Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

[Brickmill]

RE: Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

(19/10/2018 17:06)chester285 Wrote:  The 56 plates 400s are in the process of being transferred to Manchester, the 59 plates are remaining in chester,

Just to clarify then; 19045/61/2/70 will join others at Manchester (probably Sharston), whilst 19571 will be converted to OT off site with a view to returning to Chester.

[lenno121]

RE: Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots
Hi all,

Any news on the whereabouts of the BlueBird's? Last I heard there was still one at Gillmoss but the rest had vanished!

[PAUL2511]

RE: Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

(20/10/2018 17:13)lenno121 Wrote:  Hi all,

Any news on the whereabouts of the BlueBird's? Last I heard there was still one at Gillmoss but the rest had vanished!

Up to few weeks ago there was bluebird there. But I'm guessing by now they are been tins

[chester285]

RE: Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

(20/10/2018 15:15)Brickmill Wrote:  Just to clarify then; 19045/61/2/70 will join others at Manchester (probably Sharston), whilst 19571 will be converted to OT off site with a view to returning to Chester.

Yup thats according to Steven knight, not sure on 19571 i was told that it leaving the fleet which to me says its going full stop

[Brickmill]

RE: Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

(20/10/2018 19:35)chester285 Wrote:  Yup thats according to Steven knight, not sure on 19571 i was told that it leaving the fleet which to me says its going full stop

With half term (in most of GM, at least) coming up, maybe they will make their way across this week.

[Penny Return]

RE: Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots
Passed RF Depot earlier,looked like more 61 plate deckers had arrived

[clarkethomas94]

RE: Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots
Going back to the gemini's i'm not sure that they will stay at Chester long. The original plan was for them to be used on the X2 but because they are only 1 inch lower than the 14'6 bridge in Frodsham, allocators are reluctant to put them out on the X2 and are putting them out on X8's or U4 instead. Because the gemini's don't have wi-fi and leather seats compared to the 59 plate enviro's, putting the gemini's on the X8 and the 400's on the X2 will be a bit of a downgrade for the X8 if they were to stay IMO.

[T42 PVM (Moderator)]

RE: Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots
Leather seats is not a big deal, As for WI-FI does it cost that much extra? Just that every single bus with First Has it already

[Quackdave]

RE: Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

(22/10/2018 15:12)T42 PVM Wrote:  Leather seats is not a big deal, As for WI-FI does it cost that much extra? Just that every single bus with First Has it already

I don't know what specific model of Wi-Fi equipment they use or how much it costs, but given that it's essentially just a slightly more powerful version of something you can buy from Amazon for under £30, I doubt it's very expensive or difficult to fit - I imagine they just haven't got round to it yet.

As for leather seats, good riddance - I might actually consider using the X8 to get to Chester or the zoo now, rather than the train or car respectively. A poll on here a couple of years ago suggested that at least as many people dislike leather seats as like them, so I'd agree it's not a big deal and unlikely to have a significant effect on the attractiveness of the service.

[iMarkeh]

RE: Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots
Wifi should in my opinion, have been put in during the refurb. Same with the USB plugs. I think they have somewhat shot themselves in the foot. I do like the Geminis a lot, they feel a lot faster and seem to be good at sticking to the times. The X2 will always be a risky one until they try it. In fairness, there are 8 geminis and the X8 has a PVR of 6. There are only 2 buses that you need to play about with. U4 is 2 or 3 buses (It was 2 buses but todays Twitter oost seems to show there is 3 buses). Even the S1/605 you can't run it on because the whole bus duty runs onto other routes (The S1 runs onto the DB4 and the gemini won't go under Blacon Hall Road bridge and the 605 runs onto the 15A and the trees are normally quite low. around Saughall. I don't know how Arriva get their Saph round in one piece). It's very limited what you can run them on until they test out the X2. I think they should get the council to check the bridge height to confirm. Sometimes bridges are higher/lower than the signs so I would just get it checked and go from there. It could be the bridge is higher than they think and the geminis can run through.