Stagecoach Manchester

[Mayneway]

RE: Stagecoach Manchester

(28/08/2014 18:48)Dentonian Wrote:  The 347 is a funny one. The Ashton Enviro200s were launched in a blaze of glory back in 2011 by the local MP, Councillor and then Opposition spokesperson for Buses. They were specifically for use on 236/7 & 347. Presumably, not long after, someone realised there was a reason why the 347 (and its antecedents) had been run with double-decker buses, trolleybuses and trams (in reverse order) for the previous eight decades or more, and the Enviro400s crept back on there.

I remember the press launch well. It was a good couple of weeks after they arrived that they entered service, never was too sure of the reasons for the wait, but originally they were intended for use on the 346/347 only with them then being used on evening services.
At the same time in much less of a blaze of glory the 236/237 was intended to go completely Enviro400 operated, mainly as a result of the loss of the 397 in Glossop. With the MANs only operating 217/218s. That plan didn't last long and MANs abs indeed deckers started to apear on the 347 due to capacity issues although funily enough there has never been capacity issues in recent years on the 347 - according to stagecoach anyway