First Bus - Potteries

[barry619]

All the S-AEH Scanias are out of service now. The rest of that list looks accurate bar the five 41xxx Darts - they are among the most modern of Potteries' Darts (albeit 03-plates), are DDA compliant and in the new livery. Wires crossed there, I suspect, although the SCC bodies are not noted for build quality and they could have perhaps developed serious structural faults?

The word re some more StreetLites this year is also good gen apparently. Potteries has considerable work to do if it is to meet January 2016's DDA requirements for single-deckers. None of the L113s comply (although they are down to penny numbers now) and a considerable number of earlier L94s don't either. That's before you come to midis...

Then the Alexander B7TLs will also need upgrading before January 2017. Potteries would also benefit from more double-deckers from elsewhere as overcrowding is an issue on a couple of services where they mix with single-deckers.

[Ashley 60171]

All the S-AEH Scanias are out of service now. The rest of that list looks accurate bar the five 41xxx Darts - they are among the most modern of Potteries' Darts (albeit 03-plates), are DDA compliant and in the new livery. Wires crossed there, I suspect, although the SCC bodies are not noted for build quality and they could have perhaps developed serious structural faults?

The word re some more StreetLites this year is also good gen apparently. Potteries has considerable work to do if it is to meet January 2016's DDA requirements for single-deckers. None of the L113s comply (although they are down to penny numbers now) and a considerable number of earlier L94s don't either. That's before you come to midis...

Then the Alexander B7TLs will also need upgrading before January 2017. Potteries would also benefit from more double-deckers from elsewhere as overcrowding is an issue on a couple of services where they mix with single-deckers.

Cheers for that one Barry. I wouldn't mind but the 101 ought to be solid deckers, the 3/4 could do with more deckers as well.

[Bob]

The 101 scanias only get busy in the peaks.  I work in stafford n they go past every 20 mins throughout the day theres always plenty of seats left. Maybe a decker timed to run on busiest peak trips but wouldnt need much more than that

[Ashley 60171]

The 101 scanias only get busy in the peaks.  I work in stafford n they go past every 20 mins throughout the day theres always plenty of seats left. Maybe a decker timed to run on busiest peak trips but wouldnt need much more than that

They may not be that busy in Stafford but try getting a seat at the Hanley end most days and nights

[Bob]

Been on it on a sat loads of times

[barry619]

The 101s would benefit from 'deckers (and there was a rumour about a year ago that it was going to happen) at the northern end of the route as Ashley has said, as it's the quickest way from Newcastle to Hanley and also generates signifiant demand in Stone. There are also strong numbers to Trentham Gardens at times. The 101s are a prime candidate for 'flagship' treatment along the lines of Stagecoach Gold, Sapphire, etc.

Those 3s which go to Crewe pass under a bridge in Kidsgrove which is too low for the B7TLs, which limits double-deckers' use to the 'branch' which goes to Talke Pits and then back to Hanley via Newcastle. That said, it would be a worthwhile improvement if they at least converted this section to full-time DD working. The 32A journeys to Alton Towers are also a problem and will get worse during the summer; there are a number of B7TLs at Adderley Green for this service, but not enough to cover ever duty. Again, more needed.

If it works, the following Twitter pic gives an indication of why the 32/32A bunch should be double-deckers:

https://twitter.com/GBlazer82/status/581544370236563456

[Bob]

They used to use the G-XRE Olympians on the Crewe route. I think they may have been low height

[Bob]

Potteries definitely needs investment though. Prior to the handful of streetlites the newest vehicles were generally the 06 plate omnicity's. The average fleet age must be shocking lol

[Ashley 60171]

Potteries definitely needs investment though. Prior to the handful of streetlites the newest vehicles were generally the 06 plate omnicity's. The average fleet age must be shocking lol

The fleet might be old yes but the main thing Is that its reliable for its age. Potteries drivers wouldn't mind abit of investment but they're not keen on OmniCities or Streetlites but do Like Wright Eclipse products or "smileys" as they call them

[Bob]

The fleet might be old yes but the main thing Is that its reliable for its age. Potteries drivers wouldn't mind abit of investment but they're not keen on OmniCities or Streetlites but do Like Wright Eclipse products or "smileys" as they call them

Not keen on strsetlites eh? A arriva cannock driver on the 1 said in his 13 yrs there they were the worst bus hed ever driven. Do they not suffer many breakdown issues up there then?

[Ashley 60171]

Not keen on strsetlites eh? A arriva cannock driver on the 1 said in his 13 yrs there they were the worst bus hed ever driven. Do they not suffer many breakdown issues up there then?

In the two years ive been going up to stoke ive seen two breakdowns, a Marshall Dart and a B7RLE. Unless I miss all the fun

[Bob]

Blimey. That puts arriva to shame

[Ashley 60171]

Info from a Yahoo group reports that Streetlite 63250 is at Heynsham Docks due here. How many are on order?

Edit

It is in the same livery as the ones already here and also branded for service 6. Apparently it has a different engine to the others as well

[Ashley 60171]

63250 now in service
53120 is another ex Norwich Solo transferred here
60015 and 60196 back in use. I know Tony's most recent fleetlist displays these as withdrawn but I personally dont think they were withdrawn

34311 was out on the 3/4
18 branded OmniCity on 32/101 tonight

Also of note, I didn't see any ALX200 Darts and there were noticeably fewer Flolines and Ultralows out compared to what I normally see, could be a school holiday thing but hope this is of interest

[barry619]

There have been quite a few of the older L94 Scanias which have been taken out of service and stored inside at Adderley Green only to be returned to use a few weeks/months later. I imagine that it happens when an in-service bus develop a defect or requires substantial work for MoT and that one of the then-stored examples is cheaper to fix and put back on the road.

The same happened with the seven or eight L94s which were moved from Northampton after First vacated the depot there. They had been out of use for many, many months (and well over a year in one case) but a small number were slowly resuscitated and put into service in Stoke to replace 'native' Scanias which were too expensive to fix/MoT. Presumably some of the better ones will be modified before January to satisfy DDA requirements.

There is just one ALX200 Dart remaining in service, at Adderley Green, and it is one of the ex-York T-NUA examples. The surviving Olympian is in use most days on either the Cherry routes or the 98/99 services, remarkable given its age although it is in very good condition and will perhaps make a good buy for a Yorkshire preservationist in time...

StreetLite 63250 is the same one that was displayed at the NEC last November and has been renumbered because it's a Euro 6 example, thus putting it into the same series at those which will be delivered as part of this year's order.