SSmith2009
Member
Possibly littles vehicles or just tracking issues, when First introduced their GB kites in Leicester they had some tracking issues on bustimes.org
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Trainman40083
Established Member
Well, a driver did mention a power cut that affected the Leicester depot. I was told that the electric buses were not fully charged. One certainly, if not two buses were loaned by Littles.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
Anyone know what fleet numbers the new Kinchbus Yutong E12 are expected to carry?
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Andrew's of Tideswell have handhelds in a holder and tracking is hit and miss, the impression i get is if the driver doesn't use the machine for a while it goes into standby mode and offline until the driver wakes it up.
49er
Member
Thanks for that. But .... Leicester depot??? So not all Kinch buses are based in Loughborough? Though I had noticed some buses seemed to start their duties from High St, having approached via Leicester Rd. So perhaps they were arriving from the 'Leicester depot'? Would they be sharing the First Leicester premises? Is it just a temporary thing while Loughborough gradually adapts to the new electric world?
Kinchbus only have 1 depot in Loughborough, all buses are stored there
Trainman40083
Established Member
Big typo on my post. It should have read Loughborough. As far as I know, Kinchbus only normally refuel diesel buses at Loughborough or Derby
Np13
Member
Ex Kinchbus sprint Solo 3 is currently with CT4N, it's on 19 today
Whats happened to kinchs slimline solos. 1 went in flames, 3 and 4 went littles so assume ct4n has on loan, 6 I assume went scrap or being used for spares when it was withdrawn which leaves 2 and 5 are they bring used for spares now too for 3 and 4 or have they just got them parked at a random depot for temporary storage
StavBered
Member
Dont forget 7 which also went up in flames
mesub
Member
Talking of issues
3105 and 3106 seemed to have had issues today. 3105 seemed to have caused a hold up at the uni and then left campus running dead. Not sure about 3106 though.
3105 and 3106 seemed to have had issues today. 3105 seemed to have caused a hold up at the uni and then left campus running dead. Not sure about 3106 though.
Mr TrainGuy
Member
When was this? If you're suggesting about the last run that it operated (16.40 from Holywell Park), it may have been something to do with driver working hours, as it arrived back at the station over 100 minutes late...
mesub
Member
Much much earlier - around 11ish.
mainframe444
Member
I think 3 has been sold to C4TN; there was a new logbook issued for it on 18th February according to the DVLA.
M
joieman
Member
2 is currently tracking on the DRT
That would've been a V5C for littles, assuming the transfer would've required one due to it being technically a change of ownership. A staff member confirmed it was on loan to CT4N for a week.
Killingworth
Established Member
I don't often use buses but last Tuesday afternoon a friend and I were in Derby and needed to get to Duffield. On our way to the rail station we realised we were passing the very smart bus station. What's more we discovered TrentBarton's sixes routes provided a regular service at least every 15 minutes to Duffield - as long as we could fathom out which went where and from which stand, 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6E, or 6X. Normally scheduled to take a reasonable 16 minutes to Duffield.
It was about 15.25 and we could have caught our planned 15.49 train taking 7 minutes to Duffield. We should have tried!
We'd just missed the 15.20 6.4 to Belper but were first in line for the 15.35 6.3 to Ripley. The display counted it down by the minute from 10 until it said Due - then it disappeared. No explanation.
OK, next bus was the 15.50 for Bakewell due in 15 minutes, counting down until it said Due - and it too disappeared from the screen. The bus itself tantalisingly drew past the stand but was empty, presumably out of service. By this time a large number of unhappy people were waiting.
Apparently this is a normal experience and there was little display of surprise. It is what it is! A lady then came across and explained the difficulties were due to a fault on one of the buses and a crewing issue on the other. Good news of sorts, the 6.2 16.05 for Ripley was running.
Countdown again, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 minutes Due..... It finally arrived about 16.10 and was besieged. You can imagine it took 10 minutes to pack all cosily aboard so we set off 15 minutes late and got later. (How many can legally stand? In my youth I'm sure it used to say 8.) Due at Duffield Co-op at 16.21 we arrived at 16.42.
My friend never uses buses. I thought that smart bus station and good timetable was a fine illustration of East Midlands Combined County Mayoral Authority's Transport vision; https://www.eastmidlands-cca.gov.uk/what-we-do/transport/ Dead right, but currently wrong. It was a good illustration of what needs to be done. If we'd known how bad the bus service was we'd certainly have gone for the train.
Credit to the driver of the 6.2. He was getting a lot of grumbles at every stop. Nice bus.
It was about 15.25 and we could have caught our planned 15.49 train taking 7 minutes to Duffield. We should have tried!
We'd just missed the 15.20 6.4 to Belper but were first in line for the 15.35 6.3 to Ripley. The display counted it down by the minute from 10 until it said Due - then it disappeared. No explanation.
OK, next bus was the 15.50 for Bakewell due in 15 minutes, counting down until it said Due - and it too disappeared from the screen. The bus itself tantalisingly drew past the stand but was empty, presumably out of service. By this time a large number of unhappy people were waiting.
Apparently this is a normal experience and there was little display of surprise. It is what it is! A lady then came across and explained the difficulties were due to a fault on one of the buses and a crewing issue on the other. Good news of sorts, the 6.2 16.05 for Ripley was running.
Countdown again, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 minutes Due..... It finally arrived about 16.10 and was besieged. You can imagine it took 10 minutes to pack all cosily aboard so we set off 15 minutes late and got later. (How many can legally stand? In my youth I'm sure it used to say 8.) Due at Duffield Co-op at 16.21 we arrived at 16.42.
My friend never uses buses. I thought that smart bus station and good timetable was a fine illustration of East Midlands Combined County Mayoral Authority's Transport vision; https://www.eastmidlands-cca.gov.uk/what-we-do/transport/ Dead right, but currently wrong. It was a good illustration of what needs to be done. If we'd known how bad the bus service was we'd certainly have gone for the train.
Credit to the driver of the 6.2. He was getting a lot of grumbles at every stop. Nice bus.
Quite right. Since Covid trentbartons unreliability has become the new normal, however hiding behind the tagline 'the really good bus company' is still top priority for trent...
Unfortunately the bus station may look well, but with broken doors, stained walls from pigeon poo, cracked floor tiles covered with wet floor signs, 50p for the toilet !, the layout has also been scrutinised previously pre 2018 it often gridlocked, with quite a few accidents over the years.
The timetable maybe well written, but often trentbarton are failing to deliver multiple sets of trips daily, after so many years its become the new normal, once it was down to driver shortages, now theyre more truthful in saying its a bus breakdown...
Also, they new app (ride) was a bit of a let down, considering it took 4 million... All it does is track stuff, which anyone can do..
joieman
Member
The first couple of Yutong E12s have turned up at Kinchbus's depot in Loughborough (not my photo):
flic.kr
For some reason, the front centre panel has been repainted blue, which I think looks a bit weird. Here's an older photo of one of the E12s that I tracked down on Facebook (also not mine):
www.facebook.com
Kinchbus 3204 & 3205
3204 / YB75 ORT Yutong E12 Kinchbus 3205 / YB75 ORU Yutong E12 Kinchbus
flic.kr
For some reason, the front centre panel has been repainted blue, which I think looks a bit weird. Here's an older photo of one of the E12s that I tracked down on Facebook (also not mine):
Friends of Buses and Coaches | Porthmadog this afternoon with this Yutong running on trade plates seen on one of the charging bays | Facebook
Porthmadog this afternoon with this Yutong running on trade plates seen on one of the charging bays. Came up from Newport this morning.
www.facebook.com
Heavy delays on the Sixes have always been a risk given how road conditions on the A6 can be but the number of faulty buses etc have skyrocketed - they desperately need a change of "traction" having gone from the largely bullet proof Scanias of the previous era.
When it works it's an excellent service and I remember the first time I used it 10 plus years ago being impressed - but now it's best to use a live tracker, guess a vague time you want to try and travel and don't rely too much on precise timings if you are on the core route section which is no way to travel really.
Skymonster
Established Member
- Joined
- 7 Feb 2012
- Messages
- 2,060
A sad inditement on the Sixes which seems to occur on almost a daily basis I’m afraid. At least in your case someone from TB came along and said something - that’s pretty rare in my experience and more often staff prefer to stay in the office (Derby and Belper in particular) rather than tell people what’s going on. To be fair though, MOST (but certainly not all) of the drivers are friendly. For Duffield, Belper, Cromford and Matlock East Midlands Trains tends to be much more reliable these days, albeit less frequent - and for Ambergate, Whatstandwell or beyond Matlock up to Bakewell the hourly HighPeak / TransPeak is also usually more dependable. TB fans claim the Sixes are particularly poor and not totally representative of TB, and that’s as maybe, but with it being the only route I use reflects very badly on my impression of the company. Far from being the ‘really good bus company’ I regard it as the really crap bus company - to the extent that I’ll almost always use the train rather than TB (the train has the advantage of being cheaper too, with a railcard). In my part of Derby, we have Arriva. At one time I wished we had TB instead - now I’m far from that view, because while Arriva have older / tattier buses that often run late (arguably because of congestion and masses of roadworks), they actually turn up more often.
StavBered
Member
I think that trent being really unreliable only seems to be an issue at Derby because I frequently have to use their Langley Mill services (the two and the ilkeston flyer) and they're consistently on time or maybe running just a bit late, and a lot of the time they're late it's not even their fault, I remember a week ago or so there was some sort of oil truck pulled over by the police right near Heanor Church and it was causing chaos, our bus went from being on time to 25 minutes late...
I prefer that yellow front alot more than that blue frontThe first couple of Yutong E12s have turned up at Kinchbus's depot in Loughborough (not my photo):
Kinchbus 3204 & 3205
3204 / YB75 ORT Yutong E12 Kinchbus 3205 / YB75 ORU Yutong E12 Kinchbus
For some reason, the front centre panel has been repainted blue, which I think looks a bit weird. Here's an older photo of one of the E12s that I tracked down on Facebook (also not mine):
Friends of Buses and Coaches | Porthmadog this afternoon with this Yutong running on trade plates seen on one of the charging bays | Facebook
Porthmadog this afternoon with this Yutong running on trade plates seen on one of the charging bays. Came up from Newport this morning.
callum3490
Member
The issues with the sixes are well known with them due the ex twos B8RLEs soon, most have returned from repaint. The B8s will definitely suit the demanding route more so than the current versas but age and mileage isn’t on their side… we’ll see how they get on
Truthfully the two B8s weren't the most reliable while on the two, the reason the versas have failed so spectacularly is down to Derbys maintaince, the same way Swift, Villager (pre ADLs), Red Arrows (pre Yutongs) & many other routes have prolonged months of severe cancellations due to not having enough spare vehicles to cover PVR, things have improved but still runs are being dropped daily.
Other depots seem to struggle a lot less than Derby... one might assume engineering or leaders were better elsewhere.
SSmith2009
Member
Maybe its been done like that for route branding similar to the 11/12 versas.
Trainman40083
Established Member
I have to say, that if I was going go catch the bus from Derby to Duffield, I always go for the Transpeak, with their Citaros...The 6.2 most frequently only runs two hourly , if at all...The 6.3 usually runs. The 6.1 usually runs, but sometimes not all the way to Bakewell. It frequently runs late back, inevitable with traffic around Matlock and Matlock Bath. When it comes back to Derby, it goes on to work the 6.4 then the 6X then back on the 6.1. I know many, many people in Belper have now totally discounted the Trentbarton service. They drive or catch the train. The train costs £6.30 off peak return, Belper to Derby, so you can see why people who pay the full fare, even the £3 capped fares, would. That leaves the Sixes with primarily intermediate passengers or those on ENCTS passes etc. There is talk of failures of engineering. Even a walk past the depot in Derby, shows the extent of the problem. The other day, there were buses queuing for attention from most routes. Four Sixes Versas and a Mango spare were under repair, some in the yard being worked on. Add in smashed up 845 from Lower Kilburn, and at best you have lost half of your branded fleet. Is it poor maintenance OR is it they don't get the time to maintain them as well as they would want. Parts prices have risen, maybe less available then add in a significant fall in revenue, post COVID, not helped by significant numbers of passengers not using the buses as they once did. BUT, for many of us, including me, it does not translate into using my car more. I just shop differently. Others work from home. Profits at Trentbarton specifically will be down Company accounts ) All that money spent on taxi refunds. One does hope that the Volvos, make a different. 771 is said to be fully branded. A couple are yet to come back from painting. But for those of you using the bus. Try to do a quick calculation of fares paid. Passholders, Mango users, and irregular passengers that may not travel very often. Now there is talk of missing buses. I think Derby was short of 22 buses one day last week. 10 to 16 is not unusual. Maybe the fare cap compared to normal fares is affecting them far more, than say Arriva. A key problem is still communication. Passengers who stand at bus stops where buses never turn up, may not use the bus again. I am actually fascinated to see what happens on some displays. Some show a time, then show due, then drop off. What does a service 10 to 15 minutes late show? You get a no show, you book a taxi then a bus appears. Do you catch the bus next time? Are the timetables actually achievable, or will they keep blaming traffic? Every so often, Arriva change their timetables to reflect reality. But, buses taking longer to complete journeys means more buses to run the route, needing more drivers and more cost. If the profit isn't there in the route, what then?
callum3490
Member
Exactly - I can’t actually see the situation on the sixes being improved long term with the introduction of the B8s but only time will tell I suppose
Lets hope that the timely introduction of kinchbus yutongs helps the situation somewhat - that should see 5 spares returned to trent
Trainman40083
Established Member
Many days, it is easy to see just how many routes operated by Derby have missing buses . Now you mention other depots. I know Nottingham and Langley Mill have buses on routes such as ONE, i4, Indigo and probably others where buses are peak time extras. That means buses can be maintained during the day (as you have spares for say 5 hours). You can swap out another bus that needs attention. But the more spares you have the more cost you have. There used to be a figure of 10% spare cover. There is a term in business, when times are hard . Sweat the assets to get them deliver more. Inevitable those assets fail. Trouble is around 40% of your passengers have a choice. They may have to walk past a car, get an Uber, go out with friends, go locally. It would be fair to say, that post COVID, the bus has never had so much competition. But not all from the car. Electric bikes, internet shopping etc.
YX73OUB
Member
Some interesting points above and in further posts too.
The threes have a PVR of 19, the nines of 14 and neither have reductions off peak. Flexibility has increased by connect and 90 earlier losing branding, which as we know is restrictive. We do struggle sometimes, the fleet all serve demanding routes and our oldest buses are 2009 plated and as such this brings challenges, none more so than between 2021&2023 where it was common to have up to (of the then 18 buses required) 12 off the threes, there was lots of hardwork behind the scenes and frustration from both engineers and drivers who genuinely care about the jobs they do & the service they provide.
Engineering at Derby has had a restructure and the Volvos will be a welcome boost for the sixes, in and amongst that internal publicity has stated a timetable review and brand refresh will give the service a boost and driver numbers are now much better - with a recent pay rise being brought in to help, too.
And as someone quite rightly posted above, additional spare pools will be boosted by displacements at Kinch and Derby (the versas will displace Volvos and older versas in the fleet, which will ultimately free up Volvos for future spare coverage and planned service enhancements)
It's been a tricky, uncertain and unpredictable time for an industry that is for sure but I am more than hopeful that better times lie ahead.
Trainman40083
Established Member
Hey at least you had the joy of Enviro 200MMC 277, unless it went back after about 16 months. And I am sure you love 480 and 483 Solos, which were among the first buses to get the brighter red generic livery. In terms of Derby it could do with at least 10 more spare buses .. BUT if I was the Finance Director, that would be a no, because the numbers would not stack up. We have also seen too many buses in crashes, possibly Enviro 200MMC, 160 at Langley Mill early Saturday morning. I really hope the driver is okay, but sadly we are seeing some woeful driving from car drivers, who quite frankly should never drive again. So, at the moment, fleet strength is depleted by the loss of two Nines Enviros, one i4, one Sixes Versa and 160, which puts more strain on the fleet. I've not heard of any new buses on order for Trentbarton.