(09/01/2016 17:36)knutstransport Wrote: [ -> ]In the early days of GHA running the 88 route there was once when a Llan Express livered bus filled in for one of the route branded Versas. To make it look even more lost the driver missed a turning in Knutsford and had to reverse in to a side road to turn the bus around. I think it's rare for a bus to be that far off the route it's branded for without having been loaned to another operator.
Don't forget that back in the early days of the 88, it was operated by Ruabon
(09/01/2016 19:04)Nwales Bus Wrote: [ -> ]Don't forget that back in the early days of the 88, it was operated by Ruabon
I think that route has been operated by pretty much every GHA depot at some point
(09/01/2016 19:07)Valandil Wrote: [ -> ]I think that route has been operated by pretty much every GHA depot at some point
Actually Winsford haven't despite it being currently the closest depot to Knutsford.
Wasn't there one point where one of the 88 Versas was based at Ruabon, the other was based at Tarvin and the 88 Dart (that was usually used on the morning peak extra) was based at Macclesfield?
(10/01/2016 09:48)knutstransport Wrote: [ -> ]Actually Winsford haven't despite it being currently the closest depot to Knutsford.
I may have missed this somewhere further up the thread, but why did macclesfield close? As there was a fair amount of work from there up to christmas.
Yesterday while I was I noticed the following:
42 branded Enviro 200 on 16/45 routes in Warrington
Deebee branded Solo with Hymn Number 44 in the Windscreen in Crewe
New Solo SR on 42 in Crewe
Unbranded Cheshire Connect MPD on 42 in Crewe
T510APS on its usual haunt these days plying its trade on 36
(10/01/2016 10:13)djb Wrote: [ -> ]I may have missed this somewhere further up the thread, but why did macclesfield close? As there was a fair amount of work from there up to christmas.
GHA withdrew a number of number of school/college contracts and infrequent services due to the number of non-accessible buses they were operating which didn't meet legal requirements for post-1st Jan 2016 services.
Does anyone know what happened regarding the following which were all mentioned a while back in the thread:
1. The acquisition of bus YM52 TPV. I know it wasn't in good condition and it was reported quite a while ago GHA were planning to refurbish it and put it on services in Cheshire East, but nothing's been posted since.
2. Acquiring more Optare Metrocities. It was suggested GHA would be acquiring two more so that all Warrington services would usually be operated by new buses.
3. Refurbishing older vehicles. It was stated that some of the older vehicles (presumably the Darts) would be refurbished to a similar standard to the new buses which GHA had recently acquired.
(10/01/2016 10:52)knutstransport Wrote: [ -> ]Does anyone know what happened regarding the following which were all mentioned a while back in the thread:
1. The acquisition of bus YM52 TPV. I know it wasn't in good condition and it was reported quite a while ago GHA were planning to refurbish it and put it on services in Cheshire East, but nothing's been posted since.
2. Acquiring more Optare Metrocities. It was suggested GHA would be acquiring two more so that all Warrington services would usually be operated by two buses.
3. Refurbishing older vehicles. It was stated that some of the older vehicles (presumably the Darts) would be refurbished to a similar standard to the new buses which GHA had recently acquired.
From a driver there are supposed to be further Metrocities coming for Warrington but gave no date. He also mentioned that GHA are planning on big expansion in Warrington, a surprise to no one, but believes they will be competing on the 5 next.
(10/01/2016 11:21)Lynx Wrote: [ -> ]From a driver there are supposed to be further Metrocities coming for Warrington but gave no date. He also mentioned that GHA are planning on big expansion in Warrington, a surprise to no one, but believes they will be competing on the 5 next.
Small-scale expansion could definitely work on the inter-urban routes like the 5, or say towards Leigh/Earlestown (even though GHA probably won't go for those two areas).
But I think that a large-scale expansion is the only way to win big rewards on the town services in the area.
For instance, a competitor could do well on the Orfords, 20/21(/25), but they would have to match or exceed Network Warrington's frequency while also charging slightly less than the incumbent, which would take a lot of resources.
Fairbrothers's half-hearted attempt at the Orfords, with their 21X, shows that you can't just put say one vehicle on there and hope people will flock towards that inferior service.
(10/01/2016 11:21)Lynx Wrote: [ -> ]From a driver there are supposed to be further Metrocities coming for Warrington but gave no date. He also mentioned that GHA are planning on big expansion in Warrington, a surprise to no one, but believes they will be competing on the 5 next.
If they're planning to literally duplicate the number 5 I can't see that being successful, the former Warrington Coachway services had low loadings leaving Altrincham even during the period when Network Warrington stopped serving Altrincham in the off-peak period. If GHA are planning a different route to make end to end journeys quicker or to serve places which don't currently have regular Warrington services then it might be a different matter.