Diamond Bus North West

[M60lad]

RE: South Lancs Travel
The latest addition to Diamondbus Northwest's fleet ex Prestonbus East Lancs Esteem PO56JDX is now out in service still in Prestonbus livery with Operated by South Lancs Travel notice in the windscreen and was out on 517s yesterday and 516s yesterday evening

[Mayneway]

RE: South Lancs Travel

(21/03/2015 23:10)Barney Wrote:  Neither. Under the current deregulated set-up there is no joined-up thinking. Each company's route stands or falls on its own merit. It might surprise our younger readers that once upon a time dead mileage was virtually unheard of and buses earned their keep as soon as they left the depot but those days have gone.

Absolutely true. Although I'm not old enough to remember regulated bus transport I do remember that a company I followed very closly, Maynes of Manchester, saw a lot of thier services start and finish at thier depot on Ashton new Road, but as you say it's very rare now to see the larger companies run positioning journeys etc, instead choosing to run dead.

[M113 YKC]

RE: South Lancs Travel

(22/03/2015 09:13)Mayneway Wrote:  Absolutely true. Although I'm not old enough to remember regulated bus transport I do remember that a company I followed very closly, Maynes of Manchester, saw a lot of thier services start and finish at thier depot on Ashton new Road, but as you say it's very rare now to see the larger companies run positioning journeys etc, instead choosing to run dead.

It's odd (unless I've missed something about it) that companies don't run buses in service to/from places (particularly ones that are far away from each-other) to start on their main service(s) for the day/night. Even if they don't pick anybody up (but if they did, it'd be an added bonus), they're still eligible to claim BSOG for the mileage. The timings could be exactly the same as they would be if running dead, albeit with a few additional timing points if the journey is long. If the buses are going to a particular location, they may as-well open the doors to potential passengers.

Ace Travel did this quite a bit - as do Avon, especially with their cross-river positioning services.

[Barney]

RE: South Lancs Travel

(22/03/2015 11:57)YJ59 AZA Wrote:  It's odd (unless I've missed something about it) that companies don't run buses in service to/from places (particularly ones that are far away from each-other) to start on their main service(s) for the day/night. Even if they don't pick anybody up (but if they did, it'd be an added bonus), they're still eligible to claim BSOG for the mileage. The timings could be exactly the same as they would be if running dead, albeit with a few additional timing points if the journey is long. If the buses are going to a particular location, they may as-well open the doors to potential passengers.

Ace Travel did this quite a bit - as do Avon, especially with their cross-river positioning services.

We are definitely going off topic here now but I'll just mention the fact that Stagecoach run an X2 out of service from Preston to Liverpool for the first departure of the day. That's an incredible 30+ dead miles! Beat that.

[M113 YKC]

RE: South Lancs Travel

(22/03/2015 18:21)Dentonian Wrote:  The downside to registering "positioning" trips, is that additional running time would be needed, compared to dead running, thus increasing duty hours and (possibly) sending the driver out of hours. There is also the problem that everytime you re-register the journey the bus is running on/off, you have to re-register the positioing trips. How much does each registration variation cost nowadays? £64 last I heard. Strange how things were so much more flexible and less bureaucratic when buses were regulated!!!

It's about £60 to register and amend a service I think, yeah. In theory, positioning journeys can just be added to an existing service - so when that service needs changing, the positioning journeys can be altered at no extra cost. There should be no need to add extra time onto the journey straight away as the amount of time already given to run dead should be sufficient enough. If it proves successful with the public and is worth running, then extra time can be added to cover picking passengers up. Particularly with longer journeys, it'd be a good investment to make as it'd cover a bit of the fuel costs even if no fares are taken.

Arriva could quite easily do this with their dead journeys to/from Ormskirk (they're often sitting in Ormskirk Bus Station for a while before starting their 395s anyway).

[T42 PVM (Moderator)]

RE: South Lancs Travel
Withdrawn is Wright Axcess Floline 68, Down to just 64 and 66 in Service of the Flolines now

[SLTRegular]

RE: South Lancs Travel
London Red Optare Versa Hybrid OP07ARE has reportedly arrived Ex Go Ahead London Central HOV1 Hybrid Demonstrator B27D was the last known capacity of this Original Hybrid Versa I Imagine it is still dual door as it has no Emergency Exit Door afaik YJ58BZY might be a former Reg plate of this bus does anyone know if it was its original Plate?

Credit Dave F from GMbuses yahoogroup for the confirmation it arrived

[SK15 GZG (Moderator)]

RE: South Lancs Travel
You are correct - OP07 ARE was originally registered YJ58 BZY

[SLTRegular]

RE: South Lancs Travel
All the Ex Bluebus Darts are Now Withdrawn according to the Rotala Fleetlist and their was a few confused looks on the 644 bus stand when a Birmingham Bus turned up SF54***

[M60lad]

RE: South Lancs Travel
Not sure if its been reported on here but another 2 Scania Esteems have arrived from parent company Prestonbus and one of the Esteems was on the late 126 last night