to charge you the difference between your contract rate and any replacement, that costs them more. Unless of course SPT have decided to cancel them all, which is unlikely.
Alternatively, they may have found an operator awash with drivers, and been able to subcontract them all!

 

[voidwxrranty]

There is just a slight change to the 11, not any cancellations. I wouldn't be surprised though if First did look at getting rid of more SPT tenders in order to focus on using resources for commercial services as soon as they're up for retender. There actually isn't too many more to get rid of to be fair though.

The 7A is part SPT, 11, 14, 49, 59, 71A, 93, 189, 190, 193, 210, 244, 251 and M4 are the remaining ones. The 49 and M4 are subcontracted to West Coast Motors too. There may be others that First have subcontracted too but I'm not sure. It also appears that the 65's Sunday service is SPT tendered too according to the SPT site.

On another note, a bit of transferring seems to be taking place with the E400s. 33903 tracked on the 267 today and 33908 tracked on the 18.

Service 59 has also been contracted out, happened to notice it there on Thursday plodding along the Boulevard. Blind mentioning it was on hire to First Glasgow.