Arriva North West - St Helens Depot

[Valandil]

RE: Arriva North West - St Helens Depot
Definitely agree about 20, 31 and 35.
If the 17 were split and not a "through" service, the northern part could probably have Solos too, which would enable them to keep operating the former route instead of cutting it short, that is, unless it's got busier in recent years (not been that way for a while).
I don't really understand why the 17 was ever made a "through" service anyway, just an overhang from the 30 which has caused problems which could have been avoided?

I also don't understand why the Speke 3 and 3A seem to be getting bigger vehicles when they are contracted services with little patronage, while Arriva's commercial services at St Helens could be making more money if they used bigger vehicles (attracting more people to use these services and not feel it is a better option to find an alternative way of making their journey to avoid standing up on a crowded vehicle there and back or even risk getting left behind).

[St Helens Rider]

RE: Arriva North West - St Helens Depot
The 31 is very strange when it comes to allocations. It can be anything from a Solo to a Decker. The 33 is one of those routes which maybe if it was possible should interwork with something as it's usually laying over somewhere in the Town Centre for around 20 minutes every journey.

[Y458 KNF]

RE: Arriva North West - St Helens Depot

(25/05/2023 14:48)St Helens Rider Wrote:  The 31 is very strange when it comes to allocations. It can be anything from a Solo to a Decker. The 33 is one of those routes which maybe if it was possible should interwork with something as it's usually laying over somewhere in the Town Centre for around 20 minutes every journey.

Could extending the 33 to Lea Green and having it go trough Sutton Heath the opposite direction reduce some of the layover time?

[Jack]

RE: Arriva North West - St Helens Depot
The 33 gets full certain times of the day, 2596 earlier this week one example.

According to bus times a Solo has been on the 320 shorts twice this week, today the same journeys were Enviro400s! If they are going to be used on busier services the 320 might be better with it being more frequent with the 20 along half the route too.

[CX06 EBK (Administrator)]

RE: Arriva North West - St Helens Depot
Speke are getting the Streetlites because the Solos have been unreliable and often there are days when more than one 3 duty doesn't operate. Given the fact that these are tendered services that they won off HTL with the misguided belief of people on the route that it would bring great reliability etc - it has been a total disaster so far. I wouldn't say they have "little patronage" either, they could get very busy at times. Arriva - like pretty much all operators - are prioritising their tendered work and obviously this is now seen as the best solution.

[M60lad]

RE: Arriva North West - St Helens Depot
Must be a bit of a let down for Southport that no sooner that they get new vehicles that they have them took away/transferred out to another depot surely an ideal solution/better idea would have been to leave the Streetlites at Southport and got some new buses for 3/3As that way the Streetlites could have stayed at Southport the depot they were intended for in the first place instead of the recent big shuffle round.

[Raawwwrrr!]

RE: Arriva North West - St Helens Depot

(26/05/2023 05:32)M60lad Wrote:  Streetlights could have stayed at Southport the depot they were intended for in the first place instead of the recent big shuffle round.

Problem was that they were never intended for Southport, let alone Arriva. The 10 that arrived in 2021 were all dealer stock/cancelled orders purchased on the cheap, hence the mix of lengths, versions, air conditioning and seat type/moquette (It doesn’t however explain the missing hand rail covers which are exposed on the seat backs).

They’re more of a “yes they’re cheap” than a “yes we would like these for XYZ”

[Raawwwrrr!]

RE: Arriva North West - St Helens Depot

(25/05/2023 14:48)St Helens Rider Wrote:  The 31 is very strange when it comes to allocations. It can be anything from a Solo to a Decker. The 33 is one of those routes which maybe if it was possible should interwork with something as it's usually laying over somewhere in the Town Centre for around 20 minutes every journey.

I’ve strongly believed the 31 and 33 should be combined with a full circuit taking just under 60 minutes.

You could for example:
- Run both the 31 and 33 on a 30 minute frequency at PVR 2 which saves 2 buses but reduces frequency of the 31 section in Parr.
- Run both the 31 and 33 as a 20 minute frequency at PVR 3 which saves 1 bus and increases the frequency of the 33 but reduces the section in Parr by 5 minutes (My preferred option)
- Run both services every 15 minutes (as per the 31 currently) with smaller buses such as the Solo’s saving no buses/PVR but maintains the 31 frequency and increased frequency to Sutton Heath
- Copy the ambitious plan of Southport depot and turn both the 31 and 33 into two circular services by adding a section of route between Parr and Sutton Heath via Lea Green

[B10B6514]

RE: Arriva North West - St Helens Depot

(26/05/2023 07:34)Raawwwrrr! Wrote:  Problem was that they were never intended for Southport, let alone Arriva. The 10 that arrived in 2021 were all dealer stock/cancelled orders purchased on the cheap, hence the mix of lengths, versions, air conditioning and seat type/moquette (It doesn’t however explain the missing hand rail covers which are exposed on the seat backs).

They’re more of a “yes they’re cheap” than a “yes we would like these for XYZ”

Allegedly they were part of a deal for an earlier build slot for Green Lane's Streetdecks. Wrexham was their original planned allocation but they were knocked back so Southport was the willing recipient so the 49 could be upgraded.

They could have moved sooner to Wythenshawe for their tendered work but the Mellor Stratas from Winsford went instead.

Buslistsontheweb shows them as 2019/2020 builds.

[B10B6514]

RE: Arriva North West - St Helens Depot
717 has returned here after its travels to Speke and the Midlands replacing 3018 to Southport.