Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

[iMarkeh]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(26/05/2018 00:21)Y474 KNF Wrote:  The Coastliner Enviro400s are 10-reg

There are some 10 plate, some 12 plate, some 64 plate. The 64 plate one popped up on google when I was looking at the buses hence why I went with them being 4 years old. It seems they vary in age though. 10 plate is the most common though looking now at the fleet list.

I'm guessing you know RF is getting the 10 plate ones though. (There are enough 64 plates though for the 1. Route 2 doesn't need deckers in my opinion)

[chester285]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(26/05/2018 03:58)iMarkeh Wrote:  There are some 10 plate, some 12 plate, some 64 plate. The 64 plate one popped up on google when I was looking at the buses hence why I went with them being 4 years old. It seems they vary in age though. 10 plate is the most common though looking now at the fleet list.

I'm guessing you know RF is getting the 10 plate ones though. (There are enough 64 plates though for the 1. Route 2 doesn't need deckers in my opinion)

I don’t think it was ever mentioned about the 2 getting double deckers, but I agree there’s no need

[chester285]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(25/05/2018 23:04)iMarkeh Wrote:  The 204 would be an ideal size for Enviro 200s. Darts don't really do well at helping promote a brand new route. I think that may be a good call for a few. I would like to see them back at Chester but apparently they are too costly to maintain there.

On another note, I am surprised they are getting the Ex Coastliner buses rather than the gold ones from Oxford. I suppose the Coastliner buses are only about a year older than the Enviro300s and the Oxford golds were about 3-4 years older. It will certainly be interesting seeing what they end up like.

Could some Gold Enviro300s go to GM and run on the 217/227? That could boost those routes or even the 53 but I am unsure if you can do that with it being QBP. Arriva Liverpool are more strict with what they will let SC get away with.

Could the Blacons be a possibility for some to replace the eclipse as they’re nearly 10 years old now?

[iMarkeh]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(26/05/2018 05:49)chester285 Wrote:  Could the Blacons be a possibility for some to replace the eclipse as they’re nearly 10 years old now?

If the buses are being vandalised on the current routes, why would you send it into Blacon? You would have no USBs left after one trip. Only joking of course.
Blacon Eclipse are heading off for a refurb and repaint soon (branding is meant to be getting re-applied. I am unsure if it will be the same or a new design though). They are not heading off anytime soon. The MD is quite fond of them I hear so he wants to keep them as long as possible. I am unsure what the refurb will consist of but I hope not new seats as the current ones are much nicer than the ones the MMCs have.
Plus, there is no point in changing the buses on Blacons as the Eclipse go out everywhere.

There is (or at least there was) a duty where the driver does the 209 to Mold Campus, runs back light to Chester Bus Station and then starts the blacons (with the same bus). Has his break at some point and then heads back to Mold and does the return 209 then he is finished. I know the 5 dupe can sometimes be an Eclipse as well. There is at least 1 school route which links onto blacons though and I think it is fair to say, you don't want to be using a poshed up Gold bus as a normal school route.
It is a little different when there are schools on a public route as some members of the public speak up when kids mess about and vandalise things. On a sole school route though drivers lock the cab door and refuse to leave the cab until they have finished the route and there is then no one about to see or intervene with any vandalism.

[SK15 GZG (Moderator)]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(26/05/2018 03:58)iMarkeh Wrote:  There are some 10 plate, some 12 plate, some 64 plate. The 64 plate one popped up on google when I was looking at the buses hence why I went with them being 4 years old. It seems they vary in age though. 10 plate is the most common though looking now at the fleet list.

I'm guessing you know RF is getting the 10 plate ones though. (There are enough 64 plates though for the 1. Route 2 doesn't need deckers in my opinion)

As far as I know it's only the 10-reg ones which are being replaced so it will be those transferring to Merseyside

[gka472l]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(26/05/2018 12:05)Y474 KNF Wrote:  As far as I know it's only the 10-reg ones which are being replaced so it will be those transferring to Merseyside

Batch being 15588-15605 although whether all of those will be coming up, I don't know, first moves are Tuesday & Wednesday.

[iMarkeh]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(26/05/2018 12:22)gka472l Wrote:  Batch being 15588-15605 although whether all of those will be coming up, I don't know, first moves are Tuesday & Wednesday.

We definitely don't need 18 unless they are increasing the frequency. Shame they are getting older buses though. I wonder if private plates will make an appearance like the gold Solos. I can't wait to try them out and see how they get refurbed. Like the new gold spec (on 471/472) or the older one (current 1/2 gold spec)

[Raawwwrrr!]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(26/05/2018 00:04)iMarkeh Wrote:  I don't think gold gives as much of a boost to routes. The 217/227 could go gold. There is potential for them to extend and given a few of the rumors going about, gold would be a massive boost to the potential extensions. Even in their existing state though, if gold gives a boost, why would you not try to boost a route.

Kirkby, Knowsley Village, Page Moss and Huyton are some of the last places I would operate a high-spec bus.

[Raawwwrrr!]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(25/05/2018 23:04)iMarkeh Wrote:  The 204 would be an ideal size for Enviro 200s. Darts don't really do well at helping promote a brand new route. I think that may be a good call for a few.

The 204 isn't really 'something new' though, it's more of a mis-match of several different loss making bus services that have been cut into one.

Namely:
30/107/207/130 (Liverpool One to Dingle)
173 (Dingle to Princess Park Gates)
202/204 (Princess Park Gates to Alder Hey/Broadgreen)
165/883 (Bowring Park to Bellevale)

Now I can't speak for current passenger numbers as I've moved from the area but I can't imagine them being any higher than when Avon operated the service. Not to mention most passengers are more than likely to have Arriva multi-journey tickets as they are the dominant operator within the area, with stagecoach only really breifly providing a service on East Prescot Rd, Smithdown Rd, and Between Dingle and L1BS

[iMarkeh]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(26/05/2018 22:07)Raawwwrrr! Wrote:  Kirkby, Knowsley Village, Page Moss and Huyton are some of the last places I would operate a high-spec bus.

High spec??? The highest spec thing there is the USB ports. WiFi you can hardly vandalise unless you find the router. The rest is just a colour. It is hardly something you could vandalise. unless you started scribbling with marker pen. USB ports can be abused but that is why you remove them from some seats. Namely those where vandalism occurs the most. No one is going to start vandalising the USB posts which are at the front in the drivers view are they? It would be caught easily on CCTV as well. That is all you have to do, be careful where you put things.

(26/05/2018 22:17)Raawwwrrr! Wrote:  The 204 isn't really 'something new' though, it's more of a mis-match of several different loss making bus services that have been cut into one.

Namely:
30/107/207/130 (Liverpool One to Dingle)
173 (Dingle to Princess Park Gates)
202/204 (Princess Park Gates to Alder Hey/Broadgreen)
165/883 (Bowring Park to Bellevale)

Now I can't speak for current passenger numbers as I've moved from the area but I can't imagine them being any higher than when Avon operated the service. Not to mention most passengers are more than likely to have Arriva multi-journey tickets as they are the dominant operator within the area, with stagecoach only really breifly providing a service on East Prescot Rd, Smithdown Rd, and Between Dingle and L1BS

The 204 is doing well actually. It takes money put it that way. Avon never made a loss on the routes afaik, they just had to reduce their ops because of something to do with Mtravel or traffic commissioner. I personally have been on the 204 and it does alright. Also although it isn't a 'new' route, it is new to the company and there are extensions as well. Just because most people will have Arriva tickets, it doesn't mean they won't switch to Stagecoach. It is only 15 minutes longer and sometimes you can wait that long for a 79 so technically the persons end-end journey time is no different. For people at Alder Hey, Broadgreen etc depending where they want to go in Liverpool, it is the same time for them to get the 204 than the Arriva buses so again, you can grab a few passengers that way but with the state of the buses, why would you go for a rattly dart when there is really high spec bus a few minutes away?
A lot of people in the dingle area etc will just walk an extra few minutes to the 82 bus stop which is great but then it is gamble which bus comes first. If you can get them on the 204 for the first part of their journey, they have a ticket then. Regardless of if they get the 82 or 204 back, you have that ticket sale. If you can make the 204 as attractive as possible, you could sell 300 day tickets (no returns on 204) into L1 and they can all get the Arriva bus back but that doesn't matter as Arriva don't earn anything off that. If you walk to the 82 bus stop, it is an even mix of which bus you will catch and with the way Arriva are running, you are more than likely to get an Arriva bus than Stagecoach. That is how you have to look at it. If you put USB and WiFi on the Enviro200s as well (It was along time since I last jumped on one so these could be done already) as that would then make the 204 and 82 the same spec buses again helping to secure those people who can catch either bus.