Messages

2145 on the 957 this evening - haven't seen one on there for a while

Another UNO dart out on 71E today

3 buses i have seen so far, 4909,4910,4912 I think. I think 4910 is named 'Alanna'. On the rear downstairs window it looks similar to the 934/5/6 branding - FAST Sheldon - Yardley - City or something like that with '957' in the upstairs window.

Also to note, they seem to be changing the destinations again, to the same as AG.

What you mean by that neale? :)

Presumably the font of the text on the hanover display or the via points have been changed eg like the 126

The destination i.e 'Birmingham' is bigger with the via point 'via Sheldon' smaller. The same as what AG have done and BC have done in the past.

3 buses i have seen so far, 4909,4910,4912 I think. I think 4910 is named 'Alanna'. On the rear downstairs window it looks similar to the 934/5/6 branding - FAST Sheldon - Yardley - City or something like that with '957' in the upstairs window.

Also to note, they seem to be changing the destinations again, to the same as AG.

Looking on Flickr, it seems to be at Manchester.

A Wessex Connect dart on the 96/99  today

7020 out on 37s today

A Trident on the 126 today managed to squeeze onboard 4 unfolded prams with babies inside (quite a mothers union!), and it got me wondering, up to how many unfolded buggies are supposed to be permitted on each type of vehicle?

Only 2. Stickers appeared and a notice, i think it was May 2011?, saying that only 2 unfolded buggies could be carried.

MX62AXH (or-N) Streetlite was on the 36 today this morning in Acocks Green, then spotted later parked up on Mole Street in Sparkbrook.

There was one Streetlite on the S10 today aswell but couldn't get registration

That was one doing the 'extra' journeys (10/11am from Cranes Park) There was a streetlite on the S10 all day for a couple of days last week aswell.

Also to note, they seem to have a new livery for their coaches, one onf the 07 (LFY?) Scanias is now in allover silver.

You can't throw a Centro contract back in.

Well surely you must be able to-you could just stop operating couldnt you? There must be a penalty system in place though but centro surely cant force an operator to run and obviously you can throw a contract back in as that is what has happened. VIP has decided to stop unless they are on the brink of collapse or performance on the route has been bad

I believe it was commercially operated, but I'm not sure. VIP re-registered the 71 between Sutton and Chelmsley so seem to have won the emergency contract?

Really? I was sure it was a centro tendered route and have they since reregistered it and won the contract?

I know it was tendered when it ran between Sutton and Chelmsley only. It was then extended to Solihull and I remember reading on the NWM site something about commercial registration including former tender journeys (or something like that).

They re-registered it on the 30th July:

PD0001724/26 - VIP CONTRACTS LTD, WHARF STREET, HOCKLEY, BIRMINGHAM, B18 5HS
Registration Accepted by SN
Starting Point: Sutton Coldfield
Finish Point: Chelmsley Wood
Via:
Service Number: 71
Service Type: Normal Stopping
Effective Date: 24-AUG-2013
Other Details: Sundays only except bank holidays, xmas and new year

You can't throw a Centro contract back in.

Well surely you must be able to-you could just stop operating couldnt you? There must be a penalty system in place though but centro surely cant force an operator to run and obviously you can throw a contract back in as that is what has happened. VIP has decided to stop unless they are on the brink of collapse or performance on the route has been bad

I believe it was commercially operated, but I'm not sure. VIP re-registered the 71 between Sutton and Chelmsley so seem to have won the emergency contract?

I didn't catch the fleet number or registration unfortunately, but I saw an old red single-decker parked up just beyond the bus stop outside Acocks Green Bowl yesterday evening with its rear engine door open; I can only presume it was a VIP bus, possibly been operating on the 40 that had run into difficulties.

The 40 isnt operated by VIP anymore, it's now operated by WMSNT

The X30 normally has 2 hybrid versa's on it normally 30130 and one other. The 82 uses 2 citaro's so always one spare so may be thats the reason ones on the 16 otherwise it will be one citaro on the 82 and one hybrid versa. Not sure the PVR of the signature services only know the PVR of a few diamond services mostly Tividale stuff.

The 82 now inter works with the 88, using the three Citaros. However there was an all over white B7RLE on there today, which explain the one on the 16. I think there was also a standard Versa on there aswell so the other Citaro may have been on the 30, although I didn't see, but that it what seems to be happening lately

Off the top of my head the PVRs are
82/8 - 3
S2/4 - 3
S3 - 5
S11/15 - 1
30 - 2

1917 - 76

The transferable aspect worries me slightly, yes OK people can borrow your card, but how about theft and loss, unless you notice its gone immediately someone could easily build up a huge bill

If it's anything like every other smartcard I've ever heard of, then there is no bill. The card has money on it and when you use it some money is taken off until it runs out, then you top it up. So if someone tries to use it when there's no money on it, or not enough, then the card is rejected.

I think you can link it to your bank account so it tops up automatically, so if I'm right, this could be a problem?

Not exactly a breakdown, but an AG Scania in Solhull Town Centre got his ramp wedged between the bus and kerb so couldn't fold it back in. The doors wouldn't shut with the ramp being out and he couldn't raise the platform, so I dont know how the problem was resolved. Buses behind had to reverse to get out!