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If that happened then the Merc will have to run as an E journey as far into Birmingham as it can, or they might have to borrow another Scania from another garage if possible

So as far a Digbeth Coach Station, to be fair the only passangers they would loose is from Birmingham, Moor Street. or does Digbeth come under the new emmison becuase it would only be able to turn around at the Markets so either way it would get a fine if B'Ham markets comes under the new emmison if not then that would be an ideal place for service 17 to terminate if a merc operated on that route  ;D

So what if theres no buses that can go on loan ?

There are always buses available for loan. BC & BY appear to work together so I'm sure BY can borrow an Eclipses from BC if required.

Fair enough, but arnt all of BC gonna be used ????

Hence the word loan. Short term. Temporary.

A bit of topic but i remember when the 404 was first operated by omnilinks in 2009 they all entered service and there was a problem in bradford place and the buses were catching something ( i think thats the reason) and west brom has to borrow buses from all different garages just to cover i remember seeing omnilinks from perry barr, metrobuses from acocks green ( and they had not operated since 2007) and on the route were WB mercs,b6le, presidents basically any bus spare in the garage so around 19 buses had to be found so im sure with the emmission rules buses will be found if needed from other garages.

Yeah there was some sort of oil spillage I think. A lot of Perry Barr Scanias were on the 404.

If that happened then the Merc will have to run as an E journey as far into Birmingham as it can, or they might have to borrow another Scania from another garage if possible

So as far a Digbeth Coach Station, to be fair the only passangers they would loose is from Birmingham, Moor Street. or does Digbeth come under the new emmison becuase it would only be able to turn around at the Markets so either way it would get a fine if B'Ham markets comes under the new emmison if not then that would be an ideal place for service 17 to terminate if a merc operated on that route  ;D

So what if theres no buses that can go on loan ?

There are always buses available for loan. BC & BY appear to work together so I'm sure BY can borrow an Eclipses from BC if required.

Yardley Wood had Presidents from new for the 6 actually. I believe they were replaced in 2002 by new Tridents.

I'm not talking about just NXWM buses I'm talking about buses in general... 213/214, 208, 238, 141, 297, 123.

Even with the 3 NXWM routes, that's 6 buses an hour. With other services. That's 11 buses an hour

theres not many NXWM buses from cradley heath to Merry Hill only 238,141 as i can recall

What if you only have a NXWM bus pass ? therfore you only got 3 buses with all Half hourly service wich yes does create a quite frequent service

Buy a nbus then!

I was waiting for a NXWM 37 this evening, and a Blue Diamond 37 (which was empty) saw me waiting and slowed down. Even though I stepped away, to indicate that I didn't want this bus, he still slowed to a crawl, maybe in the hope I would change my mind and flag him down.  ;D

Couple of minutes later, a NXWM 37 arrived, which was near full.  8)

Can I ask why didn't you get on it?

Most likely had a daysaver or travel card, like me. In South Birmingjam there's not really a need for an nbus ticket from a passengers view as NX covers everything whereas in North Birmingham/Black Country there is a higher amount of operators.

I'd recommend applying for an engineering apprenticeship which NX offer, if you're into that sort of thing. It's what I'm looking to be starting in September (provided I get it!) with thanks to Tony for pointing me in the right direction to contact the right department.

The nifty fifty buses do look nicer than the NX enviros.

Maybe bu aren't very regular on the 50. There are always a dart or two which suggests the Centros are operating another service which doesn't surprise me. The NX 50 is very frequent and that's why I use it to college rather than the Diamond one.

I was waiting for a NXWM 37 this evening, and a Blue Diamond 37 (which was empty) saw me waiting and slowed down. Even though I stepped away, to indicate that I didn't want this bus, he still slowed to a crawl, maybe in the hope I would change my mind and flag him down.  ;D

Couple of minutes later, a NXWM 37 arrived, which was near full.  8)

I always feel sorry for them when they slow down even though I've stepped back haha. It's always at the Burton stop in the Village.

The Spectra's are of no problem at all to the Birmingham low emission thing, but will be going reasonably soon due to their age! The Presidents on the other hand look like they could cause a slight problem, but they could easily transfer out to WB/AG for newer buses to be transferred into Central (although that'd involve BC receiving Gemini's or ALX400 B7TLs unless some other dubious swaps happened!)

No they are not a problem but with 100 deckers leaving Birmingham, Wolverhampton is a depot that springs to mind for the few that may have to leave so they could easily wipe out some Spectras, although with the Enviro Hybrids for WN, the Spectras are fine for now.

Either way, some Presidents will have to escape from Birmingham. AG could take around 55, but where are the other 45 going to go. Would it not be easier for them to go to WN for 45 Tridents?

Why catch the nifty fifty when you can catch the real fifty!

I get a feeling you dont like diamond lol

I catch the 50A (free wifi!)

The NX 50 also has Wifi and you get to board Enviro 400s without the terrible interior.

All spectras are exterior refurbed and digi blinds fitted recently they are going no where! another garage maybe!

I find that very unlikely. NX are already having to get rid of the Presidents from Birmingham operated routes. Thats around 99 Presidents plus 21 Spectras leaving 120 vehicles that cannot be operated within Birmingham City Centre. Where do you propose to keep them all?

Some will have to go, and considering the Presidents are in much better condition, I doubt the Spectras will remain.

I dont think any more gemini's have transferred to West Brom although ive noticed the gemini's are creeping on to non birmingham routes there has been one on the 405/6 2 days in a row (fri/sat) as well as being very regular on the 451

Nope, no more have gone. 4517-4522 are all present at AG along with 4529 & 4530 I think.

Something I've never quite grasped is the bidding process. How exactly does it work.

Presumably Centro announces whats available, and then a company can say what it's interested in, but how does Centro choose. Is it simply literal and you say why you should operate it etc. or do you offer money for it. I wouldn't think the latter would apply, because Centro would then fork out funding for you to operate with.

Is this how it works, or is it different.

I wonder what would happen to the tridents used on the 1 after the hybrids arrive

How many new hybrids are coming? 21

How many old battered Spectras are there? 21

What will happen to the Tridents? I wonder...