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Post by YY13VKP on Sept 7, 2018 19:56:58 GMT
As I'll be moving to Huddersfield for University next week, I was wondering if anyone else on the forum knew of any ex London Buses that regularly operate there or around West Yorkshire? I am aware that ex Arriva London DW23/DW26/DW33/DW34 and ex GAL VWL19 sometimes visit the area with Yorkshire Tiger but are there any other large batches of ex London Buses that now operate there?
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Post by snoggle on Sept 7, 2018 20:09:21 GMT
As I'll be moving to Huddersfield for University next week, I was wondering if anyone else on the forum knew of any ex London Buses that regularly operate there or around West Yorkshire? I am aware that ex Arriva London DW23/DW26/DW33/DW34 and ex GAL VWL19 sometimes visit the area with Yorkshire Tiger but are there any other large batches of ex London Buses that now operate there? I don't recall any when I visited a couple of years ago. First have updated their Leeds fleet which may have caused some cascade but I don't recall vast numbers of ex London vehicles there either. Yorkshire Tiger was the most oddball fleet I saw when I was in West Yorkshire for a day's gallavanting around. I don't know if they are still in service but you may want to try to catch Arriva Yorkshire's remaining Optare Spectras - Wakefield was their stronghold. Arriva Yorkshire has quite an interesting fleet as it seems to have retained some of the quirkiness of the old Caldaire Holdings days when it was Yorkshire Woollen District and Selby and District. I am sure you'll soon get your head round the bus scene in between occasional studying and vast amounts of beer drinking.
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Post by vjaska on Sept 7, 2018 21:02:53 GMT
As I'll be moving to Huddersfield for University next week, I was wondering if anyone else on the forum knew of any ex London Buses that regularly operate there or around West Yorkshire? I am aware that ex Arriva London DW23/DW26/DW33/DW34 and ex GAL VWL19 sometimes visit the area with Yorkshire Tiger but are there any other large batches of ex London Buses that now operate there? If you want a guaranteed ex DW on a regular service, Glasgow is the place to be as McKindless have them on a particular X route - I know it’s not Yorkshire but if your ever interested in visiting Glasgow, I strongly recommend to do so, even for non bus reasons. I will now stop piggybacking off your thread lool.
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Post by VWH1414 on Sept 7, 2018 21:06:32 GMT
As I'll be moving to Huddersfield for University next week, I was wondering if anyone else on the forum knew of any ex London Buses that regularly operate there or around West Yorkshire? I am aware that ex Arriva London DW23/DW26/DW33/DW34 and ex GAL VWL19 sometimes visit the area with Yorkshire Tiger but are there any other large batches of ex London Buses that now operate there? Yorkshire Tiger also have ex DLA204 CT Plus Yorkshire also have ex Metroline TP436/1512/1515/1517/1521/1522 and ex GAL WVL28-30/34/36/40/42/55/63/65/69/71/85, ex CT Plus London HTL1-7, ex GAL AVL13/20/43, PVL47/52/187 and VP1/2/11 (Although I think these may be more allocated to schools, but you may see these about still!) Powells of Hellaby (Now owned by CT Plus) have ex Docklands dart HV02OZS, ex SLN 34112/34122, ex Abellio London 9790/9791/9807/9808, ex GAL PVL319-321/325, ex CT Plus London HTL8/10/11
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Post by YY13VKP on Sept 7, 2018 21:51:55 GMT
As I'll be moving to Huddersfield for University next week, I was wondering if anyone else on the forum knew of any ex London Buses that regularly operate there or around West Yorkshire? I am aware that ex Arriva London DW23/DW26/DW33/DW34 and ex GAL VWL19 sometimes visit the area with Yorkshire Tiger but are there any other large batches of ex London Buses that now operate there? If you want a guaranteed ex DW on a regular service, Glasgow is the place to be as McKindless have them on a particular X route - I know it’s not Yorkshire but if your ever interested in visiting Glasgow, I strongly recommend to do so, even for non bus reasons. I will now stop piggybacking off your thread lool. That would actually be a good idea. There's also quite a lot of DW's in Burton on Trent with Midland Classic, and I have a friend who lives down there so might go down there one day and go for a ride. As far as I'm aware though, DW26 is the only DW which based in the depot closest to Huddersfield, so should see it around quite a bit, which would be nice as by the time I started taking the DW's regularly on the 466, DW26 had already been withdrawn. DW23 and DW33 are based in Halifax whereas DW34 is unallocated according to this fleetlist: www.ukbuses.co.uk/fleet/yorkshiretiger.pdf
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Post by VWH1414 on Sept 7, 2018 22:11:15 GMT
If you want a guaranteed ex DW on a regular service, Glasgow is the place to be as McKindless have them on a particular X route - I know it’s not Yorkshire but if your ever interested in visiting Glasgow, I strongly recommend to do so, even for non bus reasons. I will now stop piggybacking off your thread lool. That would actually be a good idea. There's also quite a lot of DW's in Burton on Trent with Midland Classic, and I have a friend who lives down there so might go down there one day and go for a ride. As far as I'm aware though, DW26 is the only DW which based in the depot closest to Huddersfield, so should see it around quite a bit, which would be nice as by the time I started taking the DW's regularly on the 466, DW26 had already been withdrawn. DW23 and DW33 are based in Halifax whereas DW34 is unallocated according to this fleetlist: www.ukbuses.co.uk/fleet/yorkshiretiger.pdfThis fleet list shows DW26 as withdrawn and DW34 unallocated (Like you said): nebula.wsimg.com/19c1519d0bcd5acce1c36a99e03ff903?AccessKeyId=8B7A174C4DD908996CD8&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 I suppose you'll have to see which fleet list is correct though, I often find that they don't sync up, meaning one is wrong - DW26 may indeed still be in service DLA204 is also based at Elland depot and 2 I forgot to mention are ex London United Olympuses SO6/SO9 which are based at Waterloo depot.
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Post by YY13VKP on Sept 7, 2018 22:34:41 GMT
That would actually be a good idea. There's also quite a lot of DW's in Burton on Trent with Midland Classic, and I have a friend who lives down there so might go down there one day and go for a ride. As far as I'm aware though, DW26 is the only DW which based in the depot closest to Huddersfield, so should see it around quite a bit, which would be nice as by the time I started taking the DW's regularly on the 466, DW26 had already been withdrawn. DW23 and DW33 are based in Halifax whereas DW34 is unallocated according to this fleetlist: www.ukbuses.co.uk/fleet/yorkshiretiger.pdfThis fleet list shows DW26 as withdrawn and DW34 unallocated (Like you said): nebula.wsimg.com/19c1519d0bcd5acce1c36a99e03ff903?AccessKeyId=8B7A174C4DD908996CD8&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 I suppose you'll have to see which fleet list is correct though, I often find that they don't sync up, meaning one is wrong - DW26 may indeed still be in service DLA204 is also based at Elland depot and 2 I forgot to mention are ex London United Olympuses SO6/SO9 which are based at Waterloo depot. DW26 has been given a SORN so it’s probably now withdrawn
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Post by YY13VKP on Sept 7, 2018 22:37:11 GMT
As I'll be moving to Huddersfield for University next week, I was wondering if anyone else on the forum knew of any ex London Buses that regularly operate there or around West Yorkshire? I am aware that ex Arriva London DW23/DW26/DW33/DW34 and ex GAL VWL19 sometimes visit the area with Yorkshire Tiger but are there any other large batches of ex London Buses that now operate there? I don't recall any when I visited a couple of years ago. First have updated their Leeds fleet which may have caused some cascade but I don't recall vast numbers of ex London vehicles there either. Yorkshire Tiger was the most oddball fleet I saw when I was in West Yorkshire for a day's gallavanting around. I don't know if they are still in service but you may want to try to catch Arriva Yorkshire's remaining Optare Spectras - Wakefield was their stronghold. Arriva Yorkshire has quite an interesting fleet as it seems to have retained some of the quirkiness of the old Caldaire Holdings days when it was Yorkshire Woollen District and Selby and District. I am sure you'll soon get your head round the bus scene in between occasional studying and vast amounts of beer drinking. Thanks as always snoggle, don’t think I’ll be doing much beer drinking though 🤣. I’ve noticed that First West Yorkshire still have a vast fleet of Dennis Trident/ALX400’s based at their Huddersfield Depot, wonder how much longer they’ll have left. Suprised there’s nothing too new in their fleet though, like MMC’s
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Post by VWH1414 on Sept 7, 2018 22:46:17 GMT
I don't recall any when I visited a couple of years ago. First have updated their Leeds fleet which may have caused some cascade but I don't recall vast numbers of ex London vehicles there either. Yorkshire Tiger was the most oddball fleet I saw when I was in West Yorkshire for a day's gallavanting around. I don't know if they are still in service but you may want to try to catch Arriva Yorkshire's remaining Optare Spectras - Wakefield was their stronghold. Arriva Yorkshire has quite an interesting fleet as it seems to have retained some of the quirkiness of the old Caldaire Holdings days when it was Yorkshire Woollen District and Selby and District. I am sure you'll soon get your head round the bus scene in between occasional studying and vast amounts of beer drinking. Thanks as always snoggle , don’t think I’ll be doing much beer drinking though 🤣. I’ve noticed that First West Yorkshire still have a vast fleet of Dennis Trident/ALX400’s based at their Huddersfield Depot, wonder how much longer they’ll have left. Suprised there’s nothing too new in their fleet though, like MMC’s First never have seemed to be a company that likes replacing older fleets, a lot of their operations still have fairly old vehicles, they still have plenty of W/X reg Volvo B7TLs in some places, although some of their operations seem to have been upgraded recently. I remember someone on the forum saying recently about one of Firsts depots newest DDs being a few 09 reg B9TLs
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Post by snoggle on Sept 7, 2018 23:51:05 GMT
Thanks as always snoggle, don’t think I’ll be doing much beer drinking though 🤣. I’ve noticed that First West Yorkshire still have a vast fleet of Dennis Trident/ALX400’s based at their Huddersfield Depot, wonder how much longer they’ll have left. Suprised there’s nothing too new in their fleet though, like MMC’s You'll be a student therefore beer or alcohol will emerge at some point. First do not spend big money on updating their fleets unless they are absolutely forced to. They've walked away from decent markets that others like Stagecoach can make money from. They are in such dire financial straits and under such investor pressure that I would not expect somewhere like Huddersfield to warrant much attention. I am actually surprised Leeds has had some recent investment but that may be as much to do with shutting up local politicians / the PTE or coping with emissions issues. Last time I was in Huddersfield there were still Volvo Olympian / Alexander Royales still clinging on one route plus schools work but they will have been killed off by the accessibility regulations. To be honest I am surprised that First haven't actually dumped some of their operations in West and South Yorkshire. Some of it is not hugely promising territory and I suspect the only reason why they haven't is that they don't want to surrender too much of their operations to new competitors as that would weaken whatever core was left - all areas still have some money spinning routes. I doubt you will be hugely impressed by First Group in West Yorkshire. When I consider how decent Yorkshire Rider were before First got hold of them the area has only really done backwards since the last 1980s. There's very little that stands up as a long lasting positive achievement.
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Post by vjaska on Sept 8, 2018 8:10:45 GMT
Thanks as always snoggle , don’t think I’ll be doing much beer drinking though 🤣. I’ve noticed that First West Yorkshire still have a vast fleet of Dennis Trident/ALX400’s based at their Huddersfield Depot, wonder how much longer they’ll have left. Suprised there’s nothing too new in their fleet though, like MMC’s First never have seemed to be a company that likes replacing older fleets, a lot of their operations still have fairly old vehicles, they still have plenty of W/X reg Volvo B7TLs in some places, although some of their operations seem to have been upgraded recently. I remember someone on the forum saying recently about one of Firsts depots newest DDs being a few 09 reg B9TLs I had that impression about First as well but up in Glasgow, there is a number of new buses knocking about with apparently more on the horizon. There are a few ‘relics’ knocking about but nothing older than 51 reg
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Post by SILENCED on Sept 8, 2018 8:52:24 GMT
I don't recall any when I visited a couple of years ago. First have updated their Leeds fleet which may have caused some cascade but I don't recall vast numbers of ex London vehicles there either. Yorkshire Tiger was the most oddball fleet I saw when I was in West Yorkshire for a day's gallavanting around. I don't know if they are still in service but you may want to try to catch Arriva Yorkshire's remaining Optare Spectras - Wakefield was their stronghold. Arriva Yorkshire has quite an interesting fleet as it seems to have retained some of the quirkiness of the old Caldaire Holdings days when it was Yorkshire Woollen District and Selby and District. I am sure you'll soon get your head round the bus scene in between occasional studying and vast amounts of beer drinking. Thanks as always snoggle, don’t think I’ll be doing much beer drinking though 🤣. I’ve noticed that First West Yorkshire still have a vast fleet of Dennis Trident/ALX400’s based at their Huddersfield Depot, wonder how much longer they’ll have left. Suprised there’s nothing too new in their fleet though, like MMC’s Zubin, they are B7TL/ALX400 ... Bradford, Huddersfield and Halifax all operate them X-53-reg
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Post by YY13VKP on Sept 17, 2018 23:34:24 GMT
So I happened to discover DW26's whereabouts whilst watching one of DoubleDeckerAnton's videos (who also happens to be in Huddersfield this week), it is sitting in Honley Depot minus a few front panels. Hopefully its just long term VOR and not being stripped. DW34 is also there, appears that it is in storage though, awaiting reallocation as Honley is due to close as an operational depot and become a bit like EC was a few years back. Yorkshire Tiger's Waterloo Depot is also visible on the route between my accommodation and the University, so I look for DW's every time I pass without success. I have however seen ex Go-Ahead London VWL19 there and around Huddersfield town a few times now since I moved up here. Yorkshire Tiger also have a few ex RATP East Lancs Olympuses based at Waterloo, any idea why RATP disposed of those Olympuses so early? They were fairly non standard in London though since they had full leather seats while RATP had them so could they have been on trial perhaps? Hopefully DW23 or DW33 (or DW34 if it comes out of storage) will transfer over to Waterloo though while I'm here and while Yorkshire Tiger still have them.
Also had my first ride on a ALX400 since I had a few RATP Trident ALX400's on route 371 early last year. First West Yorkshire has B7TL/ALX400's and whilst I do like them, shouldn't more modern buses with USB charging/plug sockets and more confortable seating be allocated to a busy route which is exclusively used by university students rather than a fleet of 17 year old ALX400's? They don't even have next stop information screens, and although my bus service runs directly from my accommodation to the University on Monday-Friday, it makes additional stops within the town centre at weekends and I have no idea when or where the bus will stop when serving intermediate stops, or how close I am to the next stop to press the bell in time. Don't know how much longer First intend to keep them on the road for but when boarding one of the ALX400's this afternoon, I noticed that the PSV disc in the front windscreen said it expired in 2020, so that might be a clue as to when they'll be withdrawn?
Do First run any other uni bus services around the UK and what do they use for them?
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Post by vjaska on Sept 18, 2018 0:32:43 GMT
So I happened to discover DW26's whereabouts whilst watching one of DoubleDeckerAnton's videos (who also happens to be in Huddersfield this week), it is sitting in Honley Depot minus a few front panels. Hopefully its just long term VOR and not being stripped. DW34 is also there, appears that it is in storage though, awaiting reallocation as Honley is due to close as an operational depot and become a bit like EC was a few years back. Yorkshire Tiger's Waterloo Depot is also visible on the route between my accommodation and the University, so I look for DW's every time I pass without success. I have however seen ex Go-Ahead London VWL19 there and around Huddersfield town a few times now since I moved up here. Yorkshire Tiger also have a few ex RATP East Lancs Olympuses based at Waterloo, any idea why RATP disposed of those Olympuses so early? They were fairly non standard in London though since they had full leather seats while RATP had them so could they have been on trial perhaps? Hopefully DW23 or DW33 (or DW34 if it comes out of storage) will transfer over to Waterloo though while I'm here and while Yorkshire Tiger still have them. Also had my first ride on a ALX400 since I had a few RATP Trident ALX400's on route 371 early last year. First West Yorkshire has B7TL/ALX400's and whilst I do like them, shouldn't more modern buses with USB charging/plug sockets and more confortable seating be allocated to a busy route which is exclusively used by university students rather than a fleet of 17 year old ALX400's? They don't even have next stop information screens, and although my bus service runs directly from my accommodation to the University on Monday-Friday, it makes additional stops within the town centre at weekends and I have no idea when or where the bus will stop when serving intermediate stops, or how close I am to the next stop to press the bell in time. Don't know how much longer First intend to keep them on the road for but when boarding one of the ALX400's this afternoon, I noticed that the PSV disc in the front windscreen said it expired in 2020, so that might be a clue as to when they'll be withdrawn? Do First run any other uni bus services around the UK and what do they use for them? SO1-9, as those Olympus were numbered under Transdev, were new to the 148 during a phase where the 148 received new vehicles every couple of years - I think the leather seats were a trial but they were quite comfortable from memory. I'm guessing that the B7TL's route is maybe a commercial one rather than a contracted one which might explain why older buses are still being used on it. That said, First Glasgow still have a number of 15-17 year old vehicles running on major routes throughout the city. Arriva in Luton still run the lovely Voith W XKX reg Tridents on the 24/25 which is quite surprising though the route is restricted to low height deckers due to a height restriction near the station (a building or part of a car park being the issue)
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Post by snoggle on Sept 18, 2018 11:43:31 GMT
Also had my first ride on a ALX400 since I had a few RATP Trident ALX400's on route 371 early last year. First West Yorkshire has B7TL/ALX400's and whilst I do like them, shouldn't more modern buses with USB charging/plug sockets and more confortable seating be allocated to a busy route which is exclusively used by university students rather than a fleet of 17 year old ALX400's? They don't even have next stop information screens, and although my bus service runs directly from my accommodation to the University on Monday-Friday, it makes additional stops within the town centre at weekends and I have no idea when or where the bus will stop when serving intermediate stops, or how close I am to the next stop to press the bell in time. Don't know how much longer First intend to keep them on the road for but when boarding one of the ALX400's this afternoon, I noticed that the PSV disc in the front windscreen said it expired in 2020, so that might be a clue as to when they'll be withdrawn? Do First run any other uni bus services around the UK and what do they use for them? Welcome to living in a place with marginal prospects for commercial services. Places like Huddersfield are never going to see big fleet investment from a group like First. I'm not surprised you're travelling on old buses that will probably be used until they're 20 years old or so. It's only the very biggest cities that get any spend from First and even then it's highly targeted to specific routes - places like Leeds, Sheffield, Bristol and Glasgow. Almost everywhere else will be limping along on old or oldish vehicles. Bristol has done well recently but all that means is they won't get any new buses for the next 15 years or so! For many years the busiest student route in Newcastle - the number 1 - had the oldest double deckers on it. Presumably they were cheap to run so Stagecoach earned an absolute packet from the route in consequence. I'm sure you'll soon get used to where the buses run and to recognise where you are. You're just in that initial maelstrom of new places, new people, new routine etc that comes with moving away from home to study. I initially went almost everywhere in London on the tube but got so fed up with not knowing what was between the tube station entrances on the surface that I forced myself to use the buses to learn how the city fitted together. It was a worthwhile investment. I am sure you'll do something similar when things calm down and you'll soon "fit" West Yorkshire together and find your way round the towns in the area. I think many Unibus operations are contracted operations - hence the posher buses on them. Only one or two places have made the transition to pure commercial operation such as Unilink in Southampton and Uno in Hatfield. Some of that is purely down to the "U" buses actually being very attractive to normal passengers who used them and made them financially viable all year round.
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