Stagecoach North West Discussion

[P156KWJ]

Its sometimes a case of better the devil you know. Im not keen on large corporations running public services. Arriva arent that bad when it comes to running a bus service, Im very glad we arent in FirstBus territory (their nickname WorstGroup is well deserved) - Ive travelled on several of their networks, dirty and damaged panels are the norm. Go-Ahead are one of the top large companies these days in my opinion.

well small independant companies do very well too - Nottingham City Transport has very good value for money and has invested in plenty of new buses; our oldest buses in daily service are P reg excels and R reg Arrows, which are in the process of being replaced by T, V, W, X and Y reg Tridents when new omnidekkas have allowed them to cascade the tridents. All day through most the network and on NET is only £3, great value. Trent Barton is also good, though a lot of their staff seem to be complete idiots. The transpeak allows me to go from Nottingham to Buxton (over 2 hours) for only £2.05 in the comfort of a volvo plaxton premier 320, even if they are getting old now.

 

[Dallamlad]

Oh very good haha like the ryme!

Yes small companies are good. I'm not sure what the prices are like for Kirby Lonsdale coaches. Prices with Stagecoach seem to get worse the further North you go. Manchester both Magic bus and normal stagecoach are OK. Preston not as good as Manchester but cheaper then Lancaster. Lancaster not as good as Preston and then finely Kendal where prices are unbelievable high even for a rural area. Do prices have something to do with Councils?

 

[driver9000]

Commercial fares are set by the local operating subsidary of the company. The councils can only set the fares on their tendered services, on occasions Ive known the day fare be higher than the night fare as Stagecoach raised the fare, but LCC didnt raise theirs.

 

[Dallamlad]

Oh I see so Stagecoach raise their prices to cover fuel and maintenance and of course of a huge profit yes? Mind you maybe they are ahead of the game with low floor vehicles because they have so much money to put into it. Or maybe their just immoral thieving bas***ds lol.

 

[cainebj]

the First buses that go to carlisle don't seem too bad. they are pretty new, and low floor. it is the X95 service. they use a Wrightbus. click here to see a picture of one (it isnt the carlisle one, but it is the same type. it is a link to flickr and not owned by me).

bus services at lillyhall seem expensive to me, but i havnt compared them to the rest of the NW area. in carlisle, it was £1.60 single from Cummersdale to Carlisle Bus Station (10 - 15 minutes depending on traffic). but getting home from sixth form is £1.90 single (Red Lonning - Workington Bus Station, 45 minutes approx.)
not sure what the small independant companies charge, but as far as i am aware, it is similar to what stagecoach charged when they operated the routes (3D Travel, AA Travel, Reays Coaches, and John Hoban Travel Ltd all run some local services).

back to stagecoach, today i seen K737DAO i think it was running Maryport 31. this is one of the buses that has an LED display, but still waiting for re-trim. one of the 08 reg solo's were on moorclose circular. K759DAO was in the bus station waiting for the next BNG Contract run. K761DAO (blue dual purpose seats), K777DAO (grey dual purpose seats) and a bus seated B10m were on Workington Bus Station annexe, along with N194LFV (a 709d)

 

[K768 DAO]

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[Tom B]

Im very glad we arent in FirstBus territory (their nickname WorstGroup is well deserved) - Ive travelled on several of their networks, dirty and damaged panels are the norm.

Quite true. The whole attitude is one of "nobody cares" or "you get what you're given, if you don't like it then you can always walk". Even their newer buses have had it - vandalism is just left to be added to, buses are rarely cleaned and things go for years without getting fixed. One bus had the screen stuck on "Sorry not in service" for 6 months, and yet the drivers wondered why people kept asking them where the bus was going...

 

[Dallamlad]

Hello and welcome!!! Its brilliant to have a current employee of Stagecoach on here coz you can give an insight into hoe stuff works rather then us lot guessing and criticising.

I personally have no experience of Lillyhall but only know what people have said on here. I believe they get a lot dumped on them and your staff car park has been sectioned off to accommodate the amount of reserve/disposal vehicles your been sent. Of course its all managements fault in your case Perth and with us I think Preston is where most of the decisions are made.

Do you know anything about Lancaster and changes coming up?

Best wishes and welcome again!

 

[driver9000]

Welcome 768!! Our paths may have crossed at LL when I have taken buses there for storage, although its been a few years since I left the industry. I think the last bus I took up was 20700 for storage.

 

[cainebj]

i like how you have used the reg of my favourite B10m for your username :P one of the best i have ever seen along with P129XCN! 768 getting a little noisy now though
nice to see that seaton is finally getting something decent! for quite a "upmarket" area, it has had the worst buses really. isnt the end of 709s for seaton quite yet though, reays still have them!
those jonck's need replaced! they aren't nice things to be on! pretty uncomfortable to travel on! i only ever went as far as Keswick and hated every second i was on it! hopefully their replacements will make the route a little more appealing!

 

[mbonwick]

Welcome 768!

I must admit, although I'm from Cumbria and have travelled on 20768, I'm not at all familliar with Lillyhall. I ahve an enormous amount of respect for the depot though, it's not easy trying to keep your own services going while looking after everyone else's junk and trying to fix it!

I'm intrigued by what you say about the 709Ds - I've heard from Gez at Stagecoach Lancaster that you've been told not to replace and gearboxes on them any more. Surely this indicates that management are looking at getting rid of them? Or will they end up like EWS, sorry DB Schenker's 60s? IE, constantly in and out of store?

With the X4/5, I'd heard that the original candidates were low floor articulated buses, however when trials showed this to be impractical, B12BLEs were next up.
However, I guess it makes more sense to start cascading stuff.

The Marshall Darts came fro Glenvale Transport in 2005 so I guess they have been refurbished at some point into Stagecoach colours. Also, they'll be getting the revised seat covers over time.

 

[K768 DAO]

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[driver9000]

I thought the Preston Bus thing was over with both parties agreeing to play nicely now talk of another independant going over to the empire!! I knew Transdev had its beady eye on Preston Bus but they decided against it!

If Stagecoach do get hold of Preston it will mean yet more 'non-standard' buses entering the fleet. Your right in saying that NorthWest is controlled from Carlisle (the address on the legal lettering). Preston was the hub of the Ribble operation at Fulwood, which until the licence was reduced by the TC also controlled Lancaster, this too being traditionally Ribble. These days Preston is no longer in control of the region.

 

[cainebj]

something needs done about 48 service. they seem to put any vehicle on that service! usually a 709d, but i've seen H reg oly's on there too. would have been good if they put L119HHV on there, but i think that is due to leave service soon. was supposed to leave in september i think, but problems with enviro 300's saved it.

 

[mbonwick]

The reason LL is getting Kendal's old Darts (IMO) is that Kendal has outgrown them. With OAP passes, 29 seats just isn't enough. Also, the capacity of these is similar to a 709D. Currently, I can't see a 709D route needing 40+ seats....

How far along is the takeover of Preston Bus?
I think there'll be a large reduction in the PB fleet as duplicate routes are removed. There's not really a lot that needs replacing - I was surprised how up-to-date PB are.
I reckon 7 metroriders (the rest have already been withdrawn), 15 Leyland Olympians (which just leaves the H and J regs) and 4 Leyland Lynxs will ahve to be replaced. The lynxs are dead easy - if they are not made redundant, pull some buses out of Lillyhall

The double deckers are a little more tricky, however, 14197, 16329 and 16340 are in reserve currently.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I thought the Preston Bus thing was over with both parties agreeing to play nicely now talk of another independant going over to the empire!! I knew Transdev had its beady eye on Preston Bus but they decided against it!

No, Stagecoach have launched a takeover bid: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Bus

 

[K768 DAO]

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[cainebj]

would be better if the 48 was changed to "Dunmail Park 48 via Tesco & Northside" really. 30 / 31 does stop near there, but for some people, it can be a challenge crossing the main road. i remember a bus going to dunmail park door's, but i havnt seen one for a long time!

i'd have thought the timetables would have been changed. surely can't be that hard. they only need to put the 30 / 30A / 31 / 31A services a few minutes behind current times.

 

[K768 DAO]

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[cainebj]

the reason i mentioned 30A and 31A is because of the timetabling links. 30 and 31A run at similar time, and 30A with 31. if 30 and 31 had to be changed, the A services would need to be changed too.
the problem with getting to dunmail park is the road. i have stood there for over 5 minutes quite a few times waiting for a big enough gap in the traffic. luckilly, it was warmer weather then. i wouldnt take the chance in this weather! i'd avoid the bus and get a taxi! more expensive, but i wouldnt have the road to challenge!

tesco free bus gets pretty ridiculous these days. whenever i have seen it (very rarely), it is usually old people who use it, but they get free travel on the services anyways. when the new tesco is built, i see no point at all running it! it will be pretty much in town centre, not far from bus station at all!

 

[mbonwick]

I'm serious - it can take as long as 10mins for me to cross the road from the bus stop to my house!

It is the main A6 mind....

 

[cainebj]

the road people have to cross to get to dunmail park isnt really a busy road anymore. it runs from Workington to Maryport, and runs through more villages onto Thursby (nr. Carlisle). it is used by 30 / 31 / 300 / 301. it only really gets used by cars travelling up the coast. people going to aspatria etc. these days will use the A595 usually.

 

[mbonwick]

Just reading my inbox, I have gen on which buses will be staying/going in the PB takeover. None of it is certain yet, only that 215 WILL be staying for a while if the deal goes ahead as it has seatbelts and is a school contract vehicle.

 

[K768 DAO]

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[mbonwick]

That rather proves your point Cainebj; even Lillyhall's staff don't know what's happening!

I think T602 JBA is also going, other than that, I don't know, we'll just have to wait and see!

 

[cainebj]

might find out tomorrow. when the ex preston solo's were coming, they arrived the saturday before they entered service. the darts are supposed to enter service on monday, but we'll see whether or not it happens!
the other dart will be T603, T604, T605 or T607 lol

 

[K768 DAO]

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[mbonwick]

No, I suspect it'll be a case of "they're ready when they're ready and not before!"

 

[K768 DAO]

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[cainebj]

they will at some point be fitted with LED's, as will the rest of the fleet, but i wouldnt be so sure if it happened now lol. you never know with "flip-dots". they seem fine on the solo's and jonck's, but the rest, as we all know, can be very dodgey!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
just remembered, it wasnt long ago when those "flip dots" were fitted! i'm pretty sure all of them were fitted with manual "roller" destination blinds when Glenvale had them! later fitted with "flip dots" when stagecoach took them over

 

[K768 DAO]

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