Questions for the NXWM Operations Director

[John]

Maybe a simpler solution would have been to have the core routes at WA in the 30 series, WB 40 series (of which many are) & WN 50-60 series, Dudley 20 series if ever re-numbered. These would then tied in with the former area numbering series

Thats a good idea Winston. But you would only be able to have 10 Dudley routes renumbered, 10 Walsall routes renumbered etc...

[winston]

Maybe a simpler solution would have been to have the core routes at WA in the 30 series, WB 40 series (of which many are) & WN 50-60 series, Dudley 20 series if ever re-numbered. These would then tied in with the former area numbering series

Thats a good idea Winston. But you would only be able to have 10 Dudley routes renumbered, 10 Walsall routes renumbered etc...

Granted, but you could always have had as follows:

20 series PE core routes / secondary routes 120 series
30 series WA core routes / secondary routes 130 series
40 series WB core routes / secondary routes 140 series
50-69 WN core routes / secondary routes 150-169 series

Obviously something would then need to be done with the numbering of the 120, 126, 140, 141 etc which fall within the secondary route numbering proposals. The 126, 140 & 141 could be renumbered to 9W, 9D & 9M respectively by using a similar variants as per the 4, 4H & 4M scheme / to highlight awareness that they are fitted for Hagley Road combined frequencies. Or re-number them ending with a nine?

What ever happens with route re-numberings, it needs to be all or nothing, otherwise you end up with some in the new scheme/some in the old etc

[Trident 4609]

Tbh i think the numbering system does work as it is now but could do wth some minor adjustments

[Stu]

Renumbering the 529 to 52 does kind of make sense, as you then from Walsall have the 51 to Birmingham, and the 52 to Wolverhampton.  ;)

Anyway, lets not clog up this thread any more...


Back to topic...


Simon, one of your staff has claimed on my Facebook page that the 94 service is 'meant to be relocated from Perry Barr' to ease overcrowding there. It is my understanding that most NX garages are pretty much near capacity now, so I was wondering if you had any insight to possible route/vehicle transfers that could alleviate Perry Barr being 'over-stuffed'?

The only possible garage that could take over the 94 service realistically is BC, but I don't know whether BC have enough capacity to do so. If AG have any spare capacity, could a BC route be transferred there to free up some space? One that springs to mind is the 58 service; if AG took this over, drivers could changeover either at Swan Island, or Solihull station.

Of course, there is also the slim possibility that this guy doesn't even work for NXWM, so I'm also inclined to take whatever he posts on my page with a pinch of salt!  ;D

Long-term though, if all current garages are at or near full capacity, it seems it will be difficult for NXWM to expand further without opening a new garage somewhere.

[NX OD]

Dom, Arriva Wednesfield still have some vehicles in Midland Livery and very few are repainted ex Midland Buses. Most were already arriva buses transfered from London and other garages across England.

It would be nice to have new vehicles at WN but we already have had 49 B7RLE's and 21 hybrids.

I say just give the 126 some brand new branding.

One question NXOD, You probably may not know but do you have a clue if the Spectras will be withdrawn soon?

The Spectras will depend on next years delivery and the cascade plan resulting from that.

[NX OD]

Just curious seems to be a lot of compliants about the 66 in the evening mail recently and what i've read on here, i.e loss of passengers because of frequency reductions and reliability issues.

Seems you must be losing a lot of passengers over recent years on this route. Got any plans to revive the fortunes of this route?

The recent change to the 66 is working well with the change to a Kingstanding terminus so we now need to build on that rather than change it again.

[NX OD]

Hi Simon, thanks for your previous response, and thanks for passing it on for consideration!

Something else which frequently crops up on my West Midlands Bus Users Facebook page, is the subject of route renumberings, especially after previous network reviews.

How much of this is actually down to NXWM, or is it more of a decision that Centro have made, based on passenger feedback, that NXWM have had to simply just comply with?

Personally, I agree with the route renumberings, and rather than confusing passengers (who soon get over the initial 'shock' and accept the changes), it mainly seems to bother the enthusiasts, when they don't know exactly which '5' service people are referring to! Is this also a problem for the Customer Service team when responding to customer feedback and complaints? (eg, "waited 20 minutes for a 5 which never turned up")

Hi,

The route renumbering probably has more to do with NXWM than Centro but they are willing particpants to the principle.

Many of the routes that have been renumbered have seen passenger growth higher than those that have not been renumbered so it seems to work. 

I am a big believer in buses being a local product relevant to local people and so Wolverhampton should have its own local numbers as should Coventry or other places.

Simon, I appreciate you know more than the rest of us, but surely the fact that several 'renumbered' services will also have seen route changes will have more of a bearing on passenger growth or the fact other service changes during the review will have forced people on to that route?

For instance, whilst the WA6 may show higher passenger numbers than prior to the review, would this not be more likely due to the fact the timetables were co-ordinated with the 7 between Walsall & Aldridge (a bigger gap potentially between the service in front) and the reduction in journeys from Walsall to Sutton (from 7 to 4) to what was offered pre-review?

Or perhaps the WA41, might have passenger growth, but this would most likely be as a result of all passengers along Lucknow Road etc. no longer having the quicker 340 available to them?

Both routes operate virtually identical timetables pre & post review and have been in operation for several years, so surely the other factors would have a bigger impact on growth rather than the fact the route number has lost a digit or two?

Yes there will be some elements of other factors having an impact for sure but like lots of things, it is the whole package that matters.

[NX OD]

Hi Simon, thanks for your previous response, and thanks for passing it on for consideration!

Something else which frequently crops up on my West Midlands Bus Users Facebook page, is the subject of route renumberings, especially after previous network reviews.

How much of this is actually down to NXWM, or is it more of a decision that Centro have made, based on passenger feedback, that NXWM have had to simply just comply with?

Personally, I agree with the route renumberings, and rather than confusing passengers (who soon get over the initial 'shock' and accept the changes), it mainly seems to bother the enthusiasts, when they don't know exactly which '5' service people are referring to! Is this also a problem for the Customer Service team when responding to customer feedback and complaints? (eg, "waited 20 minutes for a 5 which never turned up")

Hi,

The route renumbering probably has more to do with NXWM than Centro but they are willing particpants to the principle.

Many of the routes that have been renumbered have seen passenger growth higher than those that have not been renumbered so it seems to work. 

I am a big believer in buses being a local product relevant to local people and so Wolverhampton should have its own local numbers as should Coventry or other places.

Simon,

are there any plans to renumber services in Dudley/Stourbridge

Stuart

No, not at the moment.

[NX OD]

They have less buses than us to paint or replace.

To paint all our buses in to the same livery will take on average 5 years assuming no delays in the paint shop (which happen often because some buses need more preparation than others).

Arriva/Midland haven't painted all their fleet, there are still several red ones. Also they have done it by replacing old buses with similarly aged old buses already in livery from elsewhere.

Have a look at how many Arriva Midland buses are in the old Arriva Livery, including a few at Wednesfield, and how many in the current livery and you will see NX are well ahead of Arriva in getting all their fleet in one livery, same with First Group

But the same argument applies in relation to the size of NX's UK bus fleet; it is approx a quarter of the size of both Arriva's & First Groups total UK fleet strength.......

NX's repaint programme has already been on-going for some six years and there are approx 280 buses (Pete can confirm exact numbers) still in TWM low floor / toothpaste livery, additionally the majority of these buses will be remaining in the fleet even after the 300 new buses have all been delivered, as the bulk of them are B7TL & Trident / ALX400's. Other than some TC / TWM liveried Mercs, the majority of all withdrawals between now & June 2015 will more than likely be in NX livery.

Another issue is that the early NX repaints & 57 reg buses (particularly the E400's) delivered new in NX livery are also now look scruffier than some of the TWM liveried buses still awaiting their turn in the paintshop

I don't quite understand the point about Arriva and First?  Neither of those groups have ever got all their buses in a standard livery and First have started on a new one already.

When I said 5 years I meant that if all was well then this is how long it would take but in reality some of the buses take longer to prep than others, sometimes garages can't release buses to the paintshop on time and other factors can influence the throughput such as preparing buses for the Olympics.  We are also unlikely (these days) to paint buses that have a short life span in the company.  So it has been taking longer and we still have some way to go - but we are getting there.

[NX OD]

Was going to ask about two bus routes in particular.

Firstly, to echo comments above about the 66, no word of a lie it has been ruined travelling through nechells and star city, and I know of a number of people who have given up on it completely and now use the 65/67 to work in nechells and walk from the Lichfield Road.

Secondly the 28. I've always wondered why the evening and sundays service (and indeed half the daytime services) don't go all the way to Scott Arms? It's a very useful link for a lot of people and at the moment it either requires a walk from Perry Beeches to Dyas Road or going most of the way into the city centre to come back out again.

Hi Kevin,

I think the 66 is much improved since the recent change so let's hope people come back to it.

The resource needed for the 28 to extend it evenings, Sundays and for the other half in the days to Scott Arms would not be matched by the demand.  I am not sure there is that much demand from Dyas Road to Scott Arms.

[NX OD]

Renumbering the 529 to 52 does kind of make sense, as you then from Walsall have the 51 to Birmingham, and the 52 to Wolverhampton.  ;)

Anyway, lets not clog up this thread any more...


Back to topic...


Simon, one of your staff has claimed on my Facebook page that the 94 service is 'meant to be relocated from Perry Barr' to ease overcrowding there. It is my understanding that most NX garages are pretty much near capacity now, so I was wondering if you had any insight to possible route/vehicle transfers that could alleviate Perry Barr being 'over-stuffed'?

The only possible garage that could take over the 94 service realistically is BC, but I don't know whether BC have enough capacity to do so. If AG have any spare capacity, could a BC route be transferred there to free up some space? One that springs to mind is the 58 service; if AG took this over, drivers could changeover either at Swan Island, or Solihull station.

Of course, there is also the slim possibility that this guy doesn't even work for NXWM, so I'm also inclined to take whatever he posts on my page with a pinch of salt!  ;D

Long-term though, if all current garages are at or near full capacity, it seems it will be difficult for NXWM to expand further without opening a new garage somewhere.

Since Lea Hall closed I have not sat in any meeting where we have discussed moving the 94 out of PB.  Not sure where that report has come from.

[Trident 4609]

NX OD, Don't know if i have asked already but are WN going to change the TWM logos on the tridents as there doesn't seem to be any progress being made. But saying the WN tridents are being repainted at a rapid rate

[winston]

They have less buses than us to paint or replace.

To paint all our buses in to the same livery will take on average 5 years assuming no delays in the paint shop (which happen often because some buses need more preparation than others).

Arriva/Midland haven't painted all their fleet, there are still several red ones. Also they have done it by replacing old buses with similarly aged old buses already in livery from elsewhere.

Have a look at how many Arriva Midland buses are in the old Arriva Livery, including a few at Wednesfield, and how many in the current livery and you will see NX are well ahead of Arriva in getting all their fleet in one livery, same with First Group

But the same argument applies in relation to the size of NX's UK bus fleet; it is approx a quarter of the size of both Arriva's & First Groups total UK fleet strength.......

NX's repaint programme has already been on-going for some six years and there are approx 280 buses (Pete can confirm exact numbers) still in TWM low floor / toothpaste livery, additionally the majority of these buses will be remaining in the fleet even after the 300 new buses have all been delivered, as the bulk of them are B7TL & Trident / ALX400's. Other than some TC / TWM liveried Mercs, the majority of all withdrawals between now & June 2015 will more than likely be in NX livery.

Another issue is that the early NX repaints & 57 reg buses (particularly the E400's) delivered new in NX livery are also now look scruffier than some of the TWM liveried buses still awaiting their turn in the paintshop

I don't quite understand the point about Arriva and First?  Neither of those groups have ever got all their buses in a standard livery and First have started on a new one already.

When I said 5 years I meant that if all was well then this is how long it would take but in reality some of the buses take longer to prep than others, sometimes garages can't release buses to the paintshop on time and other factors can influence the throughput such as preparing buses for the Olympics.  We are also unlikely (these days) to paint buses that have a short life span in the company.  So it has been taking longer and we still have some way to go - but we are getting there.

Simon,

The Arriva / First Group comment was more directed at Tony with his response re: Arriva Wednesfield repaints i.e. 'They have less buses than us to paint or replace' i.e. against the Arriva & First Group repaint comments NX also have fewer buses to repaint / replace compared with those much bigger UK groups

Have NXWM considered using outsider refurbishers / painting contractors to help clear the backlog of repaints to get closer to the 5 year repaint cycle?

[Trident 4609]

Do they already use outside contractors for refurbishment. Theres a place in Willenhall (Walsall) on the 40 bus route on an industrial estate that usually has NX buses parked up outside. Can't remember the name of the place

[winston]

Do they already use outside contractors for refurbishment. Theres a place in Willenhall (Walsall) on the 40 bus route on an industrial estate that usually has NX buses parked up outside. Can't remember the name of the place

Yes they use Trailways for refurbishing, but I don't believe they do painting? Tony can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they only deal with one bus at a time, as they are only a small outfit,

WJF were used in the past for painting the Bendi's