Forum | Merseyside Dennis Dart Website

Vantage terminates at Stevenson Square

(06/04/2016 09:22)joe_alker Wrote: [ -> ]Vantage terminates at Stevenson Square

Thanks joe

(06/04/2016 20:01)Dentonian Wrote: [ -> ]I don't know about loadings, but operationally - along with other cross-city services - it sems to be running better in the peak than off-peak. I was crossing the city yesterday lunchtime (on a 37) and traffic was a lot worse than I've seen in recent months. Indeed, I saw two V1s an two V2s all within a few minutes heading out of town. The current route into Manchester sees them serving Piccadilly (under Victoria's Statue) to/from Stevenson Square, but presumably, when they continue down Oxford Road, they won't come anywhere near Piccadilly.

I must admit I have completly skipped the Vantage service and I'm not a big follower of First these days but who actually owns the Vantage buses? Is it First or TFGM in a similar way to the Metroshuttle Solos and Versa's.
Also presumably First are running it under contract. How long will the contract last before it's up for grabs again?

I also notice that the MEN had thier usual anti bus negativity when reporting on it opening last week. As well as comments from Councillor Fender and someone from First the MEN stated that the majority of residents who lived on the route of the guided busway were against it and felt it was a complete waste of money - did they knock on every door

(06/04/2016 08:07)pete tierney Wrote: [ -> ]Has anyone got an update on the Vantage Service, has it got off to a good start? I'm hoping to get up to give it a go next week-end.
Can anyone tell me where it goes to in Manchester City Centre, is it Piccadilly or Shudhill or elsewhere.
Thanks. Pete.

Had a ride on the V1 (leigh-manchester) today 12.00 departed leigh and top deck was full or families. Nice ride along the busway and then less exciting along main roads. 30 mins to salford flew by and the next 30 was stop-start with the traffic and traffic lights. Everybody was off at Piccadilly/Portland st (stop R). Journey to manchester took under an hour. Noticed two ads for the wifi and whatnot was held by one frame clip and not two.
Had half an hours mooch then got 13.30 or so bus back to leigh from stop CP King st (stop CO on google maps). A few people was already onboard on top deck, bottom deck was empty. Numbers quickly picked as it got to Salford Central. People TGFM hivis jackets boarded the bus at one of park and rides on the busway and I expect them to be inspectors but they wasn't. Stayed on until Tesco in Leigh. Bottom deck was more the TGFM people than commuters and families but wasn't completly full. I had overheard the driver recomending the top deck to a young woman, he said top deck was comfier.

Wifi is great-easy simple and quick to connect to
Comfy leather seats
Quiet hybrid engines
Next stop audio and visual announcements although a rather she sounds so different to her on Arriva Rail North's 319's. It works but very automated and American.

Passengers on both journeys both spoke of plus and negatives points.
Whether there'll be as many using this route next week when all the kids are back in school, only time will tell.

(06/04/2016 20:25)Mayneway Wrote: [ -> ]I also notice that the MEN had thier usual anti bus negativity when reporting on it opening last week. As well as comments from Councillor Fender and someone from First the MEN stated that the majority of residents who lived on the route of the guided busway were against it and felt it was a complete waste of money - did they knock on every door

Just go on any local news social media page or local forum covering the Leigh area - the negatives far outweigh the positives. I know of people who are boycotting it and sticking with the 34/X34. Even I was against it, as I would have rather seen on-line improvements to the existing corridors to improve accessibility to locals closer to the existing roads - I felt that the building of the actual guideway was a waste of money, especially as austerity kicked in, and that on-line improvements would have cost much less. The cost just doesn't seem worth it for the sake of a couple of minutes (bear in mind the X34 end-to-end time off peak was 55 minutes prior to the Busway starting, and often done faster given the amount of running time between Pendleton and Piccadilly).

As for loadings, they could be healthy because of the vanity effect of it being new. Look at the numbers of enthusiasts taking a trip too - my FB feed is full of photos from enthusiasts taking a trip on it. Time will tell if it remains as healthy or improves.

(07/04/2016 05:44)Nicholas Wrote: [ -> ]Just go on any local news social media page or local forum covering the Leigh area - the negatives far outweigh the positives. I know of people who are boycotting it and sticking with the 34/X34. Even I was against it, as I would have rather seen on-line improvements to the existing corridors to improve accessibility to locals closer to the existing roads - I felt that the building of the actual guideway was a waste of money, especially as austerity kicked in, and that on-line improvements would have cost much less. The cost just doesn't seem worth it for the sake of a couple of minutes (bear in mind the X34 end-to-end time off peak was 55 minutes prior to the Busway starting, and often done faster given the amount of running time between Pendleton and Piccadilly).

As for loadings, they could be healthy because of the vanity effect of it being new. Look at the numbers of enthusiasts taking a trip too - my FB feed is full of photos from enthusiasts taking a trip on it. Time will tell if it remains as healthy or improves.

To be fair I was exactly the same regarding the extending of Metrolink to Ashton. I thought it was complete waste of money and was a pointless exercise given that it would actually be no quicker than the exsisting alternative - 216!.
It's completly killed the trade in one town and has massively effected trade in another but to be fair despite everyone's negativity it seems to be doing ok.
I'm not 100% convinced it was for the better, the fact poor car drivers are constantly getting stuck on the lines isn't ideal - the road layout in some sections is quite confusing and could have been better designed.
But I suppose both are here to stay for the forseable

Thanks to you all who have provided feedback as to how vantage is performing, plus a lot of food for thought.
As I say. I should be up to give it a go next weekend, quite looking forward to it.

Cheers Guys.

Had a crack at making a First Manchester Fleetlist today since its been a pain to keep up to date with the latest movements for a while, Theres been a lot of Fleet changes over the last couple of days and i have included all the ones am aware of, If Anyone could help out and point out any corrections that would be great!

(07/04/2016 13:35)Dentonian Wrote: [ -> ]There is an argument to say that the two projects are completely the wrong way round. Leigh/Atherton is some distance from Manchester, and car ownership is relatively high compared to the eastern half of Manchester. Metrolink might have been the better solution, if it could form a new route with little in common with commercial bus services, and serving people who could drive (or even walk) to tram stops. Logically, it could have joined the Eccles line, to give completely new transport links between the two towns. Unfortunately, the Eccles line is notoriously slow because it serves the Quays. Also, of course, the new trams have plastic seats every bit as uncomfortable as First Darts and Solos - 50 minutes or so on those and those with low bmi would soon be getting back in their cars!
The Ashton tram line is the epitome of what is WRONG with this country's public transport policy. It runs through low car ownership area with a total length of barely six miles. As such, it manages to achieve something the ridiculous; longer average walks to stops, but NO (off-peak) time saving on any stretch of the route, unless you are continuing across the city centre. And, of course, Ashton (like Haughton Green, Denton, Dane Bank, Reddish, Gorton and Belle Vue) HAD frequent cross city buses until 1995. And that's before you get into any moral argument of spending millions of tax-payers money on abstracting revenue from commercial bus services that the less ambulent depend on to access work, shops, medical facilities etc. So far, Stagecoach have only cut Sunday 216s (not withstanding the loss of MagicBus ops on the route), but how long will the remaining service last in its current form? I'm assuming the loadings are considerably reduced.

Not entirely relevant to this thread but I don't think loadings on the 216 are that badly effected. From what I can see both tram and bus tend to leave Ashton on average half full during the day but the 216 seems to pick up more mid route than the tram does.
I caught a 216 into Manchester a few Sundays ago at lunchtime and it left Ashton with a good load.

Buses in the evenings after say 7ish tend to be busier than the tram and I often see them enter and leave Ashton practically empty.

(07/04/2016 16:55)T42 PVM Wrote: [ -> ]Had a crack at making a First Manchester Fleetlist today since its been a pain to keep up to date with the latest movements for a while, Theres been a lot of Fleet changes over the last couple of days and i have included all the ones am aware of, If Anyone could help out and point out any corrections that would be great!

This explains what happened to Oldham's YJ09 B7RLE's I wondered why I haven't seen any in a while. I also just discovered my iPhone can view spreadsheets now, thanks