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Post by Hassaan on Jan 10, 2018 21:56:35 GMT
Surely as a temporary measure they could transfer some other Euro6 buses onto the 170 while they try to work out what's going on. The 286s SEs come to mind with the 286 taking the Streetlites instead. Having had a look through the fleet audit speadsheet, it does appear that the only Euro 6 10.8m non-Streetlites are those allocated to the 286. A swap could work if the 286 keeps the WHY buses (they would be too tall for the bridge due to large pods) and the 170 gets all of the SEs, including two surplus to cover for the continuous mechanical issues with these buses. The 65-reg SEs at A and AL are also that long. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2018 21:59:36 GMT
Having had a look through the fleet audit speadsheet, it does appear that the only Euro 6 10.8m non-Streetlites are those allocated to the 286. A swap could work if the 286 keeps the WHY buses (they would be too tall for the bridge due to large pods) and the 170 gets all of the SEs, including two surplus to cover for the continuous mechanical issues with these buses. The 65-reg SEs at A and AL are also that long. Ah yes! Forgot about them. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2018 14:14:07 GMT
Surely as a temporary measure they could transfer some other Euro6 buses onto the 170 while they try to work out what's going on. The 286s SEs come to mind with the 286 taking the Streetlites instead. Having had a look through the fleet audit speadsheet, it does appear that the only Euro 6 10.8m non-Streetlites are those allocated to the 286. A swap could work if the 286 keeps the WHY buses (they would be too tall for the bridge due to large pods) and the 170 gets all of the SEs, including two surplus to cover for the continuous mechanical issues with these buses. Someone on one of the Facebook groups has spotted a 170 Streetlite being driven round the 286 route presumably for type training purposes. |
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Post by enviroPB on Jan 11, 2018 14:42:44 GMT
Having had a look through the fleet audit speadsheet, it does appear that the only Euro 6 10.8m non-Streetlites are those allocated to the 286. A swap could work if the 286 keeps the WHY buses (they would be too tall for the bridge due to large pods) and the 170 gets all of the SEs, including two surplus to cover for the continuous mechanical issues with these buses. Someone on one of the Facebook groups has spotted a 170 Streetlite being driven round the 286 route presumably for type training purposes. I'd love to think GAL were scratching their heads over this issue for a fortnight or so, and after reading this forum they've suddenly had an ingenious idea! Haha I try to make light of this silly situation; but to those responsible this is a serious gaffe, and it's even more pathetic in the responses to the public that lies are being pedalled & responsibility being shunned to this simple clerical error. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2018 15:15:41 GMT
Someone on one of the Facebook groups has spotted a 170 Streetlite being driven round the 286 route presumably for type training purposes. I'd love to think GAL were scratching their heads over this issue for a fortnight or so, and after reading this forum they've suddenly had an ingenious idea! Haha I try to make light of this silly situation; but to those responsible this is a serious gaffe, and it's even more pathetic in the responses to the public that lies are being pedalled & responsibility being shunned to this simple clerical error. There may be an upside to this for GAL. With the 286 tender coming, it's been almost certain they'll lose the route as they haven't run it reliably. With new buses, they may just be able to prove they can run it reliably in the last year and a half of the contract. It'll be sad to see all the DD workings go though.  |
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Post by sid on Jan 11, 2018 16:09:45 GMT
I'd love to think GAL were scratching their heads over this issue for a fortnight or so, and after reading this forum they've suddenly had an ingenious idea! Haha I try to make light of this silly situation; but to those responsible this is a serious gaffe, and it's even more pathetic in the responses to the public that lies are being pedalled & responsibility being shunned to this simple clerical error. There may be an upside to this for GAL. With the 286 tender coming, it's been almost certain they'll lose the route as they haven't run it reliably. With new buses, they may just be able to prove they can run it reliably in the last year and a half of the contract. It'll be sad to see all the DD workings go though. Hopefully the 286 will become fully double deck, whoever wins it. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2018 16:41:09 GMT
To me someone is not telling the whole truth about how this occurred. Putting to one side all the "huff and puff" from various quarters the above is the thing I take away from this debacle. Someone, somewhere is not being reliable with the actuality. I can see this one ending in a series of Mayor's Questions as it raises all sorts of questions which some Assembly Members will take great delight in picking away at. According to someone on one of the facebook groups, the buses were passing fine under the bridge, then a new driver noticed the height restriction and radioed Code Blue. The rest is history. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2018 17:16:14 GMT
I'm not so sure. The R11 only ever has one bus on the stand. The 286 often has two. DDs are also longer than the R11 buses and the 10.8m SDs are considerably longer. With the 229 also using this stop, I'm not sure it is a viable solution. The stand layout isn't ideal but there is room for at least three double deckers which should generally be adequate for the 229 and 286, if another bus arrives and can't get on the stand it can go round the roundabout and come back. In the long term maybe the area can be redesigned. One other option may be to extend to Foots Cray Tesco non-stop via the Sidcup By-Pass Road (A20). That would only mean 1 extra bus on the PVR. Chiselhurst War Memorial is another option but is slightly longer due to the nature of the roads and traffic conditions. |
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Post by sid on Jan 11, 2018 17:25:22 GMT
The stand layout isn't ideal but there is room for at least three double deckers which should generally be adequate for the 229 and 286, if another bus arrives and can't get on the stand it can go round the roundabout and come back. In the long term maybe the area can be redesigned. One other option may be to extend to Foots Cray Tesco non-stop via the Sidcup By-Pass Road (A20). That would only mean 1 extra bus on the PVR. Chiselhurst War Memorial is another option but is slightly longer due to the nature of the roads and traffic conditions. That's not a bad idea at all although is there enough stand space in Tesco for another route? |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2018 17:31:11 GMT
One other option may be to extend to Foots Cray Tesco non-stop via the Sidcup By-Pass Road (A20). That would only mean 1 extra bus on the PVR. Chiselhurst War Memorial is another option but is slightly longer due to the nature of the roads and traffic conditions. That's not a bad idea at all although is there enough stand space in Tesco for another route? It looks like there's space for 3 or 4 buses in the cage and stand and there is plenty of overflow space at the back. |
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Post by sid on Jan 11, 2018 17:44:10 GMT
Putting to one side all the "huff and puff" from various quarters the above is the thing I take away from this debacle. Someone, somewhere is not being reliable with the actuality. I can see this one ending in a series of Mayor's Questions as it raises all sorts of questions which some Assembly Members will take great delight in picking away at. According to someone on one of the facebook groups, the buses were passing fine under the bridge, then a new driver noticed the height restriction and radioed Code Blue. The rest is history. If that is the case surely it would have been noticed when Streetlites were assessed for the route assuming they must have been? Anyway whatever the rights and wrongs questions also need to be asked why it has taken so long to resolve. As soon as the diversion was implemented a few old Darts that do fit under the bridge should have been rustled up to provide a free to use shuttle service from Battersea Bridge to Clapham Junction southbound and running OOS in the opposite direction. |
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Post by RandomBusesGirl on Jan 11, 2018 20:51:30 GMT
I've randomly spotted a blinded WVL 286 after I was returning from DW 160, and had a chat with the lovely driver - and heard the same news as presented here!
286's SEs and 170's WSs to swap. The gentleman I spoke to is actually receiving his type training tomorrow.
As for the #BridgeGate - the WSs DO fit under the bridge - BUT the sign states 9 feet clearance or something, anyway lower than the real clearance and height of the bus so yea... I presume it might be illegal to drive under that's why it was stopped. Real life, stranger than fiction!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2018 20:54:54 GMT
I've randomly spotted a blinded WVL 286 after I was returning from DW 160, and had a chat with the lovely driver - and heard the same news as presented here! 286's SEs and 170's WSs to swap. The gentleman I spoke to is actually receiving his type training tomorrow. As for the #BridgeGate - the WSs DO fit under the bridge - BUT the sign states 9 feet clearance or something, anyway lower than the real clearance and height of the bus so yea... I presume it might be illegal to drive under that's why it was stopped. Real life, stranger than fiction! I'll go into MG on Saturday and find out a bit more about the intricacies of it. As there are only 13 WSs, I'll see what will make up the extra two. I would expect all SEs to transfer due to reliability issues. |
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Post by Paul on Jan 11, 2018 21:11:34 GMT
That's not a bad idea at all although is there enough stand space in Tesco for another route? It looks like there's space for 3 or 4 buses in the cage and stand and there is plenty of overflow space at the back. In my experience (my wife works at said Tesco) the ‘overflow space’ is often filled with Tesco delivery lorries. I’d see no problem with a low frequency route like the R1 being extended into Tesco but with there often being three or four 321s floating around, extending something like the 286 is asking for trouble |
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Post by vjaska on Jan 11, 2018 23:07:24 GMT
It looks like there's space for 3 or 4 buses in the cage and stand and there is plenty of overflow space at the back. In my experience (my wife works at said Tesco) the ‘overflow space’ is often filled with Tesco delivery lorries. I’d see no problem with a low frequency route like the R1 being extended into Tesco but with there often being three or four 321s floating around, extending something like the 286 is asking for trouble Yeah I’d agree with this - the last time I was there, the overflow space was filled with a Tesco lorry & there were 3 321’s on the stand which made grabbing my R11 very difficult as I was worried the driver couldn’t see me. |
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