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Post by eggmiester on May 12, 2018 10:54:36 GMT
Very rare to see more than one EH on the 36, I believe it's contract is the first to have start/started with 171 next and 87/77, yet it seems all of the diesel deckers (WVL's) and shifted from the 171 to 36, the 171 being majorly hybrid allocation of new EH's. seems type training isn't quite done on 36 drivers, or there's just been a huge swap of allocation between 36 and 171 for some odd reason The swap is more notional, although batches delivered in the contract start date order would be default The 36 should have had hybrids from its contract date 10 February, so as its conversion is running about 3-4 months late. some may say so what, but I rather take the view that it wasn’t really fair on the other bidders in the tender if they won on basis of a specification they can’t be bothered to meet for first 6-7% of contract duration The delays on the 36 batch are only due to specification changes, that the order went from Battery to Super Cap versions. You may notice the 343 and 172 batches were delivered on time for their contracts. Also as an existing contract and the fact that the company ordered vast quantities of the same type of bus, would bet that ADL were given a longer delivery window for these to be supplied thus reducing the overall cost. If it was an operator change then the new op would have given ADL a shorter delivery window which may have pushed the cost up! Then again they may have ordered from a different manufacturer.
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Post by eggmiester on May 12, 2018 10:40:46 GMT
I wonder what a fine TL keep receiving because of their complete disregard. 🤔 None because it only applies to buses that are in service on a recognised route. Light running buses, coaches, buses on rail replacements and non psv’s are exempt. Also the ‘Fines’ aren’t levied against the operators in the same way as say a parking or speeding fine would. They only get fined through the regular audit of their operations that is undertaken by TFL (i.e. mileage, contract compliance, safety compliance etc) with the ULEZ agreement forming part of contract compliance.
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Post by eggmiester on May 9, 2018 11:14:14 GMT
I’d have to say the 321 probably isn’t as tight as it used to be given its had several reschedules in the past 2 years.
One route that id say is very tight for time in the late evenings especially is the 486, IIRC 35mins end to end.
I used to drive the N89 when we had just over an hour to do Erith to Trafalgar Square!! That was of course when most roads were 30mph, now they get something like an hour and 20 mins or an hour and 30 mins at weekends to do the run and baring in mind most roads the route now serves are 20mph limits!
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Post by eggmiester on May 5, 2018 9:07:22 GMT
And it ends as it is it began with E1 being the last Go Ahead bus on the 196. I will missed these Es alot. Ready for Abellio’s tenure later today. I wonder if E1 was intendedly scheduled to be so, either way it's such a fitting end to Go Ahead's incarnation of the 196. Would be great if she's preserved or becomes a Heritage bus, it numerically being one of the first euro6 engined E400s in the UK to enter service . E1 isn’t euro 6, its actually Euro 4 upgraded to Euro 5 incentive! I believe most of these early E’s are moving to commercial fleet to oust the elder PVL’s and I know few of them have already had commercial refurbishments (E8 and E10) and a couple more are earmarked to be converted to open top as well.
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Post by eggmiester on Apr 24, 2018 10:11:07 GMT
Hard to see how the P5 could turn at the Elephant without entering the ULEZ. I wonder if the solution will be to slightly redefine the rules. After all there is no legal requirement for electric vehicles in the ULEZ, the "requirement" is self-imposed by TfL. Given that the P5 doesn't enter the ULEZ in service - only empty while turning - perhaps the "requirement" for electrics can simply be relaxed in this case. A more pressing issue would be the C10 - do we know what's happening with that? The P5's alighting point is within the ULEZ on Newington Causeway just before Southwark Bridge Road. I agree though that it should be relaxed although given the P5's SE's (not including SE291-292) haven't been upgraded to Euro VI being exempt from the Brixton corridor, maybe they should at least do that before the zone is implemented The P5 wont be getting electrics, the earlier SE’s are euro 6 upgradable and will be upgraded in due course.
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Post by eggmiester on Apr 21, 2018 22:46:48 GMT
Something odd I have noticed with the N21 is that it runs all with LTs but there is always 1 bus which isn't an LT, why is this? One of the N21 duties is a staff bus duty could be this one that uses the non LT on occasions. The other reasons would be the Q night spare covering a trip or two.
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Post by eggmiester on Apr 17, 2018 20:15:22 GMT
I have been given the amazing opportunity by Vantage Power to visit the new tri-axle Enterprise BCI at the Millbrook Proving Ground. From what I now know, the vehicle is currently with Vantage Power and will remain so for 3 weeks. It will undergo trials at Millbrook on the 26th April and it will be there for 1 week. If testing is successful, it will be delivered to straight to Go-Ahead for Route X68. Lucky you! Hope you have a good time when you go, and be sure to share pics if you're allowed to do so! Having been there myself I know You won’t be allowed to take any cameras or phones into Millbrook so getting any photos will be hard.
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Post by eggmiester on Apr 6, 2018 19:11:44 GMT
I'm really curious to know which route (on paper of course) at Q got crosslink with the 432 since 468 left or does it work off anything now? Also how does the new 188 and X68 timetables work out? Because I notice that both routes tend to use each others routes time to time or are they crosslinked also? The Q bus currently on the 432 is WHV185 and it was on the 188 this morning. I don't think the 188 and X68 are crosslinked. The 188 and X68 are now cross linked. Some duties also cross link between the 176 and X68. The 432 uses one of the am X68 buses (X68 has a higher AM PVR over the PM one) so is technically also cross linked with the X68.
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Post by eggmiester on Apr 4, 2018 21:16:12 GMT
The 624 and 658 were originally run from BX and MW with a cross link to the 453 on the MW side. When the 453 was converted to NB4L the cross links could no longer be utilised due to the change in vehicle type so the MW allocation was moved to Q and cross linked off the X68. That cross link has been retained in the recent re-tenders of the school routes and the X68. No reason why the 624 & 658 can't use crosslinks from BX routes instead though. Especially as these school routes are allocated Es, but the X68 will soon have to use EHs (or other hybrids) for the ULEZ. You won’t be able to cross link off any BX routes without financial implications to one or more contracts due to timings of the spread over working, which would need to be agreed by TFL. Using cross links is actually quite complexed and only used if necessary. I believe the X68 cross links were retained as it enabled a lower bid to be submitted on the contract re-tender so moving the Q workings to another garage or cross linking off another route wild incur financial changes to the contract.
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Post by eggmiester on Apr 4, 2018 19:19:58 GMT
The 658 is split between Q & BX - Q run one bus & BX use two. I have no idea why they run from Q. There would definitely be space for the 624 & rest of 658 at BX, which could gain crosslinks to the 89, 132 or 486 etc. Enviro 400s are already present at BX on two of the three DD routes, while the allocated 60reg Es will soon be the only diesel DDs at Q (when the ULEZ starts there will be limited opportunity for the Es to be used outside of school route hours). MG or NX could also operate them instead. The 624 and 658 were originally run from BX and MW with a cross link to the 453 on the MW side. When the 453 was converted to NB4L the cross links could no longer be utilised due to the change in vehicle type so the MW allocation was moved to Q and cross linked off the X68. That cross link has been retained in the recent re-tenders of the school routes and the X68.
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Post by eggmiester on Apr 3, 2018 14:13:18 GMT
Depends how long Go Ahead intend on keeping the scanias*, as they are non-standard in the fleet. May replace them with spare existing Es/WVLs/WHVs etc if available (405 contract does not expire for a while). e.g. SLEs at BT were not reblinded for new routes as they are due to be withdrawn soon, though SPs and VHs have been blinded. At the moment, there is no plans to replace them, however a while ago the EM did tell me that they could be sold early providing existing stock could be sourced. I have a feeling that 947 will be leaving in August when the 293 goes, since it wasn't refurbished with the 405 contract, and 957 taking its place. I also fear that 947 could become the next 711 and be stripped for spares to keep the other OmniDekkas going until 2020. Hope that doesn't happen though. I can’t see the scanias at C seeing out their contracts, I expect in due course they will be replaced with more standard types displaced from other routes.
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Post by eggmiester on Apr 2, 2018 23:55:16 GMT
Going to clear this up to once and for all.
Type training is NOT AN INSURANCE ISSUE it’s an agreed procedure between the company and the recognised trade union, in the case of GAL that will be Unite.
Although I previously said I would not comment on it but I will only state that the training agreed for the 180 drivers as far as I have been advised is just a cab familiarisation exercise.
Morden Wharf is now under very heavy scrutiny by management and I have no doubt there will be some changes made there in the near future.
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Post by eggmiester on Apr 2, 2018 18:31:42 GMT
Surely the easy thing to do is move the Es to Bexleyheath and transfer an equivalent number of WVLs from there to Morden Wharf? Or is that too easy? I don't believe BX WVLs are Euro VI. Anyway, it's far too logical for them to do! The easiest thing to do is to put the Es out on the 129, whose drivers have come from NX so are type trained, and put the 129 WVLs on the 180, even though they are only Euro V. The E’s are required on the 180 due to the Lewisham scheme. It was initially going to be 3 BX E’s from the 229-245 batch that MG were meant to be loaned to cover the WVL upgrades but due to TFL requesting euro VI buses on the N89 this was cancelled as several of the batch are already way on refurb already reducing the number of usable buses, thus loaning 3 more would cause an allocation headache! This has resulted in the recent transfers. Regarding the 180 staff training issues I personally raised this directly with garage and performance management last week thus I won’t comment any further on that!
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Post by eggmiester on Apr 2, 2018 18:00:08 GMT
New Q Blind sets are being fitted into the 188's buses at MG in advance of the move to Q on Saturday. This should hopefully mean more variety on the route when it moves to Q, but it does mean that WHVs on the 129 will now be mostly banditry. Let’s hope all the other Q buses have the same treatment! Most vehicles at Q are currently restrained from the 176 and will be from the 188 if they don’t change them. And they’ll have 3 redundant routes on them when the 188 moves in. I’m glad Q has now got a substantial amount I’m G3s now and I’d love to see some lovely MMCs on the 188 EDIT: this is definitely showing a disadvantage to having blinds rather than LEDs. Those MG blinds in WHV168-96 are being made redundant after barely 4 months (they don’t have the 180 in them so they’re useless now), I mean what a waste, same with other route moves. I’ve seen a video on how they’re made as well, a lot of work goes into them, just some to only be used for a few months and then sit in a cupboard for the rest of their lives! The old 188 WHV sets will go to NX for reblinds /spares as they were actually an NX set because they were ordered before MG opened so carried NX routes on them.
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Post by eggmiester on Mar 22, 2018 0:46:55 GMT
For those that Like such info, confirmation that Route 188 will be cross linked with route X68 as well as the Q workings on the 624 and 658 school buses. Route 188 will also be using route 68’s old running numbers of Q41 to 66 Nice, any information wrt 432 crosslink, currently with the 468? The 432 crosslink will move to the 188 / X68 using bus Q75 I believe.
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