First Aberdeen

[kkong]

It does not have the capacity to fuel buses. It was only designed to supply cars and vans.

The publicity at launch indicated otherwise?

The ACHES refuelling station was built by Hydrogenics and opened in 2017. It is owned by Aberdeen City Council. The station can produce 130kg of hydrogen per day. ACHES has the capacity to store an additional 150kg of hydrogen on site. The station can dispense hydrogen at both 700 and 350 bar, and can therefore refuel buses, trucks, vans and cars.

 

[Jordan Adam]

The publicity at launch indicated otherwise?

Even if so a bus wouldn't fit in to the site itself. It's too narrow/tight and the canopy over the refuelling pump is too low.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

It does not have the capacity to fuel buses. It was only designed to supply cars and vans.


----------------

New post:-

The bustimes.org map is now working. Let's hope it stays!

Map – First Aberdeen

Cancel that now switched off!

Live tracking looks to have stopped again!

 

[Jordan Adam]

Former First Aberdeen Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban 69130 now under private ownership with a First Aberdeen driver was collected for preservation yesterday. Happy to report that it made it to its destination, the plan long term is to restore it back to original condition.

Here's some photos from the journey south.

[Preserved] First Aberdeen 69130 SV07EHG (14th October 2023)

Preserved First Aberdeen Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban 69130 SV07EHG is seen here while being moved from King Street Depot in to storage for preservation. Photo Date: 14th October 2023

www.flickr.com

[Preserved] First Aberdeen 69130 SV07EHG (14th October 2023)

Preserved First Aberdeen Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban 69130 SV07EHG is seen here while being moved from King Street Depot in to storage for preservation. Photo Date: 14th October 2023

www.flickr.com

[Preserved] First Aberdeen 69130 SV07EHG (14th October 2023)

Preserved First Aberdeen Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban 69130 SV07EHG is seen here while being moved from King Street Depot in to storage for preservation. Photo Date: 14th October 2023

www.flickr.com

[Preserved] First Aberdeen 69130 SV07EHG (14th October 2023)

Preserved First Aberdeen Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban 69130 SV07EHG is seen here while being moved from King Street Depot in to storage for preservation. Photo Date: 14th October 2023

www.flickr.com

[Preserved] First Aberdeen 69130 SV07EHG (14th October 2023)

Preserved First Aberdeen Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban 69130 SV07EHG is seen here while being moved from King Street Depot in to storage for preservation. Photo Date: 14th October 2023

www.flickr.com

[Preserved] First Aberdeen 69130 SV07EHG (14th October 2023)

Explore ABZBuses' 2398 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

 

[Volvodart]

Even if so a bus wouldn't fit in to the site itself. It's too narrow/tight and the canopy over the refuelling pump is too low.

BOC who own or run the Kittybrewster facility would not have been happy with their investment not being used, so that is probably why the Cove facility produces such a small amount of hydrogen.

 

[PG]

BOC who own or run the Kittybrewster facility would not have been happy with their investment not being used, so that is probably why the Cove facility produces such a small amount of hydrogen.

BOC won't have been getting  any return on their investment recently!!

 

[Volvodart]

It will be stopping fairly soon anyway when the green hydrogen facility opens in Altens.

 

[PG]

It will be stopping fairly soon anyway when the green hydrogen facility opens in Altens.

Will that be serving the First Aberdeen fleet?

 

[Volvodart]

Yes all 25!

 

[kkong]

It will be stopping fairly soon anyway when the green hydrogen facility opens in Altens.

If "fairly soon" means an "ambition" for it to reach phase 1 operation "from 2025" !

 

[JumpinTrainz]

Can’t the Streetdecks be used elsewhere that does have an available hydrogen facility in exchange for some diesel buses until the facility opens in 2025? That’s literally 2 years away.

 

[Fin447]

Can’t the Streetdecks be used elsewhere that does have an available hydrogen facility in exchange for some diesel buses until the facility opens in 2025? That’s literally 2 years away.

First doesn't have any other depots with Hydrogen facilities

 

[MasterSpenny]

Can’t the Streetdecks be used elsewhere that does have an available hydrogen facility in exchange for some diesel buses until the facility opens in 2025? That’s literally 2 years away.

No because there doesn’t seem any other location within First Group where StreetDeck Hydroliners operate

 

[JumpinTrainz]

First doesn't have any other depots with Hydrogen facilities

No because there doesn’t seem any other location within First Group where StreetDeck Hydroliners operate

Eeek oh dear not good

 

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

Even if so a bus wouldn't fit in to the site itself. It's too narrow/tight and the canopy over the refuelling pump is too low.

A failure on the local authorities or Scottish governments part to ensure this?

Or simply another what could’ve been type scenario?

 

[fife_circle]

Some Streetdecks looks to be back out today, quite a few of them still in the depot though.

 

[LT02 NVV]

Aberdeen are short on buses again due to poor availability of the E400s and the Hydrogen pump at Kittybrewster failing again


33104, 33109 and 67820 have arrived on loan from Glasgow while 20613 and 20806/7 are being used on the 1A.

Really? If it isn’t a tracking error and they did go to First Glasgow, then that actually does take me back to the days when the Plaxton Paragons were on the 1 routes back around 2012-2016.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Really? If it isn’t a tracking error and they did go to First Glasgow, then that actually does take me back to the days when the Plaxton Paragons were on the 1 routes back around 2012-2016.

They were being used on the 1A in Aberdeen, not Glasgow...

 

[LT02 NVV]

They were being used on the 1A in Aberdeen, not Glasgow...

Sorry, my bad, I thought by the way it was worded that the coaches got swapped over to Glasgow for the deckers.

 

[handandy67]

It looks as if 33104 and 33109 also 37741 and 37268 are back in First Glasgow, with 33906 coming to Aberdeen and in Aberdeen colours.

 

[LT02 NVV]

Why does this bus have a tracking ticket machine on BusTimes.org if it’s a King’s Coaches bus? (Also, I checked it, and it’s actually a spare ticket machine that’s being used on a First Glasgow Gemini bus right now).

 

[Jordan Adam]

Why does this bus have a tracking ticket machine on BusTimes.org if it’s a King’s Coaches bus? (Also, I checked it, and it’s actually a spare ticket machine that’s being used on a First Glasgow Gemini bus right now).

Probably because First Glasgow have the number 20613 on their internal fleet list, and therefore it has been allocated on a ticket machine in error. This is an issue on First's end rather than Bustimes. The ticket machine code is 20613 therefore those vehicle details are accurate for that code.

 

[fife_circle]

Does anyone know how the night 20 is holding up passenger wise? I’ve used it a couple of times and there’s always been a considerable amount of people on board. However, there are still some problems with the app with it not showing the Saturday night services; it will now be thinking it’s Sunday and it also shows services as running on Tuesday evenings into Wednesday. There was a very large crowd at Adelphi on Halloween evening waiting for a bus that was never going to come (Halloween was another poor effort from First as usual with all buses running down King Street displaying "bus full". The electronic displays in bus stops are also turned off overnight; granted, that would be a council issue? But surely there’s a case to have them on at least on the weekends with Bluebird also now running night services. At least the light up night bus signs have a use again.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Just passed 63208 on the 1 towards Garthdee at Urquhart Road around 20:00 with a full standing load, this is a pretty regular occurrence most nights even outwith weekends. Why they continue to use single deckers on the 1/2 in the evening when its pretty evident they're not suitable for the levels of demand continues to baffle...

 

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

Just passed 63208 on the 1 towards Garthdee at Urquhart Road around 20:00 with a full standing load, this is a pretty regular occurrence most nights even outwith weekends. Why they continue to use single deckers on the 1/2 in the evening when its pretty evident they're not suitable for the levels of demand continues to baffle...

Having had the privilege of meeting the local management at Aberdeen and directly bringing up several problems along the operation with them..

Nothing has changed, they dont want to know or care, frankly…

 

[Jordan Adam]

Having had the privilege of meeting the local management at Aberdeen and directly bringing up several problems along the operation with them..

Nothing has changed, they dont want to know or care, frankly…

They clearly do to some extent acknowledge there are some capacity issues though as the 20 is almost exclusively Enviro400 operated now including the late night runs whereas for the past decade or so prior to September it was with the odd exception very much a single deck operated route.

However the situation with the 1/2 in the evening and on Sundays using single deckers is ridiculous, it always has been but it has gotten worse in recent times as passenger numbers in Aberdeen now are above pre-pandemic levels.

The hourly frequencies introducing on Sunday evenings during the pandemic are also proving to be insufficient particularly on the 23 and 172. The Sunday timetable for the 17A more generally is just dire.

 

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

They clearly do to some extent acknowledge there are some capacity issues though as the 20 is almost exclusively Enviro400 operated now including the late night runs whereas for the past decade or so prior to September it was with the odd exception very much a single deck operated route.

Not good enough.

However the situation with the 1/2 in the evening and on Sundays using single deckers is ridiculous, it always has been but it has gotten worse in recent times as passenger numbers in Aberdeen now are above pre-pandemic levels.

The hourly frequencies introducing on Sunday evenings during the pandemic are also proving to be insufficient particularly on the 23 and 172. The Sunday timetable for the 17A more generally is just dire.

They have the means to rectify these issues but actively choose to do nothing about them.

They could easily keep the Enviro 500s out in service a little later in the evening during the week and especially on Saturday nights, but they “are” actively choosing not to due to the fuel economy of those vehicles, it’s not good enough, they never will make great enough decision on these issues.

For example, the Bendy Buses and Artics are great example of what can be used when it’s super busy taking students to RGU, without doubt they will replace these eventually with models simply not suitable, in terms of a comfortable capacity to carry significant loads.

 

[Jordan1296]

They clearly do to some extent acknowledge there are some capacity issues though as the 20 is almost exclusively Enviro400 operated now including the late night runs whereas for the past decade or so prior to September it was with the odd exception very much a single deck operated route.

However the situation with the 1/2 in the evening and on Sundays using single deckers is ridiculous, it always has been but it has gotten worse in recent times as passenger numbers in Aberdeen now are above pre-pandemic levels.

The hourly frequencies introducing on Sunday evenings during the pandemic are also proving to be insufficient particularly on the 23 and 172. The Sunday timetable for the 17A more generally is just dire.

The Sunday timetable for the 17A is dire. It shouldn’t, at 7:30am on a Sunday morning, take 55 minutes from Dyce to Union Street. I regularly identify at least 10 minutes, sometimes more, which can be taken off.

 

[Jordan Adam]

38224 is off fleet, this leaves just 38205/9/10/21 left in service of the Enviro500s due to be withdrawn. 38213/15/18/19/23 are staying for the foreseeable future.

63202 has been reinstated to cover for accident damaged 63206.

The Sunday timetable for the 17A is dire. It shouldn’t, at 7:30am on a Sunday morning, take 55 minutes from Dyce to Union Street. I regularly identify at least 10 minutes, sometimes more, which can be taken off.

Agree, the journey time in general on the 17A and 172 is dire, the 17A in particularly in my opinion isn't fit for purpose, instead on Sundays they should really run both the 17 and 18 but on half hourly frequencies.

If i'm going to/from Dyce in the evening or a Sunday i'd just get the train, it takes under 10 minutes vs 45-55 minutes by bus and a single is only 10p more than the First single for the equivalent journey. So its a no brainer really....

Not good enough.

They have the means to rectify these issues but actively choose to do nothing about them.

They could easily keep the Enviro 500s out in service a little later in the evening during the week and especially on Saturday nights, but they “are” actively choosing not to due to the fuel economy of those vehicles, it’s not good enough, they never will make great enough decision on these issues.

You would've thought with the Enviro400s now all mostly in service they would've adjusted the duties so that 1/2 buses stay out late, the main reason the 1/2 is single deck operated in the evening was due to the fuel costs of the B7LAs and Enviro500s.

They're also supposedly reluctant to use the Streetdecks on all day duties now even though they have the range for it due to the unreliability of the Kittybrewster refuelling facility. Essentially if the pump fails they want to be in a position where they can at least use the Streetdecks for the first day after while cover vehicles are drafted in.

 

[Jordan1296]

Agree, the journey time in general on the 17A and 172 is dire, the 17A in particularly in my opinion isn't fit for purpose, instead on Sundays they should really run both the 17 and 18 but on half hourly frequencies.

If i'm going to/from Dyce in the evening or a Sunday i'd just get the train, it takes under 10 minutes vs 45-55 minutes by bus and a single is only 10p more than the First single for the equivalent journey. So it’s a no brainer really....

Very much agree. Thankfully, I only need to take the bus every second Sunday (and only one way) because there isn’t a train early enough to get me to work. The train wins the rest of the time. Like you, I would prefer if the 18 ran seven days a week.