(26/02/2021 22:26)Rick Hunter Wrote: [ -> ]There is still the great excess of time on the early morning and late afternoon weekday journeys though
I was checking some of the 88 trips for a reply on another forum and I was quite surprised to see that some 88s were arriving into Wilmslow 10 minutes early (so a 15 min wait at Wilmslow taking into account the 5 min layover) despite leaving Hale Barns spot on time. Surely this goes to show how much excess time D&G put into timetables.
Why haven't D&G amended timetables to reflect the huge difference in running time on this section? Has no one told D&G timetabling team that they are losing possibly tens of thousands of pounds on lost passengers by putting so much excess time in.
Drivers do complain frequently about excess running time on some trips. 16.50 88 from Altrincham has a wait of around 20 mins in Wilmslow and that is driving slow from Hale Barns. It then gets 4 mins to get from Wilmslow Bank Square to the next stop at Wilmslow station. So another 1 or 2 mins wait. After the last tweak in timings the Knutsford to Macclesfield section is pretty much spot on with the exception of the 17.15 from Knutsford which gets 25 mins to get to Chelford and misses out Ollerton and and part of Over Peover. In the days when that section was the 27 route run by Howards the last trip got 32 mins to do Knutsford to Macclesfield via the full route which I would guess was never on time arriving in Macclesfield. On the flip side though Arrivas 130 was pretty tightly timed and woefully unreliable with buses persistently late or failing to turn up at all. At least D&Gs slack timed version can be relied on as many passengers have already commented.
(26/02/2021 22:49)iMarkeh Wrote: [ -> ]I was checking some of the 88 trips for a reply on another forum and I was quite surprised to see that some 88s were arriving into Wilmslow 10 minutes early (so a 15 min wait at Wilmslow taking into account the 5 min layover) despite leaving Hale Barns spot on time. Surely this goes to show how much excess time D&G put into timetables.
Why haven't D&G amended timetables to reflect the huge difference in running time on this section? Has no one told D&G timetabling team that they are losing possibly tens of thousands of pounds on lost passengers by putting so much excess time in.
(27/02/2021 10:52)Rick Hunter Wrote: [ -> ]16.50 88 from Altrincham has a wait of around 20 mins in Wilmslow and that is driving slow from Hale Barns.
After the last tweak in timings the Knutsford to Macclesfield section is pretty much spot on with the exception of the 17.15 from Knutsford which gets 25 mins to get to Chelford and misses out Ollerton and and part of Over Peover. In the days when that section was the 27 route run by Howards the last trip got 32 mins to do Knutsford to Macclesfield via the full route which I would guess was never on time arriving in Macclesfield.
I've never got the very long journey time from Knutsford Bus Station to Radbrooke Hall on the evening peak journey. How is it that Holmeswood can load/unload 50 seater coaches and get them between Knutsford Bus Station and Radbrooke Hall much faster than D&G can get a small Enviro or Solo between the two points? If the idea is the D&G bus waits at Radbrooke Hall because it would otherwise depart too early for those heading towards Macclesfield, then why not have it leaving Knutsford 10 minutes later?
Same with the 16:50 Altrincham to Knutsford, if the idea is to allow people finishing work in Wilmslow at 17:30 to catch it, then why not leave Altrincham at 17:05 and allow those finishing work at 5pm further back catch the same bus as well?
I know the long waits at Wilmslow annoy those making journeys from one side of Wilmslow town centre to the other and it can mean the bus drives past the stop on Water Lane, just before Bank Square around 15 minutes before the scheduled arrival time at Bank Square making the bus stop effectively redundant.
Looking at the bus tracking from yesterday the 18:15 Knutsford to Macclesfield departed the bus station on time at 18:15 and seemed to wait for 4 minutes at Chelford station so it departed on time at 18:30, was one minute down at the hospital and 2 minutes early at Macclesfield bus station, arriving at 18:53, so 34 minutes end-to-end would have been possible.
The issue with having the bus leave Knutsford later than 17.15 is being a through service there may be people already on when it arrives in Knutsford. Seven Sisters road is a big problem in the peak which used to delay the Howards 27 quite badly. Thayt's likely why Ollerton is dropped on the last 2 trips to Macclesfield although on the first one the time isn't reduced. I would agre changing the 16.50 from Altrincham to 17.05 would be better. You have to bear in mind the 34 mins end to end does not include Ollerton or the Dog in Over Peover.
(27/02/2021 14:31)knutstransport Wrote: [ -> ]I've never got the very long journey time from Knutsford Bus Station to Radbrooke Hall on the evening peak journey. How is it that Holmeswood can load/unload 50 seater coaches and get them between Knutsford Bus Station and Radbrooke Hall much faster than D&G can get a small Enviro or Solo between the two points? If the idea is the D&G bus waits at Radbrooke Hall because it would otherwise depart too early for those heading towards Macclesfield, then why not have it leaving Knutsford 10 minutes later?
Same with the 16:50 Altrincham to Knutsford, if the idea is to allow people finishing work in Wilmslow at 17:30 to catch it, then why not leave Altrincham at 17:05 and allow those finishing work at 5pm further back catch the same bus as well?
Looking at the bus tracking from yesterday the 18:15 Knutsford to Macclesfield departed the bus station on time at 18:15 and seemed to wait for 4 minutes at Chelford station so it departed on time at 18:30, was one minute down at the hospital and 2 minutes early at Macclesfield bus station, arriving at 18:53, so 34 minutes end-to-end would have been possible.
One thing I do know is that D&G are at the moment keeping an eye on timings on various Winchem routes for compliance and drivers are getting messages on the ticket machines about this reminding them not to run early or excessively late.
Going to back to Wilmslow I know that it in the past sometimes buses arriving at Bank Square have caused problems with the local traffic passing through there as sometimes both the Altrincham and Knutsford bound vehicles have arrived at similar times and all you need is an incorrectly parked vehicle and nothing can get through but despite protests from motorists drivers in theory cant move off the stand as it then registers on the ticket machine that they've left the stop early which as I've already mentioned above is something D&G are combatting against (early running).
Same happens with the trip that goes via Beggar Man's Lane in Knutsford, it can be a problem I believe getting onto the actual stop round there due to parking at times and as a result the ticket machine is registering that the driver has run early past the timing point but I think D&G do know about the problem.
Not just Wincham, the compliance is being monitored company wide
(28/02/2021 07:14)M60lad Wrote: [ -> ]One thing I do know is that D&G are at the moment keeping an eye on timings on various Winchem routes for compliance and drivers are getting messages on the ticket machines about this reminding them not to run early or excessively late..
I do hope that D&G are in close contact with some of the local authorities over compliance with on street parking restrictions for cars and more importantly in some areas unloading for deliveries that cna make lining up with bus stops problematic to say the least
I very much doubt they are. It's far easier for management to keep penalising drivers for not waiting at timing points than to actually work to sort out the problems
(28/02/2021 13:07)wirralbus Wrote: [ -> ]I do hope that D&G are in close contact with some of the local authorities over compliance with on street parking restrictions for cars and more importantly in some areas unloading for deliveries that cna make lining up with bus stops problematic to say the least
The thing is from what I can gather sometimes their penalising their drivers for the slightest thing, for example I know at Winchem their trying to clamp down on the amount of time drivers talk to each other when their taking each other off at Knutsford as they think this is wasting time but some of the time drivers are only doing this so that they can leave late and not arrive at the next timing point early which they will if they were to leave Knutsford on time.
With Arriva there's a separate thread for each depot but with D&G I think it works best to have one thread for all depots. After all the Wincham, Crewe and Adderley Green depots all serve Macclesfield.
However, with Chaserider being a separate brand and their services not entering the North West, should they have their own thread in the "The Bus Scene elsewhere" forum?