First South West (Kernow & Buses of Somerset)

[Whiteway215]

From my last visit to Bournemouth, only middle of last week, most of the Yellow bus fleet sounded in very poor mechanical condition.
According to drivers last week. They’ve been dropping serves due to no working bus but then tweet blaming driver sickness etc. the drivers said they’d been sat round for hours regularly in these circumstances.
They’d have to be very very cheap to be a worthwhile buy for anyone

I clicked on the link on 18261.
There is a lot of detail about the Yellow Buses‘ vehicles being auctioned.
What I was interested to read was the date the buses were last used in service and the vehicle faults that were listed. There were also a number of non runners.

However all that information may be standard for an auction site.

 

[richw]

Changes to routes and timetables from 4 September 2022

We’re making some minor changes to several routes and timetable across Cornwall from Sunday 4 September 2022. The main changes are:

www.firstbus.co.uk

We’re making some minor changes to several routes and timetable across Cornwall from Sunday 4 September 2022.

The main changes are:

27 – the first and last buses of the day no longer extend to/from Cornwall Services – alternative buses are provided by Go Cornwall Bus route 26.

Land’s End Coaster – the winter timetable is significantly different to now. Please check before you travel.

Tin Coaster – all buses serve Penzance town centre. Alexandra Road will be served by Go Cornwall Bus route 5/5A.

Some of our routes also have minor timetable changes (typically by a few minutes).

Most of our other changes are to meet the expected demands of the new academic year – predominantly on buses that serve Turo & Penwith Colleges.



Here is a list of all the changes:

17	Evening buses have been retimed
19	Minor changes to the timetable
27	The first and last buses of the day no longer extend to/from Cornwall Services – alternative buses are provided by Go Cornwall Bus route 26.
91	Minor changes to the timetable
160 200	The 160 will run to/from St Ives Malakoff and Carbis Bay Tesco – anyone between Carbis Bay and St Erth can use the 17 to get to/from Penwith College. The 200 will start from St Ives Malakoff in the morning – anyone needing to travel from Penbeagle, Halsetown and beyond can use the 160 and connect at St Ives.
220	Will start from Penwithick and serve Bugle, Stenalees and Whitemoor before running along the current route from Nanpean. St Dennis will be served by the 890.
270	Is replaced by the 220 in Penwithick, Bugle and Stenalees, and by the 890 in Victoria and Roche.
271	An extra bus will run mid-morning from Holmbush Inn to Truro College and back.
400	Will start from Illogan Co-op and run via Bridge to Portreath then via current route to Truro College.
470	Will start from Redruth rail station – Illogan is served by changes to the 400.
890	Will start from Bodmin Business Park and serve Roche and St Dennis. Launceston, Five Lanes and Bolventor are no longer served.
Dartmoor Explorer	The winter timetable is introduced – with two journeys in each direction.
Land’s End Coaster	The winter timetable is introduced – with buses running every 2 hours in each direction. Extra morning and afternoon buses run to serves Penzance schools. The peak buses will now run all year.
L1 L2	Minor changes to the timetable
L3	Extends to Truro College and no longer serves Penryn Campus
The Mousehole	Minor changes to the timetable
Park & Ride (Truro)	Minor changes to the timetable
Tin Coaster	Buses that currently serve Alexandra Road will instead run direct through the town centre to ensure all buses on Tin Coaster serve Market Jew Street. Alexandra Road will be served by Go Cornwall Bus route 5.
U1 U1A	Minor changes to the timetable
U2	One bus in the morning will serve Woodlane in Falmouth then connect with the U3 to offer links to Penryn Campus.
U3	Will resume for the new academic year – buses start on 12 September.
U4	Minor changes to the afternoon journey that serves Helston school.
U4X	Will serve Marazion

Full timetables will be available on our website soon.

 

[Andyh82]

Seems early to go to the winter timetable on the Land’s End Coaster

I assume this is driven by a shortage of drivers as you’d expect the summer timetable to run until the end of September at least

 

[Whiteway215]

To clarify 18271
The Yellow Bus vehicles have now been withdrawn from that auction and purchased in bulk by Ensign.

 

[richw]

Seems early to go to the winter timetable on the Land’s End Coaster

I assume this is driven by a shortage of drivers as you’d expect the summer timetable to run until the end of September at least

As a driver my observations are that most years everything dies off almost immediately after August bank holiday. Even the last week of summer holidays are typically quiet.

 

[Goldfish62]

Seems early to go to the winter timetable on the Land’s End Coaster

I assume this is driven by a shortage of drivers as you’d expect the summer timetable to run until the end of September at least

It can be very busy during the first half of September so this is disappointing to see. As you say it must be driven by staff shortages. Prior to colleges breaking up there were sometimes consecutive journeys missing.

The issue that's likely to arise is people being left behind on a two-hourly headway.

 

[buscoaster]

Despite 32102-104 being painted and vinyled up for the Sunseeker services in Cornwall, I’m beginning to wonder if they will actually ever go on there and if the tree cutting team will sort out the issues currently preventing them from operating the appropriate routes…

I do think this is such a shame...at the end of the day this really is a case of completely false advertising - saying the routes are open top and then not actually delivering. Such a shame for customers. What worries me even more, it will undoubtedly put some customers off trying any of the other ABB products.

 

[Busaholic]

It can be very busy during the first half of September so this is disappointing to see. As you say it must be driven by staff shortages. Prior to colleges breaking up there were sometimes consecutive journeys missing.

The issue that's likely to arise is people being left behind on a two-hourly headway.

Not only that, in previous years under different numbers a couple of times when services were due to end in September prolonged spells of good weather caused them to continue for at least another week, and they were well loaded despite not much advance publicity.

 

[Trainfan061193]

I do think this is such a shame...at the end of the day this really is a case of completely false advertising - saying the routes are open top and then not actually delivering. Such a shame for customers. What worries me even more, it will undoubtedly put some customers off trying any of the other ABB products.

The S1/S2 finish for winter early next month so maybe they will focus on getting it ready for open tops next season over the winter period...

 

[Goldfish62]

Looks like The Mousehole is back to three correctly sized Solos this morning after the difficulties of the past couple of days.

 

[83G/84D]

E400MMC 33478 seen on Truro Park and Ride services today.

Services on the T1/T2 are running late again today with bunching of buses. I waited for 35 minutes near Treliske (around lunchtime)for a Camborne bound bus then a T1 & T2 turned up together. Saw three westbound buses together near Camborne earlier this week. Chacewater is open again so I don’t know why the timetable is going awry. To be fair the A30 sections between Hayle and Penzance are extremely busy at certain times of the day which is probably a contributing factor.

 

[Busaholic]

E400MMC 33478 seen on Truro Park and Ride services today.

To be fair the A30 sections between Hayle and Penzance are extremely busy at certain times of the day which is probably a contributing factor.

The T1 running via West Cornwall Retail Park can have a big impact too.

 

[B7RLE]

E400MMC 33478 seen on Truro Park and Ride services today.

Services on the T1/T2 are running late again today with bunching of buses. I waited for 35 minutes near Treliske (around lunchtime)for a Camborne bound bus then a T1 & T2 turned up together. Saw three westbound buses together near Camborne earlier this week. Chacewater is open again so I don’t know why the timetable is going awry. To be fair the A30 sections between Hayle and Penzance are extremely busy at certain times of the day which is probably a contributing factor.

It can take half hour to get out of the Retail Park & though Hayle itself this time of year that's where the Bottle Neck is sometimes along St Erth to can be Crawling .

 

[83G/84D]

The T1 running via West Cornwall Retail Park can have a big impact too.

It can take half hour to get out of the Retail Park & though Hayle itself this time of year that's where the Bottle Neck is sometimes along St Erth to can be Crawling .

Agree, my bus took ages to get onto the roundabout towards Hayle and then a short distance later was delayed by queuing cars for Lidl's where part of the car park is closed.

 

[richw]

Here is a photo of 33461 with the busy boardmasters campsite in the background.

 

[Goldfish62]

Gemini 32637 out on The Mousehole today, so at least one of yesterday's Solos hasn't made a second day in service!

 

[Busaholic]

Gemini 32637 out on The Mousehole today, so at least one of yesterday's Solos hasn't made a second day in service!

By the sound of the bus I just saw and heard on the 19 it won't be the only casualty! Hardly fits in with the idyllic picture painted by Cornwall Council of an almost fume-free Market Jew Street for five hours a day.

 

[Goldfish62]

By the sound of the bus I just saw and heard on the 19 it won't be the only casualty! Hardly fits in with the idyllic picture painted by Cornwall Council of an almost fume-free Market Jew Street for five hours a day.

The main problem with the Volvo B7TL is noise pollution from the ludicrously loud cooling fan.

 

[32625]

By the sound of the bus I just saw and heard on the 19 it won't be the only casualty! Hardly fits in with the idyllic picture painted by Cornwall Council of an almost fume-free Market Jew Street for five hours a day.

I know 32104 has a very loud cooling fan and horrible brakes, I had the misfortune of it on the Tin Coaster a couple of weeks ago. I guess this is still around on that, as the bus I had on the 19 today (32103) was perfectly alright engine wise.

 

[Busaholic]

The main problem with the Volvo B7TL is noise pollution from the ludicrously loud cooling fan.

I admit I mostly heard it and didn't look for fumes. I'm liable to fall over if I don't concentrate on where I'm walking!

 

[DaveLondon]

The main problem with the Volvo B7TL is noise pollution from the ludicrously loud cooling fan.

This is, of course, a maintenance issue and does not automatically go with the product!

 

[richw]

This is, of course, a maintenance issue and does not automatically go with the product!

Sensor failure is common on the B7TL fan circuit, and as with many Volvo parts Im told since Brexit there is a huge back order delaying parts availability. Rather than VOR for months engineers across the country are making the fans permanently live as a temporary fix. It isn’t just a FSW problem

 

[Goldfish62]

Sensor failure is common on the B7TL fan circuit, and as with many Volvo parts Im told since Brexit there is a huge back order delaying parts availability. Rather than VOR for months engineers across the country are making the fans permanently live as a temporary fix. It isn’t just a FSW problem

This was happening well before Brexit, going right back a couple of decades ago in fact. While the sensor issue has always been known it's always depended on how seriously operators have taken the issue and addressed it.

 

[Trainfan061193]

The services finish in under four weeks time so probably not, at least for this year.

Interestingly they appear in the forthcoming timetable changes.

I do think this is such a shame...at the end of the day this really is a case of completely false advertising - saying the routes are open top and then not actually delivering. Such a shame for customers. What worries me even more, it will undoubtedly put some customers off trying any of the other ABB products.

I agree, it is false advertising. I'm beginning to worry they're actually never going to appear on there.

 

[DaveLondon]

Sensor failure is common on the B7TL fan circuit, and as with many Volvo parts Im told since Brexit there is a huge back order delaying parts availability. Rather than VOR for months engineers across the country are making the fans permanently live as a temporary fix. It isn’t just a FSW problem

Richw - thank you for the explanation - I have not heard that version before and of course this well predates brexit. Other operators have offered a different explanation and the noise level is not the same as when cooling fans are ooperating as they should.

 

[Goldfish62]

Other operators have offered a different explanation and the noise level is not the same as when cooling fans are ooperating as they should.

Whatever the operator explanation it's generally poor maintenance. Broken sensor not addressed or the cooling system clogged up and not flushed through.

 

[DaveLondon]

Whatever the operator explanation it's generally poor maintenance. Broken sensor not addressed or the cooling system clogged up and not flushed through.

Yes I think that has to be the answer!

 

[Goldfish62]

Gemini 37183 out on The Mousehole today. So seemingly 5 of 7 mini Solos are still VOR!

 

[richw]

Gemini 37183 out on The Mousehole today. So seemingly 5 of 7 mini Solos are still VOR!

1 pink one in Truro for MOT

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

First time in a while that I've been to Yeovil but was passing through on Saturday and had a stop off for a few mins. Of course, since the service changes, the number of FSW vehicles locally is now reduced and that is evident at the bus station.

However, talking of the bus station, one of my bugbears has been the timewarp that it was caught in - it seemed to be very 2006 with a First Travel Shop sign (long closed) and lots of Transforming Travel logos. Well, credit where it's due - the signage has been addressed. The closed travel office looks like it has been properly changed and smartened up into a welfare facility for drivers. It just looks smarter - nicely done.

I did pop round the depot to see one of the final Darts working its days out (42952) whilst sister 42951 has had fleetnames obliterated and looks off for disposal. Nearly 30 years since the first Southern National Darts appeared so an era is closing. Also interesting to see a Truronian coach in there too. Always had a soft spot for Yeovil depot - a real survivor and it's also better presented in the main operational areas. It will go eventually and I'll be sad to see it disappear.