Mikestone - IIRC the last decker of the evenings is the 19:20 off macc. From then on due to it being much quieter it'll more than likely be solos on the night duties, virtually the exact same as the deckers just missing the announcements/sapphire branding.
(27/10/2016 13:59)mikestone Wrote: [ -> ]The ones that went to Baker/Harrington's were in last weeks route one as "further reduced" and I think there are some at Ensign still in this weeks.
Thanks mike, do you know if any has been scrapped since the K-DAO deckers
For those who have followed my fleetlist of the GHA Group over the years I owe an apology. I have discovered that it was not correct. At a recent visit to the Ruabon depot and to a part I have never previously visited - namely the rear of the paint shop - I found a bus that has been sitting there probably since GHA moved into the depot at Ruabon in 2007.
It was sitting behind and completely obscured by the Bedford Dominant DBX548W - which incidentally is still there but unfortunately I understand that is no longer wanted by the family and may be sold in the 4th auction (if it takes place).
The bus missing from my fleetlist is:-
W608XBA Mercedes-Benz Vario / Cunliffe – B16FL – new 4/2000 - with GHA 9/2005 - it was an ex Dudley MBC welfare bus - acquired accident damaged.
I can only assume that after repairs were started - including giving it the GHA White livery – further repairs were abandoned. It has therefore sat in the depot since.
Apologies for my oversight - I guarantee it will not happen again (not with the GHA fleet that is !!)
Ron
Does anyone know when the permanent replacement contracts for former GHA routes in Cheshire West will be announced? I heard Cheshire West & Chester council awarded 16 week emergency contracts meaning the replacements should start 4 weeks after the new Cheshire East contracts started.
.
Having visited the Ruabon depot today I can confirm that there are still 66 buses / coaches at the premises - some of course are non-runners. Quite a number of those apparently sold at the 2nd auction, and a few from the 3rd auction are still at Ruabon and for varying reasons the sales have not been completed.
I am advised that there will be a 4th sale and details are to be announced by the auctioneers,
Landwood, soon. It will probably be held by the end of the month.
Most of the 66 vehicles are likely to be offerred for sale and this will include :-
DBX548W Bedford YMQ / Duple Dominant IV (1980) which was the first full size vehicle owned by the business.
In celebration of the 2nd anniversary of my website I have given it a slight makeover. I have revised the GHA disposals section -
LINK – and have introduced colour codes. The vehicles in yellow are the ones still at Ruabon. The ones in ORANGE are currently untraced and information of their location / new owners would be very welcome.
I have also updated the former GHA Routes page –
LINK -
Ron
Really hope the duple dominant gets saved either for future use with another operator or preserved. I know there's some still about but not that many nowadays.
Now that it's been a few months since GHA ceased operations how are the former GHA routes fairing?
From what I've seen:
The 82 is fairing well despite the frequency reduction to hourly. I'm inclined to think the 82 would probably survive as an hourly commercial service, if it's not already being operated commercially and if it's contracted then there probably should be provision to add in extra services particularly at school/college/work starting and ending times.
The 88, has the same standard frequency even if some of the early and late buses have been withdrawn. Fairly recently the operator changed again, the timetable was recast to improve reliability, better buses* were introduced and a weekly ticket is available for just £15 which is certainly lower than the average weekly ticket price in the area. Passenger numbers did initially drop following the collapse of GHA and the first couple of weeks of post-GHA service being a not well advertised reduced service. However, from my observations passenger numbers are now higher than they were under GHA. The reduction in the 27 and 289 services may have helped increase usage if people (particularly pensioners) just want to go somewhere other than Knutsford town centre for shopping.
The 27 is another service which has seen two operators post-GHA. The first one increased the fares at the same time as the frequency was cut - which doesn't help in making the service attractive and since then all services have been routed via the slower Over Peover route, which may attract a couple of extra passengers but makes the service less attractive for people travelling between Knutsford and Macclesfield. The impression I get is the number of people using the service has gone down quite a bit since the frequency was reduced. Although the loadings on the 13:15 Knutsford to Macc and 16:00 Macc to Knutsford could increase again as it gets colder as those services are often used by people visiting patients in Macclesfield hospital.
The 289 has seen a reduction and more of a reduction in services to Altrincham than services to Northwich, which isn't a surprise as very few people seemed to use the bus to and from Altrincham. However, from my observations there used to be some decent loadings on arrivals and departures from Northwich, which don't seem to be the case as much now. I'm not sure if the recasts of the 45 and 289 services have meant that some passengers who used to use the 289 now use the 45 instead.
The 200 seems to have a lot of services with low usage but that was the case under GHA as well, so no change there.
* I'm sure some people will argue Solo SRs are not good buses but the ones being used are modern, high specification ones which seem to be going down well with the majority of passengers.
.
4th Auction at Ruabon
Bidding for the next on-line auction will close on 24th November 2016 with a viewing day on Tuesday 22nd November. -
LINK TO BIDSPOTTER SITE -
As predicted the Bedford / Duple Dominant
DBX548W is included in the sale (LOT 872)
Also included in the sale are a few items not connected with GHA including (LOT 873) a Scania / Irizar coach
622 HFJ (originally
YN05HFO) which is ex Dreamline.
I have updated my GHA Disposals page with the auction lot details -
LINK -
The Three Former T3 Deckers are now with Lloyds Coaches of Machynlleth.
Two currently located in Machynlleth with a third parked up in Dolgellau
Lloyds Destinations have been programmed into the destinations displays
(16/11/2016 17:48)Nwales Bus Wrote: [ -> ]The Three Former T3 Deckers are now with Lloyds Coaches of Machynlleth.
Two currently located in Machynlleth with a third parked up in Dolgellau
Lloyds Destinations have been programmed into the destinations displays
Good deal from Ensign on resale then? In seriousness good to see them return for the T3.