Stagecoach West - Fleet News & Discussion

[Callum15632]

I have read that 36735 to 36739 Plus possibly 36734 from Ayr to West

Yeah but have 36737/8 transferred to Bristol or are they ticket machine swaps?

 

[carlberry]

Yeah but have 36737/8 transferred to Bristol or are they ticket machine swaps?

36737 is trundling around South Gloucestershire promoting the 'Vision' service. Somebody did say these were for Swindon to replace their older darts however maybe making Bristol Euro VI is more urgent.

 

[GoneSouth]

Thought I’d have another look on Twitter at the situation across west again today. I got as far as counting 59 cancellations across Gloucester city routes alone and gave up on the rest. Cheltenham don’t even bother telling anyone and are happy to leave people standing. Stroud depot may as well be closed and Swindon seem to have as many cancellations as Gloucester.

Oh and there’s something about fares rising from tomorrow…

There’s never a good time to be a bus passenger, but what’s happening right now is killing future use.

 

[LordCreed]

Thought I’d have another look on Twitter at the situation across west again today. I got as far as counting 59 cancellations across Gloucester city routes alone and gave up on the rest. Cheltenham don’t even bother telling anyone and are happy to leave people standing. Stroud depot may as well be closed and Swindon seem to have as many cancellations as Gloucester.

Oh and there’s something about fares rising from tomorrow…

There’s never a good time to be a bus passenger, but what’s happening right now is killing future use.

I'm in Cheltenham today, and most services seem be running at half the frequency compared to normal. The hourly K is running 30 minutes late as well. How stagecoach expect to retain passengers is beyond me.

 

[Glosbusspotter]

Yeah but have 36737/8 transferred to Bristol or are they ticket machine swaps?

so 3 of the transfers from Ayr (36734/5/6) are running out of Cheltenham depot. 36734 has seen use whereas the other 2 are in the depot getting new skirt panels and inside floors. As for the other 2, 36737 does seem to be trundling around south Gloucs and 36738 is around Swindon.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

Anyone know if the X19 is due any new stock?

 

[carlberry]

Anyone know if the X19 is due any new stock?

What is the X19?

 

[Glosbusspotter]

What is the X19?

Probably referring to the X18/19 Evesham - Warwick via Stratford Upon Avon.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Anyone know if the X19 is due any new stock?

What is the X19?

Probably referring to the X18/19 Evesham - Warwick via Stratford Upon Avon.

Might I suggest that @JumpinTrainz (being from Glasgow) has posted in the wrong thread and is referring to the X19 operated by Stagecoach West Scotland?

 

[JumpinTrainz]

Might I suggest that @JumpinTrainz (being from Glasgow) has posted in the wrong thread and is referring to the X19 operated by Stagecoach West Scotland?

Yes apologise!

 

[LordCreed]

so 3 of the transfers from Ayr (36734/5/6) are running out of Cheltenham depot. 36734 has seen use whereas the other 2 are in the depot getting new skirt panels and inside floors. As for the other 2, 36737 does seem to be trundling around south Gloucs and 36738 is around Swindon.

Do you know what is likely to be withdrawn in exchange?

 

[matt_splat]

Rumor has it stagecoach have said they are returning to weston super mare very soon

 

[DaveHarries]

Rumor has it stagecoach have said they are returning to weston super mare very soon

Perfectly possible: a news release on North Somerset Council's website, responding to the bus cuts taking effect on 24th April, has this paragraph:

Commercial bus companies have advised they will introduce their changes in North Somerset on Sunday 24th April, so the council's new contracts will take effect from that date to ensure as much continuity as possible. The council hopes to announce details of the replacement services before the end of March once the tendering process is complete.

[https://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/news/council-sets-out-rescue-package-respond-april-bus-cuts]

For First's part this means complete withdrawal of Weston-super-Mare town routes 2, 4, 5 and 6 due to low passenger numbers, along with the Yatton - Weston-super-Mare section of Service X2 (which isn't surprising: there are 2 trains per hour most of the week and I suspect they are taking all the passengers) and full withdrawal of Service X8 for the same reasons with a reroute of Service X7 to serve Nailsea & Backwell Station. I would imagine that NSC have done a tendering exercise on the town routes so perhaps Stagecoach have picked at least a couple of them up.

Dave

 

[M803UYA]

I would imagine that NSC have done a tendering exercise on the town routes so perhaps Stagecoach have picked at least a couple of them up.

Dave

Wouldn't Stagecoach have the out of service mileage to cost into any tender? First won't have as much, and Stagecoach's last visit to Weston didn't exactly end well with the X5.

 

[Marcus Fryer]

Wouldn't Stagecoach have the out of service mileage to cost into any tender? First won't have as much, and Stagecoach's last visit to Weston didn't exactly end well with the X5.

Wasn’t their last bus service operation in Weston the 51? And they had private contacts there last year as well.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Perfectly possible: a news release on North Somerset Council's website, responding to the bus cuts taking effect on 24th April, has this paragraph:


[https://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/news/council-sets-out-rescue-package-respond-april-bus-cuts]

For First's part this means complete withdrawal of Weston-super-Mare town routes 2, 4, 5 and 6 due to low passenger numbers, along with the Yatton - Weston-super-Mare section of Service X2 (which isn't surprising: there are 2 trains per hour most of the week and I suspect they are taking all the passengers) and full withdrawal of Service X8 for the same reasons with a reroute of Service X7 to serve Nailsea & Backwell Station. I would imagine that NSC have done a tendering exercise on the town routes so perhaps Stagecoach have picked at least a couple of them up.

Dave

@Citistar said on the First West of England thread on 3rd March

More news on the tendering front, North Somerset Council have issued a contract for a new service 50 which covers the scope of services 2, 4, 5 and 6 in Weston-super-Mare to start 25th April on one painfully long and awkward route. Service 50 involves three vehicles on an hourly frequency. There is also an alternative version 50A which involves two vehicles doing the existing 5 route, with an additional deviation along South Road, but not serving Worlebury or Bleadon.

 

[Citistar]

Wasn’t their last bus service operation in Weston the 51? And they had private contacts there last year as well.

They had services to one of the supermarket warehouses in Avonmouth (either Tesco or Lidl, i forget which), which no longer appear to still be picking up at the Railway Station at 12:55 on Tuesday.

With regard to @TheGrandWazoo's post, I understand there was a comment made at a meeting held by Metro Mayor Dan Norris in Paulton yesterday which would suggest that the 50 service around Weston has been won by Stagecoach, although i don't know which version of the contract may have been awarded. Neither version is a particularly effective solution to the problem.

 

[DaveHarries]

More news on the tendering front, North Somerset Council have issued a contract for a new service 50 which covers the scope of services 2, 4, 5 and 6 in Weston-super-Mare to start 25th April on one painfully long and awkward route. Service 50 involves three vehicles on an hourly frequency. There is also an alternative version 50A which involves two vehicles doing the existing 5 route, with an additional deviation along South Road, but not serving Worlebury or Bleadon.

Ah. Well if it is going to be run like that then they can't expect a high ridership especially on an hourly frequency: putting buses at that frequency on the Upper Bristol Road is underserving a well-populated area. I can think of a few changes I would make if I had the operation of these routes in Weston, rather than just dropping them. If anybody here is interested in my line of thinking on that matter (although I know this is a Stagecoach forum) then leave a reply or PM me and I will elaborate.

Dave

 

[Glosbusspotter]

Do you know what is likely to be withdrawn in exchange?

A few Cheltenham solos were withdrawn, 47621 being one of them as that died on the W, and the Swindon ones to replace the older darts probably.

In other news, Pulhams Coaches seem to be pulling out of services such as the 882 and the 78 so maybe we could see these go to Stagecoach. If stagecoach gets the 882 maybe it can be used as a Gloucester-Cirencester link that is every hour. Then maybe have a Tetbury / Kemble shopper link as a separate route

 

[carlberry]

A few Cheltenham solos were withdrawn, 47621 being one of them as that died on the W, and the Swindon ones to replace the older darts probably.

In other news, Pulhams Coaches seem to be pulling out of services such as the 882 and the 78 so maybe we could see these go to Stagecoach. If stagecoach gets the 882 maybe it can be used as a Gloucester-Cirencester link that is every hour. Then maybe have a Tetbury / Kemble shopper link as a separate route

Pulhams have deregistered some services (details on https://www.pulhamscoaches.com/bus/ however I wont copy the text here as it's not Stagecoach related), it now depends who gets the new contracts (assuming Gloucestershire are re-tendering them). The 882 is currently a few journeys a day so I don't see how that suddenly changes into an hourly service. I suspect Stagecoach would want to stabilise the current situation with drivers before they're likely to want to pick up contracts where they'll be competing with quite a few of the local independants.

 

[GoneSouth]

I suspect Stagecoach would want to stabilise the current situation with drivers before they're likely to want to pick up contracts

You’re not kidding!!!

 

[CharlesR]

A few Cheltenham solos were withdrawn, 47621 being one of them as that died on the W, and the Swindon ones to replace the older darts probably.

In other news, Pulhams Coaches seem to be pulling out of services such as the 882 and the 78 so maybe we could see these go to Stagecoach. If stagecoach gets the 882 maybe it can be used as a Gloucester-Cirencester link that is every hour. Then maybe have a Tetbury / Kemble shopper link as a separate route

Having just gotten rid of an "unprofitable" Newent-Ross/Ledbury section mid way through a year with no replacement and not much advanced warning, reduced most city frequencies, threatened many Forest communities to "use or or lose it", the last thing Stagecoach will be doing is creating a Gloucester to Cirencester hourly link

Pulhams have deregistered some services (details on https://www.pulhamscoaches.com/bus/ however I wont copy the text here as it's not Stagecoach related), it now depends who gets the new contracts (assuming Gloucestershire are re-tendering them). The 882 is currently a few journeys a day so I don't see how that suddenly changes into an hourly service. I suspect Stagecoach would want to stabilise the current situation with drivers before they're likely to want to pick up contracts where they'll be competing with quite a few of the local independants.

You'd hope so, although they did have a go at A1/A2/A3/A4 contracts which were proven unsuccessful, and did jump into a drastic increase in Cirencester College routes last summer having known about the driver shortage

 

[Dai Corner]

Local Councillor has posted the following on Facebook

North Somerset Council has stepped in to save bus services in Weston, awarding a contract to Stagecoach West for a revised service utilising three buses which will cover most of the area served by the 2,4,5 and 6 services that have been axed by First Bus.

I am particularly pleased that the new service will cover the town centre, hillside area and routes around Ellenborough and Clarence Parks, which are well used by residents in the Weston Central Ward I represent. Lib Dem councillors in Hillside and Central wards were vocal in emphasising how important these routes are and it is great to see action taken.

The service will run from Hutton village and via the hospital, into the town centre, up along South Road into Worle and then to West Wick. The map below shows the route (apologies for the poor quality).

The 2,4,5 and 6 routes are currently used by around 123,000 passengers a year and pre-pandemic they were used by 230,000 passengers, so you can see a really significant service.

The loss of these services would have a severe impact on people in Weston and Worle, affecting access to the hospital, education, the town centre and other essential services. The subsidy will cost around £250,000 over 18 months. However, as bus use is still recovering as we emerge from the pandemic, transport experts believe that this level of subsidy should reduce as patronage grows and the service may ultimately break even.

The background

First Bus representatives from the Bristol and North Somerset subsidiary informed North Somerset Council that it needed to respond to the pressures on bus services including driver shortages, drops in passenger numbers compared to pre-pandemic and withdrawal of emergency funding for buses.

As a result, First Bus announced a number of changes including the withdrawal of four services from the Weston-super-Mare town network, the 2,4,6 combined route and the Weston 5 service. First ran these routes on a commercial basis with no subsidy from the council.

Following First’s announcement, North Somerset Council responded by stepping in to offer to the market a new subsidised service to support some these routes. Stagecoach West were the only bidder to come forward with a proposed service to meet local needs and consequently have been awarded the contract to run the service.

You can read more detail about the decision and process here: https://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2022-03/DP462 v3_0.pdf

First Bus have also announced other service changes across North Somerset and the council is continuing to work to find ways to mitigate those impacts where possible.

Edit: Apologies. I can't find the post again to add a link and name the Councillor.

 

[Citistar]

So those figures boil down to a gross contract of £1,714 a day. Almost makes the 53-55 package that HCT run look like good value at £1,020 a day. All impressive figures for a council that keeps telling us they have no money.

 

[DaveHarries]

Stagecoach West (Swindon) have some service revisions coming up wef 24-Apr-2022:

Service 6 (Link Centre - Amazon) is a new service for employees which will connect Link Centre, Rushey Platt, Swindon Bus Station and Symmetry Park. It will be timed around Amazon shift times.

Service 7 (Swindon - Highworth) sees a drop in its daytime frequency from every 12 minutes to every 15 minutes with the intention being to provide a more reliable and consistent service. I think it is possible that traffic trying to avoid the White Hart roadworks may be causing issues with the timing, particularly at peak periods although hopefully those roadworks won't go on for too much longer.

Service 55 (Swindon - Chippenham) sees revised timings at peak periods.

Service S6 (Swindon - Oxford) gains extra journeys at peak times on Mondays to Fridays and, perhaps oddly, late-night journeys on Friday and Saturday nights (Saturday and Sunday mornings) with the last bus leaving Oxford for Swindon at 3:10am! I don't know what nightlife is like in Oxford as I have never spent an evening there although I imagine it is probably better than the nightlife in Swindon. I would imagine that these later journeys are an experiment though.

ServiceUpdatesArticle

www.stagecoachbus.com

HTIOI,
Dave

 

[CharlesR]

882 service also on its way to Stagecoach from Pulhams, commencing Tuesday 19th April

 

[LordCreed]

882 service also on its way to Stagecoach from Pulhams, commencing Tuesday 19th April

What will run on that? Some of the roads are quite tight for full size singles.

 

[DaveHarries]

What will run on that? Some of the roads are quite tight for full size singles.

Yes indeed. I am sure Stagecoach had it before and ran it with Optare Solo so perhaps more of the same unless they can get hold of a couple of small Darts from somewhere.

Dave

 

[LordCreed]

Today marks the first day of the 882. Anyone happen to know what appeared on it? They're not tracking unfortunately. I'm hoping a solo from somewhere, as if so I'll try and make the journey next week.

 

[thameslink2000]

I've seen a photo of 36390 on the 882 on Facebook.