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YW is going fully electric with the double deck fleet

I don't think there's enough buses on order to fully upgrade YW's double-decks as well as PB's. Not this year anyway.

Or wait until til June when cascades happen? There probably a plan being planned out as the electrics drop into place.

Yes, from June onwards will be interesting times for sure. And I'm sure there is already a plan that Tony has in place, though obviously he won't be able to divulge details here.

Personally, I would expect the Scania OmniCities to be scrapped or sold on, as there would be little point in moving them on to another garage and having to type-train drivers and engineers.

The Platinum E400s will likely be used to replace older non-Euro6 vehicles at West Brom and Acocks Green, and then of course the other E400s will find homes elsewhere, just not at AG.

Most bus stops along the 72 route are showing that it doesn't do a Sunday Service on its timetable any reason why?

It would appear to be a 'data error' on the part of TfWM.

If you look at the timetable on their website, on Sundays it only shows times for timing points, not all stops:
https://www.tfwm.org.uk/plan-your-journey/find-a-timetable/#/route/cen_33072_A_H_y11_5-5?direction=Outbound&when=3

It would be a total waste of money if someone has not picked up on this, before new at-stop timetables were ordered and printed, and then put up in those stops.

[CU4]

Hello TfWM,
Another Coventry (large population city east of Birmingham) error that needs fixing.

Coventry city centre stop CU4 Cox St
I been watching this one for a while.
The RTI is only showing the SC X17 service and missing out all the many local NXC services that call. Crazy.

Have you actually reported this to TfWM?

https://www.tfwm.org.uk/get-help/report-a-problem-with-a-bus-stop-or-park-and-ride/

They weren't Euro 6 from new, so must have been retrofitted Euro 6.

According to the VRM lookup software we use at work, 467 comes up as Euro4, so will have been retrofitted.

(There must be a separate flag/indicator in the DVLA data that shows if a vehicle has been upgraded to better standards. Our software only shows the Euro standard the vehicle was originally registered with it seems)

You cannot view this attachment.

There's occasions where there's abandoned 6s causing blockages and only allowing 1 or 2 buses to stop at those stops

This past week I've seen about 4 buses fighting for that stop because of an abandoned YW bus. Another joke, should never have put them all at 1 stop when they could have utilised both stops there.

There are no 'abandoned' buses there, maybe one that has arrived early/ontime and has to then wait time before it can leave.

MS4 is now the designated stop for all the Stratford Road services, with MS3 being used as an 'overflow' or unload point.

From what I saw last weekend, when I was in Birmingham on the Saturday, both stops ARE being utilised, especially when more than one bus arrives at the same time due to delays caused by congestion in Digbeth.

Should've put the 17/60, X1/X2 back there and put the Stratford Road services at their current stop. Would've made it a lot easier. The current X1/X2 stop is also a joke as that pavement is nowhere near wide enough for the volume of passengers and usual pedestrians, especially when the X1 is mainly always late!

It might have made things 'easier' for you, but would be impracticable, having all those services using the one stop, as well as the Stratford Road ones. 

No I think Steve is right. The NSA appear to be directly linked to the destination display. Once it's changed so do the NSA. For instance sometimes a driver may change the display a few stops before the terminus, especially in the City Centre and then it'll instantly change the NSA.
So when it isn't changed for the return journey they never work in my experience.

Yes, the system does go 'off-kilter' when the driver prematurely changes the destination on approach to Birmingham city centre.

I might be mistaken then, I'm sure I've boarded a 3 heading to Birmingham that still had Yardley Wood on the external destination display, but was announcing next stops correctly.

Does this mean platinum buses will need to have announcements programmed with non platinum routes by October this year?

Only those vehicles that first entered service on or after 1st October 2019 are expected to comply with the new regulations from October this year.

The last diesel Platinums bought and delivered were first used in September 2019, so won't be expected to be compliant until October next year.

Normally I will find a fare on SYT. Then book it on TrainPal. Then you avoid the charge which SYP like to add

I used SplitMyFare.co.uk last year, which works the same way. The 'charge' is a share of the saving made, up to 15%.

That's how these sites make money, so I have no objections to paying this, especially where the saving from buying split tickets is quite significant.

For example, if I wanted to go back to Penzance again next weekend, booking a 'normal' return journey would cost me £199.10.

Buying split tickets for the same journey reduces the cost to £126.50, a whopping £72.60 saving.

SplitMyFare then takes a 15% cut of that saving, which works out to £10.89. Total ticket price comes to £137.39. (I checked SplitYourTicket and that gave exactly the same result).


Now, if I look up the same journey on TrainPal, even with 'split tickets', the cost comes to £143.80, plus a £1.99 'split ticket fee'. So total cost of £145.79.

Looking closer at the details, TrainPal is not even splitting the tickets the same way as SplitYourTicket and SplitMyFare do, hence why the savings don't add up.


Of course, I could save the £10.89 'share' if I took the individual ticket details and then booked those journeys separately on either the CrossCountry or GWR websites.

Why did they continue to proceed though should realise that the bridge wasn't big enough for a Double Decker bus to get under there

That will no doubt be answered at an internal disciplinary meeting.

Perhaps it was just a simple honest mistake, that will cost someone their job and livelihood.

Correct me if I'm wrong but if the driver doesn't change to destination at the terminus then the next stops don't work. There have been many occasions when the 50 has been going out of the City with Birmingham still on the front, therefore the next stop announcements don't work

I have boarded buses before where the destination display is set incorrect, but the on-board announcements play/display correctly, so I'm not sure how it works or whether there are separate systems.

Bus Users UK has published a Quick Guide to the recently announced Accessible Information Regulations.
The Regulations will come into force fully by 2031 and will make bus services more accessible to people with disabilities and improve the journey for everyone.
During the phased implementation, passengers will be able to expect clear audio and visual announcements alerting them to next stops, diversions and the final destination.
https://bususers.org/uncategorised/guide-to-accessible-information-regulations/


In a nutshell:
- Vehicles first used in public service after 1st October 2019 will be required to provide audio/visual announcements from 1st October 2024.
- Vehicles first used in public service between 1st October 2014 and 30th September 2019 will be required to provide announcements from 1st October 2025
- Vehicles first used in public service between 1st January 1973 and 30th September 2014 will be subject to these regulations from 1st October 2026

Information must be made available directly to passengers in audio and visual form and not through a phone or mobile device.
It must include:
- the route of the vehicle and direction of travel
- stopping places on the route
- diversion alerts
- whether the vehicle is being used on a hail and ride route
- a notification that the vehicle has reached its final destination.
Audio and visual information must be consistent.

In the case of NX Bus, since October 2019 they've only been buying vehicles with the necessary equipment already installed.
By my estimates, from October 2014 to 2019, the only vehicles that weren't delivered with this equipment would have been the Enviro200 MMCs and the non-Platinum Enviro400 MMCs.

I guess someone at NX is going to be busy getting all the stop announcements recorded for every route!

My concern is how this will impact on smaller independent operators, and whether there will be funding available to help towards the cost of retrofitting buses with the NSA equipment.

Is it possible to fit WA's Platnium's with USB Charging

In theory yes, it would be possible.

In reality, the time and cost involved in replacing all the seat backs and stripping the interior body apart to run all the additional wiring into the electric supply, it would probably not be worth it. 

To be honest, whenever I travel on vehicles with USB charging sockets, I hardly ever see any passengers using them anyway.

Ive done the 11.

Is the 8 worth a look, from a bash pov?

It's still a bit of a 'novelty', in that you can get on the bus somewhere and then around an hour to hour and half later get off at the same place.

It's not as 'scenic' or iconic as the 11A/C, you don't really get to see much apart from rundown inner-city suburbs and industrial estates.

If that's your thing, and if you like to sit and 'people-watch' as I sometimes do, then it's worth a punt.

In the view of NX, do the current passenger loads warrant a need to upgrade this route to double decks? From what I've seen as a passenger, it sure as hell does. This is all up to the fleet situation at NX ofc, but just wondering.

I did a 'lap' of the 8C one Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago now - yes, I was bored and wanted something different to do!

In my opinion, under 'normal circumstances', the route copes quite well with single decks at its current frequency levels (every 12-15mins).

The problems with overcrowding come when the buses get delayed and start running late, but then the same can be said for any other bus service that uses single decks.

Topic split off as nothing to do with BusTimes.

@Jay71 if you can't find an appropriate topic to ask such questions in then please start a new one.

Off-topic posts about old destination displays have been split off into a new topic here:
https://wmbusphotos.com/forum/index.php?topic=6693.0