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I got told back in May that slowly, all Stagecoach buses will get radios fitted. The buses that Chester have recieved from Gilmoss have had the radios took out.

(17/11/2014 21:27)Shaun821 Wrote: [ -> ]Drivers of both depots have to wait up to 5 minutes after their departure time from Heswall if the other bus hasnt arrived. Once 5 minutes is up, if theres no sign of it then they can depart.

34818 arrived at Chester today. Could of been 34601 going the other way as its had NFS in windscreen sinse end of last week. Ill try and confirm that tomorrow. Looks like Chester may be hanging on to 34600 once its correct part eventually turns up. Cant see them getting rid of it after the money they have spent getting it repaired after its fire early this year.

Thats because after 5 mins late its a possible breach of the registration with which the route was granted by the traffic commissioners . I would which route is more likely to be the late running culprit.

Well it always seems to be the X22 thats waiting for the 38. The X22 is rather generously timed especially the 11 minutes from Parkgate to Heswall that takes about 7/8. Never done a 38 so wouldnt know how well, or not well, timed it is.

Think it will be the Bromborough Retail Park and Birkenhead Town Centre and Moreton Cross that will cause the delays on the 38.

Bromborough Retail Park could be alleviated by having a bit longer layover than at the Heswall end of the route .

As Christmas comes though all three of those locations will become extremely busy .

Neston can get very busy on Market day in particular as well.

34816 noted by Woodside, Birkenhead at approx 3pm this afternoon, not in service.

HTH

Oh well thats too very long waits for the 31 Chester Park and Ride today , the amount of disgruntled passengers saying that next time they come to chester they will just drive straight into the city centre and take there chances getting a parking space .

Going to Chester it seems there had been a 24 minute gap in the service so the bus picked up a full load of passengers and a full load of standees and still left a load for the next park and ride bus , which happened to just pull in as we departed.

Then coming back was equally as bad with a long wait and full load and standing passengers , also like a carbon copy of the outward journey just as the bus was pulling away the next one arrives.

Seems like not a good advert for the P&R services at Chester .

Observations also had two 30's chasing each other also and never saw the 32 at all , 33 operates from a location which i never reached in chester today.

(22/11/2014 17:56)wirralbus Wrote: [ -> ]Oh well thats too very long waits for the 31 Chester Park and Ride today , the amount of disgruntled passengers saying that next time they come to chester they will just drive straight into the city centre and take there chances getting a parking space .

Going to Chester it seems there had been a 24 minute gap in the service so the bus picked up a full load of passengers and a full load of standees and still left a load for the next park and ride bus , which happened to just pull in as we departed.

Then coming back was equally as bad with a long wait and full load and standing passengers , also like a carbon copy of the outward journey just as the bus was pulling away the next one arrives.

Seems like not a good advert for the P&R services at Chester .

Observations also had two 30's chasing each other also and never saw the 32 at all , 33 operates from a location which i never reached in chester today.

This is another argument for buses being equipped with two-way radios. Whenever I have used Park-and Ride facilities at Manchester airport and there have been queues at the various stops the drivers immediately inform the controllers of the fact and buses are despatched to sort the problem. As all buses are now fitted with GPS is it really that difficult to resolve these problems? Apparently, the iBus system used by TfL even tells the controller what the driver had for breakfast.

Even holding the second bus a while is a better option than having them both chasing each other down all day , this is what seems like happened today.

Take into account there are only 2 buses on the 31. Traffic on Sealand Road and in the bus exchange can hold them up. When drivers change over that slows things down and also having inexperienced drivers on the park and ride wont help matters this time of year. They have a board and times to stick to like every other bus service so holding the second bus back isnt an option because then Stagecoach will end up with more dropped mileage. Theres a lot more to running a bus than travelling passengers think there is.

(22/11/2014 23:25)Shaun821 Wrote: [ -> ]Take into account there are only 2 buses on the 31. Traffic on Sealand Road and in the bus exchange can hold them up. When drivers change over that slows things down and also having inexperienced drivers on the park and ride wont help matters this time of year. They have a board and times to stick to like every other bus service so holding the second bus back isnt an option because then Stagecoach will end up with more dropped mileage. Theres a lot more to running a bus than travelling passengers think there is.

inexperienced poor drivers having to drive upwards of nearly 70+ passengers like today , thats more than some services buses in Chester will carry on there entire journey .

That park and ride service today was totally unacceptable for a company stagecoach.

On Saturdays an extra vehicle would be a better option , it can only get worse now as we run up to Christmas .