Go South Coast

[M803UYA]

The vehicle is already a convertible open topper, which may or may not have affected the ease with which to roof was torn off. Much will depend on the level of damage to the structure of the bus beneath where the roof is bolted on; as I noted above you can see in one of the images that the tops of the seats have all been damaged, and it isn’t clear at what height the bus was struck on the nearside - there may be significant damage below the window line. It’s an old vehicle, a 54 plate so dating from 2004/5.

Most double decks on the road now (built within the last 25 years) have the roofs built in such a way that they easily detach when striking an overhead object such as a bridge.
This will explain the ease with which this one has fallen off. Given Go South Coast had a licence for 800 plus vehicles when granted in 2014 and the fleet has expanded somewhat since then I suspect the loss of one double deck might not be as easily felt as it would in a 10 vehicle operation.

 

[Towers]

Most double decks on the road now (built within the last 25 years) have the roofs built in such a way that they easily detach when striking an overhead object such as a bridge.
This will explain the ease with which this one has fallen off. Given Go South Coast had a licence for 800 plus vehicles when granted in 2014 and the fleet has expanded somewhat since then I suspect the loss of one double deck might not be as easily felt as it would in a 10 vehicle operation.

Certainly anything ‘modern’, i.e. with a single piece fibreglass roof, will come off in one big lump; yes! But looking at the photos here you can see that there is a very, very clean ‘break’ all the way around at the point where the roof is bolted on; the giveaway being that even the rear window section has come away cleanly, whereas generally it’ll be torn messily off or be folded over but still be clinging on.

Regarding numbers in the fleet, GSC are severely stretched currently both in Bournemouth/Poole and in Southampton, hence of course the multitude of hastily borrowed vehicles. Hopefully the recent new deliveries for Poole will have helped, but even so I doubt management would choose to be losing vehicles in the current climate!

 

[M803UYA]

Certainly anything ‘modern’, i.e. with a single piece fibreglass roof, will come off in one big lump; yes! But looking at the photos here you can see that there is a very, very clean ‘break’ all the way around at the point where the roof is bolted on; the giveaway being that even the rear window section has come away cleanly, whereas generally it’ll be torn messily off or be folded over but still be clinging on.

Regarding numbers in the fleet, GSC are severely stretched currently both in Bournemouth/Poole and in Southampton, hence of course the multitude of hastily borrowed vehicles. Hopefully the recent new deliveries for Poole will have helped, but even so I doubt management would choose to be losing vehicles in the current climate!

Break point is below the windows on 'modern' vehicles so that'd be entirely as per the design. As the body isn't manufactured anymore the chances of locating a replacement roof are fairly problematic and either leaving the vehicle permanently open top or sending to a nice part of Yorkshire for it's ultimate demise would be on the cards. It's a 19 year old vehicle so somewhat end of life in this respect.

Presumably all those Enviro 200 MMCs working in Manchester at the moment are on temporary loan and will be returning once new deliveries are completed? Along with the new double deckers, those single deck MMCs and the battery of 12 plate Volvo B7RLEs, more would then have a fairly consistent fleet of vehicles with which to serve the area.

 

[baza585]

Presumably, given the current fleet situation across GSC’s operations, the loss of one currently closed top decker is likely to be pretty inconvenient at the least?

To return to a popular rant; the Blue Star maps show the usual nonsense on the 1 this afternoon; as at 15:00 we have 1647 & 1644 running side by side southbound into Southampton on The Avenue, 1640 & 1643 leaving Winchester holding hands, whilst northbound 1641 & 1678 are within a few minutes of one another; 1645 is at least managing a solo run, northbound out of So’ton.

One wonders how long vehicles are left to run about like this - do BS controllers monitor the situation, or simply let them get on with it all day? I’d be interested to know!

Based on my experience of this route and also on the cross city routes, Bluestar controllers appear to be very reluctant to actively regulate the service. They seem to avoid lost mileage to get services back on track. One wonders if that may reflect lost mileage through lack of drivers which has been a problem in the past.

Traffic is bad in Southampton like most cities in UK. However First when they operated here were much more proactive in sending buses out of service to restart their journey back on track. But that is history.

 

[Titfield]

I am somewhat intrigued as to how the bus, assuming that it was entirely on the road and had not drifted onto the verge, has struck a tree. If the tree protrudes across the carriageway then one would have expected it to have been struck previously by another "high" vehicle.

 

[MotCO]

I am somewhat intrigued as to how the bus, assuming that it was entirely on the road and had not drifted onto the verge, has struck a tree. If the tree protrudes across the carriageway then one would have expected it to have been struck previously by another "high" vehicle.

The suggestion was that there was a car turning right in front of the bus, so the bus may have been nearer the kerb than normal. Unless it was a driveway or similar, then you would have thought that a similar occurance would have happened before.

 

[buslad1988]

I am somewhat intrigued as to how the bus, assuming that it was entirely on the road and had not drifted onto the verge, has struck a tree. If the tree protrudes across the carriageway then one would have expected it to have been struck previously by another "high" vehicle.

As daft as it sounds trees can often be more hazardous in winter months due to the branches being less cushioned by leaves. Snow can also sometimes weigh them down.

 

[Marcus Fryer]

As daft as it sounds trees can often be more hazardous in winter months due to the branches being less cushioned by leaves. Snow can also sometimes weigh them down.

It must have been quite a substantial bit of tree to take the roof off. Like many people reading this, I’ve often been on a bus that has hit overhanging branches and, although if the bus isn’t fitted with tree deflectors I can imagine it would leave a few dents, taking the whole roof off is something usually left to low bridges.

 

[Titfield]

It must have been quite a substantial bit of tree to take the roof off. Like many people reading this, I’ve often been on a bus that has hit overhanging branches and, although if the bus isn’t fitted with tree deflectors I can imagine it would leave a few dents, taking the whole roof off is something usually left to low bridges.

Yes indeed. I am a regular traveller on Morebus 50 Bournemouth to Swanage and overhanging branches are very common between Studland and Swanage. I have received the odd wack myself - memo to self sit on the outside in future - but as @Marcus Fryer has noted it would have to be a very substantial obstacle to take off a whole roof.

 

[nw1]

Presumably, given the current fleet situation across GSC’s operations, the loss of one currently closed top decker is likely to be pretty inconvenient at the least?

To return to a popular rant; the Blue Star maps show the usual nonsense on the 1 this afternoon; as at 15:00 we have 1647 & 1644 running side by side southbound into Southampton on The Avenue, 1640 & 1643 leaving Winchester holding hands, whilst northbound 1641 & 1678 are within a few minutes of one another; 1645 is at least managing a solo run, northbound out of So’ton.

One wonders how long vehicles are left to run about like this - do BS controllers monitor the situation, or simply let them get on with it all day? I’d be interested to know!

I think I've noticed (on Bustimes) cancellations on the 10/13/14 group to get a diagram back on track, but not 100% sure.

 

[Gloster]

Southern Vectis 1475 now carries HW73BEE. I haven’t seen any of the others to check.

 

[nw1]

Noticed a few changes on Bluestar lately which I've alluded to on another thread.

Firstly the 20 seems to have gone over to almost exclusively double-deck. This seemed to happen gradually over the week of Dec 4th rather than as a "big bang", so to speak. Quite a motley collection of double-deckers on the route too, with a lot of ex-London vehicles, the ex Go North East vehicles, and the 51-reg Damory vehicle all regulars along with occasional Southern Vectis and Salisbury Reds examples. A few trips still seem to be single-deck: the 0822, 0937 and 1637 out of town (perhaps ingeniously timed to avoid the height of the morning and evening peak!)

I'm guessing the 20 has seen excessive loadings of late and a short-notice allocation change was made. Even still, I thought Bluestar had a shortage of vehicles so they must have sourced them from somewhere.

There do not seem to be any routes which have conversely switched to single-deck which means Bluestar now has perhaps an excess of single-deckers. There are, perhaps, more Enviro 200s on the 10/13/14/15 so perhaps these have been cascaded from the 20, displacing the old Swindon vehicles which seem to be out less these days.

One former single-deck diagram on the 10/13/14 seemed to go over to double-deck at the end of October (including the 1225 on the 14 and 1403 on the 13).

Also have noticed quite a few ex-London vehicles in the past couple of weeks, mostly on the 7, 19 and 20 - have more arrived?

Finally a lot of Bluestar vehicles out on graduation specials this week, presumably those from the school/college pool.

 

[Gloster]

Also have noticed more ex-London vehicles in the past couple of weeks, mostly on the 7, 19 and 20 - have more arrived?

You may have got the ones that were on the island as we have received our new buses.

 

[nw1]

You may have got the ones that were on the island as we have received our new buses.

Ah ok - possibly, thanks. On the 7 today were DOE28, DOE37 and DOE21 and on the 19 were DOE26, 23, 32, 14, 35, 27 and 11 (also 37 which then went on to the 7). Looks like the 19 was a London Bus-fest today!

(Source bustimes).

The extra London vehicles would also explain the 20 being able to go over to mostly double-deck operation.

 

[EnviroExplorer]

I'm guessing the 20 has seen excessive loadings of late and a short-notice allocation change was made. Even still, I thought Bluestar had a shortage of vehicles so they must have sourced them from somewhere.

There do not seem to be any routes which have conversely switched to single-deck which means Bluestar now has perhaps an excess of single-deckers. There are, perhaps, more Enviro 200s on the 10/13/14/15 so perhaps these have been cascaded from the 20, displacing the old Swindon vehicles which seem to be out less these days.

Also have noticed quite a few ex-London vehicles in the past couple of weeks, mostly on the 7, 19 and 20 - have more arrived?

There has been an influx of further DOE class (ex London ADL/Optares) vehicles recently at Bluestar which is the reasoning for more on the 7, 19 and 20. These are the ones previously operated by Southern Vectis but displaced by new Enviro 400 MMCs, and the ones operated by Salisbury Reds which have been swapped for most of the Reds liveried Enviro 400s that had been operating with Bluestar.

At present there doesn’t appear to be an excess of single deckers, when the additional DOEs arrived these pushed out the Swindon liveried Optare Versas which are now in storage on the Isle of Wight (excluding 408 which hangs on for now). It seems there are additional Enviro 200 MMCs transferring in to Bluestar, with several now in the process of repaint at Hants & Dorset trim. These are the ones that have just returned from their holiday up north with Go North West, time will tell what they replace at Bluestar and how many.

 

[nw1]

There has been an influx of further DOE class (ex London ADL/Optares) vehicles recently at Bluestar which is the reasoning for more on the 7, 19 and 20. These are the ones previously operated by Southern Vectis but displaced by new Enviro 400 MMCs, and the ones operated by Salisbury Reds which have been swapped for most of the Reds liveried Enviro 400s that had been operating with Bluestar.

At present there doesn’t appear to be an excess of single deckers, when the additional DOEs arrived these pushed out the Swindon liveried Optare Versas which are now in storage on the Isle of Wight (excluding 408 which hangs on for now). It seems there are additional Enviro 200 MMCs transferring in to Bluestar, with several now in the process of repaint at Hants & Dorset trim. These are the ones that have just returned from their holiday up north with Go North West, time will tell what they replace at Bluestar and how many.

Ah ok, thanks. Yes, the Swindon Optare Versas do seem to have disappeared of late, though I saw one from a distance yesterday which was presumably 408, as well as earlier in the week. As I said they do seem to have mostly come off the 10/13/14/15 which were their usual workings, with (presumably) Enviro 200s off the 20 now transferred to the 10/13/14/15.

Bluestar do have a number of More-liveried Enviro 200s, as well as a few older single deckers still (N230UB OmniCity, e.g. Southern Vectis-liveried 2004) so maybe they'll replace those.

 

[Towers]

There has been an influx of further DOE class (ex London ADL/Optares) vehicles recently at Bluestar which is the reasoning for more on the 7, 19 and 20. These are the ones previously operated by Southern Vectis but displaced by new Enviro 400 MMCs, and the ones operated by Salisbury Reds which have been swapped for most of the Reds liveried Enviro 400s that had been operating with Bluestar.

At present there doesn’t appear to be an excess of single deckers, when the additional DOEs arrived these pushed out the Swindon liveried Optare Versas which are now in storage on the Isle of Wight (excluding 408 which hangs on for now). It seems there are additional Enviro 200 MMCs transferring in to Bluestar, with several now in the process of repaint at Hants & Dorset trim. These are the ones that have just returned from their holiday up north with Go North West, time will tell what they replace at Bluestar and how many.

Why are the Swindon Versas on the island? It seems an odd place to store them. Is there excess parking capacity at Vectis’ premises?

 

[Wychwood93]

Southern Vectis 1475 now carries HW73BEE. I haven’t seen any of the others to check.

Bustimes.org sees that reg as 1745:

Fleet list – Southern Vectis – bustimes.org

There seem to be seven of them at the moment - pantomime season!

 

[Gloster]

Bustimes.org sees that reg as 1745:

Fleet list – Southern Vectis – bustimes.org

There seem to be seven of them at the moment - pantomime season!

I did type the right numbers…but not in the right order.

 

[341o2]

Morebus, with Dorset County Council, has placed a bid for funding 10 electric buses. If successful, these will be delivered in 2026 and based at Swanage for routes 40 and 50.

Bus operators are hoping to add 10 new electric double-decker buses to their fleet.

Morebus and Dorset Council have submitted a bid for funding that would see a raft of zero-emission buses arrive in the county.
The funding, part of the next phase of the Department for Transport’s ZEBRA (Zero Emission Bus Regional Area) scheme, would be used to revolutionise the operator’s Purbeck Breezer routes 40 and 50.
If the bid is successful, the funding awarded will be added to investment already ring-fenced by Morebus and Dorset Council, resulting in a total of £6.4m.

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/24014246.morebus-dorset-council-apply-electric-bus-funding/

 

[Marcus Fryer]

Morebus, with Dorset County Council, has placed a bid for funding 10 electric buses. If successful, these will be delivered in 2026 and based at Swanage for routes 40 and 50.



https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/24014246.morebus-dorset-council-apply-electric-bus-funding/

In the article you’ve linked to they are talking about 10 buses for the 40 and 50, but further down the article there is a reference to 12 electric buses.

Morebus managing director, Andrew Wickham, said: “I’m delighted to have been working with Dorset Council, to bid for funding that will give the region a brand new fleet of electric vehicles.

“Buses are an excellent solution for improving air quality and reducing congestion, because they give people the option to leave their cars at home and use sustainable transport instead.

“This joint bid gives us a wonderful opportunity to take greener transport in Dorset a massive step even further - with the exciting prospect of 12 electric buses here.

 

[Towers]

That seems an odd choice of utilisation; lengthy routes with highly seasonal traffic levels. I’d have thought urban use would represent a better case for the money, particularly given the high volume of aged Scani Omnidekkas etc still within the fleet.

 

[Titfield]

That seems an odd choice of utilisation; lengthy routes with highly seasonal traffic levels. I’d have thought urban use would represent a better case for the money, particularly given the high volume of aged Scani Omnidekkas etc still within the fleet.

Also intrigued by the ability to charge the vehicles in Swanage at the bus park by the railway station. Swanage isnt exactly renowned for having great infrastructure for example the broadband limitations.

Perhaps the Swanage branch line could be electrified and Morebus could tap the supply ()

 

[MotCO]

Do these routes use the ferry? In which case, I hope that the batteries do not reduce the clearance required to board.

 

[dgl]

Maybe electrics are the only option for new buses that can go on the ferry, I know it was said that there were no new diesel deckers that were suitable, and even when the current buses were brought they were the only ones available that could use the ferry.

 

[Titfield]

Do these routes use the ferry? In which case, I hope that the batteries do not reduce the clearance required to board.

The 50 Swanage <> Bournemouth uses the chain ferry (and uses open toppers / part open toppers) whereas the 40 Swanage <> Poole is a conventional road route using closed top buses.

The ones that use the ferry have to have adjustable ground clearance so that they can board the ferry whatever the state of the tide.

 

[KX03HZY]

That seems an odd choice of utilisation; lengthy routes with highly seasonal traffic levels. I’d have thought urban use would represent a better case for the money, particularly given the high volume of aged Scani Omnidekkas etc still within the fleet.

Seems a quite sensible choice to me. ZEBRA funding isn't going to be around forever, and whilst no doubt commercially successful, these routes are unlikely to be able to justify new EV buses and charging on a commercial basis now, and probably not in the remaining lifespan of the Evosetis either.

There are models coming to the market like the next-gen E400EV with an advertised charge that could probably cover a full day use on the 40/50s. Even off season, the vehicles get good utilisation as they are the main arterial bus routes for Swanage all year around.

The Evosetis displaced could replace those older buses you mention too, Omnidekkas etc.

 

[OptareOlympus]

ZEBRA 2 funding is for rural routes so the 40/50 are the only morebus routes that really meet the criteria.

The bid is for 10 electric buses plus the charging infrastructure at Swanage and Bournemouth depots. There would be 3 closed tops, 3 half tops and four convertibles. The latter would be converted to convertibles in-house at Hants and Dorset Trim. 2 of the Evosetis will remain at Swanage. The 3 current half tops will head to Vectis and the current convertibles will transfer to Lymington for the the New Forest Tour. These are the same cascades that were originally planned for 2021 when the Swanage fleet would have been replaced, albeit with more (now discontinued) B5TL Evosetis back then.

 

[341o2]

Can you confirm regarding New Forest Tour Green, which is based at Totton, and New Forest Red which is based at Poole regarding proposed replacement of the existing tour buses?

 

[OptareOlympus]

Can you confirm regarding New Forest Tour Green, which is based at Totton, and New Forest Red which is based at Poole regarding proposed replacement of the existing tour buses?

No New Forest Tours are based at Poole. Lymington, Totton and Ringwood depots provide the 6 buses and drivers.

If the bid for new electric deckers in Swanage is successful then Lymington will receive the current convertibles at Swanage (subject to modification to allow them to clear Ampress bridge).