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forgot to post this I noticed yesterday Lloyds had two brand new Enviro 200s on the T3 whether there was more i do not know as i only seen two i presume they are leased rather than brand new but im not to sure on that, The registrations have slipped my head now but both were YY16 ***.

(28/07/2016 19:21)DLG817 Wrote: [ -> ]Some vehicles have left to finance companies including the following :-

Dart SF04ZXC,
Solos YJ59GFX, YJ59GFY, YJ60KBU, YJ60KBP,
Centros CN57EFC, CN57EFD,
Panther AA08GHA
Caetano Enigma GO54BCL
Cheetahs AA06GHA, AA07GHA
Cadets YJ04BVB, YJ04BVC, YJ04BVD
Sprinter WX05XVN, KE04JUY
Profiles FJ08BYG, FJ08BYT
President W465WGH

When you say they've left for financing companies, does that mean they've gone to companies who had given loans to GHA as a result of the loans not being repaid?

Quote:The Administrations are in the process of receiving tenders and will soon appoint an agent to sell the vehicles probably by an on-line auction.

I'll be interested to see what happens with buses like the Beartown Enviros and the Metrocities, with GHA putting their branding on the seat covers possibly it could lower the value of the buses slightly as a new operator will presumably allow for replacing the seat covers when they get the buses opposed to just an external repaint and changing passenger notices.

Transport Service Solutions, as far as I am aware, is not an operator just Cheshire East Council's hived off transport department. Presumably one of their staff is manning the phone and someone else providing the vehicle?

I'm expecting D&G to pick up the Beartown Buses, and maybe a Cheshire Connect Solo or two, means minimal rebranding needs doing before using them.

(30/07/2016 11:31)mikestone Wrote: [ -> ]Transport Service Solutions, as far as I am aware, is not an operator just Cheshire East Council's hived off transport department. Presumably one of their staff is manning the phone and someone else providing the vehicle?

TSS have their own minibuses:


I believe the D&G Little Bus fleet is also owned by TSS (Cheshire East council have transferred all public transport related activities to TSS) which is why they transferred to D&G when they got the contract for flexible transport services.

I have to say Ron, looking at your list, there are quite a few Sunday/Evening buses. Tell me which bus company doesnt have 1 bus spare on a Sunday for 37/35a? It is one bus and a few drivers. Just get another few drivers in for the day. Voel have a bus for Wednesday/Friday service 40. Why not operate Tuesday 37/41? Even if just these examples were done, that is 4 more routes that are covered. Even if only temporary. I think some companies are being greedy with the council as they know they are desperate so they will pay that bit more and I think bus companies are taking full advantage. I think even if some buses are run by minibuses like the smaller less used GHA solo routes then a minibus is better than no bus. These companies are winding me up at the moment. I hope a lot more routes are taken on soon.

(30/07/2016 12:12)Danfilm007 Wrote: [ -> ]I'm expecting D&G to pick up the Beartown Buses, and maybe a Cheshire Connect Solo or two, means minimal rebranding needs doing before using them.

Would D&G want the 54 reg Cheshire Connect Solos back? They are in poor condition and older than any of their Solos.

The Beartown Enviros are similar to the ex-Go Goowins Enviros in the D&G fleet but whether D&G would get them and keep the branding is a different question - it's a very different style of branding to the one Bakerbus used to use for Beartown services.

(30/07/2016 13:53)iMarkeh Wrote: [ -> ]I have to say Ron, looking at your list, there are quite a few Sunday/Evening buses. Tell me which bus company doesnt have 1 bus spare on a Sunday for 37/35a? It is one bus and a few drivers. Just get another few drivers in for the day. Voel have a bus for Wednesday/Friday service 40. Why not operate Tuesday 37/41? Even if just these examples were done, that is 4 more routes that are covered. Even if only temporary. I think some companies are being greedy with the council as they know they are desperate so they will pay that bit more and I think bus companies are taking full advantage. I think even if some buses are run by minibuses like the smaller less used GHA solo routes then a minibus is better than no bus. These companies are winding me up at the moment. I hope a lot more routes are taken on soon.

I imagine the difficulty is GHA offered to run services for very low subsides which no other operator would be willing to match and the councils have budgeted for GHA running the services not other operators who want slightly more. Other operators don't want to go in to administration like GHA have done!

In Cheshire East I imagine D&G would normally have been interested in routes north of Congleton but with all the work south of Congleton that's been made available they wouldn't have been able to find the resources to take on any more work at such short notice.

D&G are just legends. They took on so much. SC Chester and Arriva Chester could have done more. Even if Arriva Chester took a few evening Wrexhams and use the buses of the 12 as that finishes early. SC Chester always has deckers sat doing nothing. They could help with 82 or even use the deckers on silly routes like 51 and then send the darts to SP1/2. Arriva Chester has a large depot and few routes. I personally think they could do more. I know it may seem a lil harsh but Peter Allman could do the middle day DB4 then run to Upton for the school run. It is just small things that companies could do but just dont. D&G and Townlynx have taken on a heck of a lot and I think if it wasnt for them, not even half of GHA would be covered. Some companies have done small other bits but I deffo think there are more spare buses and drivers than people are letting on. Especially on Sundays/Evenings. Through the week cant they reduce some services and interwork them to save on buses? It wont work all the time but in some cases, I think it could work.

(30/07/2016 13:56)knutstransport Wrote: [ -> ]Would D&G want the 54 reg Cheshire Connect Solos back? They are in poor condition and older than any of their Solos.

The Beartown Enviros are similar to the ex-Go Goowins Enviros in the D&G fleet but whether D&G would get them and keep the branding is a different question - it's a very different style of branding to the one Bakerbus used to use for Beartown services.

There were a few 59 plate ones if I can recall, and as long as they're in okish condition (Most of them are), it's buses they can buy and hold onto for a few years and taking the dependency away from hiring in at the moment. They might keep the branding in the short term, it wouldn't be much of a shock either way to me.