It was done fleet by fleet, so quite slowly. I started with First Manchester in Jan '05 and they had 5 digits by then, you must have left just before. Infact, it led to some oddities. First PMT was IIRC the first fleet done. They had some ex GM Olympians which were renumbered. They were then sent back to Manchester, who gave them their original 4 digit numbers back and then had to give them their "original" 5 digit numbers back thus making them out of sequence with their siblings!! Totally mad!
It was about 2002 to 2003 and yes, you're right that PMT and Manchester were the ones treated first. One oddity is that Solos were numbered in the midi series 4**** initially. However, as the role out continued, later adoptees such as West Yorkshire numbered them in the 5**** mini series.
The profit had been privatised, so it was time to nationalise the losses.
It was working so well before. That’s why there was widespread opposition to the franchising regime.
This was 2015 and wasn't the issue was that Stagecoach were making too much money?
Ah yes - if only there was an evening service then we'd use it...
Theres been a 2055 24 from Harrogate to Pateley Bridge, 2155 return, for some time now on Fridays and Saturdays so an equivalent could work on other rural routes
It really does depend when and where. They were introduced on the X93 and succeeded yet evening services on the 34 from Richmond to Darlington didn't. Nor did they up Swaledale and that too was only on a Friday and Saturday.
Well no surprise there, a night out in Darlington, or a night out in Harrogate, Scarborough or Whitby, I know which of the four will be the most appealing lol. Swaledale services I am surprised at however given Richmond ain't too bad for it's pubs.
I can't see public opinion changing by 2028, no matter what improvements or worsening we see. If things have got worse (which would surprise me) then it might affect the 2032 election.
I don’t think things will get worse but people are expecting things to get better that isn’t under the mayor’s control
I think this is a very important point. The public are expecting (and have been told) that buses will get better thanks to franchising. If they don't, the public will see it as a failure. Buses getting worse and buses not seeing any sort of improvements will both be branded as a failing of Weaver Network by the general public. 2028 is too soon with the network not being fully rolled out across West Yorkshire but by 2032, the public will be expecting to see improvements to buses.
The public are more reasonable than you think they are not magically expecting buses to run on time. Manchester subreddit is an example of how the general public react to franchising not many have any negative comments to say and when you do find a negative comment it tends to be from an enthusiast.
It doesn't have to be buses running on time. It can be improvements to the vehicles themselves, improvements to frequency, etc. Any improvement that Brabin has said will come about as a result of franchising.
Well getting rid of First's AI timetables would be a big improvement.
