Stagecoach West Scotland

[Scotrail314209]

Ayrshire Daily News reporting that queueing times for the X77 is around 1 hour, due to the volume of passengers.

Makes sense given that there only seems to be one Astromega on, with the rest being Elites which isn't ideal at all.

I've always thought getting rid of the Astromegas on the X77 was a bad move, due to how low capacity the Elites are.

 

[Jordan Adam]

I'm surprised they've not even drafted in some E400MMCs and/or run duplicates.

 

[GALLANTON]

I'm surprised they've not even drafted in some E400MMCs and/or run duplicates.

Could be they dont have enough drivers to run duplicates

 

[route101]

With the trains being off, and the X77 becoming extremely busy as a result, would it be worthwhile for Stagecoach to move the fleet of Astromegas and Panoramas to provide maximum capacity on the X77, with the Elites taking over the X76?

Surely a mix of Elites and Astromegas simply won’t work?

That was how it was before!

There was a queue for the X77 at Buchanan Bus Station and the X77 elite was full.

 

[Sprinter156]

After seeing the queues at Ayr bus station earlier, they definitely need to send more of the Astromegas/Panoramas out on the x77.

 

[overthewater]

Mind you, are there actually are spare deckers? Remember the F1 and Open in Kent is on, so a lot of stock has been sent away. Plus its the Glasgow Fair so maybe there are not a lot of drivers about either.

 

[Scotrail314209]

Mind you is there actually are spare decker's? Remember the F1 and Open in Kent is on, alot of stock has been sent away? Plus its the Glasgow fair so maybe not alot of drivers about either?

I'm guessing the X76 can cope with all of the Elites being sent over, theres 5 Panoramas and 6 Astromegas, with 10 Elites, I think the X76 can cope with all the elites being moved over as it won't result in a reduced amount of deckers. If need be they can always stick an MMC onto the X76 to help cover.

I think the priority should be maximising capacity on the X77 as much as possible, especially if this is going to go on for a while.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Mind you, are there actually are spare deckers? Remember the F1 and Open in Kent is on, so a lot of stock has been sent away. Plus its the Glasgow Fair so maybe there are not a lot of drivers about either.

Yes, Bluebird and Highland have plenty as schools are on holiday.

 

[Scotrail314209]

50243 has been brought back from disposal and is currently on the X77.

 

[route101]

50243 has been brought back from disposal and is currently on the X77.

What kind of bus is that?

 

[Scotrail314209]

What kind of bus is that?

Astromega.

 

[GALLANTON]

Are there any updates on when Stagecoach Westerns Electric Volvos are likley to enter service?

 

[cnjb8]

47002, a nearly 20-year old Solo has entered service here (Dumfries I think but I may be wrong) after transferring from Cumbria & North Lancashire at Carlisle. It even wears the new local livery; West Scotland really want the MAN Solos gone!

 

[Blindtraveler]

Are those really really bad then? I think I've only ever wriden on one and found it quite pleasant

 

[overthewater]

I believe the Man-engined Solos are very underpowered, and come to a crawl once they reach a incline.

 

[MrKyleBuses]

47002, a nearly 20-year old Solo has entered service here (Dumfries I think but I may be wrong) after transferring from Cumbria & North Lancashire at Carlisle. It even wears the new local livery; West Scotland really want the MAN Solos gone!

Entered service at Ardrossan but heard it's due for transfer to Arran eventually

 

[GALLANTON]

Is there many man Solos left at Western?

 

[mbonwick]

Entered service at Ardrossan but heard it's due for transfer to Arran eventually

Correct, due over to Arran for a contract that requires a seatbelted mini. If you want a seatbelted Solo you're pretty much stuck with 47001-14 unless you want to spend a lot of money on paperwork getting an engineering solution to pass the pull test.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I hope Stagecoach have forward-planned for their eventual replacement. That batch is not exactly factory fresh anymore and won't last forever, although presumably they won't work all that hard in places like Arran.

 

[Scotrail314209]

I do wonder why they opted for Streetlites on the Arran services, I feel a fleet of Enviro 200s might do a bit of a better job on the rural roads.

 

[Scotrail314209]

Stagecoach West Scotland's 6 new Electric buses parked up at the depot.

These look lovely!

https://twitter.com/StagecoachWScot/status/1419979663284346918/photo/1

And they are here! We're celebrating the launch of six 100% electric buses operating along Kilmarnocks Service 1 route #zeroemissions #electricbus #100%electric

 

[Edirim]

View attachment 100350
Stagecoach West Scotland's 5 new Electric buses parked up at the depot.

These look lovely!

https://twitter.com/StagecoachWScot/status/1419979663284346918/photo/1

6 in the photo
For once the livery looks decent!

 

[Robbie01]

Does anyone know where abouts of Astromega 50281- YJ14 LFT? 50280 and 50282-84 have all entered service already but still no sign of 50281.

 

[jamieintercity]

What's happening to the ex Highland Solo SR EVs, when do they enter service?

 

[mbonwick]

I do wonder why they opted for Streetlites on the Arran services, I feel a fleet of Enviro 200s might do a bit of a better job on the rural roads.

Because SPT paid for them. Originally it was going to be E200s, and fleetnumbers 37281-90 were allocated. However SPT decided last minute that they'd rather have Streetlites (both types were trialled).

 

[Blindtraveler]

I wonder how stagecoach, the good folk of the Ireland and SPT feel about this decision now?

 

[GALLANTON]

I wonder how stagecoach, the good folk of the Ireland and SPT feel about this decision now?

Why would they feel anything? Care to elaborate on your statement?

 

[mbonwick]

Well the islanders (and tourists alike) preferred the B10M/PSs that went before, as they were a better ride and had enough seats/standing room that people weren't left behind when the ferry arrives! The Streetlites really are too small for summer season.

Stagecoach I'm sure don't really care (there's bigger things to worry about), or if anything are slightly glad at the decision - at least they didn't have to stump up the cash for a DDA fleet! I could well imagine Arran depot would have closed completely if SPT funding hadn't been available.

 

[Scotrail314209]

What does get me is that the Arran frequency was decimated quite a bit in recent years, including the removal of the Open Top bus.

It's a shame.

 

[route101]

Always thought Arran had a decent bus service for somewhere rural. Didn't realise the frequency had dropped. The best route was the ability to go right round the island.