JumpinTrainz
Established Member
- Joined
- 30 Jul 2018
- Messages
- 1,930
One can only hope!
-
Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
First Greater Glasgow
- Thread starter KGGXXXY
- Start date
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R
RailUK Forums
It's more to do with the length of time both services operate each day. If the First 2 of the day from Baillieston had one allocated to it, it would need to be out of the depot for 4:30am to make it to Baillieston for the 4:57am journey start. It would certainly be a tough stretch to get that well into the day.
The 3 isn't much better either with the first one being 4:45am from Drumchapel and even earlier on a Sunday although that only runs to the City Centre.
Trnsprt4Sctlnd
Member
Possibly, been there, seen it and experienced the bus having to go back to the depot earlier than it should be because of the range or lack thereof..
JumpinTrainz
Established Member
- Joined
- 30 Jul 2018
- Messages
- 1,930
I’ve wondered the same question hence why I was shocked when the order was announced for more E200EVs. McGills seem to be getting great range with their Yutongs. I guess only time will tell and like discussed above who knows if Yutongs may be on the way - I doubt they’d go to the effort of trailing them if they weren’t interested. Plus the E200EVs could operate Lanarkshire locals.
JumpinTrainz
Established Member
- Joined
- 30 Jul 2018
- Messages
- 1,930
Not necessarily. With the move to electric perhaps First will be keen to start cascading out a lot of their modern diesel stock to allow more EVs into their bigger areas like Glasgow. Caledonia already has electric charging ports and Scotstoun will soom so I imagine Blantyre may be next. The E300s and E200MMCs are still relatively young buses and could see service elsewhere to help modernise.
I imagine the new generation E400EVs will replace the B9TLs over the next few years.
The double decker situation is an interesting one because the oldest B9TLs are 17 years old next year and even the newest ones will be 15 years old next year too. That's an absolute ton of double deckers that realistically need replaced between 2024 and 2026-27 unless they manage to stay roadworthy beyond the usual average for double deckers.
The network picture could also heavily dictate this too. I don't personally expect the Low Emission Zone to make much of a difference to passenger numbers but if I'm wrong then more buses and drivers could easily be needed.
Even on the current situation, it'll be interesting to see how viable a lot of services are after this funding cut next week. The likes of the 2, 3, 61, 75 and 240 in particular seem to be busy enough that increasing frequency when possible may be required to cover the passenger numbers.
The network picture could also heavily dictate this too. I don't personally expect the Low Emission Zone to make much of a difference to passenger numbers but if I'm wrong then more buses and drivers could easily be needed.
Even on the current situation, it'll be interesting to see how viable a lot of services are after this funding cut next week. The likes of the 2, 3, 61, 75 and 240 in particular seem to be busy enough that increasing frequency when possible may be required to cover the passenger numbers.
cnjb8
Established Member
Bustimes has B9TLs 37541-4 as transferred to Sheffield, is this true?
Andy Metcalfe has said on Firstbus enthusiasts Facebook today that 8 are transferring in total, as well as 4 to West of England and 4 to South West (specifically Kernow). Also says one to Eastern Counties but that could well be referring to the now open-top one that's already arrived and been converted.
Which ones are those?
JumpinTrainz
Established Member
- Joined
- 30 Jul 2018
- Messages
- 1,930
The 2 became branded with E300s so all of the E200MMCs were taken off the route. The full of the route then moved to Scotstoun and the E200MMCs remained at Caledonian before moving over to Lanarkshire.
It was rumoured on here that Glasgow was to lose their 68 plate E200MMCs if they had won the franchise in Manchester but thankfully that never happened.
Thanks for the info
Since nobody has bothered to update the system.
Next stop comes up but only announces at major stops.
adrock1976
Established Member
Regarding the next stop announcements, it should announce all of them like how it is done properly in London, or not at all.
They need to remove it from the system. Even if face coverings were still compulsory I still don’t see the need for it to play every second stop.
Trnsprt4Sctlnd
Member
The usual lackadaisical approach I'm afraid.
Private bus firms are full of middle men & women who have no clue or care about such things; they're employed for a wage and that's it.
Private bus firms are full of middle men & women who have no clue or care about such things; they're employed for a wage and that's it.
As much as it's annoying that First still do it, Buchanan Bus Station is still full of the same announcements too. I went for an 87 on Friday and heard the same announcement about face coverings 3 times within about 2 minutes.
The rather noisy pinging bell sound after the initial stop notification on the 72 plate E400EVs is the bigger pain to deal with given that on certain routes it's every stop that you need to hear it. The likes of the 38 and 61 especially have been incredibly busy when I've used them and they've stopped at almost every stop.
Tracker issues and broken ticket machines seem to be the most common issues I've came across lately. I'd imagine it's losing First a lot of money too given that they've been broken on some of the busiest routes in the entire network when I've used them.
Trnsprt4Sctlnd
Member
Make no assumptions, the fact is that Ticketer offer a subpar ticket machine at best.
The interface is simple but the machines processing power is severely lacking causing it stutter and crash occasionally as well if overloaded with people not understanding how the machine works.
The QR reader is slow to read, the contactless payments process to take the fare is unsimplified..
Yes you don't get a paper print out for concessions anymore but the fact your still waiting almost the same length of time for the machine to merely detect that a card has been presented is the real problem area with time management for these services, then you've got those mobile tickets with people proceeding to fumble with there phones.
Slow boarding is definitely still an issue although I've seen less of it lately. I use mobile tickets but I always manage to have it ready even if I'm full on sprinting for a bus or getting off of one to immediately get another.
I've noticed that during the off peak, more buses seem to be running on time which shows that removing tickets for concessions has helped. Buses also tend to be mostly cleaner too as a result of this.
Maybe we should be like Luxembourg and have free public transport on the taxes.
Trnsprt4Sctlnd
Member
Why shouldn’t you be expected to pay a reasonable fare out your own pocket? Therefore cash from the public purse can go to help fixing other far more wider reaching problems, like education, the NHS, child care support and so on…
Try putting Luxembourg free public transport into Google and read all about it.
Has been in use for the last 3 years. Funded by the state taxes.