Post by Deleted on May 5, 2012 12:46:19 GMT
Guys,
Thought I would share my experiences from 3 and a half months in North Lancs ... Lytham St. Annes Area.
I stayed in Fairhaven, which is halfway between Lytham and St.Annes ... a 25 minute walk to both or 5 minute bus ride, or 1 stop on the train to either ... but hourly service - normally Pacer operated ... class vehicles!
The main operator is Blackpool Transport, with Stagecoach operating a main trunk route, and a company called Coastal Coachways operating low frequency N Lancs CC subsidised services with Solos.
Now from my side of the railway you had Blackpool Transports 7, and the other side of the railway, Blackpool Transports 11, which competed against the Stagecoach route 68 on the section between St. Annes and Lytham I used.
All services were I believe 20 minutes during the day, 30 minute evenings and Sundays. Last bus were about 11:20 at night ... which was far better than I was expecting before I arrived.
Fares to either Lytham or St.Annes were £1.40 single with BT or £1.30 with Stagecoach ... although only used the latter to Lytham, so the St. Annes fair could be different - again I though quite reasonable.
Vehicles.
First off, Stagecoach. The route had a dedicated fleet of 04 reg ALX400 Tridents. Having said that unbranded 54-reg appeared regularly, with occasional working by Volvo Olympians, 55-reg ALX400 Trident, 56-reg E400's, and recall a 58-reg E400 - not sure if this was Trident or Scania ... think Trident. Only ever got the 04-reg Tridents and a 56-reg e400 once ... and were pretty bog standard Stagecoach vehciles - none ex London, but always decker operated. The Olympians had blinds, 04 & 54 reg Tridents dot Matrix, and 55-reg and newer LED displays. Given their reputation, I was amazed to see all dot matrix displays functioning correctly ... not one faulty display seen in 3 and a half months.
Blackpool Transport. Vehicles operated on the routes were T-reg Optare Excels, 51-06 reg East Lancs Tridents, 06 reg B7RLE/Wrights and 60 Reg B7RLE Centro. None of the combinations are types I was regularly familiar with. As far as I could tell, vehicles were allocated at random from any of the types, with all types normally seen on both the routes in any given day. They have some Leyland Olympians, but these seem to be confined to schools, and never saw them, although they are being replaced by East Lancs bodied Tridents and DAFs from Isle of Man. Displays mainly LED, although approx half of Excels had blinds.
The cleanliness of the vehicles of both companies I thought was high ... generally better than London. Quality of vehicles was very good ... with the exception of one BT Excel ... which I think was 219, which probably was the worst ratting vehicle I have ever travelled upon ... was reported in the Clapped Out buses thread at the time.
Now cash collection ... Stagecoach - trays and screens as per London standards. BT, had flip top cash collection boxes with all cash widely exposed ... wonder how much would be left at the end of the day if these were used in London?
Drivers ... seemed nice, polite and knowledgeable, except for one Stagecoach driver who said he didn't go there despite correctly identifying the stop ... not sure whether this was lack of knowledge ... or some kind of personal defect.
All in all a pleasant experience that far exceeded the expectations I had of the area
Thought I would share my experiences from 3 and a half months in North Lancs ... Lytham St. Annes Area.
I stayed in Fairhaven, which is halfway between Lytham and St.Annes ... a 25 minute walk to both or 5 minute bus ride, or 1 stop on the train to either ... but hourly service - normally Pacer operated ... class vehicles!
The main operator is Blackpool Transport, with Stagecoach operating a main trunk route, and a company called Coastal Coachways operating low frequency N Lancs CC subsidised services with Solos.
Now from my side of the railway you had Blackpool Transports 7, and the other side of the railway, Blackpool Transports 11, which competed against the Stagecoach route 68 on the section between St. Annes and Lytham I used.
All services were I believe 20 minutes during the day, 30 minute evenings and Sundays. Last bus were about 11:20 at night ... which was far better than I was expecting before I arrived.
Fares to either Lytham or St.Annes were £1.40 single with BT or £1.30 with Stagecoach ... although only used the latter to Lytham, so the St. Annes fair could be different - again I though quite reasonable.
Vehicles.
First off, Stagecoach. The route had a dedicated fleet of 04 reg ALX400 Tridents. Having said that unbranded 54-reg appeared regularly, with occasional working by Volvo Olympians, 55-reg ALX400 Trident, 56-reg E400's, and recall a 58-reg E400 - not sure if this was Trident or Scania ... think Trident. Only ever got the 04-reg Tridents and a 56-reg e400 once ... and were pretty bog standard Stagecoach vehciles - none ex London, but always decker operated. The Olympians had blinds, 04 & 54 reg Tridents dot Matrix, and 55-reg and newer LED displays. Given their reputation, I was amazed to see all dot matrix displays functioning correctly ... not one faulty display seen in 3 and a half months.
Blackpool Transport. Vehicles operated on the routes were T-reg Optare Excels, 51-06 reg East Lancs Tridents, 06 reg B7RLE/Wrights and 60 Reg B7RLE Centro. None of the combinations are types I was regularly familiar with. As far as I could tell, vehicles were allocated at random from any of the types, with all types normally seen on both the routes in any given day. They have some Leyland Olympians, but these seem to be confined to schools, and never saw them, although they are being replaced by East Lancs bodied Tridents and DAFs from Isle of Man. Displays mainly LED, although approx half of Excels had blinds.
The cleanliness of the vehicles of both companies I thought was high ... generally better than London. Quality of vehicles was very good ... with the exception of one BT Excel ... which I think was 219, which probably was the worst ratting vehicle I have ever travelled upon ... was reported in the Clapped Out buses thread at the time.
Now cash collection ... Stagecoach - trays and screens as per London standards. BT, had flip top cash collection boxes with all cash widely exposed ... wonder how much would be left at the end of the day if these were used in London?
Drivers ... seemed nice, polite and knowledgeable, except for one Stagecoach driver who said he didn't go there despite correctly identifying the stop ... not sure whether this was lack of knowledge ... or some kind of personal defect.
All in all a pleasant experience that far exceeded the expectations I had of the area
