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Check www.oxford-chiltern-bus-page.co.uk for a list of Stagecoach buses at The Gold Cup.

• The bus industry has become reliant on subsidy partly due to the "Do not use Buses" messaging that was propagated by government during some of the pandemic , even when it was still possible to use buses to make essential trips for work or food shopping and where mitigations had been made. There was also negligible messaging by government or health authorities for the measures that were being taken to keep buses clean during the pandemic, to minimise the transmission of the virus.

Up to a couple of weeks ago, the electronic timetable my local bus station was still advising passengers 'only to travel if absolutely necessary' . . . . . . 

30051 on the 52 today , front blind not working - side and rear fine. 

There is a message on the members only part of the midlandred.net forum saying 80 d/d's are the PVR with 30 belonging to Stagecoach West and 50 from other Stagecoach fleets. Hope this is of interest to all.  

Just had a short ride on E017 on the 144a. 

In the days when I regularly travelled on the M5 motorway northbound towards the M6 , I could often see "West Midlands" buses in a dealers/repair facility [Scania ??]  on the right hand side just by the West Brom turn off.  Do WM buses still go there for whatever reason.

YX 16 NYC  is now at whittles  also 

And YX16NYB also ??  It has had the Johnsons branding removed for sometime.  I have checked and it still has Johnsons legal lettering. 

Down to 6 coaches in the yard today. 2 x Tourismo , 2 x Scania and 2 x Bova.  Two coaches noted "down the road" were GL15HEN of Greenline of Stourbridge and uid Volvo / Berkhof RL05YMC , if anyone has any more details of the latter it would be appreciated - thank you.  

Thanks again to Winston for posting this update. I guess this thread will need to be retitled at some stage.    Just one thought , on reading the list of "vehicles in" ,I notice a good number arrived from the  Stagecoach Group. Will Stagecoach be so keen to send vehicles to" First Ensign" who could be seen as a rival company/operator ??

You never knowWho's to say, if they do buy an op, that it would be a WM based one...
I mean, maybe they might buy out one of the smaller groups one day

Maybe in time one of the "bigger" operators will put an offer in for Diamond/Rotala ??   

Purely by recent observations of passenger loadings, First Worcester to further truncate the 144 by withdrawing the Bromsgrove - Catshill section. Also to eradicate the Salt Road green livery. 

Just a plus vote for the 55 plate Diamond Solo that I travelled on earlier - 202 from Rubery to Bromsgrove. I would imagine this vehicle has a fair few miles on the clock but it went well and no really loud rattles.   And also a spirited climb up Rose Hill for anyone who knows the route !  I guess that the next Solo I travel on could well be the opposite  . . . . . 

I saw a 72-plate Johnsons coach this morning at around 08:45, going onto the m40 south at junction 8a (Wheatley, Oxfordshire), carrying what looked like school kids. I don't see any 72-plates listed on the website so cannot confirm which one it was.

Choice of two !  YT72GOA & GOC.   I assume "GOB" has not been issued ,unless it appears as a "select" registration. 

Only as a passenger , but no real complaints to be fair.  The newer version [SR] tends to have a smoother ride but still 'rolls' a bit on corners like the earlier models. 

They say on social media that all weather related problems are over and things back to normal.

Have to admire them for sending out that message.