I think the 685 deserves its own thread. Admittedly, what's about to happen is significant, but we're in danger of veering off-topic.Did they ever travel far enough between breakdowns to be uncomfortable?
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Arriva Buses (including Greenline)
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TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
The chassis was reliable enough but the bodywork....Did they ever travel far enough between breakdowns to be uncomfortable?
Mind you, they had some 11m Leopards that were new with Duple bodies that were rotten and so they were rebodied with Duple 320 bodies into which they squeezed 55 seats. They were snug! I had one from Brampton to Newcastle - 2 and a quarter hours - just as well that I'm a short a**e
This is about the rerouting of the Arriva 800 between Shiplake and Reading.
Arriva have now produced a revised timetable showing four journeys each way continuing to go via Binfield Heath and Dunsden Green, they are for train commuters to Reading, college students to Henley and a couple for shoppers. The previous timetable showed no saving in time for not going via these villages, the new timetable shows up to 10 minutes extra for doing so!
gka472l
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New vehicle news and Arriva Merseyside & Arriva Cymru are currently receiving 21 Volvo B8RLE/MCV Evora at the moment, 12 for Wales at Bangor ('5' group of routes) and 9 to Bootle depot in Merseyside....3192 BV72KLA is the first to arrive at Bangor. Entry to service will be sometime in January.
HTH
HTH
Llandudno
Established Member
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Good news to hear that 12 brand new buses are being allocated to Bangor for the popular route 5/5D between Caernarfon-Bangor-Llandudno
I wonder if Arriva will:
Launch the new buses with a press release with photos
Design strong route branding on the new buses
Initiate a major social media marketing campaign
Freshen up bus stop plates en-route with timetables on display
Produce flashy leaflets promoting the new buses
Reinstate the 15 minute pre Covid frequency
Reinstate the last buses at night
Surely a multi million £££ investment in new vehicles is worth shouting about?
Not holding my breath though!
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TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
I think you can rest assured that the usual Arriva standards will be upheld!
Incidentally, Arriva North East received 14 brand new e200mmc (short 30 seaters) that were allocated to Ashington (5) and Jesmond (7), entering service from Sep 1st.... all now in Darlington. Ashington has been lucky to receive 5 59 plate Solos in exchange.
None of the above I think you can be certain!
It’s worse than this, the 20 minute service would need 11 boards but they only run 9, with 40 minute gaps throughout the day. Utterly pathetic!
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
That is utterly bonkers. So you have a 20 min headway from Llandudno to Caernarfon except for random gaps at 1005 and 1125, 1345 and 1500/1505 and then 1725. I do try to rationalise the decisions some firms make but that makes no sense at all.
markymark2000
On Moderation
Welcome to Arriva Wales.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
I know...but even by their standardsWelcome to Arriva Wales.
Absolutely ludicrous, I think it’s been like this since 2020. Would be better if it was every 24 minutes or even every 30. Why bother to put new buses on it when they clearly care so little about it?I know...but even by their standards
Arriva are also withdrawing the 357 between Harpenden and Borehamwood from 2 January. No takers for the tender and Red Rose are to operate on an emergency basis. Roughly every 2 hours instead of the current hourly service.
Emergency timetable to operate on service 357 from 2nd January 2023
Emergency timetable on service 357 from Tuesday 2nd January
www.intalink.org.uk
"Following the handing-back of the 357 service by the current operator, Hertfordshire County Council has been unable to find another operator to run the current service and its full timetable. This is due to short timescales and the requirement for the replacement operator to source sufficient drivers to operate the service.
In the meantime an emergency Sunday timetable will operate on Monday 2nd January, due to it being a Public Holiday, and then a Monday to Friday service will start from Tuesday 3rd January until mid-February. This will be run by Red Rose Travel. After this time, we hope to have a full service operating once again.
This emergency timetable will have fewer journeys but we have worked with the operator to keep as many as possible with the resource available, including Sundays and Public Holidays. We are procuring additional facilities for students entitled to free travel to school whose requirements are not covered by the new timetable, those affected will be contacted individually.
If any improvements can be made to this emergency timetable prior to January, information will be updated on this page.
Please click to view the new Red Rose 357 timetable. You will need to amend the date to a date from 2nd January onwards to view the new timetable.
Passengers also note that the Sunday 304 service will change operator to Red Rose and will have some time changes to work with the new 357 service."
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markymark2000
On Moderation
I thought the garage was going to be redeveloped?
SSmith2009
Member
it was for housing but apparently fell through because of contaminated land.
Geordie driver
Member
Since the well documented closure of Jesmond depot we are seeing a lot more " sorry not in service" buses through our village, I assume ferrying drivers to the Haymarket in Newcastle. Why they are coming through our village is beyond me, it's not the quickest way into town, possibly they have been told only to come in one way to save fuel.
Services have improved a bit and they seem to be running most of the last buses. Talking to one of the supervisors last week, working out of Walkergate, he needed 30 drivers one morning, only had 15. Fair play to him, he was out on the stand taking the flak. Punters don't understand he can't just tell drivers to operate any service just because they want him to.
Services have improved a bit and they seem to be running most of the last buses. Talking to one of the supervisors last week, working out of Walkergate, he needed 30 drivers one morning, only had 15. Fair play to him, he was out on the stand taking the flak. Punters don't understand he can't just tell drivers to operate any service just because they want him to.
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Are the ‘TK1/TK2’ buses run by Arriva in Yorkshire funded by TK Maxx or the usual funding?
Very odd service really, we caught it today from Castleford to get to Normanton as the 189 services seemed to do a vanishing act and it was basically an express service, first stop Normanton near Asda then a stop in Altofts and finally terminating at Wakefield much to the annoyance of waiting 189 passengers on stops along the route sticking their hand out in the pouring rain!
Very odd service really, we caught it today from Castleford to get to Normanton as the 189 services seemed to do a vanishing act and it was basically an express service, first stop Normanton near Asda then a stop in Altofts and finally terminating at Wakefield much to the annoyance of waiting 189 passengers on stops along the route sticking their hand out in the pouring rain!
TheSel
Member
Further to this, 3193 was out on test / driver familiarisation in Bootle yesterday. Apologies for the quality of the shot - I was on a bus that stopped just short of the junction to set down a passenger, so got no closer.
(Image shows Arriva Merseyside 3193 with the rear destination display showing 'Driver Training', turning into Hawthorne Road Bootle yesterday - 29/12/22).
LOL The Irony
On Moderation
I was about to ask why does it look straight out of 2009 and then remembered who built it.
Not sure if you knew but the Enviro 200 MMC's were having grounding issues on the Newcastle routes which was the main reason they were moved away. There's rumours that there's another order of something else coming in the new year to replace the Solo's which are Euro 6 compatible, the 55 currently been ran by Streetlite's. In a recent meeting with locals they're hoping all the temporary timetables will be restored to normal frequencies in quarter 2 of next year so assuming they'll be around for then.
Also one of the 59 plates is currently at Walkergate with a Streetlite at Ashington to cover for the unreliable 61 plates there, they need Solo's on the 553 assuming for the tight streets in Wallsend.
CBlue
Member
Perhaps they aren't the fanciest looking things, but the set of Evora/Volvo B8 saloons Stagecoach east use on the Busway services are lightyears ahead of the Wright Eclipses they operate alongside in terms of build quality. I'd rather have no rattles than a fancy design! (Optare I'm looking at you)
darloscott
Member
I’ve managed to bring together a list of new vehicles coming into Arriva currently…
Kent (Gillingham): 5x E200
Midlands (Leicester): 8x E200, 28x E400
North West (Bootle) : 9x B8RLE Evora
Wales (Bangor): 12x B8RLE Evora
Only the Leicester E200s have currently entered service, displacing 8x Optare Versa to Wycombe, presumably replacing old Darts etc down there.
Already delivered of course are the 15 E200 & 19 E400 to North East
Kent (Gillingham): 5x E200
Midlands (Leicester): 8x E200, 28x E400
North West (Bootle) : 9x B8RLE Evora
Wales (Bangor): 12x B8RLE Evora
Only the Leicester E200s have currently entered service, displacing 8x Optare Versa to Wycombe, presumably replacing old Darts etc down there.
Already delivered of course are the 15 E200 & 19 E400 to North East
Andy Pacer
Established Member
The E400s at Leicester have also begun entry to service.
The Versas to Wycombe are to replace Citaros as a more suitable vehicle type for Town Services there.
SSmith2009
Member
At least 4552 of the Leicester batch of deckers has entered service with another (believe it was 4555) spending some of last week parked up at St Margaret's Bus Station
londonteacher
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It would make sense to send the E200s for Gillingham to Maidstone or somewhere already with a fleet to swap for some Streetlites as that what Gillingham already has. Still will be nice to have some more variety in the fleet!
markymark2000
On Moderation
At least 4 have been delivered to Merseyside. Due to enter service this month I believe. Reportedly replacing 29xx Pulsars.
I believe 1 has made it to Bangor as well with the rest reportedly in Cambridge.
They have been deliberately purchased for a restricted route.
londonteacher
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Aah fair enough - is it a new route? As the current routes are a mixture of buses!
MedwayValiant
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Gillingham introducing a new route seems unlikely! They have enough difficulty operating the routes they already have.
My guess would be that the E200s are for the 145 and maybe the 164 as well. Some of the drivers assert that they can't get anything bigger around those two routes, although the company must not fully accept this because larger vehicles are sometimes allocated.
The 164 is rarely especially busy, but the 145 can be. E200s on a 12 minute interval can get uncomfortably full, so I'm now wondering if the company wants to go back to a 10 minute interval and needs more short buses in order to do it.
My guess would be that the E200s are for the 145 and maybe the 164 as well. Some of the drivers assert that they can't get anything bigger around those two routes, although the company must not fully accept this because larger vehicles are sometimes allocated.
The 164 is rarely especially busy, but the 145 can be. E200s on a 12 minute interval can get uncomfortably full, so I'm now wondering if the company wants to go back to a 10 minute interval and needs more short buses in order to do it.
The restricted route is the 145. Part of it cannot be traversed with longer vehicles (and is already difficult to serve outside of the pure off-peak because of parking, hence it isn't), and indeed when longer vehicles are allocated during the day, it has to omit this section (i.e. as the evening).
I do not believe there is any intention to increase frequency - and even if there was, they are unlikely to have the driver capacity to do so - and that the older vehicles will be retained or used elsewhere. It's worth noting that almost all of the 16xx MPDs (of -04- or -06- vintage) have been withdrawn over the last year and small vehicle availability is very, very low across the entire company.
I don't believe there is a restriction on the 164.
Andy Pacer
Established Member
That's correct, 4555 was being used for driver familiarisation as all drivers need to be trained before driving any of this new intake of single/double deckers.
I believe 4553 and 4554 are also at Leicester depot, but I didnt have a chance to confirm on Saturday when I was there.
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