First Manchester

[gilesbus1]

RE: First Manchester

(16/04/2019 18:38)M60lad Wrote:  Not to sure whether loan or transfer but Enviro400 33846 and Streetlite 63147 have transferred from Oldham to Queens Road Depot whether anymore transfers are due before Go-Ahead take over I'm not to sure.

No ADL Enviro400's or Streetlite's should be going to GoAhead, the fleet to be taken over consists entirely or Volvo B9TL's, Volvo B5LH's and Volvo B7RLE's all with Wright bodies, plus the TfGM owned vehicles Optare vehicles used on TfGM contracts. Presume that if 33846 and 63147 will be swapped for a Volvo B9TL and a Volvo B7RLE from Oldham before sale if required.

[Brickmill]

RE: First Manchester

(16/04/2019 18:51)gilesbus1 Wrote:  No ADL Enviro400's or Streetlite's should be going to GoAhead, the fleet to be taken over consists entirely or Volvo B9TL's, Volvo B5LH's and Volvo B7RLE's all with Wright bodies, plus the TfGM owned vehicles Optare vehicles used on TfGM contracts. Presume that if 33846 and 63147 will be swapped for a Volvo B9TL and a Volvo B7RLE from Oldham before sale if required.

Presumably, these are loans over the Easter holidays. I don't suppose you have details of the exact vehicles transferring to GA although it looks like the remaining B7RLES at Oldham will be amongst them.

[gilesbus1]

RE: First Manchester

(16/04/2019 19:29)Brickmill Wrote:  Presumably, these are loans over the Easter holidays. I don't suppose you have details of the exact vehicles transferring to GA although it looks like the remaining B7RLES at Oldham will be amongst them.

I've not a full list, though I would think that whatever was based there when they made the offer will be what moves over, at Wigan when that was owned only three were pulled out of sale, one of which was an accident victim from First to Stagecoach and one was moved over to substitute for the accident victim, so suspect similar, anything moved in since sale will probably get moved out along with any depot loans. Though accept its likely that the remaining Volvo B7RLE's at Oldham plus some B9TL's at Bolton may transfer over as well as nothing has substituted yet for large amounts of the vehicles, transferred out from Rusholme when in closed to Bolton and Oldham.

It may be with these moves that some buses at Queens are not up to the standard Go Ahead want them in and they have told them to rectify defects on various vehicles before take-over at First's expense, e.g long term body damage or defects in the cab area's.

[M60lad]

RE: First Manchester
Not to sure how true this is but I've heard the vehicles being transfered are the ex Rusholme Enviro400s & Streetlites that transfered to Oldham when Rusholme closed and I've been told by various people that these vehicles were supposedly part of the deal of Go-Ahead taking on Queens Road Depot

[gilesbus1]

RE: First Manchester

(16/04/2019 21:08)M60lad Wrote:  Not to sure how true this is but I've heard the vehicles being transfered are the ex Rusholme Enviro400s & Streetlites that transfered to Oldham when Rusholme closed and I've been told by various people that these vehicles were supposedly part of the deal of Go-Ahead taking on Queens Road Depot

Can't see it personally, a buyer would have no say in what was transferred, it would be based on what was there, also GoAhead have said the newest buses are the Volvo B5LH's and they will undertake an internal refurbishment of them and also presumably now an engine upgrade to Euro 6 at the same time, also in 2020 new buses will be ordered and will appear, but that choice will be based probably on tests of a number of demonstrators, presume these will phase out some older Volvo B7RLE's and also Volvo B9TL's some of which may transfer to other Go Ahead fleets, thought to be East Yorkshire and North East to replace older deckers there. I also think Go Ahead would also benefit from the current fleet situation as the spares bin will be kept simple as all they need are Volvo, Wright and Optare Spares of which Volvo and Wright Spares to some degree are interchangeable between models.

The only way I can see them being any sort of transfer to GoAhead is if at the time of purchase First made some sort of error and included Rusholme routes and its vehicles as part of the sale and there asset value was included in the sale, prior to Rusholme being closed, therefore lowering the book value of the asset that had been sold, but if that is the case all the Volvo B7RLE's and the odd B9TL that have gone the other way would have to return in the opposite direction, or age equivalent examples.

[Barney]

RE: First Manchester

(16/04/2019 22:54)gilesbus1 Wrote:  Can't see it personally, a buyer would have no say in what was transferred, it would be based on what was there,

When Arriva was forced to sell Gillmoss depot, there was a great deal of vehicle movement before the actually date of transfer. In particular, all of the then almost new Millennium fleet was transferred out and replaced with 30 older Metrobuses that Arriva repainted into the newly-formed GTL livery.

[gilesbus1]

RE: First Manchester

(17/04/2019 07:51)Barney Wrote:  When Arriva was forced to sell Gillmoss depot, there was a great deal of vehicle movement before the actually date of transfer. In particular, all of the then almost new Millennium fleet was transferred out and replaced with 30 older Metrobuses that Arriva repainted into the newly-formed GTL livery.

That was because GTL couldn't afford the lease payments on the Volvo Olympians, so 20 odd older buses were swapped and they were brought up from Arriva Southern Counties, and the Volvo's moved to other Arriva Merseyside garages.

Think it would be a slightly different scenario, and would have been discussed at the time of purchase. What I can't get my head around is presumably talks had taken place between the two prior to the announcement in February, and would have been going on when Rusholme closed, so why were the ADL's and Streetlites transferred out to Bolton and Oldham and not simply direct to Queens Road, it simply makes no sense! if that was the case.

[djb]

RE: First Manchester

(17/04/2019 09:35)gilesbus1 Wrote:  That was because GTL couldn't afford the lease payments on the Volvo Olympians, so 20 odd older buses were swapped and they were brought up from Arriva Southern Counties, and the Volvo's moved to other Arriva Merseyside garages.

Think it would be a slightly different scenario, and would have been discussed at the time of purchase. What I can't get my head around is presumably talks had taken place between the two prior to the announcement in February, and would have been going on when Rusholme closed, so why were the ADL's and Streetlites transferred out to Bolton and Oldham and not simply direct to Queens Road, it simply makes no sense! if that was the case.

I don’t pay much attention to firsts fleet moves, but wasn’t the issue that queens road had no Enviro400s or streetlites prior to rusholme closing so drivers weren’t familiar with them? Whereas they were already in use at Bolton / Oldham?

[acocker96]

RE: First Manchester

(17/04/2019 11:22)djb Wrote:  I don’t pay much attention to firsts fleet moves, but wasn’t the issue that queens road had no Enviro400s or streetlites prior to rusholme closing so drivers weren’t familiar with them? Whereas they were already in use at Bolton / Oldham?

I imagine that the engineers will also have a lot of experience with Volvo engines and chassis and probably not that much with the Cummins engines that they use on Wrightbus integrals and Alexander Dennis products.

[gilesbus1]

RE: First Manchester

(17/04/2019 11:22)djb Wrote:  I don’t pay much attention to firsts fleet moves, but wasn’t the issue that queens road had no Enviro400s or streetlites prior to rusholme closing so drivers weren’t familiar with them? Whereas they were already in use at Bolton / Oldham?

Its not that, that I am arguing, that bit is fair enough, but if they were in discussions with Go Ahead at that time and its likely they were, then why if you knew they were being sold with Queens Road depot, would you then move them to Bolton and Oldham rather than straight into Queens Road, that bit makes no sense, thats why I don't think the story is correct, but we will wait and see.