Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Bus News

[Andyh82]

Also services such as Red Arrow, Rainbow 1 and Two stop on Upper Parliament Street so you wouldn’t have to go all the way up to Victoria Bus Station for those

 

[adrianjohnson]

There used to be a Centrelink service which connected the two bus stations, but then it got changed to become the end of line for Queens Drive Park & Ride (now run by NCT). TrentBarton used to run electric solos on Centrelink if I remember correctly.

Some good news for bus uses in Nottingham. Trentbarton will be returning to Broadmarsh bus station on the 2nd October after an absence if five years.

No news yet on weather the pigeons may also want to come back.

If the new timetables on the TrentBarton website are anything to go by, not all routes that used to use Broadmarsh will be returning there. The i4, Indigo, for example, still list Friar Lane as the terminus and no mention of calling at Broadmarsh.

Also, the Keyworth will start to use Broadmarsh until early evening, when it will use Mount Street. Maybe Broadmarsh is only used during the day?

 

[liamf656]

In other news, trentbarton have noted down 778, 779 and 780 for refurbishment into Skylink Express. These are Volvo B8RLEs in the Two livery for those less in the know, and they will replace Scanias. There will be a number of movements across the fleet in the next few weeks which will eliminate all Scanias in the trentbarton and kinchbus fleets. The Ilkeston network of numbered routes will be ran by Solo SRs.

TM Travel are expecting 20 buses over the next few weeks. They're unspecified and it's unknown where they're coming from but it's said that some Solos and Deckers are included.

Elsewhere in Derbyshire some contract changes in October including but not limited to:
TM Travel 15/16 in Dronfield passing to Stagecoach
TM Travel 48/49 in Brampton passing to Hulleys
Littles service 9/9A passing to Diamond Bus/Midland Classic
Littles service 142 and 150 passing to TM Travel
CT4N service 14 in Ilkeston passing to Littles

There is a link to these changes in a previous post in this thread

If the new timetables on the TrentBarton website are anything to go by, not all routes that used to use Broadmarsh will be returning there. The i4, Indigo, for example, still list Friar Lane as the terminus and no mention of calling at Broadmarsh.

Also, the Keyworth will start to use Broadmarsh until early evening, when it will use Mount Street. Maybe Broadmarsh is only used during the day?

The services using Broadmarsh are as follows

Bay 2: Skylink Nottingham
Bay 3: Skylink Express
Bay 4: Kinchbus 9
Bay 5: The Keyworth
Bay 6: The Cotgrave
Bay 7: Rushcliffe Villager
Bay 8: Mainline

The i4 and indigo will no longer use Broadmarsh as they found after they stopped was that the reliability improved. I believe they would require an extra bus and driver each to allow for layovers if they moved back to the bus station

In regards to the Keyworth, the reason it will terminate at the Bus Station (as it did before) is because journey times don't technically allow for the extension to Mount Street. Currently as it's the temporary terminus each journey during the day has 59 minutes round trip and 1 minute wait at the terminus. Curtailing it at the bus station will create a 6 minute gap between journeys, which still isn't good but better than before. Evening journeys have a bit more running time so the extension to Mount Street doesn't affect reliability as much.

 

[LowLevel]

In other news, trentbarton have noted down 778, 779 and 780 for refurbishment into Skylink Express. These are Volvo B8RLEs in the Two livery for those less in the know, and they will replace Scanias. There will be a number of movements across the fleet in the next few weeks which will eliminate all Scanias in the trentbarton and kinchbus fleets. The Ilkeston network of numbered routes will be ran by Solo SRs.

TM Travel are expecting 20 buses over the next few weeks. They're unspecified and it's unknown where they're coming from but it's said that some Solos and Deckers are included.

Elsewhere in Derbyshire some contract changes in October including but not limited to:
TM Travel 15/16 in Dronfield passing to Stagecoach
TM Travel 48/49 in Brampton passing to Hulleys
Littles service 9/9A passing to Diamond Bus/Midland Classic
Littles service 142 and 150 passing to TM Travel
CT4N service 14 in Ilkeston passing to Littles

There is a link to these changes in a previous post in this thread


The services using Broadmarsh are as follows

Bay 2: Skylink Nottingham
Bay 3: Skylink Express
Bay 4: Kinchbus 9
Bay 5: The Keyworth
Bay 6: The Cotgrave
Bay 7: Rushcliffe Villager
Bay 8: Mainline

The i4 and indigo will no longer use Broadmarsh as they found after they stopped was that the reliability improved. I believe they would require an extra bus and driver each to allow for layovers if they moved back to the bus station

In regards to the Keyworth, the reason it will terminate at the Bus Station (as it did before) is because journey times don't technically allow for the extension to Mount Street. Currently as it's the temporary terminus each journey during the day has 59 minutes round trip and 1 minute wait at the terminus. Curtailing it at the bus station will create a 6 minute gap between journeys, which still isn't good but better than before. Evening journeys have a bit more running time so the extension to Mount Street doesn't affect reliability as much.

It'll be a shame to see the Scanias leave as they have been excellent servants for Wellglade, however with the oldest being I think the ones used on the Kinch 9, some of which are 20 years old now, I suppose the time has had to come for them.

 

[satisnek]

IIRC Intu were planning on refurbishing up the Broadmarsh shopping centre and the council decided to do the bus station at around the same time.

Intu went bust in 2020? and Broadmarsh shopping centre has been left a building site.

There's also a library (not open yet) and more retail units around the outside. I'm not sure if there were structural issues, but it was also part of the Broadmarsh redevelopment (shopping centre & all surrounding streets as far as the train station)

IIRC the original intent was to refurbish the existing, but when they did the final surveys they found structural issues and it cheaper to demolish and rebuild, and also had the benefit of moving the car park access from Middle Hill (it was planned to move them round but in the same corner as the Collin Street entrance used to be) to Canal Street - and space to accommodate the Central Library which was also in-need of a major refit.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[adrianjohnson]

In regards to the Keyworth, the reason it will terminate at the Bus Station (as it did before) is because journey times don't technically allow for the extension to Mount Street. Currently as it's the temporary terminus each journey during the day has 59 minutes round trip and 1 minute wait at the terminus. Curtailing it at the bus station will create a 6 minute gap between journeys, which still isn't good but better than before. Evening journeys have a bit more running time so the extension to Mount Street doesn't affect reliability as much.

Good to know. I just wonder how confusing it could be for passengers if only certain journeys are run from the bus station, especially as in the evening it will pass there to get to Keyworth.

 

[liamf656]

Good to know. I just wonder how confusing it could be for passengers if only certain journeys are run from the bus station, especially as in the evening it will pass there to get to Keyworth.

As far as I know the evening journeys will still serve the bus station on the outbound journeys in the same way as the other services

It'll be a shame to see the Scanias leave as they have been excellent servants for Wellglade, however with the oldest being I think the ones used on the Kinch 9, some of which are 20 years old now, I suppose the time has had to come for them.

I have to agree there, they’ve definitely got their moneys worth out of those Scanias and I think it’ll be a while before they find something equally as good, unless the Enviros surprise us and keep going for a decent amount of time. Kinchbus 9 will benefit from branded Citaros imminently with 903-905

 

[nctx]

Is it just me getting blocked? Or have Kinchbus deleted its Facebook account? Which had our 3000 likes.

 

[station_road]

Is it just me getting blocked? Or have Kinchbus deleted its Facebook account? Which had our 3000 likes.

Just you

 

[43055]

In other news, trentbarton have noted down 778, 779 and 780 for refurbishment into Skylink Express. These are Volvo B8RLEs in the Two livery for those less in the know, and they will replace Scanias. There will be a number of movements across the fleet in the next few weeks which will eliminate all Scanias in the trentbarton and kinchbus fleets. The Ilkeston network of numbered routes will be ran by Solo SRs.

TM Travel are expecting 20 buses over the next few weeks. They're unspecified and it's unknown where they're coming from but it's said that some Solos and Deckers are included.

Elsewhere in Derbyshire some contract changes in October including but not limited to:
TM Travel 15/16 in Dronfield passing to Stagecoach
TM Travel 48/49 in Brampton passing to Hulleys
Littles service 9/9A passing to Diamond Bus/Midland Classic
Littles service 142 and 150 passing to TM Travel
CT4N service 14 in Ilkeston passing to Littles

There is a link to these changes in a previous post in this thread

Diamond bus/Midland Classic seems to have won the 70/V3 and 73 as well with the timetables for these are showing on the midland classic website along with the 9/9A.

Assume with the B8RLEs voting to the sky link it will mean that the E200s which would be spare at Derby are staying put for the forcible future.

 

[Mugby]

Diamond bus/Midland Classic seems to have won the 70/V3 and 73 as well with the timetables for these are showing on the midland classic website along with the 9/9A.

They've done very well to get all the drivers trained with the relevant route knowledge for next Monday.......or have they?

 

[43055]

They've done very well to get all the drivers trained with the relevant route knowledge for next Monday.......or have they?

Could well have dedicated drivers for the Derby routes so only a few need the route knowledge.

 

[SSmith2009]

Jeff Counsell the current MD of Trent Barton and Kinchbus is to retire in February 2023 -

https://www.route-one.net/people/jeff-counsell-to-retire-from-trentbarton-and-kinchbus

from RouteOne:

Trentbarton and Kinchbus Managing Director, Jeff Counsell has announced that he will retire in February 2023.
He will be succeeded the following month by Tom Morgan (pictured, below). Mr Morgan will step up from his current position as Trentbarton Group Commercial Director to take up the new role of Managing Director (Buses) for all bus operators that are part of parent group Wellglade.
Mr Counsell’s retirement will bring to an end a career of 24 years with his current employer and almost 50 years in the bus industry. It began in the 1970s when he was 15 as an engineering apprentice with Lancashire United Transport and saw him join Trentbarton in 1999 as Engineering Director. From there he moved to Director of Service Delivery and to the MD’s chair in 2009.

In a statement announcing Mr Counsell’s retirement, Wellglade notes that “his role directing both operations and engineering also encompassed the two companies’ relationships with national and local government, an aspect that has been of prime importance during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond.”
Adds Wellglade Chairman Brian King: “Jeff has played a key role in keeping Trentbarton and Kinchbus at the forefront of the bus industry. They have won numerous awards from not only the industry but the business community. When he retires in February, he will be able to look back proudly on his career in buses.


After the retirement of Jeff Counsell from Trentbarton and Kinchbus, Tom Morgan will lead all bus operators that are part of parent Wellglade

“Tom’s new role will cover the commercial, operational and external relations activities of our bus companies. He knows the business and the area well from his current and previous position.”

Reflecting on his long career, Mr Counsell says: “Throughout my years, the industry has seen many opportunities and challenges including deregulation, recessions and the pandemic. But our industry is all about people, and our people at Trentbarton and Kinchbus always pull together.

“It is a great team – from the bottom to the top. Our frontline staff are always impressive. Our drivers, our engineers, everyone – they never flinch from challenges. I am deeply proud of them and will miss being with them.”

Mr Morgan has been with Wellglade since 2009, when he joined to work on the Nottingham Tramlink project. He subsequently became Trentbarton Assistant Operations Manager for Derby and General Manager of Kinchbus.

He adds: “I am very grateful to Jeff for his guidance and faith since bringing me into the business in 2009 and for the chances to progress in my career. I am incredibly excited about what lies ahead.

“The bus industry has gone through a difficult time, but the future is full of opportunities that we are well placed to grasp by listening to our customers, maintaining our high standards, continuing to innovate, embracing new technology and by investing in and empowering our dedicated and passionate team members.”

Wellglade is currently recruiting for the newly created roles of Group CEO and Group Engineering Director.

 

[RELL6L]

Most new timetables are now on the Derbyshire website.
Oddity with Hulleys, on service 171 they have added a 17.15 journey from Bakewell to Youlgreave and Middleton. But the timetable for the 172 still includes the existing 17.10 journey from Bakewell to Matlock via the back roads including a diversion to Youlgreave and Middleton. I can't believe two vehicles are required to serve this quiet corner at this time! Registration error or publicity error?

 

[johnnychips]

Most new timetables are now on the Derbyshire website.
Oddity with Hulleys, on service 171 they have added a 17.15 journey from Bakewell to Youlgreave and Middleton. But the timetable for the 172 still includes the existing 17.10 journey from Bakewell to Matlock via the back roads including a diversion to Youlgreave and Middleton. I can't believe two vehicles are required to serve this quiet corner at this time! Registration error or publicity error?

On Derbyshire County Council’s timetable page, they have repeated the old 172 timetable where the new one should be. In general, there are the odd layout mistakes. It seems they have had to revise a lot of things quickly.
There are strange things like having two separate timetables for Hulley’s/FSY timetables on the 271/272 Sheffield-Castleton joint service. Hopefully it will be ironed out soon.

Public Transport in Derbyshire & the Peak District

 

[RELL6L]

On Derbyshire County Council’s timetable page, they have repeated the old 172 timetable where the new one should be. In general, there are the odd layout mistakes. It seems they have had to revise a lot of things quickly.
There are strange things like having two separate timetables for Hulley’s/FSY timetables on the 271/272 Sheffield-Castleton joint service. Hopefully it will be ironed out soon.

Public Transport in Derbyshire & the Peak District

Yes I wondered if that was what had happened.

I saw the 271/272, that’s very unhelpful. Also the 54 and 54A are separate which is utterly mad!

 

[liamf656]

A summary of Welglade fleet changes taking place:

Mickleover Enviros 107/108 are going to Kinchbus as spares. Citaros 903/904 will be put into Kinchbus 9 and this will allow all Scanias to be withdrawn

An 09 plate Solo will transfer from Trent to Kinch to replace 458

Kinchbus will also receive a second B7RLE, possibly 739

Allestree 269 is going into spare livery at Derby

A number of Derby based Solos will move to Langley Mill. Said to be 495/496/497/500/502/503. They may get a couple of B7RLEs in return

Over in Sutton, 462 will be withdrawn if it hasn’t already, 484 off Connect will be put into spare livery to replace this

H1 Versas 828 and 829 are being taken off very soon, possibly to be put into Mango livery

The Two branded B8RLEs 778/779/780 will be refurbished for Skylink Express

 

[SSmith2009]

A number of Derby based Solos will move to Langley Mill. Said to be 495/496/497/500/502/503. They may get a couple of B7RLEs in rereturn

Wonder if these will be used for the new Ilkeston/Heanor local routes that have replaced the21, black cat and amberline?

 

[43055]

A summary of Welglade fleet changes taking place:

Mickleover Enviros 107/108 are going to Kinchbus as spares. Citaros 903/904 will be put into Kinchbus 9 and this will allow all Scanias to be withdrawn

An 09 plate Solo will transfer from Trent to Kinch to replace 458

Kinchbus will also receive a second B7RLE, possibly 739

Allestree 269 is going into spare livery at Derby

A number of Derby based Solos will move to Langley Mill. Said to be 495/496/497/500/502/503. They may get a couple of B7RLEs in return

Over in Sutton, 462 will be withdrawn if it hasn’t already, 484 off Connect will be put into spare livery to replace this

H1 Versas 828 and 829 are being taken off very soon, possibly to be put into Mango livery

The Two branded B8RLEs 778/779/780 will be refurbished for Skylink Express

Hopefully Derby does get something in return for the Solo SR's. If some of the B7RLE's come over, it might be worth branding one for the villager at the same time. With 828/829 leaving the H1 and 778-780 leaving the two that seems to confirm that the reduced timetables are here to stay.

Wonder if these will be used for the new Ilkeston/Heanor local routes that have replaced the21, black cat and amberline?

That is probably the idea.

 

[liamf656]

Hopefully Derby does get something in return for the Solo SR's. If some of the B7RLE's come over, it might be worth branding one for the villager at the same time.

The Villager, luckily, will be getting a branded Volvo to replace 705 which was written off. This will come from the Ilkeston Flyer which had a PVR reduction a while ago. That plus 269 off Allestree, and the loss of Royal Derby will just about enough to justify the 6 Solos that are destined for Langley Mill. 713/714/715/717 will be withdrawn at Langley Mill so with the talk of at least one of these moving to Derby it’ll hopefully be enough to bring Derby back to full strength

 

[32625]

Would that mean that the ex Royal Derby Solos and 491/492 become normal fare on the V3?

 

[M60lad]

With the Two branded Volvo B8RLEs being refurbished for Skylink Express what's going to replace them on Two's?

 

[SSmith2009]

With the Two branded Volvo B8RLEs being refurbished for Skylink Express what's going to replace them on Two's?

Nothing; the 'reduced' frequency is understood to be staying.

 

[43055]

The Villager, luckily, will be getting a branded Volvo to replace 705 which was written off. This will come from the Ilkeston Flyer which had a PVR reduction a while ago. That plus 269 off Allestree, and the loss of Royal Derby will just about enough to justify the 6 Solos that are destined for Langley Mill. 713/714/715/717 will be withdrawn at Langley Mill so with the talk of at least one of these moving to Derby it’ll hopefully be enough to bring Derby back to full strength

Good to know that the villager will be getting a replacement for 705. 740 has a pending edit on Bus Times for the villager which would make some sense as it has not been out today and is away from the rest of the Ilkeston Flyer vehicles.

Would that mean that the ex Royal Derby Solos and 491/492 become normal fare on the V3?

Most likely although on occasions a Volvo or Versa may stray onto the V3.

495, 496 and 502 are already at Langley Mill and on the new routes today.

On the Royal Derby today was two centro's these being 763 and one other which had a A4 paper destination with 'Derby Royal' on it. Hard to think 12 months ago this was a 12 min service with branded solo's.

 

[ChrisC]

Trent Barton are still cancelling a large number of buses each day. Every morning there is a long list of cancelled buses published via Twitter. The cuts in services at the beginning of September and more this week does not seem to have reduced the number of cancellations due to driver shortages.

The Trent Barton cancellation situation is not good but Stagecoach East Midlands are currently no better. They too are listing large numbers of cancellations each day via Twitter. Local services in the Mansfield area seem especially badly hit. Buses to Langwith, Shirebrook, Mansfield Woodhouse and Huthwaite cancelled daily.

 

[Mugby]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but,....does anyone know why there's been an Arriva double decker, registered X502 GGO, parked inside the gate of Peet Street Cemetery on Uttoxeter New Road, Derby for a few months now? It's still in Arriva livery, fully intact but getting in a poor state with several windows smashed. Is it a failed preservation attempt?

 

[markymark2000]

Trent Barton are still cancelling a large number of buses each day. Every morning there is a long list of cancelled buses published via Twitter. The cuts in services at the beginning of September and more this week does not seem to have reduced the number of cancellations due to driver shortages.

The Trent Barton cancellation situation is not good but Stagecoach East Midlands are currently no better. They too are listing large numbers of cancellations each day via Twitter. Local services in the Mansfield area seem especially badly hit. Buses to Langwith, Shirebrook, Mansfield Woodhouse and Huthwaite cancelled daily.

Why aren't they looking to sub out a full route or some trips to alternative operators? I know it won't fit their higher quality standards for the buses but it's better than no bus. I'm sure that there are some school only operators with drivers who may be up to earn an extra few £££ and kind of hire out the driver for a few hours work. GoNorthEast have not many cancellations (least not public) because of how they have worked with local operators to take on trips, boards or routes to keep the public moving and reduce the amount of cancellations.

 

[liamf656]

Why aren't they looking to sub out a full route or some trips to alternative operators? I know it won't fit their higher quality standards for the buses but it's better than no bus. I'm sure that there are some school only operators with drivers who may be up to earn an extra few £££ and kind of hire out the driver for a few hours work. GoNorthEast have not many cancellations (least not public) because of how they have worked with local operators to take on trips, boards or routes to keep the public moving and reduce the amount of cancellations.

They’ve done so with the 27 and more recently the Royal Derby. The 141 was withdrawn but taken on by Stagecoach too, as well as other general cutbacks on the network. Time will tell if this works, however looking at the first day it doesn’t look like it has

 

[markymark2000]

They’ve done so with the 27 and more recently the Royal Derby. The 141 was withdrawn but taken on by Stagecoach too, as well as other general cutbacks on the network. Time will tell if this works, however looking at the first day it doesn’t look like it has

27 and Royal Derby are still within the group though so really I would say it's no different, they could have got Notts and Derby drivers to drive the 27 and Royal Derby months ago. I'd argue the only difference in moving the routes to Notts and Derby is so that they can run the routes with cheaper drivers to make the routes more viable, not done to improve driver availability as the same drivers could have driven it already.

 

[adrianjohnson]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but,....does anyone know why there's been an Arriva double decker, registered X502 GGO, parked inside the gate of Peet Street Cemetery on Uttoxeter New Road, Derby for a few months now? It's still in Arriva livery, fully intact but getting in a poor state with several windows smashed. Is it a failed preservation attempt?

It's owned by people who own the house next to the cemetery who plan to use it as a community centre. It's upset a few locals though...

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/derby-news/mourners-upset-double-decker-bus-7528070

Council bosses have told a Derby homeowner to remove a double-decker bus from within the grounds of a cemetery after its appearance angered mourners.

An Arriva bus has been seen parked at the front gates of the Uttoxeter New Road cemetery in the last few days, sparking complaints to Derby City Council, which runs the cemetery.

Inside the grounds, a private house is situated next to the graveyard which is owned by Rashpal Lal. Mr Lal and his wife bought the former council-owned three-bed house for £200,000 last year with the aim of turning it into a community centre.


Mr Lal says the bus was donated to him by Arriva as part of a charity project called “Butterflies” he is organising which would see the bus used as a temporary community hub while the house is being renovated. But the appearance of the bus has angered visitors to the cemetery.