dodecahedron67
Member
I can assure you there is no physical heating for the saloon.
There are air vents but these are unheated
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First West Yorkshire & York discussion
- Thread starter NorthernSpirit
- Start date
There are air vents but these are unheated
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Given they are mostly town routes passengers are not on the bus that long.
Being Yorkshire they will just put another layer on!
dodecahedron67
Member
They remain unable to complete a “full” 0830-2200 day in service. They breakdown at a far higher rate than the other buses. They suffer from the Optare Quality.
Recently some have decided they don’t want to release the handbrake and/or go into ‘gear’ Drive/Reverse no matter what you do.
They’re too unreliable for the service they’re supposed to run (high intensity, high reliability P&R).
As for them appearing on City/Uni routes, there’s still not full grid capacity so whatever can go out is going out on a morning. Expect funky allocations across the board to be the normal until the grid connection & upgrade is finished around Easter
I was travelling on the 6 from city centre to Clifton Moor and it can take quite a time with the traffic. Its a long time to sit there freezing.
MasterSpenny
Member
As of this post being written buslistsontheweb.co.uk has comfirmed some more Kites, which are as follows:
| Fleet Number | Registration |
| 63577 | ML73EAA |
| 63578 | ML73EAC |
| 63579 | ML73EAE |
| 63580 | ML73EAF |
| 63581 | ML73EAG |
| 63582 | ML73EAJ |
I was going to visit York today but looking on BusTimes only 6 of the 28 Streetdeck electroliners they have in the fleet are actually in service this morning
I know BusTimes can be wrong but probably not that wrong, is this low level of utilisation normal?
I know BusTimes can be wrong but probably not that wrong, is this low level of utilisation normal?
dodecahedron67
Member
Saturday a lot of boards don’t “start” until after 9.30. Also tend to use the same number of diesels on a weekend as on a weekday which gives a higher % diesel usage on weekends because there’s less boards overall
Hullian111
Member
And let’s not forget their militant tendency for catching fire, lately...
So, if the word is true that the MetroDeckers are getting replaced by more StreetDecks, where are the MetroDeckers going to end up? Sold to the highest bidder or for scrap? Can’t see many except for some cash-strapped local authorities after some second-hand electric MetroDeckers.
superkev
Established Member
Very new for scrap.
Perhaps they could re power them like the Optare Versas which seem to be ok so far.
Or fit a latest tech (larger) battery.
K
Thanks for that, I hadn’t realised this, yes a few more electroliners did come out later
That’s one further negative with the AI timetables, you can’t see when the standard pattern when all buses are out starts, as there isn’t a standard pattern. It’s basically 0500 then at random intervals of varying lengths until 2300.
The 4 I caught, having a ride on a double deck electroliner was the first bus in 25 minutes as per the AI timetable. As a result it got quite full.
The AI timetabled services are getting a lot of criticism in York as they make no sense to the frequent passenger who wants to try and remember them. Ironically, I think, generally speaking, the bus services have got more reliable in York recently.
dodecahedron67
Member
Other West Yorkshire depots have been mooted but I genuinely don’t have anything concrete.
Board(s) = running board(s)
Basically a diagram in railway terms, a list of all the runnings a bus is supposed to do on a particular day
Buses are more reliable since the AI timetables have been bedded in, but I still think it would’ve been better to go down a step in clockface timetables (i.e 4bph —> 3bph, every 15 —> 20) rather than have these random ‘anywhere between every 15-20 mins’.
59s and 2/2As are (ironically) the only routes without an AI generated timetable!
There was an article about First’s usage of AI timetables on the BBC News website last week. As it’s AI and hence really modern futuristic stuff, it was a positive review.
Personally I think there should be an additional layer, whatever the AI comes up with, use it but average out all journeys between 0900 and 1500 so they have the same frequency and running times.
Personally I think there should be an additional layer, whatever the AI comes up with, use it but average out all journeys between 0900 and 1500 so they have the same frequency and running times.
317 forever
Established Member
They could be sold to Go-Ahead London
MasterSpenny
Member
Two more to add to the list, taken from buslistsontheweb.co.uk:
63583 - ML73EAK
63584 - ML73EAM
citybus2500
Member
Even a few buses heading out of garage between 10:00 and 11:00. A useful trick is to look at what happened on previous Saturdays.
That said, every diesel bus in York was on the road today, which smacks of a hint of convenience for the depot rather than only major issues with EVs. Some rather rubbish allocations as well, B7RLE and Versa on 66/67, Uni Electroliner on the 3, the pair of Uni Streetdecks on 5 and 7, Versas on the 5, B7RLEs everywhere! Also, the C1/C2 don't seem to ever track.
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LeylandLynx
Member
- Joined
- 24 Oct 2015
- Messages
- 182
Send them to Hengrove Depot in Bristol for the 73!They could be sold to Go-Ahead London
dodecahedron67
Member
For people interested, it is only 36528 and 63668 left to enter service before the York fleet is “complete” and the diesels are supposed to “leave”
I believe they are being collected this week, if they’ve not already. This Sunday 28th should (in theory at least) be a 100% electric allocation…
I believe they are being collected this week, if they’ve not already. This Sunday 28th should (in theory at least) be a 100% electric allocation…
West Yorkshire service changes for February are out on Metro site and show that the current Hudd - Halifax 503 is being replaced by a 15 minute 501 (also replacing the hospital leg of the 372) and 15 minute X1 with a faster routing. The will give a 7/8 combined frequency which is on par with the 8 minute frequency of the 503 I remember over 10 years ago.
https://www.wymetro.com/changes/
https://www.wymetro.com/changes/
Whisky Papa
Member
- Joined
- 8 Aug 2019
- Messages
- 399
While those improvements are very welcome, I'm less impressed with some of the reductions on the 590-2 group, which will see only an hourly service on some evenings between Todmorden and Halifax, the worst it has been in the 40 years I've lived here. The reduction from a fifteen to twenty minute headway off-peak is manageable I suppose, assuming all journeys run (ha!). I look forward to seeing the actual timetables when released.
dodecahedron67
Member
In theory there are. It’s 86 buses for 72 boards.
Whether or not every bus can cover a whole board (esp. metrodeckers) is another matter…
61653 HTAFC
Veteran Member
Wondering why they've picked X1 as the route number, rather than resurrecting the X36 number that was previously used for a fast Huddersfield to Halifax service. X1 is also used by Team Pennine's Wakefield to Holmfirth service, which whilst it doesn't overlap with Huddersfield to Halifax, will be a pain for anyone looking up the timetables on the Metro website.
Though of course it is Team Pennine's service which breaks convention rather than First's.
dodecahedron67
Member
York: The 13 B7RLEs will be staying until the end of March. 4 bendys to go for scrap as soon as the electricity generator is online (but not the final uplift - that’s what the B7s are staying until)
dodecahedron67
Member
Current allocation is 112 which is pretty much max capacity.