Agreed about the 15 year extension for the deckers, problem being now is that any decker over 15 years old is a step decker, the DLA's wont be 15 years old until late in 2013. I do think arriva should take a leaf out of Stagecoaches book for keeping some buses going longer if in good condition. However, this may also reflect how the different companies take care of their buses as well. That however, is another argument altogether.
I tip my hat to Bootle for their decker-allocating efforts this weekend. Saturday appeared to have a full allocation of deckers on the 55 and 58 with a majority on the 52, while Sunday had full houses on the 52 and 55 routes. Of course, the point stands that double deckers should be the ordinary buses allocated to the likes of the busy 52 and 55 routes, such are their loadings, but this is still a good effort from Bootle when other depots on Merseyside did nothing to cope with the high demand of the final pre-Christmas weekend.
(23/12/2012 23:55)K101HUM Wrote: [ -> ]Oh yes, apologies forgot that 4400 and 4401 will be staying put. Quite a shame not to see the back of the full batch really!
Your right on that one I believe V671, a number of complaints over a period of time down to how many passengers are being left behind at stops due to the overcrowding on the 12/13 corridor. I can only assume it is past Tuebrook Iceland/Green Lane, as we know the 15 and 18 serve in conjunction with the 12/13's to this point frequently. Having used this section of road network and the Arriva services many a time, it gets very busy even at the quietest periods and I am sure there are people who too have experienced this. The problem is the depot are reluctant to have deckers on their allocation and therefore I fear thwarts the possibility of any Envrio400's or spare ALX400 DAF DB250's making their way to Green Lane, despite their being a strong case for an allocation of at least some double deckers. Green Lane has had its fair share investment over the past few years, though even a trial of ALX400 DB250's could be a step forward in terms of an increase in available capacity?
Maybe we should put management on a peak time 12/13 Stockbridge bound and see what they think then... Clearly only care about getting their pay check at the end of the week and don't give a toss about the general passenger.
Green Lane operating Bootle's routes today meant the obvious problem with capacity on a busy day in town was exacerbated. I have no doubt that had Bootle been operating, they would have had deckers out across the board. A couple of casual observations of Pulsar 2s with coloured blocks moquette departing Sir Thomas Street on 52 and 55 trips at around 15.10 (relatively early) saw both depart completely full. This needs to be looked at urgently for next year - if it were possible for Bootle to run instead of Green Lane, perhaps some of the Tuebrook routes could also benefit from buses of the two-decked variety.
Cadet DK55 FXB (2517) and a DAF/ALX400 were on the 58 yesterday. Cadet CX07 CSO (2638) was on the 52/52A, along with V661 DVU (7661) - and V649 DVU (7649) was on there in the evening! The 52/52A has had a variety of buses on it recently; cold Marshall V675 DVU (7675) was surprisingly out for an entire night last week!
i can confirm 2638 has arrived at bolton depot for service
Have Bootle got spare double deckers all of a sudden with all the odd workings that seem to be happening recently, not so how odd it is these days but on Thursday the Hope College liveried Enviro 400 did 14:51 Skelmersdale-Liverpool and 16:35 Liverpool-Skelmersdale return service, other buses noted on 311 on Thursday were 3 Cadets, 1 Plaxton SLF Dart and 3 Pulsars
(19/01/2013 07:14)M60lad Wrote: [ -> ]Have Bootle got spare double deckers all of a sudden with all the odd workings that seem to be happening recently, not so how odd it is these days but on Thursday the Hope College liveried Enviro 400 did 14:51 Skelmersdale-Liverpool and 16:35 Liverpool-Skelmersdale return service, other buses noted on 311 on Thursday were 3 Cadets, 1 Plaxton SLF Dart and 3 Pulsars
By my calculations, Bootle have 23 double deckers; the twelve Enviro400s plus the following eleven DLAs: 4026, 4028, 4030, 4063, 4064, 4074, 4082, 4089, 4090, 4094 and 4095. They've also loaned out 4029 and given up at least eight others, mainly to Bolton. This is rather less than last year when they had 32 at one point!