Diamond Bus North West

[T42 PVM (Moderator)]

RE: Diamond Bus North West
I have copied the lists of routes operated by Diamond Bus from a few pages back and put it as post 1.

[gilesbus1]

RE: Diamond Bus North West

(29/11/2019 10:02)T42 PVM Wrote:  I have copied the lists of routes operated by Diamond Bus from a few pages back and put it as post 1.

Can I update that list, as there have been a number of operational changes:-

607 is now operated by Eccles Depot
683 is now operated by Eccles Depot
X39 *Please Check* May be operated by Eccles Depot short Streetlite seen working this on 27/11/2019
640 *Please Check* May be operated by Eccles Depot - Solo 20677 YJ59GGY seen operating this on 27/11/2019, is this still an Eccles vehicle or has this transferred to Bolton?

Was it just that Wednesday was a particularly bad day for Drivers at Bolton or are these permanent moves, haven't been able to observe any of these or have had no future reports of these since.

Also of interest, seen today in service was Wright Streetdeck SK18 TKX which appears to be some sort of Wrights demo model no doubt Winston will confirm if this has been bought ir if it is just a loan. It was operating a 36 Bolton - Manchester service when seen. (Credit) Photo taken by Nicholas Norton posted Online.

Also can someone please confirm which ADL Enviro Enviro200's have moved to Eccles with recent route changes 31407 has been noted on Eccles routes and has 31408 also gone as this was seen out of service on a short cut in the Atherton area that Eccles former Atherton drivers have been known to use between change overs?

[T42 PVM (Moderator)]

RE: Diamond Bus North West

(30/11/2019 01:49)gilesbus1 Wrote:  Can I update that list, as there have been a number of operational changes:-

607 is now operated by Eccles Depot
683 is now operated by Eccles Depot
X39 *Please Check* May be operated by Eccles Depot short Streetlite seen working this on 27/11/2019
640 *Please Check* May be operated by Eccles Depot - Solo 20677 YJ59GGY seen operating this on 27/11/2019, is this still an Eccles vehicle or has this transferred to Bolton?

Was it just that Wednesday was a particularly bad day for Drivers at Bolton or are these permanent moves, haven't been able to observe any of these or have had no future reports of these since.

Also of interest, seen today in service was Wright Streetdeck SK18 TKX which appears to be some sort of Wrights demo model no doubt Winston will confirm if this has been bought ir if it is just a loan. It was operating a 36 Bolton - Manchester service when seen. (Credit) Photo taken by Nicholas Norton posted Online.

Also can someone please confirm which ADL Enviro Enviro200's have moved to Eccles with recent route changes 31407 has been noted on Eccles routes and has 31408 also gone as this was seen out of service on a short cut in the Atherton area that Eccles former Atherton drivers have been known to use between change overs?

I have edited the 607 and 683, I will let you check the X39 and 640 Services and if they have indeed changed operator i can change them also

[M60lad]

RE: Diamond Bus North West

(30/11/2019 01:49)gilesbus1 Wrote:  Can I update that list, as there have been a number of operational changes:-

607 is now operated by Eccles Depot
683 is now operated by Eccles Depot
X39 *Please Check* May be operated by Eccles Depot short Streetlite seen working this on 27/11/2019
640 *Please Check* May be operated by Eccles Depot - Solo 20677 YJ59GGY seen operating this on 27/11/2019, is this still an Eccles vehicle or has this transferred to Bolton?

Was it just that Wednesday was a particularly bad day for Drivers at Bolton or are these permanent moves, haven't been able to observe any of these or have had no future reports of these since.

Also of interest, seen today in service was Wright Streetdeck SK18 TKX which appears to be some sort of Wrights demo model no doubt Winston will confirm if this has been bought ir if it is just a loan. It was operating a 36 Bolton - Manchester service when seen. (Credit) Photo taken by Nicholas Norton posted Online.

Also can someone please confirm which ADL Enviro Enviro200's have moved to Eccles with recent route changes 31407 has been noted on Eccles routes and has 31408 also gone as this was seen out of service on a short cut in the Atherton area that Eccles former Atherton drivers have been known to use between change overs?

640 is still operated from Bolton Depot as one of the drivers I know at Bolton Depot had them on his duty yesterday as well as 715s.

Also as far as I'm aware X39s are stilll operated by Bolton Depot as I've seen various double & single decks on the route

[Y458 KNF]

RE: Diamond Bus North West
Are the 14 plate Enviro400s still going back to First at the end of this month?

[M60lad]

RE: Diamond Bus North West
I can't honestly see that happening due to the shortage of vehicles it would create due to the situation with Wrights as the new deckers for Bolton aren't now due at Bolton until about April at the earliest.

[gilesbus1]

RE: Diamond Bus North West

(13/12/2019 07:00)M60lad Wrote:  I can't honestly see that happening due to the shortage of vehicles it would create due to the situation with Wrights as the new deckers for Bolton aren't now due at Bolton until about April at the earliest.

That's not First Manchester's problem though, so they will still go back, they could if needed bring in deckers from Preston as a stop gap measure although they are short as well! The other option is to short term lease from various dealers, but I think to be honest they will run stuff with the ex-Yourbus saloons that is normally decker operated, after all lets not forget outside the peaks there are fewer people using the bus from 2nd January due to poorer weather and also the need of people to repay bills from Christmas.

[T42 PVM (Moderator)]

RE: Diamond Bus North West

(14/12/2019 18:43)gilesbus1 Wrote:  That's not First Manchester's problem though, so they will still go back, they could if needed bring in deckers from Preston as a stop gap measure although they are short as well! The other option is to short term lease from various dealers, but I think to be honest they will run stuff with the ex-Yourbus saloons that is normally decker operated, after all lets not forget outside the peaks there are fewer people using the bus from 2nd January due to poorer weather and also the need of people to repay bills from Christmas.

Its possible First might extend the lease of these Buses

[gilesbus1]

RE: Diamond Bus North West

(14/12/2019 19:43)T42 PVM Wrote:  Its possible First might extend the lease of these Buses

I can't see it, there is still the issue on the First front of none payment of leases, and on the Diamond front there is the need to reduce costs by removing expensive to lease vehicles first of all, these are the newer vehicles. I would expect the entire batch to be withdrawn after use on Christmas Eve and go to which ever First fleet they are off to between Christmas and New Year.

There is however the possibility Diamond could source something secondhand from somewhere or find vehicles within the Rotala Group. If they did do this, former London Scania deckers would be a good bet. There may be some kind of operational shortage, so therefore some secondhand vehicles may be sourced from dealers, in the longer term if deckers where bought secondhand they would allow cascading to Preston to upgrade the double-deck fleet further there. My own feelings having seen this operator is that they will simply buy what they can get easily and that may be further saloons, after all this might further reduce the number of new saloons required as information suggests 40 new saloons are also to be expected before Christmas 2020, although none of these have yet been ordered.

[Y458 KNF]

RE: Diamond Bus North West

(14/12/2019 19:43)T42 PVM Wrote:  Its possible First might extend the lease of these Buses

I doubt First will extend the leases they wont care if Rotala is short of deckers as it isnt really anything to do with First.