Yes, it's just as simple if everyone is on the EU rota, but far less efficient in terms of rostering because the daily driving time is shorter, the breaks are longer and the weekly rests are longer.
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Stagecoach East Scotland
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Cesarcollie
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It also reduces earning capability- which will be unpopular with some.
computerSaysNo
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How so?
Inefficient from the perspective of the Company when you view humans as an expendable resource to be exploited as much as possible.
Less daily driving time, more daily breaks and more weekly breaks very much sounds like it would be better conditions for the actual drivers though. Better conditions usually equals more people applying for the role. Which industry currently has a national driver shortage again?
Although this is getting to the point where it should probably be in its own thread.
From what I've seen mentioned online and heard drivers say when I've been in Fife, Stagecoach don't sound that good to work for in terms of driver treatment. Perth and Dundee seems far worse than most other places for cancellations too although in Dundee it's not just Stagecoach, Xplore are awful too for shortages. The X services seem to be a bit unreliable from the cancellations that get posted although hopefully this new timetable helps a bit.
Cesarcollie
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it reduces earning potential because drivers are limited to shorter days and (in simple terms) 5 day weeks. You may say that’s right and proper. But in the real world with real economics, some drivers like to worth a longer day, or a rest day, to top up their earnings. And if that suits both parties, then there’s nothing wrong with it.
Is this anything to do with the new owners, or is a long term issue ?
It's hard to tell as I'm not in the area that often so not hearing a lot on a regular basis. Other than what I hear it's mainly just social media replies to Stagecoach themselves where people have dropped bits of information about them. I always believe in the fact you can normally figure a lot out about the depot a driver works at from the mood a driver is in. Obviously, there are ones that don't follow that trend but 99% of the time, if a workplace is awful, most of the work staff give that away.
Aberhill is supposedly fine for staff compared to other depots though. I'm sure people who work for them are on this forum from time to time though who will be able to say more.
A lot of the buses I've used in Fife have always been in shoddy condition for years so maintenance is the only thing I can say for certain is a long term issue.
Covid and Brexit have made it very tough to replace staff quickly though as there are far less people out there for every industry and then getting licences done for new drivers is taking longer because of a backlog too. On Twitter, the team have mentioned it taking 16 weeks in total from the beginning of training to having the new drivers on the road with their licence done.
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PG
Established Member
Almost certainly a long term issue.
GusB
Established Member
The subject of domestic regulations versus EU Driving rules is taking the thread off-topic. There are several threads that have covered the subject in detail. To find them, please use the search facility using "EU regulations" as the keywords.
roadierway77
Member
There's been another bus fire, this time involving an Enviro400. Took place on the B891 between Crossgates and Hillend. Has been reported in The Courier and Dunfermline Press, though the latter has put the article behind a pay wall. I've attached a screenshot from the Dunfermline Press article, caption says the source is Fife Jammer Locations but I can't see the image on their socials. Can't make out the fleet number or reg from the photo.
There's been several fires involving East Scotland buses within the past couple of years. There was one in March near Inchture, one last December in Rosyth, one last May in Dunfermline, and another in 2020 near Kinglassie. Do we think this is merely a coincidence or is something wrong with fleet maintenance?
There's been several fires involving East Scotland buses within the past couple of years. There was one in March near Inchture, one last December in Rosyth, one last May in Dunfermline, and another in 2020 near Kinglassie. Do we think this is merely a coincidence or is something wrong with fleet maintenance?
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Fifescottish
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Looking at the maps on bustimes.org it looks to be 19154, if it is I think that’s the third of this batch to turn crispy.
150249
Established Member
RomeoCharlie71
Established Member
Looks like it broke down in Lochgelly at 1245 then ignited on its way back to the depot once it was "fixed"
I think Stagecoach's maintenance is the worst of everyone I've used by a long way but I also think it's too early to say what has caused this just yet. The main thing is that the driver and anyone else is okay.
roadierway77
Member
Oh yes 100%. I saw someone on Facebook claiming that the vehicle was on its way to pick up schoolkids - whether or not this is the case, I'm not sure, but it's very fortunate that all involved in this fire and the recent fires in the couple of years are okay, as far as I'm aware.
There may well be some more scrutiny into Stagecoach's maintenance now - 5 major fires in 2 years seems to be excessive.
150249
Established Member
Ah ok! Thanks! Didn't see it was waiting there for over an hour
On the subject of maintenance it was a day full of issues for my first trip to Fife in a while.
I got the X27 from Glasgow and it never made it onto the motorway before we had to get off due to a cooling issue at the back of the bus.
The X24 we got put onto had issues with the doors jamming multiple times so the driver had to keep turning the bus off and on.
The bus for our 43A was rattling an awful lot although the roads probably add to that by being in poor condition through Windygates and Kennoway.
The ticket machine on the 46 kept jamming.
The 7 was fairly late and the lights upstairs kept going on and off repeatedly on the left side of the bus.
The X24 that completed my journey also had a ticket machine that kept jamming too.
I got the X27 from Glasgow and it never made it onto the motorway before we had to get off due to a cooling issue at the back of the bus.
The X24 we got put onto had issues with the doors jamming multiple times so the driver had to keep turning the bus off and on.
The bus for our 43A was rattling an awful lot although the roads probably add to that by being in poor condition through Windygates and Kennoway.
The ticket machine on the 46 kept jamming.
The 7 was fairly late and the lights upstairs kept going on and off repeatedly on the left side of the bus.
The X24 that completed my journey also had a ticket machine that kept jamming too.
RomeoCharlie71
Established Member
One of the 10 plate Scania Enviro 400s per chance? The ride quality on those isn't pleasant, just be glad it wasn't one of the ex-London Scania Omnicity's as they are considerably worse!
This is a standard fault on all Stagecoach ticket machines, not helped by the passengers who insist on yanking the ticket out of the machine before it's had the chance to cut it. There are some drivers who take the ticket from the machine and hand it to the passengers which speeds things up, but some folk don't like that and bum their gums on Twitter accusing the driver of "grabbing their hand", or some nonsense like that...
There seems to have been a whole host of reliability issues since the timetable changes, most notably on the 39, 99 and X58/X60. I'm guessing they have reduced running/layover times so much so that they are impossible to keep to, or make up time on.
On a separate note, I pointed out back in April that customer services are now a centralised operation in Perth and how responses were very lacklustre. 7 months on, the replies they send to customers are still embarrassing copy & paste jobs (see attached screenshot). What's the point in having Twitter as part of your customer services if you're just going to direct customers to use your phoneline, many hours after the initial tweet was sent?
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It was an 07 plate single decker. I forget the type as I'm not used to that type of bus anywhere else. I just know the capacity was either 35 with a wheelchair or 38 without one if it helps. I noticed that with the X24/X27 too. The layover times in Glasgow are non-existent now and the X27 I got just came off a run from Leven. It was only in 5 minutes late when I looked up the timetable to check too.
The 7 I got at Kirkcaldy to Dunfermline was 20 minutes late too
Bad customer service and apps really irritate me to be honest. First's is bad enough but somehow Stagecoach have managed to make theirs worse.
overthewater
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I'm surprised the Glasgow express are able to operate on time, since the layover has been cut to just 7mins in Glasgow.
I doubt they'll manage it for long to be honest. Coming on and off the M80 around Cumbernauld can be really bad from experience and I'd imagine Halbeath will start to become worse in the build up to Christmas just with the leisure park near it and the shops at Dunfermline.
The buses coming from Edinburgh seem to be incredibly hit or miss too. There was an X54 at Halbeath when my X24 was there going to Glenrothes and it was easily 30-35 minutes late.
roadierway77
Member
Ticket machines jamming isn't anything unusual unfortunately, there's been times where I've seen the ticket machine get jammed three or four times on one X55 trip, which is about an hour. Drivers seem to be used to it, usually just requires rethreading the paper.
Another Panther LE had an issue a few weeks ago with the pneumatics not fully releasing the door, the driver kept having to kick it open which was rather amusing to watch and probably gave him more of a workout than he was expecting that day
While overall not a massive issue, and I'm not trying to be judgemental in any way, but some of the Stagecoach social media team do not seem to have the best grammar and spelling. Often words or places in tweets will be misspelled, lacking capital letters and punctuation etc. Not a massive deal in my opinion but doesn't give the company a good look. It also seems as if different members of the social media have different attitudes to tweet format - some will post graphics alongside every service disruption, others won't. Some will literally just post a photo of a printed piece of paper showing service cancellations, which again gets the point across but isn't very professional, and I do believe that is important.
scotrail158713
Established Member
To be fair most machines I can think of (Lothian, First, McGills etc) work so that you just pull your ticket out - I always have to remind myself not to do the same if I'm on a Stagecoach bus.
I went for the 10:15 X27 again today and it only left at 10:35 due to being late into Buchanan Bus Station. The traffic coming in off of the M8/M80 probably didn't help it to be fair. I'm finding that the X26 not returning yet is a big factor in the X24/X27 being incredibly busy almost constantly now too.
I also had the luxury of an 07 plate single decker on the X51 on the return journey from Livingston into Dunfermline too and while we were exiting Newbridge to turn up towards Kirkliston, the suspension snapped completely while making the turn and the pop was very loud. The driver was being taught the route by a colleague and the colleague ended up having to drive the bus to Ferrytoll Park and Ride to terminate there so the bus could be looked at.
It felt more like being in a boat rather than a bus to be quite honest.
I also had the luxury of an 07 plate single decker on the X51 on the return journey from Livingston into Dunfermline too and while we were exiting Newbridge to turn up towards Kirkliston, the suspension snapped completely while making the turn and the pop was very loud. The driver was being taught the route by a colleague and the colleague ended up having to drive the bus to Ferrytoll Park and Ride to terminate there so the bus could be looked at.
It felt more like being in a boat rather than a bus to be quite honest.
roadierway77
Member
It's disappointing to hear that reliability has gone down on the X24/27, I normally use these services every week or two but haven't for a couple of months and timekeeping used to be very good, they seemed to be timed perfectly and would almost always arrive and depart on time, even on occasion arriving a couple of minutes early into Buchanan Street.
I definitely feel the X26 should return at some point - it's great that the Express network is so popular but it could absolutely benefit from the higher frequencies of pre-Covid - when the driver shortage issue begins to wane, that is. I use the X55 several days a week during peak times and it often runs full into Edinburgh. There tends to be long queues at Halbeath and Ferrytoll in the morning peak also, which makes me think something like a Halbeath - Ferrytoll - Edinburgh shuttle would be of benefit to relieve pressure on other services.
The reliability even going back well before pre-covid with the X24/X27 was great outside of things outwith Stagecoach's control. The recovery time in Glasgow is the main issue to be fair. 7 minutes is far too little for such long services.
A lot of the Edinburgh services are starting to run 20-30 minutes late from 2-3pm onwards from what I've seen this week. I'm not a regular user but I'd imagine it gets frustrating pretty easily although it's not fully Stagecoach's fault.
They've benefitted hugely from all of the train issues too and it definitely seems like some of them have stayed.
overthewater
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Unless the company can get more drivers the X26 or extra X27 won't be coming back. You're right; it really does need to go back up to every 20mins. Edinburgh issues are because of the poor timing of the lights at the bus stance entrance and exit, the roadworks on North David street and, once again, poor timing of the lights on South David Street going onto Princes Street.
At some point next year, hopefully spring, 28 new buses will come to clear out some of the worse stock in the fleet. The coaches, well we are stuck with them if frequency increase, as even 10 new ones would only give us back X26, extra X61 and X59 from Glenrothes - Edinburgh. I just can't see 20 new coaches coming.
At some point next year, hopefully spring, 28 new buses will come to clear out some of the worse stock in the fleet. The coaches, well we are stuck with them if frequency increase, as even 10 new ones would only give us back X26, extra X61 and X59 from Glenrothes - Edinburgh. I just can't see 20 new coaches coming.
Fifescottish
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What will the 28 new buses be?
GusB
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Unless there's an official source to back this up, I'd take it with a pinch of salt.
RomeoCharlie71
Established Member
There are certainly new EVs expected for Perth, Glenrothes and Dunfermline in 2023. It was confirmed by the MD earlier this year.