|
Post by YY13VKP on Dec 6, 2020 16:36:09 GMT
TC are the FFD testing centre for Arriva London South so I believe the “ top dock” at the rear is used for this purpose T279 was back out on the 466 today, its first outing since 18th November according to LVF. But it was also away between 3rd September and 8th October so if we can assume the refurb took place then what was the reason for the visit to E this time? Is it that the internal refurb and paint jobs are done at separate times? It was all done in one go as it wasn't touched when it returned from a month off the road in September as you mention. That period off the road must have been for another reason, I think possibly mechanical as it was seemingly route bound to the 627 and making brief appearances on other routes for a week after it returned. You mention 8th October however the bus returned three days later, although I have to say that was a very quick turnaround for a DD refurbishment, taking just over two weeks! T287 appears to be the next one in for refurbishment, having been off the road since November 20th
|
|
|
Post by SILENCED on Dec 9, 2020 12:27:36 GMT
Today marks in excess of 6 months from the last award of TfL contract to operate a bus route. Even the 8th June was not a great day, only retaining 2 of the 5 incumbent routes.
|
|
|
Post by ServerKing on Dec 9, 2020 22:20:12 GMT
I hope they can turn it round with more route wins and shift a lot of the older buses soon
|
|
|
Post by Eastlondoner62 on Dec 9, 2020 23:42:55 GMT
Today marks in excess of 6 months from the last award of TfL contract to operate a bus route. Even the 8th June was not a great day, only retaining 2 of the 5 incumbent routes. Does show how unlucky they have been with their fleet. The 492 and 229 were both the two routes in that group which had existing buses which seems to have helped them as a result. The 469 and B12 would have needed new buses. I'm not part of their bidding team so do not know, however I wonder if opting for new continuously seems to skew costs against their favour. A lot of their losses have been where new buses would have been required such as the 184, 173 and 160, Although they all then proceeded to be awarded with new with the new operator so I wonder if Arriva's bidding costs are just about enough where an existing bid barely makes the cheapest, resulting in any requirement for new pushing the cost over. Although with the 173 and 160 I do wonder if the 319s HVs were used on a rebid but then didn't work out. They do have the 313 coming up soon, that will be a test as no operator is likely required to factor new buses into a bid.
|
|
|
Post by 725DYE on Dec 9, 2020 23:52:42 GMT
Today marks in excess of 6 months from the last award of TfL contract to operate a bus route. Even the 8th June was not a great day, only retaining 2 of the 5 incumbent routes. Does show how unlucky they have been with their fleet. The 492 and 229 were both the two routes in that group which had existing buses which seems to have helped them as a result. The 469 and B12 would have needed new buses. I'm not part of their bidding team so do not know, however I wonder if opting for new continuously seems to skew costs against their favour. A lot of their losses have been where new buses would have been required such as the 184, 173 and 160, Although they all then proceeded to be awarded with new with the new operator so I wonder if Arriva's bidding costs are just about enough where an existing bid barely makes the cheapest, resulting in any requirement for new pushing the cost over. The parallels between today and their 2014/15 situation is frighteningly similar. At the time, Arriva had over 200 DAF DB250s of different types and likewise many B7TLs. Garages like Norwood were filled to the brim with them and hence a lot of them simply got wiped out. It's a bit scary to think we are now at a point to be comparing older E400s and DB300s to these buses but the fact is they too are too old for existing bids and therefore are likely to cause trouble upon retendering.
Arriva has seriously neglected garages like TC. The 405 gain was their first new contract with an allocation of entirely new buses in a substantially long period of time. Other than that, it's usually a bunch of old Ts and DWs which get thrown their way. At some point, there simply isn't going to be an existing set of vehicles elsewhere in the operation for a retender bid and I fear that they could lose big as a result. The 197 and 403 have already gone and the 405 hasn't been enough to offset this.
Arriva, of the big five operators, has also been by far and away the least committed so far to electric operation which too is noticeably concerning.
|
|
|
Post by Eastlondoner62 on Dec 10, 2020 0:22:55 GMT
Does show how unlucky they have been with their fleet. The 492 and 229 were both the two routes in that group which had existing buses which seems to have helped them as a result. The 469 and B12 would have needed new buses. I'm not part of their bidding team so do not know, however I wonder if opting for new continuously seems to skew costs against their favour. A lot of their losses have been where new buses would have been required such as the 184, 173 and 160, Although they all then proceeded to be awarded with new with the new operator so I wonder if Arriva's bidding costs are just about enough where an existing bid barely makes the cheapest, resulting in any requirement for new pushing the cost over. The parallels between today and their 2014/15 situation is frighteningly similar. At the time, Arriva had over 200 DAF DB250s of different types and likewise many B7TLs. Garages like Norwood were filled to the brim with them and hence a lot of them simply got wiped out. It's a bit scary to think we are now at a point to be comparing older E400s and DB300s to these buses but the fact is they too are too old for existing bids and therefore are likely to cause trouble upon retendering.
Arriva has seriously neglected garages like TC. The 405 gain was their first new contract with an allocation of entirely new buses in a substantially long period of time. Other than that, it's usually a bunch of old Ts and DWs which get thrown their way. At some point, there simply isn't going to be an existing set of vehicles elsewhere in the operation for a retender bid and I fear that they could lose big as a result. The 197 and 403 have already gone and the 405 hasn't been enough to offset this.
Arriva, of the big five operators, has also been by far and away the least committed so far to electric operation which too is noticeably concerning.
TC is in an amazing state when compared to DX and GY, GY's newest bus is 11reg while DX's newest bus is 60reg making their newest buses 10 years old. The 173 change was funny because the oldest buses it could use at Stagecoach were still newer than the newest bus it could use while at Arriva, the exact same goes for the 128 as well. Arriva's luck mostly tends to come when their "safe" routes such as the 242, 341, 38 etc need their buses replaced and they then get a load of existing released for other wins. Arriva got extremely lucky there because a lot of these routes got new buses around 2009 and 2010, and then required new Hybrids next tender due to the ULEZ, releasing a load of buses compliant for a suburban contract. With the current fleet this is now unlikely as the next electric deadline will still allow an extra contract to be run with the Hybrids and the deadline is London wide, meaning no suburban cascades. Naturally as a result this will probably mean less existing available for their more competitive suburban routes while other operators can be cheaper in other ways such as by maximising driver hours with multiple changeover locations, using remote sign on or even bringing over cheaper drivers from the continent. I'm sure someone over at Arriva is working on how to improve their bidding process, the SF closure was done in order to be cheaper so they are certainly aware of their issues and are combating them. The 313 will be a particularly interesting route to see how their bids work on just pure costs when buses are taken out of the equation, that route has sizeable competition. Another route which could be interesting is the 125, Palmers Green isn't that far from the Winchmore Hill terminus and the 319s buses are still available for a bid so that could be a nice existing gain for them. The 335 comes up soon after and sadly I do see Arriva losing that route, simply because it was spun off the 48 contract and handed to them and I'm not too sure if Arriva are operating it at the cheapest, especially compared to Go Ahead at MG. As that route has never been out to tender before every operator is going to probably be bidding blind which could prove interesting. Looking further, you have the 55 and 56 coming up. The 55 could be a huge boost for AE (although probably doing completely the opposite to T in the process). The 2, 415 and 432 all coming up at once makes it all to play for with Abellio, Arriva and Go Ahead as I'm sure Abellio and Go Ahead have space to fit in the 2 and the relevant extra route should they need to. I think the electric issue Arriva have is that they keep losing any potential electric route, they've only managed to keep the 319 with them while lost the 184, 160, 173, 230 and 106 which all went to new operators with electrics.
|
|
|
Post by bertrell on Dec 10, 2020 1:46:51 GMT
The parallels between today and their 2014/15 situation is frighteningly similar. At the time, Arriva had over 200 DAF DB250s of different types and likewise many B7TLs. Garages like Norwood were filled to the brim with them and hence a lot of them simply got wiped out. It's a bit scary to think we are now at a point to be comparing older E400s and DB300s to these buses but the fact is they too are too old for existing bids and therefore are likely to cause trouble upon retendering.
Arriva has seriously neglected garages like TC. The 405 gain was their first new contract with an allocation of entirely new buses in a substantially long period of time. Other than that, it's usually a bunch of old Ts and DWs which get thrown their way. At some point, there simply isn't going to be an existing set of vehicles elsewhere in the operation for a retender bid and I fear that they could lose big as a result. The 197 and 403 have already gone and the 405 hasn't been enough to offset this.
Arriva, of the big five operators, has also been by far and away the least committed so far to electric operation which too is noticeably concerning.
TC is in an amazing state when compared to DX and GY, GY's newest bus is 11reg while DX's newest bus is 60reg making their newest buses 10 years old. The 173 change was funny because the oldest buses it could use at Stagecoach were still newer than the newest bus it could use while at Arriva, the exact same goes for the 128 as well. Arriva's luck mostly tends to come when their "safe" routes such as the 242, 341, 38 etc need their buses replaced and they then get a load of existing released for other wins. Arriva got extremely lucky there because a lot of these routes got new buses around 2009 and 2010, and then required new Hybrids next tender due to the ULEZ, releasing a load of buses compliant for a suburban contract. With the current fleet this is now unlikely as the next electric deadline will still allow an extra contract to be run with the Hybrids and the deadline is London wide, meaning no suburban cascades. Naturally as a result this will probably mean less existing available for their more competitive suburban routes while other operators can be cheaper in other ways such as by maximising driver hours with multiple changeover locations, using remote sign on or even bringing over cheaper drivers from the continent. I'm sure someone over at Arriva is working on how to improve their bidding process, the SF closure was done in order to be cheaper so they are certainly aware of their issues and are combating them. The 313 will be a particularly interesting route to see how their bids work on just pure costs when buses are taken out of the equation, that route has sizeable competition. Another route which could be interesting is the 125, Palmers Green isn't that far from the Winchmore Hill terminus and the 319s buses are still available for a bid so that could be a nice existing gain for them. The 335 comes up soon after and sadly I do see Arriva losing that route, simply because it was spun off the 48 contract and handed to them and I'm not too sure if Arriva are operating it at the cheapest, especially compared to Go Ahead at MG. As that route has never been out to tender before every operator is going to probably be bidding blind which could prove interesting. Looking further, you have the 55 and 56 coming up. The 55 could be a huge boost for AE (although probably doing completely the opposite to T in the process). The 2, 415 and 432 all coming up at once makes it all to play for with Abellio, Arriva and Go Ahead as I'm sure Abellio and Go Ahead have space to fit in the 2 and the relevant extra route should they need to. I think the electric issue Arriva have is that they keep losing any potential electric route, they've only managed to keep the 319 with them while lost the 184, 160, 173, 230 and 106 which all went to new operators with electrics. The 2 will be a retain & they may regain the other two too. once again Abellio looking at their capacities are full to the rafters. The 432 will need new DDs too and that gives ALS a chance too. Or will it be electrics for the 2 & the 432 & 415 use their current Volvo's? 26 Volvo's could and would be a very suitable option don't you think and would cover the both the aforementioned routes with ease!!
|
|
|
Post by vjaska on Dec 10, 2020 2:23:17 GMT
TC is in an amazing state when compared to DX and GY, GY's newest bus is 11reg while DX's newest bus is 60reg making their newest buses 10 years old. The 173 change was funny because the oldest buses it could use at Stagecoach were still newer than the newest bus it could use while at Arriva, the exact same goes for the 128 as well. Arriva's luck mostly tends to come when their "safe" routes such as the 242, 341, 38 etc need their buses replaced and they then get a load of existing released for other wins. Arriva got extremely lucky there because a lot of these routes got new buses around 2009 and 2010, and then required new Hybrids next tender due to the ULEZ, releasing a load of buses compliant for a suburban contract. With the current fleet this is now unlikely as the next electric deadline will still allow an extra contract to be run with the Hybrids and the deadline is London wide, meaning no suburban cascades. Naturally as a result this will probably mean less existing available for their more competitive suburban routes while other operators can be cheaper in other ways such as by maximising driver hours with multiple changeover locations, using remote sign on or even bringing over cheaper drivers from the continent. I'm sure someone over at Arriva is working on how to improve their bidding process, the SF closure was done in order to be cheaper so they are certainly aware of their issues and are combating them. The 313 will be a particularly interesting route to see how their bids work on just pure costs when buses are taken out of the equation, that route has sizeable competition. Another route which could be interesting is the 125, Palmers Green isn't that far from the Winchmore Hill terminus and the 319s buses are still available for a bid so that could be a nice existing gain for them. The 335 comes up soon after and sadly I do see Arriva losing that route, simply because it was spun off the 48 contract and handed to them and I'm not too sure if Arriva are operating it at the cheapest, especially compared to Go Ahead at MG. As that route has never been out to tender before every operator is going to probably be bidding blind which could prove interesting. Looking further, you have the 55 and 56 coming up. The 55 could be a huge boost for AE (although probably doing completely the opposite to T in the process). The 2, 415 and 432 all coming up at once makes it all to play for with Abellio, Arriva and Go Ahead as I'm sure Abellio and Go Ahead have space to fit in the 2 and the relevant extra route should they need to. I think the electric issue Arriva have is that they keep losing any potential electric route, they've only managed to keep the 319 with them while lost the 184, 160, 173, 230 and 106 which all went to new operators with electrics. The 2 will be a retain & they may regain the other two too. once again Abellio looking at their capacities are full to the rafters. The 432 will need new DDs too and that gives ALS a chance too. Or will it be electrics for the 2 & the 432 & 415 use their current Volvo's? 26 Volvo's could and would be a very suitable option don't you think and would cover the both the aforementioned routes with ease!! Whilst I very much hope the 2 is retained by Arriva as N are an excellent garage, SW could fit it in alongside the 432 in a joint bid - if retained, I'm expecting the 2 to retain it's HV's and for the 432 to go electric regardless of who takes it on as again, this fits the narrative of helping outer London given the 432 runs into two outer London boroughs and it got a PVR increase as part of the Croydon changes. The 415 is a LT route so I don't see it losing it's LT's regardless of the outcome.
|
|
|
Post by ServerKing on Dec 10, 2020 3:25:45 GMT
The parallels between today and their 2014/15 situation is frighteningly similar. At the time, Arriva had over 200 DAF DB250s of different types and likewise many B7TLs. Garages like Norwood were filled to the brim with them and hence a lot of them simply got wiped out. It's a bit scary to think we are now at a point to be comparing older E400s and DB300s to these buses but the fact is they too are too old for existing bids and therefore are likely to cause trouble upon retendering. Arriva has seriously neglected garages like TC. The 405 gain was their first new contract with an allocation of entirely new buses in a substantially long period of time. Other than that, it's usually a bunch of old Ts and DWs which get thrown their way. At some point, there simply isn't going to be an existing set of vehicles elsewhere in the operation for a retender bid and I fear that they could lose big as a result. The 197 and 403 have already gone and the 405 hasn't been enough to offset this. Arriva, of the big five operators, has also been by far and away the least committed so far to electric operation which too is noticeably concerning.
TC is in an amazing state when compared to DX and GY, GY's newest bus is 11reg while DX's newest bus is 60reg making their newest buses 10 years old. The 173 change was funny because the oldest buses it could use at Stagecoach were still newer than the newest bus it could use while at Arriva, the exact same goes for the 128 as well. Arriva's luck mostly tends to come when their "safe" routes such as the 242, 341, 38 etc need their buses replaced and they then get a load of existing released for other wins. Arriva got extremely lucky there because a lot of these routes got new buses around 2009 and 2010, and then required new Hybrids next tender due to the ULEZ, releasing a load of buses compliant for a suburban contract. With the current fleet this is now unlikely as the next electric deadline will still allow an extra contract to be run with the Hybrids and the deadline is London wide, meaning no suburban cascades. Naturally as a result this will probably mean less existing available for their more competitive suburban routes while other operators can be cheaper in other ways such as by maximising driver hours with multiple changeover locations, using remote sign on or even bringing over cheaper drivers from the continent. I'm sure someone over at Arriva is working on how to improve their bidding process, the SF closure was done in order to be cheaper so they are certainly aware of their issues and are combating them. The 313 will be a particularly interesting route to see how their bids work on just pure costs when buses are taken out of the equation, that route has sizeable competition. Another route which could be interesting is the 125, Palmers Green isn't that far from the Winchmore Hill terminus and the 319s buses are still available for a bid so that could be a nice existing gain for them. The 335 comes up soon after and sadly I do see Arriva losing that route, simply because it was spun off the 48 contract and handed to them and I'm not too sure if Arriva are operating it at the cheapest, especially compared to Go Ahead at MG. As that route has never been out to tender before every operator is going to probably be bidding blind which could prove interesting. Looking further, you have the 55 and 56 coming up. The 55 could be a huge boost for AE (although probably doing completely the opposite to T in the process). The 2, 415 and 432 all coming up at once makes it all to play for with Abellio, Arriva and Go Ahead as I'm sure Abellio and Go Ahead have space to fit in the 2 and the relevant extra route should they need to. I think the electric issue Arriva have is that they keep losing any potential electric route, they've only managed to keep the 319 with them while lost the 184, 160, 173, 230 and 106 which all went to new operators with electrics. The sad thing is, going forward, that every route potentially will require new electric buses, the days of cheeky bids with knackered stuff on the 318 (even to the point of reinstatement of EN's 5 and 9 from scrap / withdrawn fleet at Edmonton) are well and truly over. I still wonder if DB is saddled with Arriva given the lack of interest to take pride in the fleet, especially within London, I know there was rumours of sell offs before, but that's gone away for now (though I wonder if a No Deal Brexit would make them think again in the near future). I jest about the lack of refurbishment at Tottenham, while it seems other random buses (latest being Enfield's DW575) get attention, where some of the buses on the 123 are looking desperately tatty (DW471, 334, 335, 539)... it reminds me of the neglect of the 258 before it was lost. They were lucky to retain the 123 in my opinion, but only lost out on the 230 and others due to no electric infrastructure investment in the majority of London North garages. Sounds bad but I hope Stagecoach win the 123 next (doable from WH or BK) as it would be nice to travel on a bus that's cared for. I know some passengers, especially kids can be messy, but some of the buses I have been on are like mobile landfills They may have improved with the performance of the DWs, but they need some TLC. Don't get me started on the 158 where the buses are looking such a sorry state. I fear for tender bids in future if there's no investment in electric buses. Even the newest HVs at Tottenham are starting to look grubby. I know TfL is a mess at the moment but at least their Tender Department still works properly. It will be a shock seeing buses on the 184 with working destination blinds, especially brand new ones from GAL. The way Arriva is heading, they would do well to invest like Northumberland Park's garage in the majority of buses being electric (save for the 232 Streetlites) or they will lose a hell of a lot more. Here's hoping Go Ahead win the 318 next time round as the current fleet at Tottenham look a state despite recent refurb at Enfield last year
|
|
|
Post by bertrell on Dec 10, 2020 6:50:57 GMT
TC is in an amazing state when compared to DX and GY, GY's newest bus is 11reg while DX's newest bus is 60reg making their newest buses 10 years old. The 173 change was funny because the oldest buses it could use at Stagecoach were still newer than the newest bus it could use while at Arriva, the exact same goes for the 128 as well. Arriva's luck mostly tends to come when their "safe" routes such as the 242, 341, 38 etc need their buses replaced and they then get a load of existing released for other wins. Arriva got extremely lucky there because a lot of these routes got new buses around 2009 and 2010, and then required new Hybrids next tender due to the ULEZ, releasing a load of buses compliant for a suburban contract. With the current fleet this is now unlikely as the next electric deadline will still allow an extra contract to be run with the Hybrids and the deadline is London wide, meaning no suburban cascades. Naturally as a result this will probably mean less existing available for their more competitive suburban routes while other operators can be cheaper in other ways such as by maximising driver hours with multiple changeover locations, using remote sign on or even bringing over cheaper drivers from the continent. I'm sure someone over at Arriva is working on how to improve their bidding process, the SF closure was done in order to be cheaper so they are certainly aware of their issues and are combating them. The 313 will be a particularly interesting route to see how their bids work on just pure costs when buses are taken out of the equation, that route has sizeable competition. Another route which could be interesting is the 125, Palmers Green isn't that far from the Winchmore Hill terminus and the 319s buses are still available for a bid so that could be a nice existing gain for them. The 335 comes up soon after and sadly I do see Arriva losing that route, simply because it was spun off the 48 contract and handed to them and I'm not too sure if Arriva are operating it at the cheapest, especially compared to Go Ahead at MG. As that route has never been out to tender before every operator is going to probably be bidding blind which could prove interesting. Looking further, you have the 55 and 56 coming up. The 55 could be a huge boost for AE (although probably doing completely the opposite to T in the process). The 2, 415 and 432 all coming up at once makes it all to play for with Abellio, Arriva and Go Ahead as I'm sure Abellio and Go Ahead have space to fit in the 2 and the relevant extra route should they need to. I think the electric issue Arriva have is that they keep losing any potential electric route, they've only managed to keep the 319 with them while lost the 184, 160, 173, 230 and 106 which all went to new operators with electrics. The sad thing is, going forward, that every route potentially will require new electric buses, the days of cheeky bids with knackered stuff on the 318 (even to the point of reinstatement of EN's 5 and 9 from scrap / withdrawn fleet at Edmonton) are well and truly over. I still wonder if DB is saddled with Arriva given the lack of interest to take pride in the fleet, especially within London, I know there was rumours of sell offs before, but that's gone away for now (though I wonder if a No Deal Brexit would make them think again in the near future). I jest about the lack of refurbishment at Tottenham, while it seems other random buses (latest being Enfield's DW575) get attention, where some of the buses on the 123 are looking desperately tatty (DW471, 334, 335, 539)... it reminds me of the neglect of the 258 before it was lost. They were lucky to retain the 123 in my opinion, but only lost out on the 230 and others due to no electric infrastructure investment in the majority of London North garages. Sounds bad but I hope Stagecoach win the 123 next (doable from WH or BK) as it would be nice to travel on a bus that's cared for. I know some passengers, especially kids can be messy, but some of the buses I have been on are like mobile landfills They may have improved with the performance of the DWs, but they need some TLC. Don't get me started on the 158 where the buses are looking such a sorry state. I fear for tender bids in future if there's no investment in electric buses. Even the newest HVs at Tottenham are starting to look grubby. I know TfL is a mess at the moment but at least their Tender Department still works properly. It will be a shock seeing buses on the 184 with working destination blinds, especially brand new ones from GAL. The way Arriva is heading, they would do well to invest like Northumberland Park's garage in the majority of buses being electric (save for the 232 Streetlites) or they will lose a hell of a lot more. Here's hoping Go Ahead win the 318 next time round as the current fleet at Tottenham look a state despite recent refurb at Enfield last year It seems the management lack ambition hence the direction their heading in Serverking.
|
|
|
Post by southlondonbus on Dec 10, 2020 8:51:33 GMT
The 432 could be retained with the MHVs off the 63. In the past go ahead have used lathe fleets of spare buses to win/retain alot of routes (57/131/132/213/X26 etc). The 335 could also be a win for them out of MG using MHVs as DT isn't exactly close to the route.
|
|
|
Post by ThinLizzy on Dec 10, 2020 9:43:59 GMT
TC is in an amazing state when compared to DX and GY, GY's newest bus is 11reg while DX's newest bus is 60reg making their newest buses 10 years old. The 173 change was funny because the oldest buses it could use at Stagecoach were still newer than the newest bus it could use while at Arriva, the exact same goes for the 128 as well. Arriva's luck mostly tends to come when their "safe" routes such as the 242, 341, 38 etc need their buses replaced and they then get a load of existing released for other wins. Arriva got extremely lucky there because a lot of these routes got new buses around 2009 and 2010, and then required new Hybrids next tender due to the ULEZ, releasing a load of buses compliant for a suburban contract. With the current fleet this is now unlikely as the next electric deadline will still allow an extra contract to be run with the Hybrids and the deadline is London wide, meaning no suburban cascades. Naturally as a result this will probably mean less existing available for their more competitive suburban routes while other operators can be cheaper in other ways such as by maximising driver hours with multiple changeover locations, using remote sign on or even bringing over cheaper drivers from the continent. I'm sure someone over at Arriva is working on how to improve their bidding process, the SF closure was done in order to be cheaper so they are certainly aware of their issues and are combating them. The 313 will be a particularly interesting route to see how their bids work on just pure costs when buses are taken out of the equation, that route has sizeable competition. Another route which could be interesting is the 125, Palmers Green isn't that far from the Winchmore Hill terminus and the 319s buses are still available for a bid so that could be a nice existing gain for them. The 335 comes up soon after and sadly I do see Arriva losing that route, simply because it was spun off the 48 contract and handed to them and I'm not too sure if Arriva are operating it at the cheapest, especially compared to Go Ahead at MG. As that route has never been out to tender before every operator is going to probably be bidding blind which could prove interesting. Looking further, you have the 55 and 56 coming up. The 55 could be a huge boost for AE (although probably doing completely the opposite to T in the process). The 2, 415 and 432 all coming up at once makes it all to play for with Abellio, Arriva and Go Ahead as I'm sure Abellio and Go Ahead have space to fit in the 2 and the relevant extra route should they need to. I think the electric issue Arriva have is that they keep losing any potential electric route, they've only managed to keep the 319 with them while lost the 184, 160, 173, 230 and 106 which all went to new operators with electrics. The sad thing is, going forward, that every route potentially will require new electric buses, the days of cheeky bids with knackered stuff on the 318 (even to the point of reinstatement of EN's 5 and 9 from scrap / withdrawn fleet at Edmonton) are well and truly over. I still wonder if DB is saddled with Arriva given the lack of interest to take pride in the fleet, especially within London, I know there was rumours of sell offs before, but that's gone away for now (though I wonder if a No Deal Brexit would make them think again in the near future). I jest about the lack of refurbishment at Tottenham, while it seems other random buses (latest being Enfield's DW575) get attention, where some of the buses on the 123 are looking desperately tatty (DW471, 334, 335, 539)... it reminds me of the neglect of the 258 before it was lost. They were lucky to retain the 123 in my opinion, but only lost out on the 230 and others due to no electric infrastructure investment in the majority of London North garages. Sounds bad but I hope Stagecoach win the 123 next (doable from WH or BK) as it would be nice to travel on a bus that's cared for. I know some passengers, especially kids can be messy, but some of the buses I have been on are like mobile landfills They may have improved with the performance of the DWs, but they need some TLC. Don't get me started on the 158 where the buses are looking such a sorry state. I fear for tender bids in future if there's no investment in electric buses. Even the newest HVs at Tottenham are starting to look grubby. I know TfL is a mess at the moment but at least their Tender Department still works properly. It will be a shock seeing buses on the 184 with working destination blinds, especially brand new ones from GAL. The way Arriva is heading, they would do well to invest like Northumberland Park's garage in the majority of buses being electric (save for the 232 Streetlites) or they will lose a hell of a lot more. Here's hoping Go Ahead win the 318 next time round as the current fleet at Tottenham look a state despite recent refurb at Enfield last year The 123 at WH would be a bit of a push- perhaps BK if they can squeeze it in. I think if the 123 was to go anywhere else it it would be GAL out of NP or RR.
|
|
|
Post by bertrell on Dec 10, 2020 10:35:16 GMT
The 432 could be retained with the MHVs off the 63. In the past go ahead have used lathe fleets of spare buses to win/retain alot of routes (57/131/132/213/X26 etc). The 335 could also be a win for them out of MG using MHVs as DT isn't exactly close to the route. 132, was won with Electrics some weeks ago. 57/213 expire in 2023 and the 131 in late 2022. 335, stagecoach have a chance too from Catford and Plumstead which are far closer to the route than Dartford. I, can see the 32 MHVs, possibly moving to AL/A/AF. The 57/85/213 will I suspect get new electrics as they come up for Tender in Summer 2023 and will RATP Win them along with the H91/H32 i n a nother mass Electric Order?
|
|
|
Post by TB123 on Dec 10, 2020 10:41:33 GMT
The 432 could be retained with the MHVs off the 63. In the past go ahead have used lathe fleets of spare buses to win/retain alot of routes (57/131/132/213/X26 etc). The 335 could also be a win for them out of MG using MHVs as DT isn't exactly close to the route. 132, was won with Electrics some weeks ago. 57/213 expire in 2023 and the 131 in late 2022. 335, stagecoach have a chance too from Catford and Plumstead which are far closer to the route than Dartford. I, can see the 32 MHVs, possibly moving to AL/A/AF. The 57/85/213 will I suspect get new electrics as they come up for Tender in Summer 2023 and will RATP Win them along with the H91/H32 i n a nother mass Electric Order? The other user is talking about the last time those routes went to tender when they kept existing diesel double decks. Obviously the 132 this time got electric buses.
|
|
|
Post by vjaska on Dec 10, 2020 12:30:55 GMT
The 432 could be retained with the MHVs off the 63. In the past go ahead have used lathe fleets of spare buses to win/retain alot of routes (57/131/132/213/X26 etc). The 335 could also be a win for them out of MG using MHVs as DT isn't exactly close to the route. 132, was won with Electrics some weeks ago. 57/213 expire in 2023 and the 131 in late 2022. 335, stagecoach have a chance too from Catford and Plumstead which are far closer to the route than Dartford. I, can see the 32 MHVs, possibly moving to AL/A/AF. The 57/85/213 will I suspect get new electrics as they come up for Tender in Summer 2023 and will RATP Win them along with the H91/H32 i n a nother mass Electric Order? I don’t see the MHV’s moving to AF as I also don’t see the E’s on the 337 being discarded until the end of the current contract. Once again, it is unclear if all MHV’s will leave PM as the 363 is officially allocated some of the new to the 63 examples alongside the EH’s and the 37 has two new to Q examples alongside its E’s
|
|