TfGM Bee Network - fleet discussion

[py_megapixel]

Electric buses don't like cold, they have less battery power (giving shorter lengths of use) and are moved to other shorter round trips (eg 10)

Plus Bolton have been charging Metroline BZLs so the logistics have been a delicate balancing act...

Makes sense, did wonder if it might have something to do with the reduced range of EVs in the very cold weather and of course if some of the chargers are in use for the BZLs that would exacerbate it.

 

[mayneway]

2007 & 2008 was when the B9s entered service, they’re really not in shape for use in Manchester anymore, they’re run down and you will notice a lot of them now sound like enormous vacuums

The ‘enormous vacuums’ is an easy fix. The solenoids that control the cooling fans fail so the ECU thinks the bus is overheating hence why they sound like road sweepers. It’s hardly a reason to scrap them all!

 

[darylyates17]

The ‘enormous vacuums’ is an easy fix. The solenoids that control the cooling fans fail so the ECU thinks the bus is overheating hence why they sound like road sweepers. It’s hardly a reason to scrap them all!

Common fault that’s worse on B7TLs so woudnt be surprised if it’s a related issue. I remember the B10s I grew up with could “hoover” as well one of them did it for years.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

To be fair, the Volvos are very nice buses, I'd rather have one of those instead of the newer buses which are harsh and rattly

I guess they still have the old First interior which lets them down so I can understand why they wouldn't be the best.

I don't get the obsession with age, brand new busses are built to a cost, I think a well refurbished bus is just as good

Nah, the replacements with the all black front and white LED displays are farrrrr nicer in my opinion.

 

[mayneway]

Nah, the replacements with the all black front and white LED displays are farrrrr nicer in my opinion.

From a passengers point of view yes, but they won’t have the shelf life the B9’s have had.

 

[toms]

Nah, the replacements with the all black front and white LED displays are farrrrr nicer in my opinion.

the comfortability and the warmth and quietness of the B9s will be missed but I like the look of the newer buses

 

[M60lad]

Not to sure why but it seems (I might be wrong) that the MMC400s that Queens Road got this past week have been rushed into service today as quite a number of them were running round with spare machines for some reason, also it seems not all of them have come from Hyde Road as originally thought as I was on 11843 this morning and that seems to have come from Middleton Depot who allegedly are short of vehicles at the moment for some reason, not to sure if anything is due to elevate the shortage.

 

[BlitzFan87]

Not to sure why but it seems (I might be wrong) that the MMC400s that Queens Road got this past week have been rushed into service today as quite a number of them were running round with spare machines for some reason, also it seems not all of them have come from Hyde Road as originally thought as I was on 11843 this morning and that seems to have come from Middleton Depot who allegedly are short of vehicles at the moment for some reason, not to sure if anything is due to elevate the shortage.

Some are coming to Middleton and Oldham

 

[toms]

A question to anybody who knows about this stuff but do drivers have to be trained/shown how to use the new AVA annoucement systems as sometimes buses don’t have them. Also do GNW/Stagecoach/First etc have in-house people who program them?

 

[mayneway]

Not to sure why but it seems (I might be wrong) that the MMC400s that Queens Road got this past week have been rushed into service today as quite a number of them were running round with spare machines for some reason, also it seems not all of them have come from Hyde Road as originally thought as I was on 11843 this morning and that seems to have come from Middleton Depot who allegedly are short of vehicles at the moment for some reason, not to sure if anything is due to elevate the shortage.

Hardly rushed.
The final list of buses due for Queens Road wasn’t confirmed until late Thursday and fleetnumbers need to be added to the depot fleet list on Tickitier before they can be assigned to ticket machines on buses.
Engineers on site on Friday night/Saturday morning were unable to set the machines up with correct fleet numbers tracking for the right depot so they were all set up on Spares.
Most have been properly assigned tonight.

 

[CN12 AWU]

Did anyone catch what first Manchester used on the night buses as nothing tracked

Stagecoach 19288 was tracking at East Didsbury at 0034 but nothing tracked since on any routes

Just curious to know what First ended up using

 

[esmith2k5]

Did anyone catch what first Manchester used on the night buses as nothing tracked

Stagecoach 19288 was tracking at East Didsbury at 0034 but nothing tracked since on any routes

Just curious to know what First ended up using

Quite a mix; B9TL's, BN B8RLE's (Evoras), BN B7RLE's and BN E400's from what ive seen.

 

[CN12 AWU]

Quite a mix; B9TL's, BN B8RLE's (Evoras), BN B7RLE's and BN E400's from what ive seen.

BN? presume that's a depot code

B9TL's I take it Geminis? Suprised they been used

Tbh suprised none tracked cheers for the info

 

[esmith2k5]

BN? presume that's a depot code

B9TL's I take it Geminis? Suprised they been used

Tbh suprised none tracked cheers for the info

BN for bee network, yes gemini's, personally not suprised at all they didnt track

 

[M60lad]

Odd really that the Gemini's didn't track as the other day when they were being used on footballs they were tracking normally, as for what was used it was a special contract being run commercially so they were able to use whatever they wanted within reason.

 

[CN12 AWU]

See so far Metroline are not tracking at all

Also noted Stagecoach are still using standard livery, first livery and Go North west liveried buses today

 

[Mollman]

Also noted Stagecoach are still using standard livery, first livery and Go North west liveried buses today

And one suspects they will be until all vehicles being kept go through the refurbishment and repaint programme

 

[toms]

See so far Metroline are not tracking at all

Also noted Stagecoach are still using standard livery, first livery and Go North west liveried buses today

And how is that different from any other day since 24th March?…

 

[Leyland Bus]

Took a couple of pics of the new order this morning whilst walking the dog in the slush...

The BZLs look rather nice on the road and the uptick in new, yellow buses is really noticeable, even on a Sunday...

Interesting to note that Metroline is making use of the full rear destination display, GNW and Stagecoach just having a number displayed on the rears that I've seen thus far.

Quite odd also seeing London-esqe fleetnumbers on the streets of Manchester. Although I'm trying to fathom the meanings...

WDS - Wright Diesel Single door?
TE/H - Temporary Enviro/Hybrid?
DE/M - Dennis Enviro/M??
ADE - Alexander Dennis Electric?
VMD - Volvo MCV Decker?

Those are probably a mile out...

Have I missed any?

*Photos show new WrightBus Ultroliner WDS333 turning off Princess St onto Whitworth St whilst running an 85 service.

 

[Leedsbusman]

Odd really that the Gemini's didn't track as the other day when they were being used on footballs they were tracking normally, as for what was used it was a special contract being run commercially so they were able to use whatever they wanted within reason.

If it’s a ‘special contract’ then it won’t be run ‘commercially’.

 

[MotCO]

Took a couple of pics of the new order this morning whilst walking the dog in the slush...

The BZLs look rather nice on the road and the uptick in new, yellow buses is really noticeable, even on a Sunday...

Interesting to note that Metroline is making use of the full rear destination display, GNW and Stagecoach just having a number displayed on the rears that I've seen thus far.

Quite odd also seeing London-esqe fleetnumbers on the streets of Manchester. Although I'm trying to fathom the meanings...

WDS - Wright Diesel Single door?
TE/H - Temporary Enviro/Hybrid?
DE/M - Dennis Enviro/M??
ADE - Alexander Dennis Electric?
VMD - Volvo MCV Decker?

Those are probably a mile out...

Have I missed any?

*Photos show new WrightBus Ultroliner WDS333 turning off Princess St onto Whitworth St whilst running an 85 service.

I think TE/H is Trident Enviro / Hybrid, since the first Enviros were Tridents.
ADE could be Alexander Dennis Enviro

 

[xitz2012@gmail]

Took a couple of pics of the new order this morning whilst walking the dog in the slush...

The BZLs look rather nice on the road and the uptick in new, yellow buses is really noticeable, even on a Sunday...

Interesting to note that Metroline is making use of the full rear destination display, GNW and Stagecoach just having a number displayed on the rears that I've seen thus far.

Quite odd also seeing London-esqe fleetnumbers on the streets of Manchester. Although I'm trying to fathom the meanings...

WDS - Wright Diesel Single door?
TE/H - Temporary Enviro/Hybrid?
DE/M - Dennis Enviro/M??
ADE - Alexander Dennis Electric?
VMD - Volvo MCV Decker?

Those are probably a mile out...

Have I missed any?

*Photos show new WrightBus Ultroliner WDS333 turning off Princess St onto Whitworth St whilst running an 85 service.

From what I can gather, Metroline seem to be using the same lettering system as their London operation so I imagine they are :

WDS - Wright Diesel Streetdeck
TE - Trident Enviro
TEH - Trident Enviro Hybrid
DE - Dennis/Dart Enviro
DEM - Dennis/Dart Enviro Midi
ADE - Alexander Dennis Electric
VMD - Volvo MCV Decker

This is all guesswork of course but that’s what I think the letters likely stand for.

 

[Marcus Fryer]

Took a couple of pics of the new order this morning whilst walking the dog in the slush...

The BZLs look rather nice on the road and the uptick in new, yellow buses is really noticeable, even on a Sunday...

Interesting to note that Metroline is making use of the full rear destination display, GNW and Stagecoach just having a number displayed on the rears that I've seen thus far.

Quite odd also seeing London-esqe fleetnumbers on the streets of Manchester. Although I'm trying to fathom the meanings...

WDS - Wright Diesel Single door?
TE/H - Temporary Enviro/Hybrid?
DE/M - Dennis Enviro/M??
ADE - Alexander Dennis Electric?
VMD - Volvo MCV Decker?

Those are probably a mile out...

Have I missed any?

*Photos show new WrightBus Ultroliner WDS333 turning off Princess St onto Whitworth St whilst running an 85 service.

The London fleet also has buses with TE (Alexander Dennis E400), TEH (Alexander Dennis E400H), DE (Alexander Dennis E200) and DEM (Alexander Dennis E200). I think the DEM is shorter than the DE. I would think the ‘T’ in TE/TEH stands for something other than temporary’, but why a ‘T’ I can’t guess.
See I’ve been beaten to it!

 

[py_megapixel]

I read "WDS" as "Wright Deckstreet" the first time I saw it!

 

[Goldfish62]

The London fleet also has buses with TE (Alexander Dennis E400), TEH (Alexander Dennis E400H), DE (Alexander Dennis E200) and DEM (Alexander Dennis E200). I think the DEM is shorter than the DE. I would think the ‘T’ in TE/TEH stands for something other than temporary’, but why a ‘T’ I can’t guess.

"T" stands for Trident, which is essentially what the chassis is. Some E400s, even later original shape ones, are plated as Dennis Tridents.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Jan 2025 ==

From what I can gather, Metroline seem to be using the same lettering system as their London operation so I imagine they are :

WDS - Wright Diesel Streetdeck
TE - Trident Enviro
TEH - Trident Enviro Hybrid
DE - Dennis/Dart Enviro
DEM - Dennis/Dart Enviro Midi
ADE - Alexander Dennis Electric
VMD - Volvo MCV Decker

This is all guesswork of course but that’s what I think the letters likely stand for.

I agree! Although there's some inconsistencies with London, eg where the ADEs are coded as BDE (BYD, Double, Electric).

 

[Leyland Bus]

Many thanks for those! Quite interesting and sth different up here!

 

[CN12 AWU]

I see on bustimes 12126 is tracking on Stagecoach service 25 and 23 I thought all the E400 hybrids had moved to metroline?

 

[gka472l]

I see on bustimes 12126 is tracking on Stagecoach service 25 and 23 I thought all the E400 hybrids had moved to metroline?

Stagecoach has retained some for use at Stockport

 

[Leyland Bus]

I see on bustimes 12126 is tracking on Stagecoach service 25 and 23 I thought all the E400 hybrids had moved to metroline?

All the ticket machines changed last night didn't they? So not a hangover of old number on an old machine?

Already sussed!

 

[mangad]

I see on bustimes 12126 is tracking on Stagecoach service 25 and 23 I thought all the E400 hybrids had moved to metroline?

Some hybrids definitely moved to Stockport as they've been on the 192 and other routes recently. Saw one yesterday.

Quite easy to spot some of the ones that had moved into Stockport as they are in the green livery which hadn't been seen in the area for a while.