(04/08/2020 05:59)M60lad Wrote: [ -> ]I cant see Diamond myself going anywhere soon considering how much money they've spent on Diamond Northwest recently with the new double deckers that are arriving now.
As for Big Operators taking them over who is there now to take them over? I very much doubt First will want Bolton back as it was them who got rid of Bolton in the first place, I thought Arriva were after selling up in the UK or has that changed now? Stagecoach probably cant have Bolton due to them probably then having a Monopoly in Manchester area.
I might be wrong here but from what I can gather at the moment the days of missing services from Diamond are virtually over and most services that they run are quite reliable and turn up when they are meant to.
I never suggested them being taken over, I said I can see other operators registering and running against them on some of their major routes in and out of Manchester!
As for missing trips and drivers etc. They are apparently running at 75% at the moment and have no drivers on furlough (they have all been brought back), if social distancing was to be relaxed and service levels increased to 100% diamond are back to dropping trips in the hope nobody notices.
This is Dianond we’re talking about, who accept changes to TFGM tenders weeks before change date yet fail to train or even tell their drivers where they are going. Yet again today 217’s and 18’s spotted going completely the wrong way! Need I say more.
(04/08/2020 08:20)EDB325 Wrote: [ -> ]If there were any interest in taking Diamond over, it might conceivably come from Transdev, especially if Preston Bus were also on the table.
I think any operator would be mad to go for Bolton now. Diamond have invested ‘some’ money and they are going to want it back but given the hole they have dug themselves I can’t see any op wanting to pay anything like what Rotala paid for it.
Out of interest which part of their respective routes are drivers on 18 & 217 getting lost on? I havent been on any of the above routes since the change so dont actually know which way they are meant to go.
(05/08/2020 05:50)M60lad Wrote: [ -> ]Out of interest which part of their respective routes are drivers on 18 & 217 getting lost on? I havent been on any of the above routes since the change so dont actually know which way they are meant to go.
For the 18, just in sale I’ve seen drivers on broad road instead of Dane road in sale; following the old arriva 18 route through northern moor (not diamonds previous 18) instead of running via brooklands; running via brooklands metro instead of via Norris road; missing out the entire dane road section by running straight up northenden road between sale and sale moor.....
(27/07/2020 18:23)Mayneway Wrote: [ -> ]A lot of my colleagues from MCT have walked or are in the process of walking away from Diamond because of the very lack of basic training. I think it’s very poor to send drivers out with idiot sheets driving a route they have never done before. It was one of the massive criticisms of UK North all them years ago and it’s still happening now.
Bumped into a friend I know from RR who now working for Diamond after losing job at MCT he told me his old company used to have old coaches and buses and did get pulled by TC but they was minor. he tells me Diamond ae sending buses out with no oil and other issues that if they will pulled for checks there would be a good telling off by TC. I know by First Oldham some of the buses they have returned have been ran to the ground with little cleaning done to them.
They have ordered new buses that some have no tree guard and I told him this and he was not aware that some has and some dont have so it going to happen a tree is going to be hit and a window put in as drivers will not know if there bus has a guard.
I don`t understand Stagecoach not running the 125 onto Manchester along the number 8 route apart from it would need a number of buses for it. look at the 38 Stagecoach do far better along that route to Diamond. the 125 would rock the boat for them
(05/08/2020 10:16)Mrboo Wrote: [ -> ]I don`t understand Stagecoach not running the 125 onto Manchester along the number 8 route apart from it would need a number of buses for it. look at the 38 Stagecoach do far better along that route to Diamond. the 125 would rock the boat for them
The 125 would be one hell of a route doing that. We are living in times where punctuality is key and the super long routes of pre Dereg as long gone.
The 38 is an interesting one and I am a bit surprised that Stagecoach haven't tried to jump on a little bit more. A simple way to rocking the boat could be extending the 34A to Farnworth via the 68 route (perhaps miss out Roe Green so the PVR of the extension is kept to 2)
I can't see there being much else that Stagecoach could jump on close to the depot or having a high PVR.
(05/08/2020 11:45)iMarkeh Wrote: [ -> ]The 125 would be one hell of a route doing that. We are living in times where punctuality is key and the super long routes of pre Dereg as long gone.
The 38 is an interesting one and I am a bit surprised that Stagecoach haven't tried to jump on a little bit more. A simple way to rocking the boat could be extending the 34A to Farnworth via the 68 route (perhaps miss out Roe Green so the PVR of the extension is kept to 2)
I can't see there being much else that Stagecoach could jump on close to the depot or having a high PVR.
Long route yes but has a good wait at Chorley so could have same at Bolton so it really 3 routes. Also ok to run as GB domestic
(05/08/2020 05:50)M60lad Wrote: [ -> ]Out of interest which part of their respective routes are drivers on 18 & 217 getting lost on? I havent been on any of the above routes since the change so dont actually know which way they are meant to go.
They are still doing the 217 the old way along Bradford Road and up Alan Turing way omittingBeswick out completely.