Stagecoach Manchester

[BHA]

RE: Stagecoach Manchester

(20/02/2015 20:53)Dentonian Wrote:  Whoa! Hang on. 17002/10/1 are in London on Rail replacement associated work, and 17243 is no longer a Stagecoach bus, and has never been a Stagecoach Manchester/Wigan bus. However, you mentioning 19088/9 does give some clue as to what might have happened. These are both Wigan buses, and as Wigan Schools are usually out of step with the rest of GM, I'm guessing it was their half-term last week. Wigan also have a higher proportion of schools work than other Stagecoach Manchester depots - hence a few to spare last week. The newer Enviro400s could have been made available by delaying repaint of cascaded Enviro400s into MagicBus livery, and I suppose a few others could have been resourced by not running 50 or 192 shorts, and dropping the odd 86.
I think you must be right about St. Peters Square as well. I don't get much chance to venture out at lunch time, but I did nip down to Chorlton Street and back up Portland Street to Lever Street, one day last week (I think it was Tuesday, actually), and I certainly didn't see any Metrolink replacement buses, and trams have certainly been running from Undercroft along Aytoun Street the whle time. The only thing I have noticed recently is more "double" trams off-peak.....leading to inevitable delays to buses and other traffic both on Aytoun Street and London Road.

Others have confirmed that 17002/10/1 had returned by last Tuesday - I saw all three in Piccadilly in the morning peak and, after a round trip on a 219 to Ashton, 350 to Oldham and an 83 back to Manchester, I saw all three again at Shudehill around 1600 hours. I did however get carried away with the 1724x Tridents, The four that were on Metrolink work were 17240, 17241, 17244 and 17245. I did not see 17242 nor , of course, 17243 which is not in Manchester as you rightly state. Apologies for that.