(08/02/2015 10:21)Dentonian Wrote: [ -> ]I'll be brief as its off-topic:
I've seen the "pod" in Ashton, but never seen any sign of life there, or Police patrolling Ashton Bus Station....or any other Bus Station except Bolton.
Surprised that stings are supposedly after pressure from pedestrian "groups", as I thought the Pedestrians Asociation had been disbanded in GM.
I don't actually hold with the demeaning of PCSOs as they are the only Officers who actually walk the streets, rather than ride round in vans/cars, oblivious to everything going on around them. Also, I must admit I've never actually seen a Police Officer riding on the pavement in GM, but I did see one on the pavement across from Leeds Central Bus Station last time I was there.
The 'pod' is supposedly open office hours Mon - Fri which is ironical given the stench of weed in the bus station when I get off my bus late at night. Patrols have become quite frequent during the day - there was a PC with the stagecoach supervisor one day last week!
Clearly the fact the pod is in the bus station shows that there's some kind of initiative to combat criminal activity on the buses/trams.
Carnt say much about the pedestrian group as I don't want to land a member of my family in trouble but it's amazing what a certain amount of lobbying to Tony Lloyd can achieve!
Bolton depot operating an Enviro300 on the 37 in the afternoon peak period for the last couple of days
A rare workig from Dukinfield Depot today saw Versa 49114 on 339/419 circuit today in place of the usual Hybrid Solo SR.
I saw it heading through Chadderton towards Ashton on 419 at about 12:40 this afternoon
The following tenders from April will be operated by MCT as First have lost the tender to operate them:
38 Ashton-Hazelhurst (presumably evenings from First)
41 Ashton-Dukinfield (evenings from First)
64 Oldham-Middleton (Mon-Sat evenings from First)
339 Ashton-Crowhill (from First)
345 Ashton-Denton (from First/Stagecoach)
353/354 Ashton-Uppermill (Sundays from First)
393 Ashton-Hurst (Saturday mornings from First)
402 Oldham-Royton (from First)
408 Shaw-Stalybridge (Mon-Sat evenings from First)
410/411 Oldham-Glodwick circulars (from First)
419 Middleton-Ashton (From First - possibly reduced to hourly)
I wonder whether the above changes will see off some more of the Optare Solo fleet from both Oldham and Dukinfield Depots
(11/02/2015 12:05)Dentonian Wrote: [ -> ]Don't take this as a comprehensive list, as other Operators are losing/gaining work. Also, the registrations put in by MCT are not exactly clear concise and in the proper format (albeit many other Operators "bend" the rules when registering tendered services). For instance, the 41 regsitration doresn't match what they will be running.
Also, the 345 is only the evening peak journeys, albeit there might be other journeys yet to be signed off.
I suspect the 41 might actually be daytime rather than evenings as the 41 was always grouped with the 337 then the 339 Crowhill service and until the bridge work on Oldham road were interworked.
Also worth remembering that these contracts come with the Green Hybrid Solo/Versa's so presumably some will go from First to MCT.
On the face of it it dosen't look too bad for first as a lot of these tender gains are evenings, Sundays or odd early morning or peak journeys but add to that the tenders that have been withdrawn completly then it looks slightly worse. It's been hinted that the 338 and evening 41 has been cut as well as others. This will presumably coincide with the OM workings of the 348/350 switching back to Dukinfield.
Last week I only saw 6 bendys in service all week, being 12002/04/05/11/16/18. Have the rest been withdrawn alongside 12009?
First are celebrating its first anniversary since the takeover of Finglands. The article also states that Wi-Fi should be rolled out on more buses in the Spring, along with real-time information, which should be accessible via the First Bus app.
http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/greater_...311&conf=0
(17/02/2015 20:17)SF07 Wrote: [ -> ]First are celebrating its first anniversary since the takeover of Finglands. The article also states that Wi-Fi should be rolled out on more buses in the Spring, along with real-time information, which should be accessible via the First Bus app.
http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/greater_...311&conf=0
A friend of mine raves about the First app and the Carnet ticket. Have to say for someone whos not a frequent bus user it's the perfect thing and also means that scrabbling around for change isn't an issue.
I know Stagecoach have the smart cards for megariders/monthlys etc but their quite far behind First in terms of the app and what you can do with it.
Anyone know how popular the Carnet ticket is?
