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Post by kmkcheng on Aug 14, 2024 10:03:29 GMT
I didn't think of that, depends how close their garages are and if the route is worth running. The 306 has looked a little empty when I've seen them round and about Watford. Redline and Red Rose are in Aylesbury, which is a heck of a dead run to be running about an area with high car use. RedRoute are even further away in Kent, so it looks like Sullivans won't face any competition, and can keep all the oxygen to themselves in the daytime Perhaps there's a perk with the county council. Doesn't seem sustainable. To me, it's like using a Mercedes S Class for casual work with Uber Eats or Evri The Red Group operators are far away in Aylesbury, but they do run a number of routes in the Watford area (possibly St Albans too) - including the 328 which Arriva recently gave up. My guess is Uno might be a contender, Hatfield is not too far from Borehamwood, Potters Bar etc - though Uno are mostly interested in routes which directly serve Hatfield. Certainly in the Watford area, there is no well located garage anymore since GR has gone (which stopped running non-TFL routes a few years before the closure). I think the 306 is generally quite empty as it is partly paralled by TFL routes for shorter journeys - including the 107 between Elstree and Borehamwood. Between Watford and Bushey, the 306 does serve a different route around the backstreets, but some passengers may prefer to walk to the main road for the more frequent (and cheaper) 142/258. The 306 is certainly needed, but probably never requires the capacity of DDs, single door E200s can sometimes be empty. Not sure how busy the 84/398 get, but I wonder how much need there is for the ex-217 MMCs on these routes. Plus there’s also the passengers that travel between Borehamwood and Watford that use the 107 and 142 and change at Canons corner due to the cheaper hopper fare. I live on the 306 and it is only well used around the peaks and school days. Outside those times there are not that many passengers. I seem to remember they tried a 20 minute frequency during the day to attract new customers but it didn’t seem to work as they reverted back to a 30 minute frequency. A couple of months ago they doubled the Sunday frequency from every 2 hours to hourly so we will see how that turns out.
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Post by kmkcheng on Aug 14, 2024 10:05:25 GMT
Although the Red group do operate in Watford, and I suspect they have an outstation there, I doubt they would want to take on the 306 and 398 commercially. If Sullivan were to pull out I suspect Hertforshire County Council would need to step in. There is no outstation in Watford. I see them travelling up and down the A41 everyday on my commute between Watford and Aylesbury.
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Post by ThinLizzy on Aug 14, 2024 11:29:40 GMT
The Red Group operators are far away in Aylesbury, but they do run a number of routes in the Watford area (possibly St Albans too) - including the 328 which Arriva recently gave up. My guess is Uno might be a contender, Hatfield is not too far from Borehamwood, Potters Bar etc - though Uno are mostly interested in routes which directly serve Hatfield. Certainly in the Watford area, there is no well located garage anymore since GR has gone (which stopped running non-TFL routes a few years before the closure). I think the 306 is generally quite empty as it is partly paralled by TFL routes for shorter journeys - including the 107 between Elstree and Borehamwood. Between Watford and Bushey, the 306 does serve a different route around the backstreets, but some passengers may prefer to walk to the main road for the more frequent (and cheaper) 142/258. The 306 is certainly needed, but probably never requires the capacity of DDs, single door E200s can sometimes be empty. Not sure how busy the 84/398 get, but I wonder how much need there is for the ex-217 MMCs on these routes. Plus there’s also the passengers that travel between Borehamwood and Watford that use the 107 and 142 and change at Canons corner due to the cheaper hopper fare. I live on the 306 and it is only well used around the peaks and school days. Outside those times there are not that many passengers. I seem to remember they tried a 20 minute frequency during the day to attract new customers but it didn’t seem to work as they reverted back to a 30 minute frequency. A couple of months ago they doubled the Sunday frequency from every 2 hours to hourly so we will see how that turns out. I guess, if the route makes enough money during the peaks and on school days they can justify running it during quieter times. As much as I have criticised Sullivans TfL "efforts," I do hope the new smaller, more focused operation in a real success for years to come.
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Post by matthieu1221 on Aug 14, 2024 17:23:52 GMT
Praise (rare praise) where praise is due... TfL has managed to link to UNO's page for their temporary timetable on the bus changes webpage. When there is a will, it can be done!
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Post by lonmark on Aug 14, 2024 19:12:09 GMT
Praise (rare praise) where praise is due... TfL has managed to link to UNO's page for their temporary timetable on the bus changes webpage. When there is a will, it can be done!
or TfL should try this link from Bustimes.org... bustimes.org/services/298-arnos-grove-potters-bar
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Post by SILENCED on Aug 14, 2024 19:32:52 GMT
Praise (rare praise) where praise is due... TfL has managed to link to UNO's page for their temporary timetable on the bus changes webpage. When there is a will, it can be done!
or TfL should try this link from Bustimes.org... bustimes.org/services/298-arnos-grove-potters-barBearing in mind it is TfL that supplies that timetable to bustimes, it is very disappointing they can not make that information available.
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Post by lj61nwc on Aug 15, 2024 2:08:09 GMT
E76 joins E70 & E78 on commercial routes, I don't believe any have been on the 84 yet.
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Post by Connor on Aug 15, 2024 5:03:29 GMT
E76 joins E70 & E78 on commercial routes, I don't believe any have been on the 84 yet. I've seen the 398 operated by ex-217 MMCs this week
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Post by VMH2537 on Aug 15, 2024 10:49:12 GMT
An update from TfL regarding blinds and ibus on the temporary arrangements for Sullivan routes:
'Work is underway with the temporary operators to make sure bus blinds are updated. The blinds need to be procured from a dedicated supplier and we’re working to make sure this happens as quickly as possible. Buses are currently displaying the route number and destination using temporary blinds, which we are working to improve to ensure customers have the best possible information in the meantime. We are also working towards the affected routes having real time information available and work is taking place to update the technology required. We expect seven of the eight affected routes to have live information again from Saturday 17 August. The remaining route (298) we expect to be back live again from Saturday 31 August.'
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Post by LD71YLO (BE37054) on Aug 15, 2024 10:54:19 GMT
An update from TfL regarding blinds and ibus on the temporary arrangements for Sullivan routes: 'Work is underway with the temporary operators to make sure bus blinds are updated. The blinds need to be procured from a dedicated supplier and we’re working to make sure this happens as quickly as possible. Buses are currently displaying the route number and destination using temporary blinds, which we are working to improve to ensure customers have the best possible information in the meantime. We are also working towards the affected routes having real time information available and work is taking place to update the technology required. We expect seven of the eight affected routes to have live information again from Saturday 17 August. The remaining route (298) we expect to be back live again from Saturday 31 August.' Why is the 298 the last one to get live updates?
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Post by busoccultation on Aug 15, 2024 11:23:53 GMT
An update from TfL regarding blinds and ibus on the temporary arrangements for Sullivan routes: 'Work is underway with the temporary operators to make sure bus blinds are updated. The blinds need to be procured from a dedicated supplier and we’re working to make sure this happens as quickly as possible. Buses are currently displaying the route number and destination using temporary blinds, which we are working to improve to ensure customers have the best possible information in the meantime. We are also working towards the affected routes having real time information available and work is taking place to update the technology required. We expect seven of the eight affected routes to have live information again from Saturday 17 August. The remaining route (298) we expect to be back live again from Saturday 31 August.' Why is the 298 the last one to get live updates? I believe it could be down to not having the permanent schedules being ready in time for this weekend as Uno are still running a reduced service on the 298 in the meantime. In order for the real time information and tracking to be available, the routes needs to have some sort of a schedule with driver duties and dead runs included on the system otherwise the route won't track as we have seen with a number of routes in the past where the routes haven't been loaded to the system properly either by TfL or the operator like when the 196 moved to QB last year where the 196 couldn't be tracked for about few weeks.
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Post by atb123 on Aug 15, 2024 15:20:57 GMT
All remaining school routes unannunced awarded to Metroline with a 1 year contract
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Post by COBO on Aug 15, 2024 15:32:16 GMT
When was the 605, 606, 617, 640 and 692s last day of operation?
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Post by kmkcheng on Aug 15, 2024 15:35:24 GMT
When was the 605, 606, 617, 640 and 692s last day of operation? Whenever the last day of term was. You could go into each school’s website and look at their term dates. Or look on LVF and see when were buses last on each route
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Post by YX18KVJ (DLE30221) on Aug 15, 2024 16:16:54 GMT
When was the 605, 606, 617, 640 and 692s last day of operation? The 692 was withdawn last year.
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