+- Forum | Merseyside Dennis Dart Website (http://dartslf.com/forum)
+-- Forum: Buses (/forumdisplay.php?fid=1)
+--- Forum: Local Bus Scene: North West and Wales (/forumdisplay.php?fid=2)
+--- Thread: Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots (/showthread.php?tid=1427)
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 737 738 739 740 741 742 743 744 745 746 747 748 749 750 751 752 753 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 767 768 769 770 771 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821 822 823 824 825 826 827 828 829 830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 839 840 841 842 843 844 845 846 847 848 849 850 851 852 853 854 855 856 857 858 859 860 861 862 863 864 865 866 867 868 869 870 871 872 873 874 875 876 877 878 879 880
RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral - mbonwick - 09/04/2015 19:56
Dentonian - have to say I agree with your point. One would hope what actually happens is that the Scanias are transferred to Preston, with their Enviro400s moving to Gillmoss. Somehow I doube this will happen though.
RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral - H101GEV - 09/04/2015 21:19
I understand they plan to "renew" Gillmoss' double deck fleet this year, but it needs to be a lot more than just a like-for-like swap of the current, pathetic token allocation. Frankly to have neither the 20/21 nor the 14 double decked is absolutely scandalous given how long the overcrowding has been an issue for. The 59 plates are of a reasonable age and were all 24 to pass to Gillmoss, a full conversion of the 14 at least would be possible, not that it would happen.
At least with the 14 there's always the chance that Arriva will actually bother to order correct sized buses. Anyway, I digress.
RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral - E400 - 09/04/2015 21:30
(09/04/2015 21:19)507009 Wrote: I understand they plan to "renew" Gillmoss' double deck fleet this year, but it needs to be a lot more than just a like-for-like swap of the current, pathetic token allocation. Frankly to have neither the 20/21 nor the 14 double decked is absolutely scandalous given how long the overcrowding has been an issue for. The 59 plates are of a reasonable age and were all 24 to pass to Gillmoss, a full conversion of the 14 at least would be possible, not that it would happen.
At least with the 14 there's always the chance that Arriva will actually bother to order correct sized buses. Anyway, I digress.
It comes across as if Stagecoach aren't "pulling their weight". They could, nay, should, be doing a lot more. Arriva's fleet isn't even comparable to what it was just 4 or 5 years ago; SC are just stagnating. I'm sure they won't end up the same way as First did in Wirral, but they're heading the right way.
RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral - mbonwick - 09/04/2015 23:51
Not sure how 90-odd new vehicles since 2010 can be seen as stagnating - bearing in mind that's only 1 depot. A further 13 this year will take them over 100 vehicles in 5 years - so on average 20/year. I'd still say that's pretty good going.
RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral - E400 - 10/04/2015 06:35
(09/04/2015 23:51)mbonwick Wrote: Not sure how 90-odd new vehicles since 2010 can be seen as stagnating - bearing in mind that's only 1 depot. A further 13 this year will take them over 100 vehicles in 5 years - so on average 20/year. I'd still say that's pretty good going.
They're going nowhere with it though. How much has capacity increased? Particularly in Liverpool where a good proportion of their single deck allocations are unsuitable.
RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral - Barney - 10/04/2015 08:02
(10/04/2015 06:35)Enviro400 Wrote: They're going nowhere with it though. How much has capacity increased? Particularly in Liverpool where a good proportion of their single deck allocations are unsuitable.
GM's fleet is totally unrecognisable compared to the one it inherited in 2005. With the exception of the dozen or so Tridents, all permanent allocations have been brand new buses. Having said that, I am sure that anybody following this thread from outside of this region would be amazed to learn that its only allocation of deckers are the aforementioned 15-year-old Tridents (with cherished registrations to disguise their true age). GM has a PVR of over 110, serves some of the lowest car-owning areas in the UK - many routes with 5/6 minute frequencies - and must be unique in the SC empire regarding its vehicle profile.
RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral - Barney - 10/04/2015 08:29
(10/04/2015 08:10)Dentonian Wrote: The 5/6 minute frequencies may be deemed suitable. Also, if MSL have the same attitude as Stagecoach (and others) in Gtr. Manchester, then "low car ownership" translates as "potentially massive increase in car ownership = decrease in patronage". Except where "KickStart" had failed, the January cuts by Stagecoach Manchester were almost exclusively in low car ownership areas.
I assure you, there is no "potentially massive increase in car ownership" in the areas that GM operates. Many single-deckers run close to capacity during the day and it is this that probably is probably putting off potential passengers. Also, did you know that Liverpool has more black hackney licences per head of population than London and that the largest independent private hire 'mini cab' firm in Europe operates on Merseyside. It is these two factors that create the competition for SC and other bus operators.
RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral - H101GEV - 10/04/2015 19:02
(10/04/2015 06:35)Enviro400 Wrote: They're going nowhere with it though. How much has capacity increased? Particularly in Liverpool where a good proportion of their single deck allocations are unsuitable.
Fully agree. I think the short answer is "new doesn't necessarily mean better". It says something that the Enviro400s on the 10/10A seem much more of an improvement on Pulsars than the Pulsars were on the previous rag-bag collection of older single deckers.
On my local route there is the choice between Arriva and Stagecoach, the former with leather seated double deckers and the latter with cramped, creaky single deckers. I hardly need to explain further why I haven't used Stagecoach despite having the choice for well over a year.
RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral - PO59 MXJ - 10/04/2015 19:56
I think the only routes in Gillmoss that would get deckers are the 20/21 and 82/86. I think the 19s need bigger buses than darts, but wouldnt go as far as deckers. The rest of the routes dont require deckers apart from maybe 1 or 2 trips at peak times.
RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral - T42 PVM - 10/04/2015 19:59
You need to take a look at the 14, Thats always busy when i get it, I agree fully on your 19 point tho