Go Cornwall Bus

[richw]

I searched everywhere i could think of any couldn't find the charging points. Other 'highlights' were my bus leaving Liskeard Morrisons 5 mins early as the driver was changing at Liskeard so wanted to get there quickly. On changing the new driver was complaining that PCB had switched his rota without his approval and he wasn't happy and didn't know the new routes. I liked that on one bus they covered PCB notices with TfC notices inside the bus but left the PCB logo on the rear window that everyone on the outside actual sees. Still bizarre to see Royal Parade full of Bluestar, More and B&H buses. Also what is the deal with the practically useless plastic sheeting PCB/TfC are using. They are almost worse than nothing. One positive was that most live stop displays were accurate. Also interesting that Rame was heaving with people, as was Liskeard Morrisons, but further inland Bodmin was a ghost town, as we Snozzle and Plymouth. Not sure why plymouth was so empty given Exeter is returning to normal to a degree.

With Morrisons being a timing point at liskeard, leaving more than 1 min early can get in trouble with the traffic commissioner. Such offences of non timetable compliance is rife at Newquay with them leaving early/late to be 1-2 mins in front of us outbound. The best bit though passengers still wait for us as they say we are more reliable.

 

[Busaholic]

Having had my say about atrocious driving by a Go-Cornwall driver a couple of weeks ago, I need to commend some very considerate and unselfish driving by the driver of a 16 in Market Jew Street at lunchtime. A credit to the operation. Actually, from what I've seen of the TfC routes emanating from Penzance, including when I've encountered their buses in rural settings as a car driver in the opposite direction, I'm happy to report a professional looking operation, although I have no timetables to hand to check early/late running. Overall I've been impressed, and it looks to be going even better than I expected, though the real crunch will come when traffic increases, as it surely will do both on and off the bus in the next five or six weeks.

 

[Goldfish62]

Having had my say about atrocious driving by a Go-Cornwall driver a couple of weeks ago, I need to commend some very considerate and unselfish driving by the driver of a 16 in Market Jew Street at lunchtime. A credit to the operation. Actually, from what I've seen of the TfC routes emanating from Penzance, including when I've encountered their buses in rural settings as a car driver in the opposite direction, I'm happy to report a professional looking operation, although I have no timetables to hand to check early/late running. Overall I've been impressed, and it looks to be going even better than I expected, though the real crunch will come when traffic increases, as it surely will do both on and off the bus in the next five or six weeks.

From what I've observed in these area they seem to be running OK. What is very poor is the total lack of any timetables on display and the old Covid notices still up at bus stops.

 

[MB162435]

Having had my say about atrocious driving by a Go-Cornwall driver a couple of weeks ago, I need to commend some very considerate and unselfish driving by the driver of a 16 in Market Jew Street at lunchtime. A credit to the operation. Actually, from what I've seen of the TfC routes emanating from Penzance, including when I've encountered their buses in rural settings as a car driver in the opposite direction, I'm happy to report a professional looking operation, although I have no timetables to hand to check early/late running. Overall I've been impressed, and it looks to be going even better than I expected, though the real crunch will come when traffic increases, as it surely will do both on and off the bus in the next five or six weeks.

From what I've observed in these area they seem to be running OK. What is very poor is the total lack of any timetables on display and the old Covid notices still up at bus stops.

Publicity is certainly one of the areas that TfC need to focus on, yet to see any timetables anywhere whether in Falmouth or Newquay, especially with tourists down who will never of heard of TfC before

I've travelled with Go Cornwall twice so far, and twice with OTS as well and found all the drivers helpful, friendly and informative, let's face it they have some hell of a routes to tackle, but the majority handle them very well and are a credit to their companies

Yes TfC are far from perfect, but aren't the disaster many were predicting

 

[Whiteway215]

Have they managed to recruit a sufficient number of drivers?

 

[richw]

Have they managed to recruit a sufficient number of drivers?

One of their drivers told me they’ve got around 85 agency drivers who are contracted until an unknown date sometime in August.
most drivers I’ve chat with are saying they are working 6 day weeks. Office staff appear to be doing a fair bit of driving.

 

[MB162435]

TfC timetables are stocked in Truro Bus Station, so maybe the office isn't for public use?

 

[richw]

Or people don’t know it’s there

 

[MB162435]

Or people don’t know it’s there

Well it's got signage like a shop, so people would of come across it at some point

 

[richw]

Well it's got signage like a shop, so people would of come across it at some point

It’s out of the way though. Most people won’t walk that way as there isn’t really anything in that direction unless you want the outdoor shop

 

[MB162435]

It’s out of the way though. Most people won’t walk that way as there isn’t really anything in that direction unless you want the outdoor shop

With the closure of the city centre the majority of passengers would of passed it on a bus, and likely would of at least glimpsed it, but unfortunately for them there wasn't really anywhere in view of the station available

Victoria Square would of been ideal if somewhere was available, being the next busiest stop in Truro

 

[Busaholic]

From what I've observed in these area they seem to be running OK. What is very poor is the total lack of any timetables on display and the old Covid notices still up at bus stops.

Sorry, I should have made clear I was referring to GCB's operation of the buses and in this area only, not in the matters which really come under the TfC umbrella, many of which I'm sure are delegated to Cornwall Council to sort out. I agree totally with your second sentence.

 

[richw]

The question of roadside timetables was asked somewhere on social media and JB replied that it will take them around 6 months to get sorted. Unless its a case of no man power to get them out, I don’t see this as acceptable as pcb will have all the set up needed already. We always had a team in the east and another in the west who could have all stops done from bude To Lands end in 2 days

 

[Lizard1324]

With me living in the lizard it is very different then last year with first, they always showed up on time for me (not always for some tho) but the l1 used to be full of tourists but now people aren't using buses which causes parking problems like you said.

 

[Lizard1324]

Do transport for cornwall plan on keeping the 65 plates enviro 400s becuase i saw a yellow flash on the 34 a couple of weeks ago but today I saw the same enviro 400 but this time it was in tfc red with all the logos, they must plan to keep it if they painted it

 

[MB162435]

Do transport for cornwall plan on keeping the 65 plates enviro 400s becuase i saw a yellow flash on the 34 a couple of weeks ago but today I saw the same enviro 400 but this time it was in tfc red with all the logos, they must plan to keep it if they painted it

Don't believe they do, but I suppose they can easily swap the logos for Plymouth Citybus ones, unless they will be retained for school services and standbys maybe?

The arrival of the new DD's still seems to be a good while away yet, so they will have a good stint on TfC services no matter what their future is

 

[richw]

The arrival of the new DD's still seems to be a good while away yet, so they will have a good stint on TfC services no matter what their future is

Although unverified a TFC driver told me today that head office have diverted the brand new deckers To other opcos due To the amount of damage happening. £350k of body repairs, £70k of glass damage and 3 written off vehicles (Including 2 brand new ones) in the first 3 months hasn’t gone down well with head office he said.

The 63/65 plate e400 which we were told weren’t permanent have started being repainted into TfC livery, and loan vehicles currently running in Plymouth have been made permanent additions to the Plymouth fleet to replace the relocated enviros.

EYMS took delivery of 8 e400mmcs this week.

 

[Goldfish62]

Although unverified a TFC driver told me today that head office have diverted the brand new deckers To other opcos due To the amount of damage happening. £350k of body repairs, £70k of glass damage and 3 written off vehicles (Including 2 brand new ones) in the first 3 months hasn’t gone down well with head office he said.

The 63/65 plate e400 which we were told weren’t permanent have started being repainted into TfC livery, and loan vehicles currently running in Plymouth have been made permanent additions to the Plymouth fleet to replace the relocated enviros.

EYMS took delivery of 8 e400mmcs this week.

The new deckers are E400 Cities, not E400 MMCs, so they're not the ones at EYMS.

The new buses would have been one of the reasons for the contract award. Go-Ahead can't suddenly decide to divert them away without the council's approval and, probably, paying the council a load of compensation.

Looking at the PCB fleet on loan I've been astounded by the amount of old unrepairable skirt damage. There seems to be an issue with fleet presentation and driving standards endemic in PCB based on what I've seen.

 

[MB162435]

Although unverified a TFC driver told me today that head office have diverted the brand new deckers To other opcos due To the amount of damage happening. £350k of body repairs, £70k of glass damage and 3 written off vehicles (Including 2 brand new ones) in the first 3 months hasn’t gone down well with head office he said.

The 63/65 plate e400 which we were told weren’t permanent have started being repainted into TfC livery, and loan vehicles currently running in Plymouth have been made permanent additions to the Plymouth fleet to replace the relocated enviros.

EYMS took delivery of 8 e400mmcs this week.

Did hear that, be surprised if that is the case as it was one of their flagship policies when launching the brand, although I personally don't mind the E400s around at the moment but as some drivers have said they aren't suited for life in Cornwall, and as with Kernow's E400s they are showing their age now and need more then a lick of paint

If management aren't impressed at the end of the day the buck stops with them and they should sort out driving standards, not fair for passengers to be punished for it, but so far all the drivers I've had have been quite professional

 

[Lizard1324]

Did hear that, be surprised if that is the case as it was one of their flagship policies when launching the brand, although I personally don't mind the E400s around at the moment but as some drivers have said they aren't suited for life in Cornwall, and as with Kernow's E400s they are showing their age now and need more then a lick of paint

If management aren't impressed at the end of the day the buck stops with them and they should sort out driving standards, not fair for passengers to be punished for it, but so far all the drivers I've had have been quite professional

I agree its not far for passanger to be stuck with older buses due to driver reputation, it would make sense of they are painting the 65 plate enviro 400 to join cornwall with the Sl64 plate enviro 400 when the new 400 citys arrive and instead get rid of the 06 plate enviro 400s

 

[MB162435]

I agree its not far for passanger to be stuck with older buses due to driver reputation, it would make sense of they are painting the 65 plate enviro 400 to join cornwall with the Sl64 plate enviro 400 when the new 400 citys arrive and instead get rid of the 06 plate enviro 400s

Definitely, it would be a like being at school again when one child plays up the whole class is punished

I can understand management being annoyed about the cost of the damage, but why end up punishing your customers for it

Let's hope its not true, as I've travelled on 4 of their E400s so far and they drive really well, a few not so keen on the hills but nothing awful, but you don't want to rely on them too much, same with the Gemini's

 

[Lizard1324]

Definitely, it would be a like being at school again when one child plays up the whole class is punished

I can understand management being annoyed about the cost of the damage, but why end up punishing your customers for it

Let's hope its not true, as I've travelled on 4 of their E400s so far and they drive really well, a few not so keen on the hills but nothing awful, but you don't want to rely on them too much, same with the Gemini's

If they don't supply cornwall with new e400 citys people will lose faith in them as there whole campaign video was showing off the buses which they said they have bought for cornwall and if this isn't true people and cc won't be happy.
People were already talking about tfc stating that they stated they started with an entirely new fleet but that wasn't true (old darts and enviro 200)

 

[fgwrich]

Although unverified a TFC driver told me today that head office have diverted the brand new deckers To other opcos due To the amount of damage happening. £350k of body repairs, £70k of glass damage and 3 written off vehicles (Including 2 brand new ones) in the first 3 months hasn’t gone down well with head office he said.

The 63/65 plate e400 which we were told weren’t permanent have started being repainted into TfC livery, and loan vehicles currently running in Plymouth have been made permanent additions to the Plymouth fleet to replace the relocated enviros.

EYMS took delivery of 8 e400mmcs this week.

That wouldn't surprise me at all. I'll probably be told off for this post but I have to admit that vehicle presentation is one reason why I've never really been a fan of Plymouth Citybus - Dents, Scrapes, Different versions of the same livery being pretty common across the fleet. Compared to the super smart and modern image presented by other GA group companies - So South Coast (Bluestar, Southern Vectis, the silly named More / Salisbury Reds), and now the considerably improved Go North Eastern / East Yorkshire, TfC / Go Cornwall Bus does seem to be dragging PCB's image down.

If those temporary loan allocations are to be made permanent, it both makes the PCB fleet even more varied with the Bluestar Scanias - Brighton and Hove probably wouldn't miss their's as they've been transferring some to Bluestar, but I reckon Bluestar will miss the omnicity's.

 

[cnjb8]

If they don't supply cornwall with new e400 citys people will lose faith in them as there whole campaign video was showing off the buses which they said they have bought for cornwall and if this isn't true people and cc won't be happy.
People were already talking about tfc stating that they stated they started with an entirely new fleet but that wasn't true (old darts and enviro 200)

Very overdramatic, people won't lose faith! Most passengers just want a bus that turns up on time! The more controversial thing for them is the rebranding the pride bus.

That wouldn't surprise me at all. I'll probably be told off for this post but I have to admit that vehicle presentation is one reason why I've never really been a fan of Plymouth Citybus - Dents, Scrapes, Different versions of the same livery being pretty common across the fleet. Compared to the super smart and modern image presented by other GA group companies - So South Coast (Bluestar, Southern Vectis, the silly named More / Salisbury Reds), and now the considerably improved Go North Eastern / East Yorkshire, TfC / Go Cornwall Bus does seem to be dragging PCB's image down.

If those temporary loan allocations are to be made permanent, it both makes the PCB fleet even more varied with the Bluestar Scanias - Brighton and Hove probably wouldn't miss their's as they've been transferring some to Bluestar, but I reckon Bluestar will miss the omnicity's.

There are a lot of buses to repaint which will take time, you can't expect everything to be painted and correct instantly!
Bluestar are taking delivery of some E400MMCs so these will presumably replace the OmniCity's.

 

[fgwrich]

Very overdramatic, people won't lose faith! Most passengers just want a bus that turns up on time!

There are a lot of buses to repaint which will take time, you can't expect everything to be painted and correct instantly!
Bluestar are taking delivery of some E400MMCs so these will presumably replace the OmniCity's.

I'm not, and I know Citybus has a sizeable fleet. But until at least a year or two ago, you could stand on Royal Parade and see at least 3 if not 4 different era's of the PCB fleet livery along one road (and I'm not talking about the branded vehicles either).

 

[richw]

was showing off the buses which they said they have bought for cornwall

except the ones in the video were Existing plymouth Vehicles used on the derriford corridor and plympton to city centre and barne Barton! The ones in video were never for cornwall. The general public probably wouldn’t have noticed but I’d expect enthusiasts to have not fallen for it!

@Goldfish62 the contract stipulates Euro 5 minimum, nothing about Brand new. Adblue is fitted on Adl stuff from Euro4 so if it’s got an adblue filler it’s likely to be ok, but not definitly. As a rough guide to enthusiasts if No adblue filler it Definitely doesn’t meet the euro 5 criteria. As long as they meet the euro 5, the brand new vehicles is merely a red Herring.

the ordered vehicles I’ve been told by one of their managers were MMCs not city a while back.

The absent advertised USB charging points Previously discussed in this thread do exist on the 20 plates, but only in the wheelchair bays. The rest of the seats don’t have them

 

[richw]

I'm not, and I know Citybus has a sizeable fleet. But until at least a year or two ago, you could stand on Royal Parade and see at least 3 if not 4 different era's of the PCB fleet livery along one road (and I'm not talking about the branded vehicles either).

You can spot several shades of red from the different liveries on single vehicles where a bumper corner or side panels has been swapped from another vehicle.

 

[Lizard1324]

except the ones in the video were Existing plymouth Vehicles used on the derriford corridor and plympton to city centre and barne Barton! The ones in video were never for cornwall. The general public probably wouldn’t have noticed but I’d expect enthusiasts to have not fallen for it!

@Goldfish62 the contract stipulates Euro 5 minimum, nothing about Brand new. Adblue is fitted on Adl stuff from Euro4 so if it’s got an adblue filler it’s likely to be ok, but not definitly. As a rough guide to enthusiasts if No adblue filler it Definitely doesn’t meet the euro 5 criteria. As long as they meet the euro 5, the brand new vehicles is merely a red Herring.

the ordered vehicles I’ve been told by one of their managers were MMCs not city a while back.

The absent advertised USB charging points Previously discussed in this thread do exist on the 20 plates, but only in the wheelchair bays. The rest of the seats don’t have them

I meant from the video of plymouth City bus they said they order buses like these which were enviro 400 cities,
But I was looking at a updated go cornwall fleet list and it had the allocated fleet numbers for the new double deckers but it did show them as being enviro 400mmc not 400 cities which I thought was a mistake but maybe not?
Image above shows tfc new doubke decker fleet numbers

 

[MB162435]

I meant from the video of plymouth City bus they said they order buses like these which were enviro 400 cities,
But I was looking at a updated go cornwall fleet list and it had the allocated fleet numbers for the new double deckers but it did show them as being enviro 400mmc not 400 cities which I thought was a mistake but maybe not?View attachment 81225
Image above shows tfc new doubke decker fleet numbers

What are the Sprinters for, thought only OTS and Travel Cornwall were going to use them?

 

[richw]

What are the Sprinters for, thought only OTS and Travel Cornwall were going to use them?

Dial a ride type things. Pcb run them under contract for the councils