(30/09/2018 15:15)T42 PVM Wrote: [ -> ]If it went to Winsford only every other hour hardly anyone would use it plus i bet the travel time on the train would be almost the same as the Bus would be despite needing to change, Sounds like Cheshire West being totally stupid
Using official connection times at Winsford to Chester via Crewe takes just over 1 hour. D&G timetable will allow just under 45 minutes from Chester Bus Interchange to Sandiway, while Winsford is around 15 minutes from Sandiway. Although, it should be noted neither Chester or Winsford stations are centrally located.
I guess some want the bus because it's £13.60 for a return between Winsford and Chester on the train. Winsford used to have a Saturday only bus service to Liverpool, presumably which was partly motivated by buses being cheaper than trains.
Given the X20 (Middlewich - Winsford - Chester - Chester Zoo - Cheshire Oaks) used to take 20 odd people per trip, I think a regular trip would be good but not EVERY trip. 3 per day tops. It wouldn't be used enough. It would be good to see D&G in Winsford to give Arriva some competition but I can't see Winsford to Chester working as well.
Wasn't there a Winsford-Chester virtually direct service introduced a couple of years ago which if I remember rightly didn't last that long? I think that might have been operated by D&G unless it was run by GHA.
Also as for 82 extending to Winsford I can't see a reasoning for it considering Arriva already run frequent services from Northwich
(01/10/2018 05:34)M60lad Wrote: [ -> ]Wasn't there a Winsford-Chester virtually direct service introduced a couple of years ago which if I remember rightly didn't last that long? I think that might have been operated by D&G unless it was run by GHA.
Also as for 82 extending to Winsford I can't see a reasoning for it considering Arriva already run frequent services from Northwich
It was D&G's 81 service which started in September 2011 and then cut back at the start of 2012:-
https://www.winsfordguardian.co.uk/news/...ext_month/
https://www.winsfordguardian.co.uk/news/...o_Chester/
Arriva also briefly ran an hourly 230 service Chester to Winsford some years back, but it didn’t last.
Reported on another forum D&G are to start a new route 26 service in Staffordshire to replace a withdrawn route 4 service operated by Scraggs.
Are D&G planning to get any new buses? I notice all the Darts have disappeared from their fleet list (other than the one in the Heritage livery) and as well as the new 26 mentioned above they'll need 3 vehicles for the new 82 and at least one of those will need to be a large bus - they won't be able to get away with using a Solo or Streetlite like they try to on the other Wincham depot routes.
What is funny with D&G is how most their routes are timed to work with school buses yet they have very few school routes.
This 82 will be very funny. Something tells me D&G won't be checking in advance and will turn up on the first day, leave most people behind and then it will take them a few days to reallocate buses and sort a bus the right size
(16/10/2018 12:11)iMarkeh Wrote: [ -> ]What is funny with D&G is how most their routes are timed to work with school buses yet they have very few school routes.
This 82 will be very funny. Something tells me D&G won't be checking in advance and will turn up on the first day, leave most people behind and then it will take them a few days to reallocate buses and sort a bus the right size
Even if they allocate a big bus to Wincham I wouldn't be surprised if it ends on the wrong 82 journeys some days and then if a Streetlite won't start a 288 driver ends up taking it.
Given Wincham buses seem to go to Crewe for servicing why not allocate 4 x 10.8m Enviro 200 and 9 x 35 seater Solos to Wincham, then they'll have a 10.8 Enviro 200 and a 35 seater Solo at Crewe at any time so they'll be able to send a bus of the same capacity up when one goes down? Although, I'm not sure if they'd still need something bigger for the SJD bus on the 82.
What the hell are D&G doing with the 88/89 now?
They are re-timing the 15:45 Altrincham to Macclesfield to be 10 minutes later to 'improve reliability' - fair enough that service is frequently late. However, the return working the 18:05 Macclesfield to Knutsford to Wilmslow is almost always on time in Knutsford even when the 15:45 is late so it's obvious they can reduce journey times between Knutsford and Macclesfield - most notably the 20 minutes to get between Knutsford and Radbrooke Hall (the designated work shuttle operated by a 50 seater coach does it much quicker than that.) However, they've just retimed everything to be 10 minutes later so they are adding in extra time where there's late running and not doing anything about reducing unnecessary lengthy stops.
They've also added in 5 extra minutes in to the 88/89 through workings - the only reason the 89s get delayed is because their drivers stand about chatting when doing changeovers. The drivers know very well they can arrive on time even in they leave late and the new timetable will just make the driver's bad habits even worse.
So who's funding the free buses from Wilmslow, Styal, Colshaw Farm, Hazel Grove, Bramhall and Poynton to Handforth Dean which have appeared on the D&G site?