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TfGM Bee Network - fleet discussion
- Thread starter Leyland Bus
- Start date
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TheSmiths82
Member
I would imagine it would need to be overnight or a few days before? As the existing depots are still in full operation if I they bought them to Manchester too early storage might be a problem. I assume at the moment they are stored in their various London depots, unless they are renting space somewhere.
They do use Wigan as storage but don’t know how much storage is free their
Do you know what types of vehicles are in storage in London?
Dfatcontroller
Member
The first of Metroline's new Wrightbus Streetdecks are in store in Wales at Taffs Well depot.
Have they got registrations yet?
Bus Lists on the Web are showing
Fleet No WDS234, Reg MF74 NNA.
There is also a WDS245 listed but no reg quoted yet.
Bus Lists on the Web
www.buslistsontheweb.co.uk
Do you know where MF74 NNA is being stored?Bus Lists on the Web are showing
Fleet No WDS234, Reg MF74 NNA.
There is also a WDS245 listed but no reg quoted yet.
Bus Lists on the Web
No worries
Just seen this on the Manchester Evening News website:
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
1> Who now fixes the vehicles and will they have to go away for repair or be repaired in house at Oldham Depot?
2> How will Oldham cope now being short of vehicles as I'm led to believe they've got at least 3 of these BYDs off the road at the moment?
3> Could Oldham temporarily get back a couple of the 24 plate MMC400s just to keep the fleet going and if not what could replace them as couldn't this leave Oldham short of vehicles for the time being?
'Almighty bang' as passengers 'thrown forward' in bus crash with two in hospital
Police, fire crews and paramedics were called to the major collision on Oldham Road
1> Who now fixes the vehicles and will they have to go away for repair or be repaired in house at Oldham Depot?
2> How will Oldham cope now being short of vehicles as I'm led to believe they've got at least 3 of these BYDs off the road at the moment?
3> Could Oldham temporarily get back a couple of the 24 plate MMC400s just to keep the fleet going and if not what could replace them as couldn't this leave Oldham short of vehicles for the time being?
Goldfish62
Veteran Member
- Joined
- 14 Feb 2010
- Messages
- 13,146
That's what spare buses are for. Typically around 10-15% of the depot PVR covering not only scheduled maintenance inspections but also unexpected issues, eg breakdowns accidents.
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Leyland Bus
Member
What do you think has happened Andrew since the Bee Network came in? What will happen is what happened before. If it's Stagecoach’s fault (which it sounds like) then they'll most likely be repaired in-house.Just seen this on the Manchester Evening News website:
'Almighty bang' as passengers 'thrown forward' in bus crash with two in hospital
Police, fire crews and paramedics were called to the major collision on Oldham Road
1> Who now fixes the vehicles and will they have to go away for repair or be repaired in house at Oldham Depot?
2> How will Oldham cope now being short of vehicles as I'm led to believe they've got at least 3 of these BYDs off the road at the moment?
3> Could Oldham temporarily get back a couple of the 24 plate MMC400s just to keep the fleet going and if not what could replace them as couldn't this leave Oldham short of vehicles for the time being?
I'm not even going to comment on the other nonsense points. I don't know why folk just can't watch and see what happens, instead of always mithering about "what's going to happen"
mayneway
Member
The initial repairs should be done at Oldham but it will most likely be moved over to Rock Ferry to have any painting done.
11850 was badly damaged by a falling tree and Rock ferry did a brilliant job of making it look brand new again.
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Remove the broken glass that always makes it look very dramatic and the damage isn’t that bad, I’ve seen much worseJust seen this on the Manchester Evening News website:
'Almighty bang' as passengers 'thrown forward' in bus crash with two in hospital
Police, fire crews and paramedics were called to the major collision on Oldham Road
1> Who now fixes the vehicles and will they have to go away for repair or be repaired in house at Oldham Depot?
2> How will Oldham cope now being short of vehicles as I'm led to believe they've got at least 3 of these BYDs off the road at the moment?
3> Could Oldham temporarily get back a couple of the 24 plate MMC400s just to keep the fleet going and if not what could replace them as couldn't this leave Oldham short of vehicles for the time being?
Oldham should have spare vehicles of something like 12-15% so should be able to cope with a few off the road
mayneway
Member
They will have to rely on spares.
The 24 plate MMC’s have been moved to commercial depots as they are short of vehicles. I believe Sharston were down to one road worthy spare before the MMC’s moved over last week.
xitz2012@gmail
Member
It seems the remaining 6 24 plates at Queens Road haven't moved this week - perhaps they're staying on a bit longer?
mayneway
Member
There’s a few long standing VOR’s, once these are sorted and back on the road the remaining 6 will certainly be going. If not next week possibly the week after.
jeffery9098
On Moderation
I do think, that if a vehicle isn't fit for services, it wouldn't fly by from TfGM and Traffic Commissioners won't simply turn a blind eye... If they can do 3hrs or 4hrs+ a day they are fit for service... as remember, just because the vehicle is a bit **** doesn't mean the vehicle overall can't do at least 1 mile without breaking down... people phrase the 'scanias' as **their engines explode every mile they do... or the whole bus body has fallen apart [e.g no bodywork but just chassis is left and everything else is all scratted onto the road]... it only took a few burnt OU10's buses for the stagecoach to finally scrapped the dodgy batch with 'effective vehicles getting scrapped'
Did GNW at Heywood actually have any heavy maintenance going on and more importantly did it have the expertise there looking at the issues Vs just having them ferried back to Queen's Road and dumped at the back of the depot? I think it's unfair to blame GNW for the actual situation that befel them.
It seems like bringing them back under proper supervision has worked because 19 out of 20 have been out working today so far as tracking goes. Clearly they aren't knackered.
It seems like bringing them back under proper supervision has worked because 19 out of 20 have been out working today so far as tracking goes. Clearly they aren't knackered.
Leyland Bus
Member
Oh wow then, 3 cheers for Stagecoach!
Exactly, if the buses aren't fit for the road, they aren't fit. Weirdly, they're out quite often so, hmm, can't be that bad!
Running them from Heywood was indeed a challenge. Alot of issues actually stem back from when FirstBus had the bright idea to shut Bury Garage but that's for another thread.
You are right, the buses aren't knackered, far from it. Unfortunately, some bus drivers either don't like driving them or are just bone idle and will whinge and moan about the slightest thing...
Whilst running older modern buses is much more complex than the days when we had 18-20 year old Atlanteans that quite happily ran all day with little more than oil, water, diesel and light bulbs, it doesn't mean they're knackered. "They are always on the pits for weeks" I've read on here. Parts availability has been quite challenging (and don't come back at me, I know the storeman at Queens) which probably gives the image of them being "too much work to repair" but frankly, people with alot more knowledge than bus drivers, sat down, worked out what buses were needed, when and for how long. They wanted (or maybe rather needed) those buses and the inspections proved they were fit and adequate to run for the time they're required. Frequent maintenance is a given.
mayneway
Member
They very rarely came to Queens road and were never dumped at the back of the depot. They only really started to appear in the final few weeks before GNW departed the depot, and they couldn’t be used in service as drivers hadn’t been VF’d on them.
They were knackered before they even came to Manchester! They went to another Go ahead group first (think it was Morebus) and most didn’t even turn a wheel.
They rocked up at Heywood and the majority of the maintenance was done by external contractors - I know I was there driving the things. One or two were nice drives but the majority were past their best.
The issue with them now is mainly down to two things. The Euro 6 conversion wasn’t the best. The Euro 6 Mod was never serviced and was badly retrofitted and most of the batch are as a result of this in de-rate which restricts the buses power. Hence the reason they are on the free bus and 135’s!
While an external contractor has been sourced by Stagecoach to come in and service and tweak the Euro 6 mod on the B9’s, they won’t touch the Scania’s.
The other major issue is the electrics. Not sure who is responsible but on most it’s eye brow raising.
One or two of them are actually nice drives, 15400 off the top of my head is a nice drive.
Either way despite the promise of them leaving in November Stagecoach are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel and most seem to last the full day with out issues.
19 of them were out today, and the 20th only stayed in due to a broken window.
One did throw a sicky after its front destination failed so was swapped over. Maybe 20 out of 20 Friday!!
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If your talking about the Scanias don't forget their regulars on 33s as well and oddly enough last weekend one appeared and did a few trips on 149 I was surprised when I got to Oldham last Saturday morning and saw it in Bus Station.
For some reason despite them appearing on 135s regular they very rarely seem to appear on 97/98s.
For some reason despite them appearing on 135s regular they very rarely seem to appear on 97/98s.
mayneway
Member
They are routed to the freebus, 135’s, as they regularly pass the depot and the 33 as the reliefs actually tend to change at depot and not Shudehill. It makes it slightly easier to change them over if faults occur.
py_megapixel
Established Member
Scanias also occasionally crop up on the 41.
Really branching out today as I have just passed one on the 95!
Class 466
Established Member
They seem to have become regulars on the 135 now - bit more variety than it used to be when there were days it was just all Green B9s so I’m not complaining too much. Even if I’m not the Scanias biggest fan - they don’t make me feel nauseous like those Oxford hybrids at least!
Think the 4 E200MMCs at Hyde Road should be on their way to Queens Road very soon, if they’ve not gone already. Will need an element of driver familiarisation as they’ve got cameras rather than mirrors.
Do you know what routes they will operate? I’m guessing the MMCs are to replace the Solos and their routes. IIRC the Solos are planned to go to South Wales??
Class 466
Established Member
Solos are long gone - displaced by Mellor Stratas, These will replace 4 Enviro 300s
Not the classic ones. Im talking about the YJ24 plate Solos. Will all of the 24 plate solos eventually move to South Wales like YJ24 BNA,B and D?
The 4 E300s they are replacing, are they going to do schools work or going entirely? Do you know what routes the new YX74 reg E200MMCs will run on?