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Post by gwiwer on Sept 10, 2023 14:45:03 GMT
A shame we can't just turn back the clock and put RMCs back on the 715.
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Post by cardinal on Sept 10, 2023 15:11:02 GMT
Sorry to return to the 715 again, but my commute yesterday was interesting. I caught the first bus out of Kingston, and that was crowded enough (complete with driver who didn’t really know where he was half the time!), but my return journey (16:07 ex Cobham to Kingston) emphasised why it’s probably getting close to the time that a frequency boost is needed. Every seat taken by Fairmile, and by Esher pretty much every bit of floor space taken with standees and two people sitting in the luggage rack. Watching the 715 grow over the years has in many ways been a pleasure. The issue is Falcon probably wasn’t the best choice for passengers. I hope it improves (ie bigger buses and better timetable)
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Post by twobellstogo on Sept 10, 2023 16:49:58 GMT
Sorry to return to the 715 again, but my commute yesterday was interesting. I caught the first bus out of Kingston, and that was crowded enough (complete with driver who didn’t really know where he was half the time!), but my return journey (16:07 ex Cobham to Kingston) emphasised why it’s probably getting close to the time that a frequency boost is needed. Every seat taken by Fairmile, and by Esher pretty much every bit of floor space taken with standees and two people sitting in the luggage rack. Watching the 715 grow over the years has in many ways been a pleasure. The issue is Falcon probably wasn’t the best choice for passengers. I hope it improves (ie bigger buses and better timetable) It was just the same towards the end with Stagecoach too as regards pax.
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Post by wirewiper on Sept 10, 2023 16:57:19 GMT
A shame we can't just turn back the clock and put RMCs back on the 715. I'd love that - bit of a problem with the very low bridge in Portsmouth Road though (in RMC days the 715 operated via Kingston Bypass).
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Post by imarkeh on Sept 20, 2023 2:54:07 GMT
One thing that I notice with the new Surrey tenders is that Falcon seem to like making passengers change buses. There's at least 2 trips on the 456 which require buses to change vehicles at New Haw but there is no mention of this in the timetables at all and it seems like inconveniencing the public for no reason when instead a driver swap should be done instead. The affected trips being the 06:35 Woking to Staines and the 06:50 from Staines to Woking. The buses from the origin go onto the 814 and the buses which take over the journey at New Haw coming from the depot.
Really doesn't seem passenger friendly making everyone switch buses every single day.
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Post by twobellstogo on Sept 21, 2023 10:39:37 GMT
One thing that I notice with the new Surrey tenders is that Falcon seem to like making passengers change buses. There's at least 2 trips on the 456 which require buses to change vehicles at New Haw but there is no mention of this in the timetables at all and it seems like inconveniencing the public for no reason when instead a driver swap should be done instead. The affected trips being the 06:35 Woking to Staines and the 06:50 from Staines to Woking. The buses from the origin go onto the 814 and the buses which take over the journey at New Haw coming from the depot. Really doesn't seem passenger friendly making everyone switch buses every single day. I think there’s a good chance that Falcon were made to do that by SCC. Talking of Falcon, they seem now to have bedded in well to the 715, after an understandably slightly wobbly start.
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Post by gwiwer on Sept 21, 2023 20:04:06 GMT
One thing that I notice with the new Surrey tenders is that Falcon seem to like making passengers change buses. There's at least 2 trips on the 456 which require buses to change vehicles at New Haw but there is no mention of this in the timetables at all and it seems like inconveniencing the public for no reason when instead a driver swap should be done instead. The affected trips being the 06:35 Woking to Staines and the 06:50 from Staines to Woking. The buses from the origin go onto the 814 and the buses which take over the journey at New Haw coming from the depot. Really doesn't seem passenger friendly making everyone switch buses every single day. I think there’s a good chance that Falcon were made to do that by SCC. Talking of Falcon, they seem now to have bedded in well to the 715, after an understandably slightly wobbly start. Are they providing big enough buses for the 715?
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Post by ctrh136 on Sept 21, 2023 20:31:55 GMT
One thing that I notice with the new Surrey tenders is that Falcon seem to like making passengers change buses. There's at least 2 trips on the 456 which require buses to change vehicles at New Haw but there is no mention of this in the timetables at all and it seems like inconveniencing the public for no reason when instead a driver swap should be done instead. The affected trips being the 06:35 Woking to Staines and the 06:50 from Staines to Woking. The buses from the origin go onto the 814 and the buses which take over the journey at New Haw coming from the depot. Really doesn't seem passenger friendly making everyone switch buses every single day. I think there’s a good chance that Falcon were made to do that by SCC. Talking of Falcon, they seem now to have bedded in well to the 715, after an understandably slightly wobbly start. The roadworks at Wisley can't have helped!
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Post by twobellstogo on Sept 21, 2023 20:37:51 GMT
I think there’s a good chance that Falcon were made to do that by SCC. Talking of Falcon, they seem now to have bedded in well to the 715, after an understandably slightly wobbly start. Are they providing big enough buses for the 715? Usually. My homeward commute tonight was a baby E200MMC from the 461 batch, but that’s the first baby one I’ve seen for a couple of weeks.
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Post by twobellstogo on Sept 21, 2023 20:39:09 GMT
I think there’s a good chance that Falcon were made to do that by SCC. Talking of Falcon, they seem now to have bedded in well to the 715, after an understandably slightly wobbly start. The roadworks at Wisley can't have helped! Usually affects, strangely, the mid morning journeys - peaks are generally ok - no more than 5-10 minutes late.
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Post by yunus on Sept 22, 2023 7:55:54 GMT
I actually rode the 715 under Falcon Buses for the 1st time last Saturday gone.
Was well impressed to see that they have invested in new 73 plate Diesels.
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Post by cardinal on Sept 22, 2023 8:33:28 GMT
I actually rode the 715 under Falcon Buses for the 1st time last Saturday gone. Was well impressed to see that they have invested in new 73 plate Diesels. Falcon is of course the latest incarnation of a Telling family business. This families history of bus operations in Surrey is really quite interesting. Previous pattern has been grow pretty rapidly and then sell, retreat back into coach market , disappear for a while, and then re-emerge.
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Post by twobellstogo on Sept 22, 2023 13:07:44 GMT
I actually rode the 715 under Falcon Buses for the 1st time last Saturday gone. Was well impressed to see that they have invested in new 73 plate Diesels. Falcon is of course the latest incarnation of a Telling family business. This families history of bus operations in Surrey is really quite interesting. Previous pattern has been grow pretty rapidly and then sell, retreat back into coach market , disappear for a while, and then re-emerge. The Telling history needs to have a book published!
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Post by twobellstogo on Sept 22, 2023 13:09:40 GMT
I actually rode the 715 under Falcon Buses for the 1st time last Saturday gone. Was well impressed to see that they have invested in new 73 plate Diesels. There are more due. YX73 OTY is already here, and I believe the others are due around Dec/Jan.
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Post by imarkeh on Sept 22, 2023 18:58:07 GMT
One thing that I notice with the new Surrey tenders is that Falcon seem to like making passengers change buses. There's at least 2 trips on the 456 which require buses to change vehicles at New Haw but there is no mention of this in the timetables at all and it seems like inconveniencing the public for no reason when instead a driver swap should be done instead. The affected trips being the 06:35 Woking to Staines and the 06:50 from Staines to Woking. The buses from the origin go onto the 814 and the buses which take over the journey at New Haw coming from the depot. Really doesn't seem passenger friendly making everyone switch buses every single day. I think there’s a good chance that Falcon were made to do that by SCC. Why would SCC tell an operator to swap buses mid route? That's the most bizarre thing I have ever heard regarding a tendered service.
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