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Post by VPL630 on Feb 12, 2023 14:33:38 GMT
Hello. I don't know if this question has already been answered. Let's say you are busy at your full-time job and you have a preserved bus. On average how many times you have too maintain your bus and drive it as well ? I have a full-time job and a preserved bus, as of this post there is nothing that needs attending to on the bus and I have no plans of driving it anytime soon, so it's currently sitting in a yard costing me money This bus does very few miles a year and there is no legal requirement for it to be inspected other than its annual MOT of which it has passed each year. The bus however does move every few months/weeks to either enable other vehicles to leave the yard and/or just to give it a run every now and then, parking buses up for long periods of time isn't the best thing for them. The bus does undergo inspections to make sure it is in complete working order and safe mainly before it's going to go out for a running day etc It has had various jobs done to it to keep it in good condition, but they are things that get done when there is money available/time and reason to get it done, for example, it could do with having new advert framework fitted, but at the moment I don't have the money, effort or time, so it'll make do, however, it's still had all the Oil and Filters changed. It could also do with a full repaint but I don't have a spare £3-4K sitting around. If I wanted to go take it out for a spin, I could jump in it now, tax it and we'd be good to go. There isn't a set list of tasks you need to do. Whatever you do it's going to cost you more money than it is probably worth, I've come out of a job to take on a new role and a result of that is that currently, I've taken a pay cut of around £15K for my first year, this obviously allows me less money to get the bus out, as it's also about a good £3/400 to fill it up with diesel.
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Post by VPL630 on Feb 8, 2023 11:50:56 GMT
and no one thought buying a fleet of Streetdecks was suspicious?
Seriously a shame, I bet some TOC's aren't happy as I can't see First group allowing all the E-Rail to carry on without risk assessments etc etc
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Post by VPL630 on Jan 21, 2023 9:56:09 GMT
Saw an overground train in platform 10A at Stratford. How often does this occur? There is a stop car marker for them on 10A it happens every now and then
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Post by VPL630 on Jan 21, 2023 9:50:03 GMT
Does SPV stand for Super Performance Vehicle ?
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Post by VPL630 on Jan 17, 2023 19:19:59 GMT
As passenger numbers continue to grow, It will be interesting to see what is done at Whitechapel in terms of overcrowding. In comparison to other stations, it can often feel quite crowded already during the peak hours. The one bank of escalators and one pair of exit tunnels from platform A&B, are not ideal. It would have been good to have two exit tunnels to the one set of escalators but here we are I guess. The other issue with Whitechapel is that exiting passengers and passengers interchanging lines all have to leave via the same route. It is possible that Whitechapel is proving more popular than anticipated, especially given that passenger numbers and revenue on the line as a whole are considerably above expectations. Passengers needing to change between the Reading/Heathrow-Abbey Wood and Paddington-Shenfield services have been encouraged to do so at Whitechapel as passenger numbers on the platforms are generally lower than at other Central Core stations. Clearly come next May with the full timetable in operation there will be less need to do this. Just drill some more holes... As a regular user of GA from SNF-SRA and EL from SRA-PAD and then GWR out west, it certainly is bustling and minor delays sometimes cause some crush loads. I don't know what will happen with the Shenfield bound trains, if there is a chance that some will continue past Paddington out west, I'm sure that will reduce crowds at Whitechapel and again at Paddington, ideally Paddington would have 3 platforms so one could always have a train terminating on it without holding the others up.
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Post by VPL630 on Jan 16, 2023 20:40:12 GMT
Now I’m not a betting man, but I’m prepared to bet that bus won’t be coming back into service any time soon The bus was written off a long time ago for fire damage, other bits have been stripped but it was stripped when it arrived at Ensignbus by someone else. Also 4 Scania’s are turning purple and no I don’t know what ones
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Post by VPL630 on Jan 15, 2023 11:01:25 GMT
Just my own thought, how will range anxiety be overcome on EVs (same goes for cars)? It won’t, drivers don’t care, it’s not their job or problem if the bus runs out of electric, every garage has equipment to monitor the entire fleet and “should” alert someone if the state of charge is low, thousands of pounds has been sent on software to determine where that bus should be, what range it has, when it needs charging etc. …but even so I’ve known them to run out of charge and have to be towed back, I’ve known drivers call up about low range and be ignored or told to carry on…
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Post by VPL630 on Jan 8, 2023 16:47:09 GMT
That was the problem with it, there were a few diesel's on the 174 due to a lack of sufficient charge but yet one ended up on the 248 I'd hardly call that a "problem". It is when an electric route doesn't have an electric bus on it, there are penalties for it
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Post by VPL630 on Jan 8, 2023 16:19:32 GMT
Still shocked at the 248 that night, I actually saw the bus and mistook it for a 174. If I had suspected it would have been out, I would have got my camera ready for a pic. That was the problem with it, there were a few diesel's on the 174 due to a lack of sufficient charge but yet one ended up on the 248
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Post by VPL630 on Jan 4, 2023 10:33:40 GMT
For me it’s 14132 on the 248 on the last day of Stagecoach running the route. That rare working caused one hell of a ****storm internally
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Post by VPL630 on Jan 3, 2023 14:04:21 GMT
Currently on the 724, perks of PRIV means transport to get to Heathrow cost a mere £2.60, hoping to do 508/9/10 to Stansted then X30 to Chelmsford and then 351 to Brentwood, if the trains weren't on strike I’d go all the way to Southend
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Post by VPL630 on Dec 29, 2022 8:30:22 GMT
When I worked at Stagecoach pre Covid, staffing levels were tight as it was, Covid made things a lot worse as people were furloughed, found other things to do and it’s never recovered in my opinion, spend a few hours in Romford at the bus stand and see how many buses are parked up each day with no driver to take them over, the amount of staff lost millage I’ve seen post covid is truly shocking, might even be worth doing a FOI to find out the real numbers Where I live my local route is run by NIBS and to be frank, it’s run like an utter shambles because they cut buses all the time due to no staff, the route should run every half hour but it’s basically hourly because they are normally down a duty, which is really inconvenient when you actually want to use it, it’s literally a daily topic on a Facebook group if it’s actually running or not Bus driving doesn’t appeal to many anymore, the conditions aren’t anything amazing and the way you are treated is worse than ever, you are watched by many and thanked by few, hence why places are so short of drivers, I don’t think all these agency’s paying silly money has helped the situation and it’s got to the point now that the people that work directly have no intention to help out in the way they would previously The situation we now in started from covid as you mention and has got worst this year around. A lot of drivers fedup of standard working conditions went to agency. Although there is no sick pay, they tend to have a better quality of life as it is easier to "take a day off" plus the rules are not as strict. Standard staff have clocked onto this and realise that some agency drivers get away with the majority of things. At the moment, I cannot think of a company not using them in London, the majority are hiring agency bus drivers, 10 years ago, most of this was unheard of with many companies. Many drivers also left to do HGV driving which was a government priority after the pandemic. Even though it sometimes could be far from home or longer hours, they pay being the same or higher in some cases and less stress to deal with. Another thing turning some drivers off is ISA, over regulation, roadworks etc. Some have even left bus driving for lower paid jobs. As for buses left on Romford stand, another problem with the 248, was not many drivers TUPE as expected, this then left a problem to cover existing work and has seen also drivers from [DX] loaned to [GY] and now the problem is huge vacancies at both garages. I can also expect from when ULEZ starts, some drivers who do not want to change to a euro6 diesel that drives into London, to either transfer to a garage out of London or quit. The expansion to the North & South Circular also saw some drivers shift garages further out. When I worked behind the counter and did forward allocation, there was some give pre covid, but now I honestly wonder how they manage to give drivers holiday knowing they won’t be able to cover the duty, it can’t be any fun for the allocation staff because they know what has to be covered before they even start thinking about giving a day off, then you have the duties that you just know will be blown in by certain drivers, the list of headaches just goes on and on, I can only imagine its worse now trying to get people to work. I wasn’t even going to single out the 248 because when I was down there the other day there were 3 Stagecoach buses with no driver dumped on the double yellows outside the stand. As you say the LEZ/ULEZ is another thing, most drivers aren’t going to change their car for it because there is already an unnecessary premium on Euro 6 cars, so that’ll be them gone leaving even less staff
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Post by VPL630 on Dec 28, 2022 21:16:57 GMT
Do you recon that the strikes and driver shortages will cause problems for the operators down the line? When I worked at Stagecoach pre Covid, staffing levels were tight as it was, Covid made things a lot worse as people were furloughed, found other things to do and it’s never recovered in my opinion, spend a few hours in Romford at the bus stand and see how many buses are parked up each day with no driver to take them over, the amount of staff lost millage I’ve seen post covid is truly shocking, might even be worth doing a FOI to find out the real numbers Where I live my local route is run by NIBS and to be frank, it’s run like an utter shambles because they cut buses all the time due to no staff, the route should run every half hour but it’s basically hourly because they are normally down a duty, which is really inconvenient when you actually want to use it, it’s literally a daily topic on a Facebook group if it’s actually running or not Bus driving doesn’t appeal to many anymore, the conditions aren’t anything amazing and the way you are treated is worse than ever, you are watched by many and thanked by few, hence why places are so short of drivers, I don’t think all these agency’s paying silly money has helped the situation and it’s got to the point now that the people that work directly have no intention to help out in the way they would previously
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Post by VPL630 on Dec 28, 2022 11:52:36 GMT
Great Western Railway has taken delivery of is first class 769 Flex units. These are converted class 319 dual-voltage electric units that formerly operated Thameslink service, and have had diesel engines added so they can operate on non-electrified lines. The units are leased from Porterbrook, and there will be 19 4-car units in total. They will displace class 165/166 Turbo units which will be used to increase capacity on services based on Bristol. The units will be used on the North Downs line, and will run on third-rail over the sections of line that have it (Reading-Wokingham, Ash-Guildford/Shalford Junction and Reigate-Gatwick Airport). GWR is aiming to increase frequencies on the route, with 2tph between Reading and Gatwick Airport and an additional hourly service between reading and Redhill. Other planned uses for the trains are on the Reading-Basingstoke route (also planned for a frequency increase to 3tph) and the Twyford-Henley and Maidenhead-Bourne End branch lines. The first units are expected in service early next year. Source: www.focustransport.org/2020/09/initial-class-769-tri-mode-delivered-to.htmlThese units are now being returned off lease without being used in service, meaning the West will have to put up with the ever ageing and strained fleet of 150’s 158’s and 16x’s for longer, the original plan was these would displace some turbos down to the west to strengthen services. There is no current plan to replace the 769’s or the new DMU’s for the west either yet. While I know it can’t happen I’d just replace all the DMU fleet with a load of Class 755’s and just be creative with SDO, but all down to the DfT as to what happens fleet wise
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Post by VPL630 on Nov 27, 2022 19:05:45 GMT
I don't know exactly what it is, but I feel the passenger expectations are just unrealistic now, the public is against you, and some of the things that we have to deal with you almost wouldn't believe, cars will do everything to block you, get in front of you, not let you in and just make your job harder for you because they feel that entitled. People will call up and exaggerate any interaction they have had that they aren't happy about, they will lie about where they are going, how old they are (Child Tickets), the bus was early/late, the list goes on, but they just want to take it out on someone. I've sat in the office and been a driver, and at no point have I felt like the job is getting better, you have brand new buses breaking down for the silliest of faults, wires falling out of switches meaning the bus is completely disabled, buses that once they have a certain fault come up they have to be plugged in or they limit themselves to 5mph but it won't tell you or give you any clue of what the fault is until you plug it in which is great when the bus is over 100 miles away at 2am on a sunday morning. We had one the other day that was hit by a van which smashed one of the side marker lights, which caused the fuse for that circuit to blow which in turn disabled the charging system for the bus and shortly after the bus cut out on a bend blocking the road. A relative of mine who works in the railway industry said much the same thing about the public being against you and the strikes have just increased the levels of animosity and he said it's no wonder that many guards just stay in the back cab for much of the time rather than try and check tickets and risk more arguments and confrontations. I can understand what you mean about modern vehicles and their complexities and the joys of breaking down in the middle of nowhere. I completely understand why a guard or revenue would want to avoid confrontation, but I feel this is partly due to the poor way it has been handled for many years, in other countries, revenue is no joke, I've had revenue with armed police in Spain checking tickets (they were very friendly), you don't see that over here, I know of countless people that bunk train fares, there are people that post it all over social media of them doing such things, and then you have train company's with a no chase policy or instructions that you can only advise them to buy a ticket, in Barcelona, they show videos of people jumping barriers and then being taken out by police/staff as adverts on their information displays.
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