First Greater Glasgow

[LT02 NVV]

These decker's had hardly any seating downstairs.

Yeah, mostly on the T(& a few V)-Reg Plated ones. Even the latter ones had the problem too; one bus I recall had a wheelchair space that was quite big, but I think that this was because most buses in London needed to have a lot more standing spaces as London is a really busy place, with many people standing more.

Evening buses can be busy on sunny summer nights. Every 30 minutes service, sometimes is not adequate.

I noticed the B7TLs President bodied(?) have moved to Caley. Was out today, filming causing buses to run in pairs.

Yes, 32300, 32303/4 have moved to Caledonia, and 32301 and 32305 have moved to Dumbarton. I think maybe 32302 is scrapped now or is moving somewhere else.

 

[PaulMc7]

According to Bustimes.org, both 32301 and 32305 are both on 1Cs just now. I'm surprised older buses cope well with the expressway given that some of the E300s don't always seem good on it from experience.

 

[LT02 NVV]

According to Bustimes.org, both 32301 and 32305 are both on 1Cs just now. I'm surprised older buses cope well with the expressway given that some of the E300s don't always seem good on it from experience.

Yeah, they have appeared on both the 1C & 1D, and once on the 206.

32301 - LK03 NHA

Volvo B7TL Plaxton President

bustimes.org

It definitely feels like the capacity increase came at the right time here. Already seen a few buses full even with the increase and others very close to it.

My 1C earlier up to Drumchapel was pretty close to being full as a single decker and my 6A to Anniesland and 6 from there were also the same.

Hopefully it's a sign that once we get on another month or two, buses will be busy enough to be sustainable if funding lowers.

I think that’s maybe the reason why 32301 (LK03 NHA) & 32305 (LK03 NHE) moved to Dumbarton then.

In terms of moquette, all would have been delivered in what I think you describe as green leaf.... greenish areas with a pattern of green and purple dashes bordered by dark purple bands. This was the original First interior. If they were refurbished in the late 2000s, they would have received the lilac (that faded badly). Some got more indepth refurbs on leaving London than others.

As regards the B7Ls, the enthusiast in me did like them but for passengers, they were awful. Bad seats, engine noise etc. Not much good for First as they were very poor on fuel. Most people won't mourn them.

Guess I am kinda in the minority of missing them then.

 

[Busman84]

Yeah, mostly on the T(& a few V)-Reg Plated ones, even the latter ones had the problem too, one bus I recall had a wheelchair space that was quite big, but I think that this was because most buses in London needing to have a lot more standing spaces as London is a really busy place in terms with buses, with many people standing more.


Yes, 32300, 32303/4 have moved to Cally, and 32301 and 32305 have moved to Dumbarton. I think maybe 32302 is scrapped now or is moving somewhere else.

The buses refurbished at Rotherham had a large wheelchair area. These were refurbished incorrectly and resulted in the wheelchair area remaining in its London spec location (behind the stairs). These buses should not have been accepted after refurb as the driver could not see anything in the wheelchair area, so they could not see if a pram was there or not. In London, CCTV showed that area and with ALX400s there had been the option of changing to different cameras. This function did not work when they arrived in Glasgow.

 

[AndrewTaylor95]

32301 and 32305 are only temporary to Dumbarton. 32576 is also in Dumbarton while some of their buses are in for repaint.

 

[route101]

32301 and 32305 are only temporary to Dumbarton, 32576 is in Dumbarton just now as well while some of their buses are in for repaint

One of these buses was on my 1D on Monday. I thought the 1D was operated by Scotstoun depot?

 

[LT02 NVV]

32301 and 32305 are only temporary to Dumbarton. 32576 is also in Dumbarton while some of their buses are in for repaint.

Oh, that’s neat I guess, but I do think that Dumbarton is a good place for them, though. They probably will return back to either Caley, which is most likely, or maybe Scoutston, who knows.

Prior to the QEUH opening it’s odd to think that the 77 was the 747 and was a much less frequent service. It used B7TLs and they’d full to the brim.

I remember back in 2011-2013 when the 747 had mostly 66 (Now 6) branded E400s, Wright Eclipse Gemini B7TLs, and Wright Eclipse Urban B7RLEs buses on the route.

The buses refurbished at Rotherham had a large wheelchair area. These were refurbished incorrectly and resulted in the wheelchair area remaining in its London spec location (behind the stairs). These buses should not have been accepted after refurb as the driver could not see anything in the wheelchair area, so they could not see if a pram was there or not. In London, CCTV showed that area and with ALX400s there had been the option of changing to different cameras. This function did not work when they arrived in Glasgow.

Thanks for the explanation. The whole reason I asked was because I remember back in 2018 or 2019 when 33138 LT02 ZFK moved to Glasgow, I was on it on the route 60, and I wondered why the wheelchair space was so large.

 

[olddriver]

One of these buses was on my 1D on Monday. I thought the 1D was operated by Scotstoun depot?

Certain journeys, but otherwise it’s a Dumbarton route.

 

[LT02 NVV]

Certain journeys, but otherwise it’s a Dumbarton route.

The 1C has a morning service normally operated by the Scotstoun depot. It’s normally the 07:33 service and is operated either by a Scotstoun owned Gemini, E400, or Eclipse Urban, that would head to the town. Most of the time this bus becomes a 6A service at 08:16 that sometimes runs on the service all day, or heads back to Scotstoun and comes a 2 later in the evening (which has started to happen a lot in 2021). I think since 2020, the service is sometimes run by a Dumbarton owned bus that heads back to the Dumbarton depot afterwords.

Also, the last few services of the night on both the 1C and 1D are operated by a Scotstoun bus which comes off the 6A as well.

 

[route101]

Certain journeys, but otherwise it’s a Dumbarton route.

I noted a driver changeover at Scotstoun.

 

[LT02 NVV]

Seat-belted Volvo Olympians appeared on the 206 from time to time when Dumbarton had a allocation of them, primarily for school work (linked image from the MSE062 Flickr collection). B9s appearing on it, while odd in the route's day-to-day operations, is hardly a new thing.

First Glasgow - N949 SOS (31438)

While the rest of the Olympian's get a Saturday off, VO49 is captured out and about at Dalreoch train station whilst working the 206.

www.flickr.com

And the other major operators in the area over the years (McColl's, McGill's etc) have all used deckers on routes that passed through the town: McGill's with the 204X and McColl's with their local services in competition with First.

Recently, one of the Presidents and the one B7 Gemini that have been on loan to Dumbarton, have appeared on the 206 at least once.

32576 - SF54 OTV

Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Gemini

bustimes.org

Also, 32305 is back at Scotsoun from Dumbarton, and has been swapped out for Cally owned 32300.

32305 - LK03 NHE

Volvo B7TL Plaxton President

bustimes.org

32300 - LK03 NGZ

Volvo B7TL Plaxton President

bustimes.org

 

[PaulMc7]

Does anyone know if the app will ever be fixed and if the timetables that are still wrong from the changes on the 9th will be updated?

2, 3, X4, 6 and 6A are all wrong from what I've noticed but I'm not sure if there are others that are wrong too.

I'd imagine with the current Covid situation too that services will remain the same for a while unless something drastic happens so it would be good to be able to track everything properly.

 

[route101]

Does anyone know if the app will ever be fixed and if the timetables that are still wrong from the changes on the 9th will be updated?

2, 3, X4, 6 and 6A are all wrong from what I've noticed but I'm not sure if there are others that are wrong too.

I'd imagine with the current Covid situation too that services will remain the same for a while unless something drastic happens so it would be good to be able to track everything properly.

What is wrong with the first bus app?

 

[GALLANTON]

Does anyone know if the app will ever be fixed and if the timetables that are still wrong from the changes on the 9th will be updated?

2, 3, X4, 6 and 6A are all wrong from what I've noticed but I'm not sure if there are others that are wrong too.

I'd imagine with the current Covid situation too that services will remain the same for a while unless something drastic happens so it would be good to be able to track everything properly.

You can still track the position of buses on the app.

 

[route101]

You can still track the position of buses on the app.

Yes, I always look at map.

 

[PaulMc7]

What is wrong with the first bus app?

There have been loads of issues with it this month to be fair. Even when I click on the map a lot of buses don't track. They must have done something this morning to it though because it's been slightly better today but whether the timetables that are wrong will be fixed is another matter.

For the past 3 weeks I've also noticed that a big chunk of times disappear a lot too. There can be 45/50 mins of buses missing when I've looked. That's another thing that's been fine today but whether it stays fine is another matter.

 

[Arriva Fan]

There's been loads of issues with it this month to be fair. Even when I click on the map a lot of buses don't track. They must have done something this morning to it though because it's been slightly better today but whether the timetables that are wrong will be fixed is another matter.

For the past 3 weeks I've also noticed that a big chunk of times disappear a lot too. There can be 45/50 mins of buses missing when I've looked. That's another thing that's been fine today but whether it stays fine is another matter.

If there are problems (I'm not aware, I don't really use it) they probably won't be apparent today.

No Sunday Services were altered, so Timetables should all be correct on the app today.

 

[PaulMc7]

If there are problems (I'm not aware, I don't really use it) they probably won't be apparent today.

No Sunday Services were altered, so Timetables should all be correct on the app today.

I've had issues with the app for the last 2/3 Sundays to be fair. This is the first fairly okay one since the 1st.

 

[LT02 NVV]

Recently, one of the Presidents and the one B7 Gemini that have been on loan to Dumbarton, have appeared on the 206 at least once.

32576 - SF54 OTV

Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Gemini

bustimes.org

Also, 32305 is back at Scotsoun from Dumbarton, and has been swapped out for Cally owned 32300.

32305 - LK03 NHE

Volvo B7TL Plaxton President

bustimes.org

32300 - LK03 NGZ

Volvo B7TL Plaxton President

bustimes.org

So, 32305 is back at Dumbarton again with both 32300/301 again.

 

[PaulMc7]

So, 32305 is back at Dumbarton again with both 32300/301 again.

I got one of them on the 1C on Saturday into the City Centre. I'm not sure which of the 3. I also seen the other 2 on the 1D too. They're still surprisingly good from a passenger point of view even in terms of comfort.

 

[LT02 NVV]

I got one of them on the 1C on Saturday into the City Centre. I'm not sure which of the 3. I also seen the other 2 on the 1D too. They're still surprisingly good from a passenger point of view even in terms of comfort.

If it had the new livery, then it was 32305, the others have the 2012 livery.

 

[PaulMc7]

If it had the new livery, then it was 32305, the others have the 2012 livery.

If bustimes.org is correct it was 32305.

 

[GaryMcEwan]

Are there service issues currently at Blantyre?

The lack of 18s over the last few days has been nothing short of shocking in the evening.

Last night it was over an hour wait for an 18 out to East Kilbride until a driver from Caledonia had said buses have been getting pulled in the evening.

 

[route101]

Are there service issues currently at Blantyre?

The lack of 18s over the last few days has been nothing short of shocking in the evening.

Last night it was over an hour wait for an 18 out to East Kilbride until a driver from Caledonia had said buses have been getting pulled in the evening.

18 usually runs well for me. Was this late evening or peak time?

 

[Stan Drews]

Are there service issues currently at Blantyre?

I would imagine so, as there are few bus depots where there isn’t a shortage of available drivers.

 

[GaryMcEwan]

18 usually runs well for me. Was this late evening or peak time?

There were only two buses on the 18 last night between 8pm and 9pm.

 

[PaulMc7]

There was only two buses on the 18 last night between 8pm and 9pm.

When I've been looking on social media I've seen people have the same issue with the 267. It wouldn't surprise me if there were major issues because of Covid, with further timetable reductions to come across all depots.

 

[Busman84]

They should start offering the same pay rate as City drivers for a start. There is no difference between driving an 18 to the likes of the 5, 7, 57, 60 and 61.

 

[Jordan Adam]

They should start offering the same pay rate as City drivers for a start. There is no difference between driving an 18 to the likes of the 5, 7, 57, 60 and 61.

The shortages are due to drivers having to self isolate...

 

[lastbus]

Are there service issues currently at Blantyre?

The lack of 18s over the last few days has been nothing short of shocking in the evening.

Last night it was over an hour wait for an 18 out to East Kilbride until a driver from Caledonia had said buses have been getting pulled in the evening.

There is a severe driver shortage at the moment, and it will get worse before it gets better.