Stagecoach West - Fleet News & Discussion

[CharlesR]

Having lived in Gloucester all my life, I have never quite understood why Stagecoach put double deckers onto the emptier county work whilst some city routes are stretched for capacity. With the exception of a few peak services, I am of the view that some of the "forest" services require no more than an Enviro 300 at the best of times. Furthermore, Stagecoach have repeatedly sent tridents (which are limited to 44) out on 22/23 all day whilst their newer, more suitable vehicles do a few half trips a day on the 97.

Is anyone able to provide an answer as to why double deckers are used in the forest, and perhaps also when deckers began running out there to the extent they do?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Having lived in Gloucester all my life, I have never quite understood why Stagecoach put double deckers onto the emptier county work whilst some city routes are stretched for capacity. With the exception of a few peak services, I am of the view that some of the "forest" services require no more than an Enviro 300 at the best of times. Furthermore, Stagecoach have repeatedly sent tridents (which are limited to 44) out on 22/23 all day whilst their newer, more suitable vehicles do a few half trips a day on the 97.

Is anyone able to provide an answer as to why double deckers are used in the forest, and perhaps also when deckers began running out there to the extent they do?

Because of the schools and colleges in the Forest. Look at the 22 for instance

0645 ex Glos serves Five Acres School
0750 ex Glos serves Cinderford College
0755 ex Coleford serves both

1400 ex Glos and 1455 ex Coleford serve Five Acres School
1550 and 1650 ex Glos serves Cinderford College
1600 and 1700 ex Coleford serves Cinderford College

A couple of those (such as the 1600 ex Coleford) also serve Dean Academy in Lydney so it's all schools/college related.

Back in the day, the main Cinderford route (was the 31) was always deckers as was the Cottrells service (24) via Mitcheldean, as was the 38 to Ross and Hereford. Not certain if various other services had separate schools runs but deckers have always been a major part of the Forest routes.

 

[Aston]

Because of the schools and colleges in the Forest. Look at the 22 for instance

0645 ex Glos serves Five Acres School
0750 ex Glos serves Cinderford College
0755 ex Coleford serves both

1400 ex Glos and 1455 ex Coleford serve Five Acres School
1550 and 1650 ex Glos serves Cinderford College
1600 and 1700 ex Coleford serves Cinderford College

A couple of those (such as the 1600 ex Coleford) also serve Dean Academy in Lydney so it's all schools/college related.

Back in the day, the main Cinderford route (was the 31) was always deckers as was the Cottrells service (24) via Mitcheldean, as was the 38 to Ross and Hereford. Not certain if various other services had separate schools runs but deckers have always been a major part of the Forest routes.

Yeah but when I'm almost always on a nearly full 12, often standing, I really question the allocation. It's just frustrating as a passenger and there is no logic behind it, especially considering that the exact same thing happens on Saturdays where you can't blame that on schools.

The interworking that goes on is awful, 351/12 etc it doesn't make sense and should really be changed in my opinion. Of course the 12 isn't the only busy city route.

 

[RELL6L]

Because of the schools and colleges in the Forest. Look at the 22 for instance

0645 ex Glos serves Five Acres School
0750 ex Glos serves Cinderford College
0755 ex Coleford serves both

1400 ex Glos and 1455 ex Coleford serve Five Acres School
1550 and 1650 ex Glos serves Cinderford College
1600 and 1700 ex Coleford serves Cinderford College

A couple of those (such as the 1600 ex Coleford) also serve Dean Academy in Lydney so it's all schools/college related.

Back in the day, the main Cinderford route (was the 31) was always deckers as was the Cottrells service (24) via Mitcheldean, as was the 38 to Ross and Hereford. Not certain if various other services had separate schools runs but deckers have always been a major part of the Forest routes.

Really back in the day- I worked in Cinderford for a month in 1978- the 31 was run by Red and White and was dual purpose Nationals. The Gloucester to Hereford route was the 38 and was REs. The 73 was Gloucester to Newport and run jointly between Red & White and Bristol with DP Nationals too. Not a decker in sight, I don’t recall any Red and White ones and Bristol was only just starting to take VRs. But the Cotterells Coaches route from Gloucester to Mitcheldean was, I think, Atlanteans. Errors and dodgy memory excepted!

 

[Glosbusspotter]

Today marks the first day of the 882. Anyone happen to know what appeared on it? They're not tracking unfortunately. I'm hoping a solo from somewhere, as if so I'll try and make the journey next week.

The two vehicles on today were 37322 and 36390. Imo it needs solos as one of the 200s clipped a wall I think

 

[Westonian]

Stagecoach starting new sevice 50 in Weston on Monday requiring 3 buses. Does anyone know what buses will be used. I estimate around a thousand 'dead' miles a week from Patchway - are there any plans for a local outstaion?

 

[LordCreed]

The two vehicles on today were 37322 and 36390. Imo it needs solos as one of the 200s clipped a wall I think

37322 was on the route today again (not sure about the other vehicle). The nearside front corner has taken a battering from a curb somewhere

 

[SouthEastBuses]

Here were some of today's buses on Race shuttles:

10347 (Romford)
10698 (Andover)
10751 (Cheltenham)
10757 (Cheltenham)
10760 (Cheltenham)
10764 (Aldershot)
10766 (Aldershot)
10790 (Cambridge)
10792 (Cambridge)
10796 (Cambridge)
10894 (Winchester)
10902 (Cheltenham)
10903 (Cheltenham)
10904 (Cheltenham)
10992 (Swindon)
10994 (Swindon)
10995 (Swindon)
11198 (Hull)
11199 (Hull)
11200 (Hull)
11225 (Leamington)
11231 (Leamington)
11232 (Leamington)
11240 (Witney)
11245 (Witney)
11284 (Newcastle - Walkergate)
11286 (Newcastle - Walkergate)
11287 (Newcastle - Walkergate)
11292 (Newcastle - Walkergate)
11296 (Newcastle - Walkergate)
11501 (Newcastle - Walkergate)
11503 (Newcastle - Walkergate)
11523 (Stockport)
11529 (Stockport)
11542 (Stockport)
11547 (Stockport)
11551 (Stockport)
11552 (Stockport)
15292 (Cambridge)
15294 (Cambridge)
15352 (Gloucester)
15359 (Gloucester)
15367 (Gloucester)
15613 (Cwmbran)
15754 (Cwmbran)
15756 (Oxford)
15965 (Cwmbran)
15966 (Cwmbran)
15977 (Cheltenham)
15986 (Guildford)
18088 (Gloucester)
19729 (Romford)
19884 (Guildford)

Correction: 19884 is at Chichester, not Guildford

 

[FRATF]

Stagecoach starting new sevice 50 in Weston on Monday requiring 3 buses. Does anyone know what buses will be used. I estimate around a thousand 'dead' miles a week from Patchway - are there any plans for a local outstaion?

I would assume E200s or Scania E400s as 36097 was seen doing what was presumed to be route learning at the beginning of the month,don't think that they would want to send any of their Tridents.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Apr 2022 ==

I would assume E200s or Scania E400s as 36097 was seen doing what was presumed to be route learning at the beginning of the month,don't think that they would want to send any of their Tridents.

36107,36175 and 37006 working it today

 

[Citistar]

18420 appears to have been out to Portishead (presumably for the 57/59 relief) down to Weston and back to do driver changeovers as well. Meanwhile, some 44 journeys or part journeys on West of England Combined Authority's (WECA) 10-13 and 84 were notified as cancelled on the Stagecoach West Twitter feed this morning.

 

[LordCreed]

18420 appears to have been out to Portishead (presumably for the 57/59 relief) down to Weston and back to do driver changeovers as well. Meanwhile, some 44 journeys or part journeys on West of England Combined Authority's (WECA) 10-13 and 84 were notified as cancelled on the Stagecoach West Twitter feed this morning.

This morning 18422 has made the trip to Weston. It seems an expensive service to run with so much dead mileage...

 

[FRATF]

Has 36099 been moved into reserve?

 

[GoneSouth]

Tried to use the Stagecoach app for information about the 94 in Cheltenham on Sunday. It’s like it never existed. No real time tracking, no buses listed when tapping the stop (no 94s listed on shared stops such as Rotunda but other services do appear) and no downloadable timetable.

Any idea what’s going on there? People will never come back to using buses unless they can find information about when they actually run. Hopefully it gets fixed when things are back to normal working after the bank holiday.

 

[Aston]

Tried to use the Stagecoach app for information about the 94 in Cheltenham on Sunday. It’s like it never existed. No real time tracking, no buses listed when tapping the stop (no 94s listed on shared stops such as Rotunda but other services do appear) and no downloadable timetable.

Any idea what’s going on there? People will never come back to using buses unless they can find information about when they actually run. Hopefully it gets fixed when things are back to normal working after the bank holiday.

Stagecoach being horrendous as usual

 

[route101]

Tried to use the Stagecoach app for information about the 94 in Cheltenham on Sunday. It’s like it never existed. No real time tracking, no buses listed when tapping the stop (no 94s listed on shared stops such as Rotunda but other services do appear) and no downloadable timetable.

Any idea what’s going on there? People will never come back to using buses unless they can find information about when they actually run. Hopefully it gets fixed when things are back to normal working after the bank holiday.

Not a fan of the Stagecoach way of finding timetables. You have to know the number then search in area. Arriva are the same. Its all gone down the journey planner route.

 

[GoneSouth]

Stagecoach being horrendous as usual

Well I just checked and as they haven’t fixed the problem yet, I tend to agree

Come in Stagecoach, given the lack of printed timetable availability anywhere, your app is now the only place to find information about your services. Poor effort

 

[RELL6L]

Well I just checked and as they haven’t fixed the problem yet, I tend to agree

Come in Stagecoach, given the lack of printed timetable availability anywhere, your app is now the only place to find information about your services. Poor effort

I looked on the Stagecoach website this afternoon and it’s like the 94 does not exist! Other services do- just not the 94. It is running, per BusTimes, but with two consecutive boards missing!

 

[ValleyLines142]

Believe 22747 had a slight run in with a car on Stroud Road today!

 

[GoneSouth]

I looked on the Stagecoach website this afternoon and it’s like the 94 does not exist! Other services do- just not the 94. It is running, per BusTimes, but with two consecutive boards missing!

Really poor from Stagecoach. You’d think they’d be doing everything they can to persuade people to come back to the buses but given their attitude to this and the state of cancellations on some of their west routes, it’s almost like they’ve given up.

Go look at Twitter to see what the poor people of Stroud are enduring right now, absolutely horrendous reliability. There is no way anyone can justify using bus over car if they have a choice in Stroud right now, for those that don’t have the choice I feel very for you. Not being able to get to work, study, healthcare etc for those without cars has long been less than straightforward, but now it’s becoming a nightmare. Some of those missing buses are on services which were only hourly to start with so 2 or 3 hour gaps have started to occur. With such sporadic services I don’t see those lost passengers returning if they have an alternative, leading to a spiral of decline all round. Very dispiriting for those who absolutely have no choice.

Even their 94 is a shadow of its pre Pandemic promise of more buses than ever before. The 4 x 94 and 4 x 94X isn’t working out too well for the folk of Churchdown who saw reductions from 6 to 4 per hour (yes, in the enhanced timetable) and now a good chunk of those regularly disappear, and have been doing so for many months. Obviously it’s not possible to check that ’fact’ right now because the Stagecoach app isn’t showing that the 94 exists at all.

Brexit, covid, government policy and a don’t really care as long as the government money continues to flow in attitude by operators is killing the bus ‘service’ for people who need it.

Oh, and for Stagecoach to then slap local users in the face by making 50 buses and drivers appear by magic for a horse race is just insulting whilst leaving people waiting 3 hours for a bus in Stroud.

Just one final edit because there was something else I needed to get off my chest. The expectation that you need a Twitter account to hear if your bus is running or not is ludicrous and unfair. Stop this ridiculous practice and publish this information on your own website/app. PLEASE

 

[GusB]

Just one final edit because there was something else I needed to get off my chest. The expectation that you need a Twitter account to hear if your bus is running or not is ludicrous and unfair. Stop this ridiculous practice and publish this information on your own website/app. PLEASE

While I agree that companies should be publishing service information on their own websites, you're incorrect in saying that you need to have a Twitter account to view a public Twitter feed.

Visiting twitter.com/insertcompanytwittername in a browser address bar will allow you to see their feed without having to sign up.

 

[M803UYA]

While I agree that companies should be publishing service information on their own websites, you're incorrect in saying that you need to have a Twitter account to view a public Twitter feed.

Visiting twitter.com/insertcompanytwittername in a browser address bar will allow you to see their feed without having to sign up.

You'd only be able to view around 10 tweets before being told to sign in - twitter has changed the viewing method for those without accounts, presumably to encourage people to sign up?

 

[GusB]

You'd only be able to view around 10 tweets before being told to sign in - twitter has changed the viewing method for those without accounts, presumably to encourage people to sign up?

This is simply not true. I have just signed out of my Twitter account and I'm quite happily scrolling through my own local Stagecoach company's feed.

 

[SeveerYeliab]

You'd only be able to view around 10 tweets before being told to sign in - twitter has changed the viewing method for those without accounts, presumably to encourage people to sign up?

This is simply not true. I have just signed out of my Twitter account and I'm quite happily scrolling through my own local Stagecoach company's feed.

No, what @M803YYA says is correct, I need an account to view twitter feeds past 10tweets (although this may is be for mobile).

 

[LordCreed]

This is simply not true. I have just signed out of my Twitter account and I'm quite happily scrolling through my own local Stagecoach company's feed.

I get the lock out after 20 or so posts

 

[M803UYA]

This is simply not true. I have just signed out of my Twitter account and I'm quite happily scrolling through my own local Stagecoach company's feed.

As someone who doesn't have twitter, would that be some individual setting? I've found this on a number of twitter feeds I visit - around 10 posts in the feeds then require a login.

 

[GoneSouth]

View attachment 114152

I get the lock out after 20 or so posts

Visiting twitter.com/insertcompanytwittername in a browser address bar will allow you to see their feed without having to sign up.

Unfortunately not, as others have said, you can scroll through a few tweets then you are forced to login. But my point wasn’t just the requirement for having an account, it’s the full Twitter experience that’s poor. The sporadic posting, the hastily cobbled together messages with many inaccuracies and the fact that some depots seem to almost tweet the movement of every bus (Swindon) whilst others just can’t be a***** with the whole thing (Cheltenham).

Sorry Cheltenham, your drivers are mostly very pleasant, helpful people but the information side of things is lacking

 

[GusB]

Bear in mind that if you've got the Twitter app installed, it will automatically try to open Twitter links; on my phone it won't let me view anything in the app without being signed in, but on my tablet (the device I'm using now), Twitter links are just opened in the browser (Chrome) like any other web site, and there is no restriction on how many posts I can view.

Anyhow, this is somewhat off-topic.

 

[CharlesR]

Stagecoach West are continuing to prove their incompetents on a consistent basis. As we enter the 11th month of driver shortages, the company are still unable to provide information to customers where necessary.

During these 11 months, they have expanded their Cirencester College network, taken on Amazon work in Swindon (which ended well ) and been willing to operate a complex shuttle network for Cheltenham Races.

In Gloucester, the company are running lines 8, 10 and 12 agonisingly late due to traffic problems caused by closures and road works. Very little initiative is being used to combat this, for example, extra capacity vehicles (4 decker cards sit around doing nothing when not doing a shuttle run), turning buses around to avoid leaving 60 minute gaps, increased communication etc.

More importantly, roadworks aside, when will the question of splitting route 10 be raised? Cancellations are causing buses to run behind eachover as wait times at stops are doubled. This has been horrific over the last 10 months, even more so since the PVR reduction. Roadworks down route have very large knock on effects. This is not a new thing, and it is not unknown that Service 10 is the most unreliable route in Gloucester. Splitting this service would improve reliability and reduce knock on effects down route. Would anyone happen to know whether this has ever been considered? Many thanks

 

[LordCreed]

Amazon work in Swindon (which ended well )

What happened to the contract work in Swindon?

More importantly, roadworks aside, when will the question of splitting route 10 be raised?

In my experience very few passengers travel through the centre of Gloucester on the 10, so splitting it wouldn't be the worst idea. I'm guessing they run it as is to put deckers on what can be a busy route at both ends.

 

[CharlesR]

What happened to the contract work in Swindon?



In my experience very few passengers travel through the centre of Gloucester on the 10, so splitting it wouldn't be the worst idea. I'm guessing they run it as is to put deckers on what can be a busy route at both ends.

Stagecoach still have the Amazon contract in Swindon, however the routes had to be changed because the buses used were carrying nobody.