McGill's Buses - Renfrewshire & Inverclyde

[Snow1964]

The first of McGills 12m Yutong electric buses will be taken to the Farnborough show this week by Pelican (Yutong importers and finishers of the buses).

Twitter Link shows the photo, released this afternoon
Says it is first of 55 buses ordered by McGills

https://twitter.com/PelicanYutong/status/1409519252869160961/photo/1

 

[Stan Drews]

The MD has posted a picture on Twitter, of the company’s only closed top double decker, which has been painted as a tribute to the original McGill’s, based in Barrhead. It will be out on shuttle bus duties tomorrow as part of their Greenock depot open day.

 

[318266]

I've just been at the open day and am now shuttling around on the different buses and I have to say the E12 is very quiet - but has a target annoying beep when the doors close!

 

[cnjb8]

The first Volvo 9700 has arrived, SJ21NDO. It has been seen on Flixbus test runs

 

[route101]

The first Volvo 9700 has arrived, SJ21NDO. It has been seen on Flixbus test runs

Local number plate?

 

[cnjb8]

Local number plate?

SJ is Glasgow I think, Volvo have an office there so Volvo buses for Lothian and other Scottish operators often get Glasgow plates

 

[AndrewTaylor95]

All Volvo stuff from about 2015 onwards registered in Scotland has Glasgow plates

 

[christopherrfc]

New electric buses are going on the 26.

https://twitter.com/NoConceptOfTime/status/1425877649881280512

Won’t be long now @Buses_McGills #ZeroEmission #BEV #BetterBuses #ZeroHeroes

(Tweet contains bus and lightning-bolt emojis)

 

[XAM2175]

How long has it been the case that McGills don't put their single fares on their website? I've had to send them email asking how much I should be expecting to pay, which seems totally absurd.

 

[markymark2000]

How long has it been the case that McGills don't put their single fares on their website? I've had to send them email asking how much I should be expecting to pay, which seems totally absurd.

To be fair, the vast majority of companies don't publish single fares on their website.

 

[XAM2175]

To be fair, the vast majority of companies don't publish single fares on their website.

I take it you mean "majority of British companies"?

Why? Are they company secrets?

 

[markymark2000]

I take it you mean "majority of British companies"?

Why? Are they company secrets?

Well, yes. The vast majority of bus operators in the UK do not publish fares. Partly because it's easier not to do so but I believe it does root back to commercial sensitivity. If you post your fare structure, a competitor would then turn up and run the buses cheaper than you are. It's not as if it's not easy to find out the information but without insider knowledge, finding out a full fare structure could put a competitor ahead in the fight for passengers.

Even the most 'passenger focussed' operators, such as Transdev, tend not to publicise single or return fares.

 

[route101]

McGill's do have high single fares if I remember correctly.

 

[Dfatcontroller]

McGill's do have high single fares if I remember correctly.

It's something to do with getting the most out of the council reimbursement scheme.
Remember when the Greenock to Edinburgh coach (which was slower and more expensive than the train, but direct) appealed most to Pensioners to save them the hassles of changing trains. This was somewhere around £20 single and ensured a decent return from the council.

 

[Stan Drews]

It's something to do with getting the most out of the council reimbursement scheme.
Remember when the Greenock to Edinburgh coach (which was slower and more expensive than the train, but direct) appealed most to Pensioners to save them the hassles of changing trains. This was somewhere around £20 single and ensured a decent return from the council.

There are no council reimbursement schemes in Scotland. It is a national scheme funded by the Scottish Government and administered by Transport Scotland. Single tickets are the most expensive way to travel with all operators, although that isn’t specifically down to the existence of the scheme, but it’s certainly a major influencing factor.

The basic principle of paying more for smaller amounts isn’t unusual, as if you buy 2 x 1 pint cartons of milk, it will cost you more then 1 x 2 pint carton of milk. If you scale that up to 4 pints of milk the variance will be even greater.

 

[markymark2000]

There are no council reimbursement schemes in Scotland. It is a national scheme funded by the Scottish Government and administered by Transport Scotland. Single tickets are the most expensive way to travel with all operators, although that isn’t specifically down to the existence of the scheme, but it’s certainly a major influencing factor.

The basic principle of paying more for smaller amounts isn’t unusual, as if you buy 2 x 1 pint cartons of milk, it will cost you more then 1 x 2 pint carton of milk. If you scale that up to 4 pints of milk the variance will be even greater.

The concessionary pass scheme is still worked out as a percentage of the average fare so high single fare gives a better reimbursement.

You do make a fantastic point though about paying more for smaller amounts. Not a comparison that I had made before.

 

[GALLANTON]

Just out of curiosity, are the works currently going on at Inchinnan depot anything to do with the installation of charging points for the Yutongs?

 

[Stan Drews]

The concessionary pass scheme is still worked out as a percentage of the average fare so high single fare gives a better reimbursement.

You do make a fantastic point though about paying more for smaller amounts. Not a comparison that I had made before.

In Scotland, operators get a little over half of the equivalent adult single fare for the concessionary journey undertaken.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Aug 2021 ==

Just out of curiosity, is the works currently going on at Inchinnan depot anything to do with the installation of charging points for the Yutongs?

Yes, there is appropriate charging infrastructure going in at both Inchinnan and Johnstone depots.

 

[GALLANTON]

In Scotland, operators get a little over half of the equivalent adult single fare for the concessionary journey undertaken.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Aug 2021 ==


Yes, there is appropriate charging infrastructure going in at both Inchinnan and Johnstone depots.

Thanks! Is there any idea when the work is likely to be completed?

 

[Dfatcontroller]

There are no council reimbursement schemes in Scotland. It is a national scheme funded by the Scottish Government and administered by Transport Scotland. Single tickets are the most expensive way to travel with all operators, although that isn’t specifically down to the existence of the scheme, but it’s certainly a major influencing factor.

The basic principle of paying more for smaller amounts isn’t unusual, as if you buy 2 x 1 pint cartons of milk, it will cost you more then 1 x 2 pint carton of milk. If you scale that up to 4 pints of milk the variance will be even greater.

Replace "Council" with "Scottish Government". The point still stands.

 

[Volvodart]

The Mercedes ECitaro is being trialled on service 38 from today, for how long not mentioned.

 

[Dfatcontroller]

The Mercedes ECitaro is being trialled on service 38 from today, for how long not mentioned.

The eCitaro is with McGills for a couple of weeks.

source: personal message from Ralph Roberts.

 

[RELL6L]

I've just overtaken 5 Yutongs heading north up the M1 in Leicestershire. They're on trade plates in McGills colours driving under their own power. Presumably an overnight charging has been arranged somewhere….!

 

[Dfatcontroller]

Just overtaken 5 Yutongs heading north up the M1 in Leicestershire, on trade plates in McGills colours driving under their own power. Presumably an overnight charging has been arranged somewhere….!

I thought they all needed to go to Pelican for commissioning.

 

[sannox]

I see that the first of the electric buses is out on the 26.

 

[Scotrail314209]

I caught the eCitaro demonstrator on the 7. It was a good bus, but it was very rattly and squeaky and sounded like it was about to fall apart.

 

[GALLANTON]

Do the electric buses only go out during the week? They never seem to be out at the weekend according to bustimes.

 

[Scotrail314209]

One of the Yutongs have already been damaged according to the McGills facebook page. Images attached.

The Yutong and another vehicle were damaged in the Shortroods area of Paisley, it’s resulted in the 757 being suspended after 6pm.

Images show a smashed window on one of the new electric buses.

Photos from the McGills Facebook page.

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

Looks like the x23 and all of its varients are cancelled

 

[Scotrail314209]

Looks like the x23 and all of its varients are cancelled

What on earth, why the regular 23?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Oct 2021 ==

There’s going to be a lot of annoyed people as I believe the 23 also serves the QEUH?