These days are many companies "guilty" of using bus spec vehicles on services which normally have coaches deployed or which deserve coaches due to the length/style of service? Not so much thinking of the "odd occasion" where a bus spec vehicle is unavoidably pressed into service to avoid cancelling a journey or journeys, more thinking of when it happens frequently as a matter of course.
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Service Buses on Coach Workings
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pitdiver
Established Member
Many years ago when I lived in Milton Keynes I had to use a Rail Replacement service from there to London Euston,. When the RRB turned up it was in fact a Double Decker bus. Does the journey from MK to Euston not warrant a proper coach.
Andy Pacer
Established Member
I suppose in this example it depends whether it's "meant" to be a coach as opposed to "ought to be".
318266
Member
In Scotland, the Stagecoach Express routes into Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh are often substituted for normal service buses when not enough coaches are available. Passengers do complain.
Martin1988
Member
Going back 20 years when I attended St Brendans College in Brislington, the college transport was contracted to South Gloucestershire Bus and Coach (with the Home To School Transport team at Bristol City Council handling the contract) and billed as a 'coach' service but the company often used buses, particularly on days when they had National Express dupe work on.
SGBC gave up St Brendans in July 2007 and by that time they were only operating the route from my area (Yate) which was contracted for something like a 35 seater coach but in reality, was using a midi bus in the morning which then went on to do a local service (511 if I remember correctly) and whatever bus or coach they had available in the afternoon. At this point, SGBC were beginning to ramp up their NX involvement having recently gained their first scheduled diagrams (weekend extras on the 040) and their bus operations were about to be or had just started to be taken over by Wessex Connect.
Separately I remember once riding on a rail replacement service with that company between Bristol Parkway and Yate which was using a bus rather than a coach and the driver said something like "Its got 4 wheels and seats..it does the job" and I also once rode a Red Arrow between Derby and Nottingham which was using a conventional Trent Barton Bus rather than a coach.
Also remember once seeing conventional buses on the former Greenline X7 (London to Bracknell) route and the London to Stevenage route (forget the number).
SGBC gave up St Brendans in July 2007 and by that time they were only operating the route from my area (Yate) which was contracted for something like a 35 seater coach but in reality, was using a midi bus in the morning which then went on to do a local service (511 if I remember correctly) and whatever bus or coach they had available in the afternoon. At this point, SGBC were beginning to ramp up their NX involvement having recently gained their first scheduled diagrams (weekend extras on the 040) and their bus operations were about to be or had just started to be taken over by Wessex Connect.
Separately I remember once riding on a rail replacement service with that company between Bristol Parkway and Yate which was using a bus rather than a coach and the driver said something like "Its got 4 wheels and seats..it does the job" and I also once rode a Red Arrow between Derby and Nottingham which was using a conventional Trent Barton Bus rather than a coach.
Also remember once seeing conventional buses on the former Greenline X7 (London to Bracknell) route and the London to Stevenage route (forget the number).
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See it most days. Worse if its a single decker on a run.
I can remember back in the 1970s some Scottish Bus Group company depots using their newest 53-seater bus seated Leopards on lengthy "bucket and spade" summer express dupes because they were virtually guaranteed not to break down and could attain better speeds than older "shagged out" coach seated options which were kept for more plodding local operations.
Pyewipecarshed
Member
Arriva Midlands X6 from Leicester to Coventry is intended to be worked by Temsa Safari coaches. However there is usually at least one service bus on the route instead; when I travelled on it a couple of weeks ago my conveyance was an Enviro 200MMC.
Back when Megabus operated the Brighton to London route you used to get Dennis Dart SLF buses on it all the time. It was operated by Stagecoach South from Worthing depot but they only had the exact amount of coaches as the full PVR of the route. So whenever a coach was unavailable they would put a Dennis Dart SLF on it. I did four trips in the 2000s on a Dennis Dart SLF from Brighton to London or vice versa. It was so odd being an ordinary city bus on a coach route on a motorway.
Arriva have been known to put buses on the 757 from London to Luton route. I have seen E200MMC buses on it a couple of times. It is quite rare but it still happens every now and again.
First have been known to but buses on the RA2 from Guildford to Heathrow route. I have seen Mercedes Benz Citaro and Volvo 7900H and Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban buses on it a couple of times. It is quite rare but it still happens every now and again.
Arriva have been known to put buses on the 757 from London to Luton route. I have seen E200MMC buses on it a couple of times. It is quite rare but it still happens every now and again.
First have been known to but buses on the RA2 from Guildford to Heathrow route. I have seen Mercedes Benz Citaro and Volvo 7900H and Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban buses on it a couple of times. It is quite rare but it still happens every now and again.
Were they weekend runs to the likes of Blackpool and Morecambe? Most of LCT's double deckers had "Glasgow" available on the headboard scrolls for the same job. I presume the Morecambe council buses which preceded them had the same
Statto
Established Member
Although Megabus had tri axel Olympians allocated to Megabus service (think these were ex Hong Kong Olympians), sometimes you could get a standard ALX400 Trident allocated to a Megabus service instead.
Blackpool services during the Glasgow "Fair Fortnight" had a phenomenal amount of duplication with a variety of vehicle types and operators including subcontractor independents. It was to an extent potluck whether punters travelled on a service bus or a reasonably comfortable coach.
Martin1988
Member
Has anyone ever been aware of a time when a service bus has filled in on an NX service?
I'm sure its only happened once in a very very blue moon but I do remember reading about an incident from around 20 years ago when Stagecoach Peterborough were forced to use a double deck bus on an NX service to somewhere like Skegness or Mablethorpe due to a lack of a spare coach and no operators being avaialble to provide cover. I think it may have even had to park overnight and return in service the next day!
I'm sure its only happened once in a very very blue moon but I do remember reading about an incident from around 20 years ago when Stagecoach Peterborough were forced to use a double deck bus on an NX service to somewhere like Skegness or Mablethorpe due to a lack of a spare coach and no operators being avaialble to provide cover. I think it may have even had to park overnight and return in service the next day!
BULLSAREMAGIC
Member
On at least one occasion Skills have used their 17 plate decker on a National Express service. It is coach seated and capable of 100k
Martin1988
Member
Interesting.
Am assuming that this must be a very last resort if it does have to happen?
Probably a significant bonus for some of the youngest clientele.
BULLSAREMAGIC
Member
I believe so covering a breakdown
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Buses are often easier to get than PSVAR compliant coaches. It's not ideal, but such is the law.
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The Bedford-Oxford X5 is now a motley collection of used double deckers rather than coaches, which is totally unsuitable and I now refuse to use it.
A similar thread
www.railforums.co.uk
Trivia: Coaches used on local services
Years ago some bus companies eg PMT, Crosville, would have coaches that sometimes end up on local routes. Are there any examples of this these days?
www.railforums.co.uk
I do remember EYMS once using a Volvo B10 with Alexander PS bodywork do Natex from Hull to Manchester.
Back in the 1970s I visited Blackpool on the first Saturday of the Glasgow Fair holidays.
First the coaches arrived; then the dual purpose vehicles - buses but with comfy seats.
And then the buses.
The idea of Glasgow to Blackpool on a bus-seated Alexander Y-type bodied Leyland Leopard didn't seem appealing!
Another one is that Red Arrow coach route between Derby and Nottingham that Trent Barton run. It is allocated coaches but is known get substituted with buses every now and again when a coach is unavailable. This route is an oddity in that it is a short distance express bus route that you would expect buses to be used on.
In days of old, routes like the X5 would often be operated by 'dual purpose' vehicles - eg buses with high backed seats. More recently in the late 1990s, coaches would be set up with features suitable for stage carriage. However, the low floor era seems to have made it difficult to have coaches suitable for stage carriage work.
There seem to be more high back seats on buses these days (although no guarantee that a bus on the X5 will have them). In London, it seems that the current bus specification is getting closer to a 'dual purpose' specification of the 1970s.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
The Plaxtons used on it before with wheelchair lifts were fine. They just got nicked to send to Bristol for use on a similar route. It's very much an express route, it was only the former Bedford to Cambridge bit which was a stopping stage carriage service.
And yet it is outside both concessionary fare and maximum fare schemes so really is in the coach arena, even at 16 miles end to end. I seem to recollect that years ago, if a bus was substituted for a coach on your journey, then you got a free trip! Not now I bet. It used to be they promised “ money back if not satisfied” . Read their thread on here and if they still did that they would be bankrupt.
also wasn't unknown on the 702 (Bracknell - Windsor - London) route under First / Beeline.
Reading Buses quite often put a standard (or more unusually now, a route branded) 'bus' out on the 702, although a lot of the 'buses' in the Reading fleet are not much lower specification than the 'double deck coaches' that are the regular allocation, many have high back seats. The 'emerald' route 5 / 6 buses tended to be the first choice at one time, although their high back seats were a bit more basic.
Arriva X1 (Luton - Milton Keynes) is (as far as I'm aware) registered as local bus throughout, and is usually allocated coaches, but occasionally gets standard single deck buses.
SSmith2009
Member
the Temsa Safari coaches currently used are apparently due to be replaced by more tourismos soon, 7204 is much smoother to ride when its out.
E200mmcs often cover on the X6, I wonder if an E400mmc has operated on it yet?
Might be wrong but I thought confessional fare can be used on redarrow or atleast a few years back to Nottingham but not from Nottingham as derbyshire sees it as a bus service and Nottinghamshire sees it as a coach service but may be wrong (NOTE I may also got it the wrong way around as in derbyshire sees it as coach, Nottingham as bus im not 100% sure)