The SNP is not as strong as it was they lost lots in recent elections so the SNP are stuck
(06/07/2019 15:26)johnluke Wrote: [ -> ]I could virtually guarantee that ....its not an if..its a when the franchises come in stagecoach will drop all their manchester operations ..souter dont like being told what to do....he will be fighting on many fronts soon as many of the Scottish local councils are after starting new municipal bus companies now that the Scottish bill has changed
When franchising was proposed for Tyne & Wear it was an extreme and unintended application of Quality Bus Contracts - of which Vantage is more what was intended. Any franchising in Greater Manchester would be within the Buses Act 2017.
Anyway, I remember the report/rumour that, had T&W franchising been authorised, Stagecoach would have deregistered the whole network, made the staff redundant, redeployed or sold the vehicles, and sold off the garages for property development. This would have left Nexus with very little scope to award a Newcastle franchise to anyone.
(06/07/2019 17:55)gilesbus1 Wrote: [ -> ]Have been told most will be deckers as that is what Diamond Bus are of course short off. Some vehicles will go back before Christmas though. In Future its likely vehicles will be Wright Streetdecks and Wright Streetlites, with maybe the odd other vehicle for specific routes or to meet delivery dates. A batch of Volvo B7RLE's is currently under prep between usage at Atherton and Preston and should move to Bolton, there is also said to be a Volvo B9TL but that has yet to be seen unless its at Eccles or deep in Preston.
The new buses will be very welcome at Bolton as they haven't other than Vantage vehicles had any new buses since the early 2010's. £33m has been set aside.
First Bolton do have some 12 & 14 reg Enviro 400s, and 2 12 reg Volvo B9TLs, but these were not delivered new. The 12 reg started out at the Olympic Games in London, and the 14 reg at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow prior to service at Rusholme. The 63 reg Eclipses are cascades from the Fareham Eclipse, meaning the most recent buses new to First Bolton the 11 reg Eclipses new for route 582.
(06/07/2019 20:24)Metroline1511 Wrote: [ -> ]First Bolton do have some 12 & 14 reg Enviro 400s, and 2 12 reg Volvo B9TLs, but these were not delivered new. The 12 reg started out at the Olympic Games in London, and the 14 reg at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow prior to service at Rusholme. The 63 reg Eclipses are cascades from the Fareham Eclipse, meaning the most recent buses new to First Bolton the 11 reg Eclipses new for route 582.
Arent the 12 Plate B9s Vantage spares?
(06/07/2019 20:24)Metroline1511 Wrote: [ -> ]First Bolton do have some 12 & 14 reg Enviro 400s, and 2 12 reg Volvo B9TLs, but these were not delivered new. The 12 reg started out at the Olympic Games in London, and the 14 reg at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow prior to service at Rusholme. The 63 reg Eclipses are cascades from the Fareham Eclipse, meaning the most recent buses new to First Bolton the 11 reg Eclipses new for route 582.
The 12 & 14 plates were purchased for Manchester, Stagecoach did the same by tranfering buses to the Games before delivery. Another example of this is the Cambridge Park & Ride Deckers which spent time at Birkenhead during the tunnel closure
(06/07/2019 20:21)Metroline1511 Wrote: [ -> ]When franchising was proposed for Tyne & Wear it was an extreme and unintended application of Quality Bus Contracts - of which Vantage is more what was intended. Any franchising in Greater Manchester would be within the Buses Act 2017.
Anyway, I remember the report/rumour that, had T&W franchising been authorised, Stagecoach would have deregistered the whole network, made the staff redundant, redeployed or sold the vehicles, and sold off the garages for property development. This would have left Nexus with very little scope to award a Newcastle franchise to anyone.
It just goes to show what he thinks of staff and customers ..had he carried out his intentions ..cover would eventually have come ..he thinks he can hold authorities to ransom but times are changing...take a look at what's happening in Scotland...eventually it will happen here
Something which I think we are forgetting is that isn't 582 due a new batch of new electric vehicles shortly? If this is still the case will these arrive in First or Diamond livery now?
Was the funding/grant for the new buses direct to first from the government or was it to tfgm who are allocating the vehicles?
Does anyone know about the damage to one of the front headlights on bus 20403. Just noticed it today on the 272 and quite surprised that they put it out when I'd expect they'd have better buses available?
(07/07/2019 09:26)johnluke Wrote: [ -> ]Was the funding/grant for the new buses direct to first from the government or was it to tfgm who are allocating the vehicles?
The grant for the 582 was a Government grant allocated to First Manchester, my feeling is that this investment will not now go ahead, instead Rotala's plant is to bring in several new MicroHybrid Vehicles and in that case its likely that the 582 will get the first batch of new Wright Streetlites (probably of the Streetlite MAX variety) or Streetdecks.
The 2 12 Plate Volvo B9TL's will remain with FirstGroup along with the 3 63 Plate Eclipse Urbans as they are Vantage spares, however they will be replaced in December by a fleet of 10 new Electric Deckers from an unknown manufacturer, which will displace these out to another fleet as V3's and V4's will then be operated by Volvo B5LH's displaced from the main V1 and V2 diagram's. Another handful of deckers will also transfer to Rusholme for other V3 and V4 journeys as well at the same time along with 3 or 4 training fleet vehicles, as training operations for both Rusholme and Oldham will be based at Rusholme.