+- Forum | Merseyside Dennis Dart Website (http://dartslf.com/forum)
+-- Forum: Buses (/forumdisplay.php?fid=1)
+--- Forum: Local Bus Scene: North West and Wales (/forumdisplay.php?fid=2)
+--- Thread: First Manchester (/showthread.php?tid=366)
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731
RE: First Manchester - 126th street - 14/07/2014 12:29
(13/07/2014 16:07)acocker96 Wrote: I used to get on a stotts school bus coming home from school last year and I used to speak to the driver and he said that before stotts he worked for first and that Stagecoach paid significantly more (i think about £6) more per hour than first did
I think he may well have been winding you up. As has been said, a small difference maybe but nowhere near £6ph. Supply and demand and all that.
Regarding lost mileage due to driver shortages... it's always been the same. Weekend in the summer and nice weather means some drivers would rather ring in 'sick' and go out for the day than actually turn up for work.
No doubt the same ones who moan LF when they get a holiday, lieu day or change of duty knocked back at short notice. But, of course, it's different then. What's more the union actually defends these idiots when they get hauled in over their attendence.
RE: First Manchester - stait.john@hotmail.co.uk - 14/07/2014 18:26
3 B7TLs went from Rusholme to Oldham today, not sure if they're loans or transfers.
John
RE: First Manchester - SF07 - 14/07/2014 18:32
Confirmation of the changes for First services now listed on the TfGM website. Some changes presumably targeting Stagecoach, as the 53 will be re-routed via Salford Quays.
Meanwhile, the short journeys between Piccadilly Gardens and White Moss only on services 88/89 will be replaced by service 81, providing additional journeys between Moston and Manchester via Moston Lane and Harpurhey.
http://www.tfgm.com/buses/Pages/service_changes.aspx
RE: First Manchester - Mayneway - 14/07/2014 23:12
As a daily bus user and enthusiast I think there is still a very large gap performance wise between Stagecoach Manchester and First Manchester performance wise. The idea that new vehicles, leather seats, wifi and of course the lowering of the very high fares would fix the problems and make all good don't even scratch the surface. It's clearly management issues.
The driver shortage is nothing new and has been rumbling on now for about a year - yet nothing is done about it.
Journeys being dropped is nothing new either, certainly at Pionner anyway. It's extremely poor that they keep getting away with it - and on tendered journeys too! I have to say, as someone who lives on Chowhill, I never saw one journey missed when Speedwell and Stotts ran the 41/337 yet First seen really good at loosing the odd journey or running the route out of service because its late or traffics bad. Or in coldest darkest December, the fact passengers were left waiting at bus stops for buses that wouldn't be turning up because the drivers were attending the Christmas doo - absolutly crazy.
I've never personally encountered a dropped journey by Stagecoach yet over the last 4 or so years, it's 5 and counting with First!
RE: First Manchester - 37554BY - 14/07/2014 23:35
The long winded rumours concerning First pioneer are confirmed true, First pioneer are to be known as First Tameside with 53149 being repainted at Bolton this week and fitted with a new cared for sticker, as will all the buses over there. And before anyone thinks I'm posting crap, no this is official from First Manchester sources
RE: First Manchester - M60lad - 15/07/2014 06:34
I thought all the newer 53 batch of Solos were heading to Oldham to replace older Solo's there, obviously 53149 is stopping at First Tameside.
As for the B7TLs coming from Rusholme to Oldham it does make me wonder whether eventually all of the Rusholme ALX400 B7TLs will be allocated to Oldham Depot shortly, although in my opinion its decent single deckers we need at the moment for 415 route considering reliability on the route is yet again a problem at the moment and it seems to be the short Marshall Darts that are causing the main problems from what I can gather.
RE: First Manchester - Mayneway - 15/07/2014 08:12
(14/07/2014 23:35)37554BY Wrote: The long winded rumours concerning First pioneer are confirmed true, First pioneer are to be known as First Tameside with 53149 being repainted at Bolton this week and fitted with a new cared for sticker, as will all the buses over there. And before anyone thinks I'm posting crap, no this is official from First Manchester sources
It's been on the cards for a while, although most people won't even notice the change. I do wonder though whether its just a cosmetic change, ie on the cared for stickers and on paper or whether First will actually go to the trouble of changing the name on the licence so the legals would 'First Tameside ltd'.
The solo that's already gained the later livery (thing it's 53150) actually looks very smart and modern. Will the Marshall darts receive a new coat of paint though?
RE: First Manchester - 126th street - 15/07/2014 08:50
(14/07/2014 23:12)Mayneway Wrote: As a daily bus user and enthusiast I think there is still a very large gap performance wise between Stagecoach Manchester and First Manchester performance wise. The idea that new vehicles, leather seats, wifi and of course the lowering of the very high fares would fix the problems and make all good don't even scratch the surface. It's clearly management issues.The problems at First, it seems to me, and not just in Manchester, come from a lack of discipline, with drivers often doing as they please, turning out late for reliefs because they've been talking, and so on. Back in the days of roller destination blinds it was quite common to see just a service number and no ultimate destination... usually not because the blind was broken but because the driver couldn't be bothered setting it correctly. Then you come to early running and all the rest of the comparatively minor niggles which pull down service standards.
The driver shortage is nothing new and has been rumbling on now for about a year - yet nothing is done about it.
All this is unacceptable, and something junior/middle management should be jumping all over. That they aren't suggests that the management chain isn't as strong as it should be.
RE: First Manchester - M60lad - 15/07/2014 17:25
Out of interest Dentonian I know you go on about reporting things to TfGM but out of interest how would someone go about doing it
RE: First Manchester - Mayneway - 15/07/2014 20:14
(15/07/2014 19:01)Dentonian Wrote: Best ways would be to ring the switchboard (244 1000) and ask to be put through to Customer Relations, or e-mail them at customer.relations@tfgm.com
When ever I've complained to TFGM or indeed included them in a complaint they just seem to forward the issue to the operator who runs the service.
I've complained many times to both companies and TFGM regarding buses alighting outside Ashton Bus Station on Wellington road, which includes tendered services and TFGM have basically refused to get involved and simply pass the complaints form onto the operator.
I complained a couple of years ago about JPT's 169's alighting in the car park of Gala Bingo and again they just passed it into JPT and te practice contined.
I'd be surprised if they even raised an eyebrow at First missing journeys on tendered services.