Just come off my 217. What a drag. This first bus inspector seems very interested in the times of the s50. Very rare to see a first bus supervisor in ashton these days. Mixed day. 3 trips on a 216 spoilt by some little shite putting one of my windows though. Followed by 3 hours of dragging my heals on the 217. Back tomorrow at 5am.
Well i imagine First are a little scared judging by how well sunday's S49 did. I spotted 3 buses heading towards Ashton with full loads around lunch time.
ReplyDeletethat is great news to hear where the Envios on it
ReplyDeleteI will have a ride on it on Sunday
Both the Enviro's were on it yes Mic, as well as the VU02 Plaxton Dart.
ReplyDeleteQuite surprising was for the first time on a Sunday full size buses were being used on the S48 and S50 as well instead of the usual Solo's.
I was expecting empty buses for the first few weeks, and the two buses i saw heading towards Oldham only had a handfull of passengers on, but the two i spotted coming into Ashton had full loads with some people even having to stand.
I dont think we will be waiting long for a weekday S49 service lol.
No doubt timed within 5 mins of Firsts existing service Felix ? Wow thats really innovative competition!!! its commonly know as predatory duplication.
ReplyDeleteIm not certain of the timetable's Anon, but First's 409 are every 15 minutes to Speedwell's 20 minute service, but in the case of the other two 'S' services, they actually run 5 minutes behind the First services.
ReplyDeleteBut perhaps if the greedy larger opps like First kept there fares down instead of charging a premium for running crap services, then there wouldn't be any room for independents like Speedwell, JPT and Bluebird to run these 'duplicate' services.
ooh I remember that inspector lol
ReplyDeleteI do miss the tameside bus wars, and getting the 216 that'll take either 30 minutes or days depending on the metrolink works. Can't wait for mid trimester break, and I can enjoy it again lol
Good to hear about the s49, and to be fair anon, the timings are for the sunday service:
- First, every 15 minutes
- Speedwells, every 20 minutes
so it cant logically be a "predator duplication"
You should see first and stagecoach in edinburgh. Stagecoach have relatively new scania single decks with leather trim, whilst First hsve Presidents and a mix of darts. Lothian is a dominant force here though
Is there much difference between the fares the 3 large opps charge in Edinburgh William. I would imagine Lothian are the cheaper of the three.
ReplyDeleteActually, Stagecoach are dearer but they only do services like edinburgh to glasgow, hence the leather trim seats etc.
ReplyDeleteLothian and Edinburgh are the local link provider, and they match each other on day tickets(£3) and singles (£1.20). Lothians buses are newer and usually more useful, as the ex airlink buses are on my route and the luggage rack is good for carrying groceries lol , whereas First more/less cover all of scotland and do an all scotland annual pass, priced at £1600+.
once S49 starts week day I will use it to work
ReplyDeleteyears ago I use to travel on the 365 to Huddersfield and they had blue bus trying to get passangers on the same route
the s50 on sunday was MX 06 BOV as I saw it twice
ReplyDeleteYay!! Sounds like Speedwell's S49 has done better than expected on its first day. Then again, they are providing the service for free! It has already been talked about a bit (!), but the £1.00 fare Speedwell will charge is nearly free when compared to First's £3.odd!
ReplyDeleteI didn't get the chance to catch the S49 on its first day, but I do hope to catch it this sunday coming.
Hi Mic,
ReplyDeleteI never saw a Solo on Sunday. The white Nimbus Dart was on the S48 and there was a Marshall Dart in the layover area with 'S50 Hey Farm' on the front, so i just asumed it was the bus being used. Perhaps it was a spare.
I saw the solo leave at 13.10 from Hey farm
ReplyDeletejust read that firstbuses fares went up on sunday just gone how greedy
ReplyDeleteYes Mic by 10p i belive. It means there highest single fare is now £4.50, 40p dearer than there day saver lol
ReplyDeleteyes looked at the website and it says that
ReplyDeletethink only 1 of the Envrios is on S50 today
saw firstbus 40374 on 350 with its exhaust pipe hanging of and a bit of the back bumper aswell they replaced it with the oldest Dennis arrow and sent it back to depot
ReplyDeletewent on the 11.50 service 7 bus today 34114 to the Garden centre just past Ashton moss lovly food in the garden centre had rag pudding chips and peas and a big scone and had a look at the fish and Rabbits
ReplyDelete