Questions for the NXWM Operations Director

[NX OD]

Hi there Simon, Firstly I think its great you are on here answering questions for us, Kudos for that!
I wondered if the Presidents are going to be spending the foreseeable future on the 11, then will they be receiving any route branding? The 5 has just had its Presidents rebranded so they obviously aren't up for withdrawal anytime soon and as the 11 is Birminghams biggest route, it would be nice to see a return to Outer Circle branding of some kind!
Thanks,
G

Hi GB_91,

Thank you.

We would all love new buses on the Outer Circle but with the SQPS in Birmingham City Centre we had to find a place for the Presidents.  The branding is being discussed but is not a certainty.

[monkeyjoe]

Hiya Simon and a big welcome to the forum, it really is nice to have the opitunity to ask you questions directly.

My questions are......

1)Are their any plans to introduce more branding across the network?

2) the Volvo with MCV bodywork 1908 trialled on the X96, are their any plans to make an order or did it fail to impress.

3) can you reveal any plans on the new gold corridors.

Gold Corridors centro published maps some time ago of a network of superbuses. Can't remember where now but google it. It was on PDF somewhere.

[GB_91]

Hi there Simon, Firstly I think its great you are on here answering questions for us, Kudos for that!
I wondered if the Presidents are going to be spending the foreseeable future on the 11, then will they be receiving any route branding? The 5 has just had its Presidents rebranded so they obviously aren't up for withdrawal anytime soon and as the 11 is Birminghams biggest route, it would be nice to see a return to Outer Circle branding of some kind!
Thanks,
G

Hi GB_91,

Thank you.

We would all love new buses on the Outer Circle but with the SQPS in Birmingham City Centre we had to find a place for the Presidents.  The branding is being discussed but is not a certainty.

Thanks for the reply Simon, I actually don't mind the Presidents being on the O/C if I'm honest, I just wish they were a bit smarter in appearance and do miss the old Gemini branding!

[NX OD]

Hiya Simon and a big welcome to the forum, it really is nice to have the opitunity to ask you questions directly.

My questions are......

1)Are their any plans to introduce more branding across the network?

2) the Volvo with MCV bodywork 1908 trialled on the X96, are their any plans to make an order or did it fail to impress.

3) can you reveal any plans on the new gold corridors.

Hi Danny,

1. Yes.  I think the 9 is in preparation along with the 934/5/6 and maybe the 900.  May well be others as well.  We believe in it as part of a package of service improvements, marketing, door drops etc..

2. Not my area but does not appear to have been something we want to pursue.

3. No but only because we have not developed our plans enough yet.

2.

[NX OD]

Thank you for answering questions btw.

What is the criteria for a route(S) to recieve branding and why are so many major corridors without it, like in other major cities? etc.

Hi monkeyjoe,

The reasons are many and varied!  There is a plan to do most of our major corridors but it all takes time and needs to be part of a package of measures to be successful.

[danny]

Thank you for your response I look forward to seeing these brandings in action

[uniquicity]

1) Are the current Soho Road vehicles going to be refurbished and branded?

2) Do the 83/89 break the emissions rule by using Mercs?

[JB93]

1) Are the current Soho Road vehicles going to be refurbished and branded?

2) Do the 83/89 break the emissions rule by using Mercs?

They don't break the emissions rule because individually their frequency is every 30 mins. It would have to be a route with a higher frequency than every 30 mins to break the emissions rule.

[uniquicity]

1) Are the current Soho Road vehicles going to be refurbished and branded?

2) Do the 83/89 break the emissions rule by using Mercs?

They don't break the emissions rule because individually their frequency is every 30 mins. It would have to be a route with a higher frequency than every 30 mins to break the emissions rule.

They could have used Presidents on the 127/128/129 then. But chose not to. Something is fishy.

[JB93]

Not sure, I'm guessing WB just want their Presidents for the 5. :) that's why the 73 still uses Presidents, because it's every 30 minutes.

[NX OD]

1) Are the current Soho Road vehicles going to be refurbished and branded?

2) Do the 83/89 break the emissions rule by using Mercs?

1. Maybe.  We are discussing it but it is a massive task.

2. No because they are less frequent than every 20 minutes each.

[monkeyjoe]

Hey Simon!

I know you'll be busy replying to all the questions before this, but I just thought I'd ask if there are any plans to improve or upgrade East Birmingham's services in the near future? i.e. new buses, improved frequencies, new routes etc.? I only ask because it seems a lot of the focus lately has been on North Birmingham, Walsall and Wolverhampton and it seems they've had their fill of brand new buses if I'm honest. You can't go up the Birchfield Road without 90% of buses being an Enviro400, and if you go into East Birmingham it just seems to be decade-old Tridents, similarly aged ALX400s on the 94, and the odd unrefurbished Omnilink dotted about. I know the Coventry Road has just received new Enviros for 2 of it's routes but the point remains, you go anywhere in East Birmingham and the only routes you'll see with brand spanking new buses are the 71/72, and maybe the 94 if an Enviro creeps out of North Birmingham. Even the 97, which I thought would become a high profile route now being the only one to run 24 hours and connecting many areas to the airport, is using, albeit branded, old Tridents. It seems that since Lea Hall closed down, the standards and upkeep of East Birmingham's routes have been neglected.
I just thought maybe some investment in the future is needed to bring East Birmingham up to the standards that Walsall, Wolverhampton and North Birmingham (especially Pheasey) are now enjoying.

Kind Regards :)

Hi JB,

I will use this reply to answer all the posts about East Birmingham.

I don't think that we view East Birmingham as being neglected.  The 71/72 have had new buses and the Coventry Road Enviro's are in place now as well.  The buses on the 97 have all been refurbished as well.  The 17 and 55 have also benefited recently from having been converted to all Scania recently, some of which are being repainted at the moment.

We are planning on upgrading the 94 for early 2014 but this will be through cascades of newer buses from other routes rather than brand new.

Thanks for the reply Simon. It's great that the 94 will soon be upgraded, but is there no chance of it getting new buses seeing as the Sutton Lines have already been upgraded in the past few years whilst the 94 still soldiers on using decade-old ALX400s? I appreciate the improvements made to some East Birmingham services but it still feels as though North Birmingham, Walsall and Wolverhampton are prioritised over areas in need of investment. If you compare Chelmsley Wood's bus terminal to let's say, Pheasey or Sutton Coldfield, you'll see a radically different picture and standard of the buses that operate there.

Totally agree with the comments made about the 94, but let's face it some routes are always going to take priority over others. The 94 is probably not as profitable as it was with the competition, closing down of manufacturing on that corridors and people like myself who have left it. So decisions have to be made I guess. :)

[NX OD]

I would like to know are there any demonstrators due for evaluation,also are you planning/considering on using any other manufacturers other than adl/Volvo*wrightbus combination in the new vehicle order,also why havn't you used mcv bodywork for Volvo b7rle instead of just using wrightbus,costs aside.

Hi pb2012,

This is not really my area to be honest.  As far as I know there are no demonstrators due.

Hi simon, thank's for answering my querry guess we'll all have to wait until next year,for my answers.Could you tell us if wn 81/82 routes are being converted to full b7rle operation for the brierly hill/merryhill bus network.

Many thank's pb2012.

There are no plans to convert the 81/82 to B7RLE.

[NXWM Spectra]

Hi Simon, really glad you've come here to answer our questions.
Is there plans for some more new midibuses? I ask this because the B6LE are deteriorating fast and it won't be long before they're not going to be able to run. (I say this having travelled on two today)

[Trident 4609]

I presume (Please don't slate me as its just my opinion) that the Sutton Lines will gain new E400's (Sometimes appearing on other routes like all new buses seem to do) displacing E400's onto the 94 and either ALX400 or Wright.Eclipse Gemini B7TL's transfering to WB to start to withdraw older mercs

By the way Very warm welcome to the forum simon :) Great for you to answer our questions