Diamond Bus - Discussion

[PM]

Looks like 30905 is back at long acre seen on the 50 today and also more interestingly there was bk13nzm still on there and even more interesting a blue centro without fleetnames on there not 30000 or 30002 but think it was 30004 or 30003 but pretty sure it was 30004-looks like it is a permanent transfer to the wm fleet

Were did 30000, 30002 originally come from ? was it Redditch

it was wessex where they were originally on the bristol park and ride services

Thanks DiamondDart

No worries Nathan!

Also, according to the current issue of Buses, W336VGX has been sold to DW Coaches, Clay Cross. Shame-great bus!!! Hopefully there will be some buses arriving to replace those sold.

Also, to those that are interested, R404FFC and R530YRP are being used by a new company in manchester called little gem.

Yeah got my addition today and saw those changes to. There hasn't been any additions to replace these withdrawn darts apart from the 7 b7rle's but these buses when entering service withdrew R530/2YRP, S393/6HVV sent T418HNH to Kidderminster/Redditch and 30929 and a solo have gone to Long Acre , 30212 seems to be out of service, W335/6VGX are not being used or been sold. So some additions to Tividale must occur soon.

They must and a fair few of them. Shame a vgx has gone as some of the best buses in the fleet would far rather have seen the cadets go first and maybe another blue centro at long acre links into some sort of big rotala fleet movement plan. Or we could be due more solos or MPDs from wessex   :P

[Ash]

Although I like most of the red and white darts there really struggling now I got on S397HVV on the 4 from West Bromwich the other day and the body work was creaking like mad probably the suspension or something and struggled to do any decent speed and when it did it vibrated and sounded like it was straining so probably why this bus usually sticks to the 42/43. The only red and white dart that makes regular appearances on the 4 is W337VGX which is a reliable bus with a large capacity for passengers. With a bus out on the 002 and the 08 ex midlands classic b7rle seeming to be out of service there is only 5 b7rle at maximum on the 4/4H/4M so a few more red and white darts are making an appearance but much better than any mpd dart or solo. Saw a few centro's on the 16 on Saturday and fairly empty just wasted on there get them on the 4 and 301 and send the the 51 reg cadets to Long Acre in return 

[Tony]

Also, according to the current issue of Buses, W336VGX has been sold to DW Coaches, Clay Cross. Shame-great bus!!! Hopefully there will be some buses arriving to replace those sold.

Rotala still claim to own it on the last fleet list sent to me on 23/7/13!

[Ash]

All i know about W336VGX is that it's still parked up at Long Acre.

[Simon Dunn]

I have decided following the recent comments to join the forum.  My reluctance previously has centred around my responsibilities as an Officer of a Publicly quoted business, and the implications of potentially acting outside market guidelines in disclosing privileged information.  It has always therefore been easier not to be a member.
In response to recent comments I have picked up.

1.   Dunn Motor Traction Ltd t/a YourBus

I do not believe, nor am I aware that Scott has a financial backer.  I am not sure why you believe he needs one.  You can always obtain a copy of the company accounts by paying £1 to Companies House.

2.   Redditch/Kidderminster

We can always do things better.  We do have a shortage of long vehicles in our fleet and this is something we are looking to address. 
So far, we have removed all step entrance vehicles and have taken out of fleet a large number of Non DDA vehicles.  We do need to continually invest in the fleet.

3.    002

There is a certain amount of confidentiality around this, and I am unable to comment.

4.    New Buses

There is limited immediate new stock vehicle availability
Lead times now for new buses are into the New Year, we have some definite requirements for which we are looking at options for, but these relate to other parts of the West Midlands.
In terms of Redditch, we need to change a number of buses.  Until, the investigation became clearer on Friday it was difficult to take any action.

5.    Late Second Hand Buses into Fleet

We have agreed to acquire 3 x 59 plate Volvo's B7RLE Plaxton Centro's from Volvo Bus & Coach Ltd.  2 of these three buses will go into the South West, the third will be used at Long Acre to replace BX62FGD which will go to Avonmouth to service the UWE contract.
We have also agreed to acquire 2 x 2006 Optare Solo 10.2m buses from Plaxtons.  These buses will go into Redditch.

6.   W901/4JNF

My preference is to dispose of all Non DDA vehicles.
 

7.   Buses For Sale

We will accept reasonable offers.  Since 2008, most financers have charged their lending criteria, this means older buses are not able to be financed.  This stops a number of people
concluding acquisitions and hence why we offer Rent to Buy options.

8.    Network Review – Redditch

This is being launched today.

9.    192

When we acquired the Diamond Bus Company Ltd in 2008, the 192 was operated by Central Connect Ltd.  I have no knowledge of the commercial relationship previously.  From my knowledge, the 192 was always supported by Worcestershire County Council.

10.    Wessex Branded MPD's

These vehicles will be painted shortly.

11.    W336VGX

We have this vehicle parked up in our yard.  We are awaiting a third party insurance assessor, as we believe the vehicle is a write off.  The vehicle I believe has been spotted in Clay Cross is W338VGX which we sold I think last year.

I think I have answered all the points, I have seen recently. 



Simon

[PM]

I have decided following the recent comments to join the forum.  My reluctance previously has centred around my responsibilities as an Officer of a Publicly quoted business, and the implications of potentially acting outside market guidelines in disclosing privileged information.  It has always therefore been easier not to be a member.
In response to recent comments I have picked up.

1.   Dunn Motor Traction Ltd t/a YourBus

I do not believe, nor am I aware that Scott has a financial backer.  I am not sure why you believe he needs one.  You can always obtain a copy of the company accounts by paying £1 to Companies House.

2.   Redditch/Kidderminster

We can always do things better.  We do have a shortage of long vehicles in our fleet and this is something we are looking to address. 
So far, we have removed all step entrance vehicles and have taken out of fleet a large number of Non DDA vehicles.  We do need to continually invest in the fleet.

3.    002

There is a certain amount of confidentiality around this, and I am unable to comment.

4.    New Buses

There is limited immediate new stock vehicle availability
Lead times now for new buses are into the New Year, we have some definite requirements for which we are looking at options for, but these relate to other parts of the West Midlands.
In terms of Redditch, we need to change a number of buses.  Until, the investigation became clearer on Friday it was difficult to take any action.

5.    Late Second Hand Buses into Fleet

We have agreed to acquire 3 x 59 plate Volvo's B7RLE Plaxton Centro's from Volvo Bus & Coach Ltd.  2 of these three buses will go into the South West, the third will be used at Long Acre to replace BX62FGD which will go to Avonmouth to service the UWE contract.
We have also agreed to acquire 2 x 2006 Optare Solo 10.2m buses from Plaxtons.  These buses will go into Redditch.

6.   W901/4JNF

My preference is to dispose of all Non DDA vehicles.
 

7.   Buses For Sale

We will accept reasonable offers.  Since 2008, most financers have charged their lending criteria, this means older buses are not able to be financed.  This stops a number of people
concluding acquisitions and hence why we offer Rent to Buy options.

8.    Network Review – Redditch

This is being launched today.

9.    192

When we acquired the Diamond Bus Company Ltd in 2008, the 192 was operated by Central Connect Ltd.  I have no knowledge of the commercial relationship previously.  From my knowledge, the 192 was always supported by Worcestershire County Council.

10.    Wessex Branded MPD's

These vehicles will be painted shortly.

11.    W336VGX

We have this vehicle parked up in our yard.  We are awaiting a third party insurance assessor, as we believe the vehicle is a write off.  The vehicle I believe has been spotted in Clay Cross is W338VGX which we sold I think last year.

I think I have answered all the points, I have seen recently. 



Simon

Really glad that you have joined the forum Simon-great to have a member of rotala on here to answer our questions etc. I understand your initial reluctance but thanks for responding to the points!

2) It is good that you aware of having too many smaller buses and I am glad that you intend to address this-though isnt K126URP still in service? It was recently as really enjoyed a ride on it!!

3) Understand this entirely but just think that an already well run and successful route could be further improved

4) Yes probably because people are buying it up to avoid the fact that soon buses will be more expensive euro6 buses And yes, i imagine the investigation made fleet changes a bit of an issue

5) great news about the three centros and does make sense to standardise long acre on centros and send the only eclipse 2 there to wessex. though not so sure about solos for redditch-more small buses are definitely not needed there!! The enviros were a good buy though in my opinion and maybe rotala could look out for more of these?

6) To my knowledge these buses are DDA compliant!!

8) Good news about the netowork review but it doesnt seem to have every redditch bus route actually on it which is a shame

9) to be honest, with regards to the 192 I would only like it to be reinstated on entusiasts grounds-i understand it is probably not financially viable

10) Great  and about point 11 all I would say here is that the new buses gets it wrong again-tonnes of mistakes in this magazine recently and the quality seems to have gone downhill or is that just me that thinks that?

Thanks for answering these points but just a couple more

Can withdrawal dates for the cadets/KS03 solos be given?

Also, how long do you think rotala will keep W567JVV, the AKW darts and the SVV and JUA and MNH darts-just interested as I like them and need to photo a couple more

And the same with the first darts and presidents-where are they being stored and when will some be withdrawn from service and also could I email rotala seperately about a depot visit to photo some of the withdrawn stuff. Is that ok?

Love the new style rotala branding eg for summer sale!! Next time, could this be put by the entrance to buses or at the bottom of the windscreen to advertise it a bit more?


Thanks very much for reading this and best of luck with improving diamond buses in the coming months

[the trainbasher]

Hi Simon.

I am a user of your 226(W) service and maybe you could answer a few questions

Why have the 2 Y plate darts been debranded?
What's with the collection of just about anything from Solos to Red Diamond pointers on the 226?
Will we be seeing newer vehicles/a new branding on the 226?

Also, why did Diamond just implement a West Bromwich extension on Sundays only for the 226W and throughout the week?

[Ash]

Glad someone from Rotala is answering some of our questions and queries so thank you for that.

I have a few general questions:

1) Is there any possibility in the future the 4 will be reinstated on a sunday to it's old 404E timetable just between Walsall and West Bromwich every 15 minutes, I caught the sunday service a few times when it was the 404E and always seemed popular with many of the mcv's been full when reaching Walsall or West Bromwich. I think the 4M every 30 minutes killed the service especially when operating just a few minutes behind NXWM 4M.

2) Will any return branding be applied to any vehicles especially the cadets which normally stay on the 4 or 301 advertising the cheap £2.50 return especially when NXWM advertise there's on their vehicles at £2.90.

3) Will 30212 return to service in the near future, also I haven't seen 30832 for a while is this bus in for repair or out of service.

Thank You.

[Stu]

Thanks Simon for taking the time to join the forum and participate here.

I don't have any specific questions to ask at this time, but as you can see from the topic that Simon Mathieson from National Express West Midlands started here in their board, it is possible to answer questions from enthusiasts without giving away any confidential or classified information, as we fully understand the position you hold.

Might I suggest that you start a new topic for people to post their questions in, as Simon Mathieson (NXOD) has done?

[winston]

Hi Simon & welcome,

Thanks for joining and giving us the ability to ask you questions, we appreciate as Rotala Plc CEO that your are tied by Stock market rules etc,

Couple of questions/points from me:

1. Do Rotala prefer to buy new buses generally from dealer stock as and when the need to upgrade/replace the existing fleet & new contract wins dictate, rather than ordering a larger batch of say 40 x B7RLE/Wright annually for fleet replacement for group and achieving a lower cost per unit for buying in bulk?

2. We were led to believe through Tony that 3 x B7RLE/Wright would be released from Wessex to Tividale upon receipt of their 4 x 13 plate examples (30936-30939) to complement their 4 new 13 plate examples & the 3 ex Midland Classic 57/08 plate examples, have plans changed or are they still expected?

3. We've noticed over the last couple of years that Diamond have withdrawn from a number of long standing commercial routes from both Long Acre i.e. 17, 37 & 97 & the 9 & 74 from Tividale, obviously the economy/reduced passenger journey's may have played some part, the B'ham City Centre omission zone (min Euro 3 requirement) another, has increased competition from NX also had an impact of your decision to withdraw?

4. Have Rotala Plc considered the 10 plate Scania Omnicity double decker ex Scania Demo or the batch of 08 plate dual door ex London Central Omnicity double deckers currently for sale at Ensign Bus & Coach as potential options to complement the examples currently at Wessex

5. How many additional B7RLE/Wright have been purchased for Wessex? I've seen a report of 2 allover white B7RLE registered BL13SWW and BL13SWX. The poster also goes on to say that there are two branded for route 13, not sure if they are also new or from the existing fleet, can you advise?

6. Have you had any more luck selling on any further redundant Levantes? I'm surprised another NX contractor didn't snap up a batch of that size for fleet replacement or even NX themselves for owned Op's

7. Do you intend to undertake a similar review of your Kidderminster operation in due course?

Thanks in advance for your reply,

[Cedric]

I hope you are doing a review of kidderminster services as there are quite a few  routes  that if they where tweak a bit  on the route they take  would be able to keep to time  better , and  most of the services finish around 6.00pm to 6.30 pm. when some people  are still at work if the y finished around 7.00 pm  would be better the other week I  missed my last bus by about  2 mins   the bus I came to Kidderminster got delay by a diversion and traffic at that was only 5.50pm which is my last bus a local service not out of town    and I had to have a taxi . and at to wait for that as they are busy at that time taking people home from  work who get together and share one  and people who missed there last bus, I know quite a few taxi drivers who have all told me this

[PM]

More new worcestershire routes, won from Johnsons http://www.diamondbuses.com/news/ChangestoservicesandfaresinWorcestershire_128.html

And improvements to 50/16 most noticeable on the 50 with a lot more morning peak journies

[Ash]

30002 been transferred down south from Long Acre I don't see the point in painting the bus into the new diamond livery for it to be transferred away within a couple of months.

[PM]

30002 been transferred down south from Long Acre I don't see the point in painting the bus into the new diamond livery for it to be transferred away within a couple of months.

Me neither unless it is to be branded for the U18 route or carry royal bath livery which has the same base colour

[PM]

V377SVV broken down today by new square west brom-didnt like the heat at all-bonnet up but driver absolutely nowhere to be seen??   :P