Seen quite a few 98s this week and they all seem, to be leaving Liverpool & Birkenhead with a handful of passengers if not empty. The 1A is deinfitely the success route, stil annihilating the 411 and i saw one arrive in Liverpool today with a fully seated load
I do wonder in the longer term whether the vehicles presently running the 98 could be used to improve the frequency of some of there other routes
(22/06/2013 10:47)R874 ERE Wrote: [ -> ] (21/06/2013 20:01)KU02 YUH Wrote: [ -> ]I can't believe that the Pulsar is STILL here!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28011506@N04/9103117188/
It wouldnt suprise me if, after its issues a few weeks back, they had repaired it an let Impera keep it a bit longer, just to prove it was misfortune it breaking on them, and trying to bribe back their custom in the hope they might still buy some pulsars!
Just a thought...
Does anybody know how long Impera where supposed to have it for?
To be completely honest, as a person who likes Pulsars, Arriva/VDL/Wright completely messed that up for themselves. What were they thinking by sending a four-year-old, aged bus for trials which NEARLY led to a successful order when Alexander Dennis sent top-of-the-range models?! How they expected to win that battle is beyond me...
It was supposed to stay at Impera for ten days, but an electrical fault caused it to fail after a few days. It was repaired and, after another few days, its suspension broke. After a week or two of inactivity (Arriva messed-up again), the bus was fixed and the Pulsar was allowed to stay for another ten days, which seem to have rolled into more than ten... At the moment, it may be going back on Monday!
(22/06/2013 16:06)busdude Wrote: [ -> ]KU02 YUH's bumper has finally been repainted from the unusual green color to the imperas blue colour
Indeed! Apparently, it's next to be repainted - after 2511's door conversion (from two to one) has been completed. 2526 is also planned to have conversion work, but 2538 isn't.
(22/06/2013 20:39)wirralbus Wrote: [ -> ]I do wonder in the longer term whether the vehicles presently running the 98 could be used to improve the frequency of some of there other routes
Nope. Patronage on the 98 is steadily increasing, with more passengers purchasing weekly and monthly tickets on there as time goes on. As a matter of fact, loads seem to be pretty healthy at the moment and the company is happy with its progress. As a matter of fact, it's still a relatively new service and its change to serve Maryland Lane in Moreton will hopefully attract more passengers.
Two Lothian Y-registered SPDs, which are supposed to be in immaculate condition, have been purchased and will arrive during the start of August sometime to replace the two S-registered SPDs. Five 52-plated examples may follow in the future. 2363 has been sold for preservation by the owner of the orange Atlantean which lives in Impera's yard at the moment.
What people may be observing in Birkenhead is that there is not enough passengers for the amount of buses operating now between Birkenhead and Liverpool across all companies .
(23/06/2013 07:44)wirralbus Wrote: [ -> ]What people may be observing in Birkenhead is that there is not enough passengers for the amount of buses operating now between Birkenhead and Liverpool across all companies .
Impera may be better off extending their buses to Liverpool during "peak" hours only, i.e. between 7 and 9am Monday-Friday, and a more limited service on a weekend.
e.g. on a route with 1 bus every 30 minutes, just extend 1 bus an hour to Liverpool, the other finishing at Birkenhead.
Birkenhead-Liverpool is over-saturated with excess capacity during off peak hours.
i seen a number of 1A buses and 98 buses heading for liverpool one day last week and i can say most of them left with a half seated load or better, i think if given more time for the routes to mature they will improve more, i am glad impera are giving routes like this a go as am sick of watching the bigger companys run everything, keep it up impera!
Do bus companies have to pay tunnel costs or do Merseytravel give them free access?
Presumably some charges must apply as they must be responsible for the majority of road wear costs.
They have to pay for Mersey Tunnel usage , I do know Arriva use fast tags
(23/06/2013 18:13)bolton bus basher Wrote: [ -> ]i seen a number of 1A buses and 98 buses heading for liverpool one day last week and i can say most of them left with a half seated load or better, i think if given more time for the routes to mature they will improve more, i am glad impera are giving routes like this a go as am sick of watching the bigger companys run everything, keep it up impera!
Most of the time when it comes to Liverpool its which ever bus arrives first people will get , in a half seated load how many have paid though , how many are OAP's which at best dont give good renumeration.
could not tell u who was on as it was just scanning my eyes over