darylyates17
Member
I wonder if the Stagecoach Hybrids will cover for deliveries that will be later than January I cant see Metroline wanting them long term.
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TfGM Bee Network - fleet discussion
- Thread starter Leyland Bus
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R
RailUK Forums
Thanks for that update.
mayneway
Member
Dont think any are Intended for Queens road, we have been told the entire batch is going to Stockport and we will see further 17 plates to replace the 4 E400’s in the short term with more moving over in November.
978wta
Member
Something I can’t get my head around. Stagecoach are moving on the Bee spec 24 plate E400MMC vehicles to various other depots, meanwhile they have ordered some E400 City vehicles again in Bee spec.
Dallamlad
Established Member
The City models have been ordered by TFGM not Stagecoach
Class 466
Established Member
That will leave QR -4 vehicles still though as the 17 plates were coming anyway to replace the Scanias. 10 still need to go to Middleton to displace Classic E400s there.
Time will tell!
jeffery9098
On Moderation
Time will 'definitely' tell, If stagecoach is making the move where, Stockport will receive a total fleet of brand-new buses because of Volvo BZL, it does make sense to send the whole city batch to the stockpot and keep the remaining 2024 plates in greater Manchester and send them over to stockpot. Then the depot will be full as they have lost a few routes with Metroline taking over the Airport route and I do think their total fleet of vehicles will bounce back to 140-130 which is more than enough for the whole depot to have remaining 2024 plates + 50+ Cities and then I'm guessing if they are going to keep E40H QR would inherit them as metroline doesn't need whole 100 of them as they already sorted out stuff out where they only need around about 50-70 from SC.
xitz2012@gmail
Member
Yep, and Queens Road needs all the deckers it can get, I’ve seen plenty single deckers on double deck only routes this week (granted, the E200 I had into town on the 98 on Wednesday was swapped on arrival at Shudehill with a decker, but a few E300s seem to stay on routes like the 41/95/97/98/135 all day at the moment). With the remaining 6 24 plate MMCs expected to leave soon, it’s not gonna get any better!
Class 466
Established Member
There's also the added complexity of whether TfGM will actually allow these vehicles that they've purchased (rather than the Operating Company) to be used on commercially run services prior to Jan 25 - so far that hasn't happened anywhere.
mayneway
Member
We are still 5 deckers too many at Queens, with them due to leave soon.
The remaining 24 plate MMC’s were due to move to commercial operations in Manchester but I suspect them will now stay allowing the older E400’s to move onto schools.
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It won’t happen!
I know when they acquired the Optare hybrids years ago it was a complete no no for them to work anything commercial.
jeffery9098
On Moderation
If there is many too many double deckers, Why are they using Single Deckers on the 135, 98, 41 and 'busy' routes and how come Scania's are being thrown onto those routes... You say the 24 plates remaining are due to 'move' from QR but when is this going to happen...
mayneway
Member
Simple answer is that inspections, MOT’s, defects and other issues affect the number of vehicles available on a daily basis. Some days there’s double deckers spare, other days there’s 4 or 5 singles spare. No two days are the same. On Thursday 8 deckers were damaged by a very low hanging tree on the 93/95 route at Kersal vale. Thats 8 buses off the road requiring new upper windows and minor body repairs on Friday meaning singles had to be used on busy routes.
The 41 can actually be double or single deck operated. Think there’s 2 or 3 boards that have to be double but the rest can be either double or single.
As for the 24 plates, they should have gone a couple of weeks back but the move was put back slightly due to the withdrawal of the TFGM school bus Versa’s. It’s now suspected the remaining 5 will remain at Queens while the 4 older E400’s move on.
xitz2012@gmail
Member
I did see a Scania on the 93 the other day with a cracked front upper deck window, didn't see which one though.
mayneway
Member
Can’t remember which one but it would have been a result of the low branch. Be interesting to see how quickly TFGM get the issue resolved!
Looks with 8 deckers short this affected the Freebus yesterday as it seemed that there was quite a variety of different vehicles allocated including the odd E200 and Volvo B9 Gemini instead of the usual wall to wall Omnicities.
In fact it did seem that most of the Scania fleet was out yesterday but allocated to various commercial services covering for various other deckers that were off the road.
In fact it did seem that most of the Scania fleet was out yesterday but allocated to various commercial services covering for various other deckers that were off the road.
daodao
Established Member
There seem to be an excessive number of DD relative to SD buses proposed to be allocated to some of the southern Manchester depots serving areas where bus use is lower (franchise area C). There really is no need for any DD buses on any of the routes serving the southern part of Trafford Borough, i.e. south of the River Mersey.
Are there any small buses allocated to any of the franchised depots? Some will surely be needed for example to replace the Mellor Stratas that Arriva currently use on Altrincham local routes 281-6 inclusive, where narrow roads and sharp corners will cause problems for full size SD buses. Route 280 via Dunham will also need a small bus, but I presume that this is part of one of the small franchises.
Are there any small buses allocated to any of the franchised depots? Some will surely be needed for example to replace the Mellor Stratas that Arriva currently use on Altrincham local routes 281-6 inclusive, where narrow roads and sharp corners will cause problems for full size SD buses. Route 280 via Dunham will also need a small bus, but I presume that this is part of one of the small franchises.
Dfatcontroller
Member
Stagecoach also have some Bee Network spec Alexander Dennis EV400s on order.
Seen on Thursday at the ADL Factory in Falkirk was this - https://flic.kr/p/2qhC6jr
Seen on Thursday at the ADL Factory in Falkirk was this - https://flic.kr/p/2qhC6jr
These are for Oldham
978wta
Member
Stockport 170 Volvo BZL electrics reallocated amid depot difficulty - routeone
170 Volvo BZL electric buses on order for Stagecoach Manchester at Stockport will be reallocated due to depot-related delays.
www.route-one.net
Dallamlad
Established Member
Stockport 170 Volvo BZL electrics reallocated amid depot difficulty - routeone
170 Volvo BZL electric buses on order for Stagecoach Manchester at Stockport will be reallocated due to depot-related delays.
The full report quoted in this article is here - https://democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/documents/g5677/Public reports pack 26th-Sep-2024 10.00 Greater Manchester Joint Clean Air Scrutiny Committee.pdf?T=10
There's a very interesting table setting out which routes are being upgraded to Zero emission as TFGM rush to meet clean air targets.
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xitz2012@gmail
Member
Oh no please not the 98!
aswilliamsuk
Member
- Joined
- 10 Jul 2016
- Messages
- 528
So in short, this confirms 40 more EV buses for Bolton (Go-North West), 73 more EV buses for Queens Road (Stagecoach), and going on the wording in the larger document, 77 more new Euro VI buses for Stockport (Stagecoach) - the latter are marked as explicitly new buses in the TfGM document linked above.
These being on top of the various recent orders we were aware of: 19 StreetDeck Electroliners (EV) for Go-North West, the batch of E400 EV for Oldham (Stagecoach - I've still not quite worked out how many of them there are), the 59 E400 City for Stagecoach, 143 StreetDeck Ultroliner (diesel, all as far as I can tell for Metroline Manchester), E200 MMC (four for Stagecoach, quite a few more for Metroline Manchester), and of course the 182 Volvo BZLs (some for Stagecoach, some for Metroline - it was originally 150 'deckers and 20 s-d, but someone has ordered 12 more BZL s-d).
Am I missing anything?
daodao
Established Member
I'm astonished how many of the new bus orders are for D-D buses relative to S-D buses. Other than on a few key radial routes out of Manchester city centre where there is no parallel Metrolink service, I don't quite understand the need for such high capacity buses. Even on such routes, is it really a good use of resources to run D-D buses all the way into outer suburbia? Could not such routes be split at a suitable traffic point, such as Parrs Wood, with a S-D bus used on the outer segment? I passed an almost empty route 42B bus south of Bramhall village centre yesterday.
Possibly a bit of 2+2=5, but I wonder if the 59/60 E400City has become the 77 listed there for Stockport and the orders are one and the same?
Would explain the choice of City body - I couldn't see Stagecoach voluntarily opting for that.
Given there's 75 classic E400s currently at Stockport, I think it's fair to say that it will be a straightforward like-for-like replacement.
I wonder how the purchasing of the 170 BZLs originally destined for Stockport is being handled - presumably Stagecoach paid for them directly with no TfGM involvement originally...
Would explain the choice of City body - I couldn't see Stagecoach voluntarily opting for that.
Given there's 75 classic E400s currently at Stockport, I think it's fair to say that it will be a straightforward like-for-like replacement.
I wonder how the purchasing of the 170 BZLs originally destined for Stockport is being handled - presumably Stagecoach paid for them directly with no TfGM involvement originally...
aswilliamsuk
Member
- Joined
- 10 Jul 2016
- Messages
- 528
I rather think you may be right re: the E400 City order.
That said, it has been noted up thread, I think, that a number of E400 MMCs were due to move to Queens Road following their replacement, but I could be wrong. There's an awful lot going on, and a whole lot to keep track of in the coming months!
Leedsbusman
Member
If they haven’t been delivered yet then nobody has paid for them.
Class 466
Established Member
Do you regularly travel into or out of the city centre/other towns around GM?
Splitting routes would then require two drivers instead of one and would immediately make using buses far less attractive to people. The 135 for example is a busy decker route throughout despite being paralleled by the Met.
Most 42b journeys south of Bramhall would be almost empty especially on a Sunday. From Bramhall through Cheadle Hulme it always seems to me to be carrying a decent load and I’m sure warrants double deckers.
daodao
Established Member
I travel regularly, almost always by car, mostly in the area bounded approximately by Crewe, Middlewich, Northwich, Dunham, Altrincham, Cheadle Royal, Poynton, Macclesfield, Congleton, Sandbach. Apart from in Wythenshawe, which I usually traverse via Southmoor Road/Hollyhedge Road (close to the tramway so I don't get lost), the regular service double-deck (DD) buses that I see mostly just carry fresh air. There are now virtually no DD buses in Cheshire itself as D&G sensibly don't bother with them.