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2603 is here as well

Horrendous this evening in Moreton, crash on Hoylake Road towards Meols stretch causing chaos, even affecting 413/414/423, one of the 414s 16.30 ex Woodside was 50 plus minutes late

(13/03/2019 18:45)MTL0201 Wrote: [ -> ]Horrendous this evening in Moreton, crash on Hoylake Road towards Meols stretch causing chaos, even affecting 413/414/423, one of the 414s 16.30 ex Woodside was 50 plus minutes late

50 mins - pah! On 17 October Tameside, Stockport and east M'cr had delays of 90 mins to 4 hours all because roadworks on a supposedly insignificant rat run combined with a serious accident near Denton island.

Artice in the Echo regarding the 464

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liv...p_AppShare

This does not surprise me as i hear there are capacity issues on the 413/414 as well. This is why so many DLP's/VLW's should never have been withdrawn, Yes there are getting on a bit but a Decker is still a Decker.

I would put it more down to allocations than maintenance. I think this shows that Arriva can't handle rail reps at the same time as normal service. Always put normal services first as when all said and done, they will be the services which earn you money in the long run. Rail replacements are a few weeks. Commercial routes are forever (until you cancel them). Look after your regulars and they look after you (with loyalty).

Unfortunately for Arriva that will not be the case as they have signed a contract for Rail Replacements with Merseyrail , which probably stipulates Double Deckers.

Invariably these buses usually come from Laird Street and Bootle first then the other garages will chip if they have the resources.

You could probably get away with one single decker if the service was every 20 mins , but not at every 30 mins , this isnt helped at the moment by passengers changing there travel habits due to the work on the railways meaning people in the New Ferry - Liverpool corridor changing over to the bus

We’ve been here before haven’t we.

Profit driven unfortunately so the deckers stay on rails whilst unsuitable vehicles are used for the everyday bus user who may now be driven back to their cars in the long term..

(14/03/2019 10:23)DVG526 Wrote: [ -> ]We’ve been here before haven’t we.

Profit driven unfortunately so the deckers stay on rails whilst unsuitable vehicles are used for the everyday bus user who may now be driven back to their cars in the long term..

At least Arriva had the sense to revert to buying double-deckers a few years ago. If it hadn't it would not have been able to bid for the current rail replacement work.

I suspect that very few car owners are also regular bus users. Those who are and commute from the Wirral to Liverpool probably do it because it is much cheaper as there are no tolls, parking charges or running costs. As long as the bus turns up, even if it is crowded, these commuters will continue to use it.

(14/03/2019 10:38)Barney Wrote: [ -> ]At least Arriva had the sense to revert to buying double-deckers a few years ago. If it hadn't it would not have been able to bid for the current rail replacement work.

I suspect that very few car owners are also regular bus users. Those who are and commute from the Wirral to Liverpool probably do it because it is much cheaper as there are no tolls, parking charges or running costs. As long as the bus turns up, even if it is crowded, these commuters will continue to use it.

Arriva unlike Stagecoach dont have a gigantic fleet of vehicles they can pull out of a hat for Rail Replacement work , so unfortunately a lot of the rail replacement fleet has come from the day to day fleet of various garages.

With Stagecoach vehicles could be found from various fleets they have around the country so not depriving those areas of too many deckers , Stagecoach even seem to have a sizeable fleet of reserve vehicles , notwithstanding they have a long term contract with the R&A for The Open Golf Championship P&R vehicles.