£81 Million Investment in West Midlands Bus Network

[winston]

I think the next WB corridor that should be upgrade is Soho Road, they've had ALX400s for nearly 10 years now. 48 needs deckers to complement the 129, I imagine the 83/89 will be converted to full DD when cascaded doubles arrive

My notes say the 74 was converted from Mercs to ALX400 in April / May 2008.

Judging by the differences between the fleets allocated to Dudley Rd & Soho Rd, I'd say Dudley Road makes NX more money

[Sh4318]

I think the next WB corridor that should be upgrade is Soho Road, they've had ALX400s for nearly 10 years now. 48 needs deckers to complement the 129, I imagine the 83/89 will be converted to full DD when cascaded doubles arrive

My notes say the 74 was converted from Mercs to ALX400 in April / May 2008.

Judging by the differences between the fleets allocated to Dudley Rd & Soho Rd, I'd say Dudley Road makes NX more money

I'm not sure which makes the most money, the 87 is obviously always busy. But every time I see the 74/75, they're rammed

[winston]

I think the next WB corridor that should be upgrade is Soho Road, they've had ALX400s for nearly 10 years now. 48 needs deckers to complement the 129, I imagine the 83/89 will be converted to full DD when cascaded doubles arrive

My notes say the 74 was converted from Mercs to ALX400 in April / May 2008.

Judging by the differences between the fleets allocated to Dudley Rd & Soho Rd, I'd say Dudley Road makes NX more money

I'm not sure which makes the most money, the 87 is obviously always busy. But every time I see the 74/75, they're rammed

You would need to look at the bigger picture rather than how many passengers the buses each carry, i.e. it would depend on the operating costs of each corridor i.e. total Pvr / how many drivers need to be employed / hours of operation etc

[Sh4318]

I think the next WB corridor that should be upgrade is Soho Road, they've had ALX400s for nearly 10 years now. 48 needs deckers to complement the 129, I imagine the 83/89 will be converted to full DD when cascaded doubles arrive

My notes say the 74 was converted from Mercs to ALX400 in April / May 2008.

Judging by the differences between the fleets allocated to Dudley Rd & Soho Rd, I'd say Dudley Road makes NX more money

I'm not sure which makes the most money, the 87 is obviously always busy. But every time I see the 74/75, they're rammed

You would need to look at the bigger picture rather than how many passengers the buses each carry, i.e. it would depend on the operating costs of each corridor i.e. total Pvr / how many drivers need to be employed / hours of operation etc

What is the PVR for both corridors? I would imagine the Soho Road would be larger, given short journeys to Island Road are included and given the length of the journey of the 82. The 74 starts operation from West Bromwich at 04:30 and finishes at 00:51 at Great Bridge. The 82/87 starts operation from Oldbury (04:35) & finishes operation in Dudley at 00:40

[Trident 4609]

Shaun, You say you were refering to the 79. The 79 is fine with tridents and spectas seeming it only goes to West Brom now (Doesn't serve the Soho road)

[Sh4318]

Shaun, You say you were refering to the 79. The 79 is fine with tridents and spectas seeming it only goes to West Brom now (Doesn't serve the Soho road)

You're completely missing my point. The Dudley Road was upgraded 7 years ago, the Soho Road was upgraded between 7-10 years ago with Tridents and then later ALX 400s and hasn't seen any recent investment

[Trident 4609]

Shaun, You say you were refering to the 79. The 79 is fine with tridents and spectas seeming it only goes to West Brom now (Doesn't serve the Soho road)

You're completely missing my point. The Dudley Road was upgraded 7 years ago, the Soho Road was upgraded between 7-10 years ago with Tridents and then later ALX 400s and hasn't seen any recent investment

Oh ok Shaun. I do believe that WB need some big investment soon.

[winston]

What is the PVR for both corridors? I would imagine the Soho Road would be larger, given short journeys to Island Road are included and given the length of the journey of the 82. The 74 starts operation from West Bromwich at 04:30 and finishes at 00:51 at Great Bridge. The 82/87 starts operation from Oldbury (04:35) & finishes operation in Dudley at 00:40

Pete (uniquicity) is you man for WB Pvrs,

The 82/87 had 18 x Gemini's new for the Dudley Rd and I seem to remember that wasn't enough, but then there is also now the 83 & 89 as well.

The Soho Rd corridor could well take more revenue as buses carrier higher loadings over the Dudley Rd, but that doesn't necessarily mean that corridor will be more profitable

[Sh4318]

Shaun, You say you were refering to the 79. The 79 is fine with tridents and spectas seeming it only goes to West Brom now (Doesn't serve the Soho road)

You're completely missing my point. The Dudley Road was upgraded 7 years ago, the Soho Road was upgraded between 7-10 years ago with Tridents and then later ALX 400s and hasn't seen any recent investment

Oh ok Shaun. I do believe that WB need some big investment soon.

Surely WB's due some double deckers next year for either corridor  :-\

[Trident 4609]

I think they should start repainting/refurbing the B7TL ALX400 as they.look abit scruffy at the moment

[Trident 4609]

Winston, Most of your ideas are realisic apart from in my opinion i don't think Presidents would transfer to a non plaxton garage like WA or CV but thats just my opinion. But either way some good ideas winston :)

[Sh4318]

I think they should start repainting/refurbing the B7TL ALX400 as they.look abit scruffy at the moment

I think that's their priority at the minute, 4299 has just recently been done

[winston]

Shaun, You say you were refering to the 79. The 79 is fine with tridents and spectas seeming it only goes to West Brom now (Doesn't serve the Soho road)

You're completely missing my point. The Dudley Road was upgraded 7 years ago, the Soho Road was upgraded between 7-10 years ago with Tridents and then later ALX 400s and hasn't seen any recent investment

Oh ok Shaun. I do believe that WB need some big investment soon.

Surely WB's due some double deckers next year for either corridor  :-\

They've got to be due a sizeable quantity of new buses over the course of the next two years as they now have the highest average age over all other depots

Going in WB's favour they still have large allocation of Mercs, 11 x B6LE & 8 x ALX200 which may all need replacing during that period

[winston]

Winston, Most of your ideas are realisic apart from in my opinion i don't think Presidents would transfer to a non plaxton garage like WA or CV but thats just my opinion. But either way some good ideas winston :)

Cheers  ;)

I see what you're saying, but where else can they go if suddenly 50ish become available for cascade if the Outer Circle & the 966 did actually receive new buses as I'd proposed, other than being sold out of the group, they would need to find a new home that operates non Birmingham City Centre routes, it now looks likely Pensnett can be ruled out as they will no doubt receive further Tridents as/when any more become available

[Driver03]

If WN say had Some new E400's for the 126 then they could then withdraw Spectras.

WN could have some E200 as you say for the 26/27/A/28/25/A/62/A etc


Also they could order some more B7RLE's for WB to replace Mercs.

Or WN could have no new buses for about 10 years that would be fair considering the amount of investment that has been made over there when people of West Bromwich/South Birmingham are using far older, rusting buses that need replacing. WN should have no new buses at the moment. To be honest, can't even understand why people even think WN should have new buses at the moment-are people not grateful for the many b7rles/hybrids that have arrived very recently

I have to disagree on the 10 year idea of yours. Yes WN has had significant investment recently and I do agree further large quantities of new buses are not needed, however times of lack of investment has been the problem from TWM days, not just with WN garage but all garages. Investment is greatly needed in many garages, including WN (all be it not right now).

I think its unfeasible to aim for a new fleet every X amount of years, but what would make me happy for one is a proper refurb program.

We have so many buses in different livery's its mind boggling, NXWM as a brand should have just that... A BRAND. The refurb program needs to be consistent and done properly, no different shades of white, no repaint on the outside, old interior inside, that type of thing.

If NXWM got their brand correct and consistent on all vehicles and had a good refurb program every X amount of years, I think that it self would be a good medium to long term solution.