Xplore Dundee

[Ian Hardy]

Two McGills branded Levantes, I6008 and I6010 I believe, have arrived in Dundee this afternoon.

They would be I0608 & I0610, as I6008 & I6010 are VDL SB200/ Wright buses that originated with Arriva Scotland West.

[the trainbasher]

Which buses are on loan to McGills Xplore and which were brought back to the Midlands?

[Gareth]

Which buses are on loan to McGills Xplore and which were brought back to the Midlands?

Do you mean normal service buses? From what I gather none are on on loan to McGills. All buses were either sold or leased to McGills with the exception of 2246 and two 17** B7RLE. (I think)

[Tony]

Do you mean normal service buses? From what I gather none are on on loan to McGills. All buses were either sold or leased to McGills with the exception of 2246 and two 17** B7RLE. (I think)

Yes 1776, 1782 & 2246 will be heading south, and many buses are still owned by NX and on a 10 year lease to McGills. NX do similar things with coaches, hence the 69 plates at DeCourceys co.ing to NX when they failed. A 10 year lease takes them past 2030 the deadline for zero emissions in the West Midlands, so they are unlikely to run here

[ross4122]

They would be I0608 & I0610, as I6008 & I6010 are VDL SB200/ Wright buses that originated with Arriva Scotland West.

That's right - apologies. I0607 and I0609 are the others

[MW]

What is/was the date of transfer to McGills? I can't seem to find any dates on the various articles published in late December. They all mention that the deal was expected to be finalised at the end of 2020, but again, no actual date.

[Stu]

What is/was the date of transfer to McGills? I can't seem to find any dates on the various articles published in late December. They all mention that the deal was expected to be finalised at the end of 2020, but again, no actual date.

I was curious about this myself.

I notice just now checking the Xplore Dundee website that it has been updated and the footer links now refer to the McGills website. Though it seems NX Bus are still hosting the website for now.

https://nxbus.co.uk/dundee

[Tony]

I was curious about this myself.

I notice just now checking the Xplore Dundee website that it has been updated and the footer links now refer to the McGills website. Though it seems NX Bus are still hosting the website for now.

https://nxbus.co.uk/dundee

National Express are still providing IT support along with several other services

[Stu]

National Express are still providing IT support along with several other services

Cool, thanks for confirmation, I was wondering if this had actually gone ahead, as there hadn't been any further updates, and there was no notice for passengers on the Xplore Dundee site.

I'll move this to the Other Operators category then.

[Stevo]

As far as I can see the current Dundee liveries make no mention of National Express so I presume there's no need to stick bits of vinyl over an obsolete fleetname.

[Pat]

As far as I can see the current Dundee liveries make no mention of National Express so I presume there's no need to stick bits of vinyl over an obsolete fleetname.

It's dependant if the fonts used on the branding and logo is copyrighted by NX, in which case, it's have to be changed.

[ellspurs]

As far as I can see the current Dundee liveries make no mention of National Express so I presume there's no need to stick bits of vinyl over an obsolete fleetname.

The only thing they probably needed to do was change the contact details printed on the side of the bus from NX to McGills (unless it is already under an Xplore Dundee address).

EDIT: unless it was all just conducted as "Tayside Public Transport Co. Ltd", then it could've been achieved without changing anything.

[JIM C]

Every bus has always had TAYSIDE PUBLIC TRANSPORT 44-48 EAST DOCK STREET, as the legal lettering ,as apparently that,s what the licence is under.

[DJ]

It's dependant if the fonts used on the branding and logo is copyrighted by NX, in which case, it's have to be changed.

The font used is Neo Sans, which is commercially available, so McGills would likely just need to purchase a license for it. The logo design itself, with the modified X, would've been under copyright by NX, but I'd imagine the rights to it would have been included in the sale.

[MW]

I've been told that the recent Emeralds (69 plates) are driven by ZF gearboxes rather than Voith (68 plates).

Is this true? Why the change in drivetrain? Seems very odd..!