I’m not sure how many but some MCV EvoSeti’s have been kitted out as spares to run on the guided busway.
There's 3 that have been Bee'd for the Busway, 3051 (BG66MHZ), 3052 (BG66MJE) & 3053 (BG66MJF)I have seen pictures on ‘Buses2012’ Flickr page of EvoSeti’s kitted out & tested on the Guided Busway so Go North West should have enough spare to cover the Vantage routes.
If you mean fleetnumbers, they are to be numbered 4101 upwards.Does anybody know what the new Go North West Enviro 200 MMCs will be coded as? They don’t seem to number them until they arrive and are ready for service.
SK73CPU is one of the plates (not my photo)
Vantage received government funding in 2019 for a full fleet replacement, then covid and then the bee network happened... Seems to have disappearedThere may be three MCV's kitted up for the Busway, but the question will be is it going to be enough, as First had five possible spares, and the number of collisions to Busway vehicles is always quite high, currently there are two out of service but that number has been as high as five or six. Also the five year frequency of replacement of the Busway fleet seems to have been a lie by TfGM, that was stated when it was opened, obviously that has come to nothing, as the Busway is operating with vehicles that are now Seven and Six years old and there appears no intention to update stock anytime soon.
I’m sure they will be redistributed across other Stagecoach fleets. However Stagecoach will need to find vehicles for the next tranche of franchised routes as they take over Queens Road routes from Go NW in six months time.What's happening to the stagecoach buses when GNW take over wigan on Sunday.
What's happening to the stagecoach buses when GNW take over wigan on Sunday.
Lots of new E400 elecs arriving at Bolton now, all huddled together ready for the big change over..!
Note: picture shows the new E400 buses along with the associated infrastructure to charge them...
The one’s going to Yorkshire Traction operations (Barnsley & Rawmarsh) will probably replace some of the knackered MAN Enviro 300, I was on Local liveried 22559 the other week, the floor would not lower, the driver had to turn the engine off to do a reset & it had no power on hills.Some E200s and E300s are heading to Yorkshire Traction, that's all that's confirmed at the moment. The first of these are leaving over the course of the next few days.
Some E400s *may* go to Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancs though not confirmed.
E400MMCs who knows, but let's not forget these are heavily coach seated, so they will be most useful in a rural fleet. On the other hand they could be transferred within Manchester.
The infrastructure has been beefed up a fair amount with extra substations built and various works carried out in the area to help. We also have large generators on site incase of power outages and I'm told that these run on waste byproducts as opposed to fossil fuels.Interesting times...
Clearly new charging stands have been constructed for the new EV fleet but has the depot had a new grid connection or was the existing connection sufficient?
Going forwards will Bolton Depot hold great vehicle numbers now?
A few weeks ago I met a chap driving a van with a few ZF gearboxes in, to cut a long story short he said they was from buses and off for refurb/overhaul. That got me thinking how long does a gearbox last in a bus? Do the depots simply swap out engines and gearboxes at certain milages as is the case with rail, or do they wait until a failure?
A great great interesting thread from a non bus sort, who uses buses a fair bit.
But do they want the old E400's that were trudging round Wigan, I think not?According to Bustimes (yes I know), Sharston have lost 21x MMC400s for the school bus operation at Little Hulton and Stockport have lost 18 x Enviro 200 similarly. You would think that those depots would be short of vehicles as a result.
Thanks for the update. Look forward to the updates. Get an early night!Bolton updates...
So... the last 2 days of Rotala operation of Bolton are upon us. Streetdeck 40731 returned from refurb at Thorntons this morning and the former open topper, 40761, has now been fully liveried with Bee Network logos and the black has been painted on after it was missed when it was repainted yellow in Ireland.
As of Sunday, a new era shall begin. I shall be present from the very start (I must be mad! 2am!) but I'll try and give live updates of fleet movements during the morning.
Several more E400 electrics arrived today, haven't been able to do a head count, but there can't be many of the 50 missing now...
No official sources at this stage but a few are rumoured to be transferring to Cumbria, and an unknown quantity to East Midlands, presumably to see off more Tridents.But do they want the old E400's that were trudging round Wigan, I think not?
Hi yes I had heard about the ones for Cumbria but not the ones for East Midlands, all are too old to retain in Greater Manchester for contracts apart from the 10 or so 09 regs, and they would only have a limited lifespan in Greater Manchester so best to move them on now, which in turn causes another issue for Stagecoach in that a lot of E400'S seem to be 09 registered so this will cause a headache for replacement, presume therefore this is what the batch of BZL's at Stockport will do, replace vehicles that are too old for Franchising.No official sources at this stage but a few are rumoured to be transferring to Cumbria, and an unknown quantity to East Midlands, presumably to see off more Tridents.
Update on the above:The BYD / ADL batch for Go North West - taken from BLOTW buslistsontheweb.co.uk:
2003 - LG73FXZ (originally intended as LG23FBU)
2004 - LG73FYA (originally intended as LG23FBV)
2005 - LG73FYB (originally intended as LG23FBX)
2006 - LG73FVZ
2007 - LG73FWA
2008 - LG73FWB
2009 - LG73FWC
2010 - LG73FWD
2011 - LG73FWE
2012 - LG73FWF
2013 - LG73FWH
2014 - LG73FWJ
2015 - LG73FWK
2016 - LG73FWL
2017 - LG73FWM
2018 - LG73FWN
2019 - LG73FWO
2020 - LG73FWP
2021 - LG73FWR
2022 - LG73FWS
2023 - LG73FWT
2024 - LG73FWU
2025 - LG73FWV
2026 - LG73FWW
2027 - LG73FWX
2028 - LG73FWY
2029 - LG73FWZ
2030 - LG73FXA
2031 - LG73FXB
2032 - LG73FXC
2033 - LG73FXD
2034 - LG73FXE
2035 - LG73FXF
2036 - LG73FXH
2037 - LG73FXJ
2038 - LG73FXK
2041 - LG73FXO
2040 and 2042-50 have LG73* marks
Does anybody know what the new Go North West Enviro 200 MMCs will be coded as? They don’t seem to number them until they arrive and are ready for service.
SK73CPU is one of the plates (not my photo)
Apparently 51 of these are arriving, is this true?If you mean fleetnumbers, they are to be numbered 4101 upwards.
I heard 20, and I also heard 58, so take your pick.Apparently 51 of these are arriving, is this true?
I heard 20, and I also heard 58, so take your pick.
Mobilisation appears to have gone well.
I can report that the StreetDecks are now numbered into the 34** & 35** series. Former Diamond Solo 30100 is now 4201.
The biggest surprise was the arrival at Bolton of ex FirstBus 36279/80 along with the Vantage buses... Not sure if they are on loan or acquired last minute.
Plenty of Streetdecks have transferred to Wigan, 30+ from a rough count.
Things will probably become clearer on Monday, when the real fun begins!
Go North West usually number vehicles in registration order but sorting in that order does not quite so far match what has appeared. The Omnicity are even worsePlenty showing on 'bustimes' already.....one thing to be aware of for anyone updating fleetlists, the former Rotala Streetdecks and ex First Vantage B5LH's, they don't seem to have been numbered in the same order that their First/Rotala numbers were....
The original order was for 52, but could well have been adjusted since.I heard 20, and I also heard 58, so take your pick.
All alphabetical by the looks of it although SO19MVX is incorrectly showing as 3409 on bustimes when it’s intact 3404 which would make it in order. Looks like someone has added the wrong reg. There is a photo of said vehicle on Twitter but can’t find the link now.Plenty showing on 'bustimes' already.....one thing to be aware of for anyone updating fleetlists, the former Rotala Streetdecks and ex First Vantage B5LH's, they don't seem to have been numbered in the same order that their First/Rotala numbers were....