First Manchester

[Mayneway]

RE: First Manchester

(05/10/2018 20:48)Brickmill Wrote:  Must have been a completely different Ashton that I have been visting recently. Apart from old Solos on the 353/4, First buses in Ashton seem to be predominantly Streetlites, supplemented by the odd Enviro300 and Enviro400 on 348/350 and a mix of Enviro400s and Geminis on 409. Meanwhile, Stagecoach run middle aged Enviro200s (and the odd Enviro400) on 346 and apart from the 330, the remaining routes are either a mix of variously powered or designed Enviro400s - except the 347 which seems to have settled back to its natural historical place of just having the oldest buses in the fleet.
The 346 stands out like a sore thumb; 5 years ago, Stagecoach ran nothing but nearly new Enviro200s whilst First chucked out any old rubbish. Nowadays, the situation is almost reversed.

Read my comment I said quality of service nothing about the age of vehicles used. You travel into Ashton once in a blue moon. Speak to any regular bus users in Ashton and they will tell you they prefer Stagecoach services over Firsts. Main reason being punctuality and buses actually turning up at all. Only the other day there was a debate on a local Facebook group about whether the 350 was the worst bus service going! I didn't contribute but it got quite a few comments.