Arriva North West - Runcorn Depot

[MX12 KVM]

RE: Arriva North West - Runcorn Depot
Pulsar 2642 CX07 CSZ is on the X1 today.

[childwallblues]

RE: Arriva North West - Runcorn Depot

(19/06/2018 12:32)MX12 KVM Wrote:  Pulsar 2642 CX07 CSZ is on the X1 today.

And 3139 was on the 79C

[childwallblues]

RE: Arriva North West - Runcorn Depot
Noted at Belle Vale at about 1800 yesterday was Solo 708 on the 79C.

[Conbus]

RE: Arriva North West - Runcorn Depot
Who knows what the route chabges are for runcorn from September

[MX12 KVM]

RE: Arriva North West - Runcorn Depot
2522 has finally returned to the road after being absent for just under a year. It’s now in the new livery and gone to Green Lane. On loan?

[Raawwwrrr!]

RE: Arriva North West - Runcorn Depot
Can anyone reliably tell me why Runcorn depot opted to use London Style fonts on their roller destination blinds following re branding from North Western in the early to late 00's?

My personal favourite was the use of just a separate airplane symbol to denote Liverpool Airport without the branding.
I.e an 82A would display the via points as "Garston, (plane), Speke, Widnes...." as seen here on 7454

[Quackdave]

RE: Arriva North West - Runcorn Depot

(27/07/2018 19:01)Raawwwrrr! Wrote:  Can anyone reliably tell me why Runcorn depot opted to use London Style fonts on their roller destination blinds following re branding from North Western in the early to late 00's?

A complete guess rather than the definitive answer you were hoping for, but wasn't that around the time they received the Wright Pathfinder bodied Scanias from London? If any of those arrived with blinds still in place, they might have inspired management to adopt a similar style locally...

On the subject of Runcorn destinations, I don't know whether this is still the case, but a few months ago I noticed a gas bus displaying "In Service" on the side destination. This intrigued me, as destinations are usually a little more specific than that... at which point the display changed to "Sorry Not".

I don't know who thought it was a good idea for a display to alternate between the meaningless phrase "Sorry Not" and the outright mendacious "In Service", but it looked to me as though "Not In Service" would have fitted the display just fine, and the problem stems from a misplaced desire to include the word "Sorry". In recent decades this seems to have caught on across much of the industry, and yet it's always struck me as somewhat inappropriate. The vast majority of the time when a bus is not in service, it isn't meant to be; and there is no reason to be apologising for the fact - especially when doing so sacrifices clarity.

On a similar note (and linking nicely back to your point about the conciseness of the aeroplane symbol), whichever depot it is that alternates between "Liverpool John" and "Lennon Airport" should reconsider whether spelling it out in full is really worth spreading it out across two alternating phases, when an abbreviated version (even simply "Airport" would do) would convey the necessary information so much more effectively in one go.

[MTL0201]

RE: Arriva North West - Runcorn Depot
Some details about the changes have appeared in the Echo, the 82A will be withdrawn but replaced by the extended 500, 500 will be all stops City Centre-Airport then as 82A to Runcorn High Street bus station, then as 79C to Murdishaw means the current deckers on the 500 will be replaced by single deckers.

[Barney]

RE: Arriva North West - Runcorn Depot

(29/07/2018 12:17)MTL0201 Wrote:  Some details about the changes have appeared in the Echo, the 82A will be withdrawn but replaced by the extended 500, 500 will be all stops City Centre-Airport then as 82A to Runcorn High Street bus station, then as 79C to Murdishaw means the current deckers on the 500 will be replaced by single deckers.

In essence, the 82A and 500 are to be merged and although the timetable has yet to be finalised, it indicates that it will be a 30-minute frequency between L One and JLA. As this service is to be operated by single deck vehicles rather than double-deckers, for most of the day, I foresee it leaving passengers at the stop at L One. By my reckoning there will be 150 seats per hour less than exists currently. Also, any would-be passengers along the route are certainly going to be left stranded and possibly miss their flights. Surely it would make more sense to operate a 20-frequency initially to gauge the level of demand.

[iMarkeh]

RE: Arriva North West - Runcorn Depot

(29/07/2018 14:50)Barney Wrote:  In essence, the 82A and 500 are to be merged and although the timetable has yet to be finalised, it indicates that it will be a 30-minute frequency between L One and JLA. As this service is to be operated by single deck vehicles rather than double-deckers, for most of the day, I foresee it leaving passengers at the stop at L One. By my reckoning there will be 150 seats per hour less than exists currently. Also, any would-be passengers along the route are certainly going to be left stranded and possibly miss their flights. Surely it would make more sense to operate a 20-frequency initially to gauge the level of demand.

The timetable must be finalised or it wouldn't have been registered.

The 500 never seems to take many people from what I have seen. A few people per trip. If the 82A can take a few extra people, there is no reason why these shouldn't be linked. Rather than lose money increasing the frequency, it is easier and more cost effective to run dupes until December/January when the next set of changes happen. Then, if you find you are constantly running dupes on certain section, you can amend the frequency accordingly. If you go in at 20 and it works out, it would work at a 30 min frequency, you will lose a lot of money. If you are running a dupe, you are doing it because you know you will make money on it therefore no money is lost. If that makes sense.