Trent Barton

[JoNi]

Today is the first day of the Robin Hood Smartcard  in Nottingham funded with a £2.5m grant from DfT which will replace existing multi operator tickets such as Kangaroo (pity it's a memorable name with easy to recognise logo)
http://m.nottinghampost.com/Nottingham-s-Oyster-style-Robin-Hood-travel-card/story-28353045-detail/story.html

[Bryan]

Today is the first day of the Robin Hood Smartcard  in Nottingham funded with a £2.5m grant from DfT which will replace existing multi operator tickets such as Kangaroo (pity it's a memorable name with easy to recognise logo)
http://m.nottinghampost.com/Nottingham-s-Oyster-style-Robin-Hood-travel-card/story-28353045-detail/story.html

Good news for the Nottingham area.

It is interesting to read that the card is similar to London's Oyster card, in that it puts a daily cap on the cost of travel, unlike the West Midlands Swift card which fails very badly on that front in my opinion.

[Alex]

In other news, from the 27th December, the peak time only Club Class is being withdrawn, with its last day of operation being Christmas Eve. I wonder what will happen to the two B10M's (YRC 180/YRC 181) currently on there, as the current likelihood is them transferring to Notts & Derby, along with ex-Red Arrow 62 (YRC 182), although they may be withdrawn.

One of the ex-Red Arrow 10 plates, 74, has transferred to TM Travel, with the other 4 staying at Trent Barton, 75 being painted into a variant of the new Red Arrow livery, the other 3 are apparently for a new ''Skylink Express'' service starting next year

742-745 will be painted into spare livery from ''the Two'' livery, 743 having already being completed, with 746-750 being put into ''the Comet'' livery, all of which are now done.

498 and 499 are now in spare livery as well, following the withdrawal of the Ruddington Connection at the end of November.

[TB656]

Recent news:

Ex Club Class Coaches 57 and 58 are at Notts and Derby with ex Red Arrow 62. 62 has the seats from 63 which is now withdrawn.

Excels - 264 is at Notts and Derby, 263 is withdrawn so the only excels left are 257 and 261.

A number of Paladins are for sale

[Bob]

The X 38 is definitely not having coaches then...what's used on it now

[Ashley 60171]

The X 38 is definitely not having coaches then...what's used on it now

L94UB's, B7RLE's and Solo's I believe.

[646]

The X 38 is definitely not having coaches then...what's used on it now

A bit of everything! Most colourful.

[Reece]

The X 38 is definitely not having coaches then...what's used on it now

Tempos

[Ashley 60171]

Tempos

@Reece

The Tempos (307/8) were de branded last year and moved onto other work. Apparently they weren't that reliable.

[Bob]

@ashley that's what I mean. Is it other unbranded examples used now then?

[Ashley 60171]

@ashley that's what I mean. Is it other unbranded examples used now then?

As far as I know, there haven't been any Tempos at all on the X38 since the summer at a push. But I stand to be corrected by somebody more local. I will be going up there at some point soon.

[Tiptonian]

@Reece

The Tempos (307/8) were de branded last year and moved onto other work. Apparently they weren't that reliable.

Sir, you are the master of understatement!!

I am not a regular traveller, but prior to de-branding, I rarely saw both Tempos on the road, and sometimes saw neither. I have seen a Tempo on X38 on one occasion since de-branding. It was broken down in Burton!

Generally, @646 is, of course, spot on, any spare vehicle that is available. There seems to be a preference for Volvos (logical, they are the nicest buses at Derby), and there was talk of branding two of them. Putting 10-reg coaches on there was never going to work. Whoever thought of that had either never been on the route, or was desperate to find work for two coaches!

[Bob]

Why wouldn't it have worked?  Loads of limited stop services have had coaches on in the past? Remember Midland Express?  And the red arrow has coaches? What's the difference?  In fact the X38 used to have coaches

[TB656]

Both Tempos are still branded for the X38, they're just constantly breaking down. And unfortunately Trent Barton said that they're refurbishing them. So it looks like they're staying (in the garage) a little longer!! I'm disappointed that they haven't realised that they need replacing!! It's gotten so bad that Eclipse 723 has transferred to help!! ::)

[Tiptonian]

Bob. The difference is the Red Arrow only has one intermediate stop, is a short but "proper" express service and people expect a high floor coach on it. The X38 is a bus route that happens to have a quick sprint in the middle, but is hardly the same league. Midland Express was many years ago when customer service expectations were different (no DDA). Yes, I too would like to see BMMO S22s on the X12 again, but those days have gone.

From what I have seen, there is a small but significant patronage by people with pushchairs and the occasional wheelchair on the X38. I pity the poor driver who would have to load and unload a wheelchair on one of these coaches, then cope with the delay to the service. The 10-reg coaches are also considerably longer than 12 metres.  Progress into Burton via the railway station can be slow at the best of times due to narrow roads, parked cars and traffic volumes. While the coach is nice for the A38 section of the route, its unsuitability for the rest of what is after all a normal bus route cannot be ignored.  One must also consider why these vehicles have been replaced on the Red Arrow so soon, being replaced at the same time as their 04-reg predecessors (lower than expected reliability?). Furthermore, I understand the drivers recognised the accumulative problems and simply didn't want them. The Volvo/Wright buses are excellent and suitable. Good decision!