Central Buses

[Tony]

I have now now done the full refresh on all the Central Buses fleet
http://wmbusphotos.com/Central/fleetlist.html

I believe I have a photo of every vehicle ever operated by them. All vehicle histories have been put on, what I am missing is 8 of the body numbers if anyone can help?

Tony

I also have:-
G349GCK   Dn Dt 8.5SDL Dp B??F acq 9/03, sold 2/04
AHZ5196  MB 709D  RB B24F  acq 12/04 sold ? (J218KTT)
N356OBC   MB 709D   Ar B27F acq ? sold 1/05
S105LBL   Oe So M850   Oe N30F acq 1/09 sold `10

Alan

I have now found my photo of N356 OBC, so another off the list
I don't have a photo of G349GCK with Central, but I have one of it with BMT which I will find.
For some reason I don't seem to be able to find a photo of AHZ 5196, I know I took one, it was fleetnumber 1011, can anybody help to complete the set of this operator?

[John]

Just been announced that Central Buses are pulling off the 28 from Sunday 9th June.

[Stu]

Just been announced that Central Buses are pulling off the 28 from Sunday 9th June.

Which will no doubt free up a couple of buses for their new S2 and S3 services.

[John]

Not sure if this is old news but 'MX56 HYA' is now in the new Central Buses Fleet livery, seen it Friday evening turning into the depot

[the trainbasher]

Been like it for donkeys I believe

[winston]

Central buses service changes from 9th June,

82 / S2 & S3 are cancelled before they even started???

PD1021409/51 - CEN GROUP LIMITED, UNIT 14A, TAMEBRIDGE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, ALDRIDGE ROAD, PERRY BARR, BIRMINGHAM, B42 2TX

    Cancellation Accepted: Operating between Walsall Bus Station and Kingstanding given service number 76 effective from 09-Jun-2013.

PD1021409/58 - CEN GROUP LIMITED, UNIT 14A, TAMEBRIDGE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, ALDRIDGE ROAD, PERRY BARR, BIRMINGHAM, B42 2TX

    Cancellation Accepted: Operating between Solihull Railway Station and Coventry given service number 82 effective from 09-Jun-2013.

PD1021409/59 - CEN GROUP LIMITED, UNIT 14A, TAMEBRIDGE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, ALDRIDGE ROAD, PERRY BARR, BIRMINGHAM, B42 2TX

    Cancellation Accepted: Operating between Solihull, Poplar Road and Dorridge (S2)/Hockley Heath (S3) given service number S2/S3 effective from 09-Jun-2013.

[gac_uk]

The 82, S2/S3 were registered as a commercial operation as the loading information on the tenders issued by Centro in February suggested that they were commercially viable. The incumbent operator has since decided that they would not deregister their existing service (which is their right to do so having built up the patronage over the last couple of years) and they will operate these journeys instead on a commercial basis. The 76 has been cancelled due to NX extending one of their services from Kingstanding to Walsall along the 76 route as part of the North Birmingham Review, thus the Centro contract is no longer required.

[winston]

The 82, S2/S3 were registered as a commercial operation as the loading information on the tenders issued by Centro in February suggested that they were commercially viable. The incumbent operator has since decided that they would not deregister their existing service (which is their right to do so having built up the patronage over the last couple of years) and they will operate these journeys instead on a commercial basis. The 76 has been cancelled due to NX extending one of their services from Kingstanding to Walsall along the 76 route as part of the North Birmingham Review, thus the Centro contract is no longer required.

Thanks for the explanation Geoff,

So Diamond have got some fight in them then......

[PM]

The 82, S2/S3 were registered as a commercial operation as the loading information on the tenders issued by Centro in February suggested that they were commercially viable. The incumbent operator has since decided that they would not deregister their existing service (which is their right to do so having built up the patronage over the last couple of years) and they will operate these journeys instead on a commercial basis. The 76 has been cancelled due to NX extending one of their services from Kingstanding to Walsall along the 76 route as part of the North Birmingham Review, thus the Centro contract is no longer required.

Thanks for the explanation Geoff,

So Diamond have got some fight in them then......

Fair play to diamond-these services are a high class operation in terms of vehicle quality-perhaps timetabling does need to be looked at.

[Steveminor]

Wins ton I don't think You can assume Diamond have got any fight in them just because they haven't cancelled the signature network. It would have been interesting to see if they would have competed with Central Buses or just packed up with their tail between their legs after a few weeks/months

[winston]

Wins ton I don't think You can assume Diamond have got any fight in them just because they haven't cancelled the signature network. It would have been interesting to see if they would have competed with Central Buses or just packed up with their tail between their legs after a few weeks/months

Steve,

Fair point, but they have blocked Central Buses from commencing commercial journeys; whether it would have been the same outcome had it been NX or Arriva launching on there is debateable???

It will be interesting to see how/if at all Diamond respond to competition from NXWM's new 936 service

[Ash]

I've used the 82 quite a lot the buses are superb citaro's best in the fleet, drivers very friendly and never been late once. Spot on.

[PM]

I've used the 82 quite a lot the buses are superb citaro's best in the fleet, drivers very friendly and never been late once. Spot on.

The 82 does seem to do very well it is always busy although often with non-fare paying passengers

[Ash]

I've used the 82 quite a lot the buses are superb citaro's best in the fleet, drivers very friendly and never been late once. Spot on.

The 82 does seem to do very well it is always busy although often with non-fare paying passengers

Yeah very true, most passengers either have a concessionary pass or an n bus/network ticket. Not sure how much a bus company can make out of solely having concessionary/nbus/network pass holders.

[John]

Central buses are starting a new 92 from Lichfield to Sutton from 29th April.

http://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/transport/publictransport/buses/docs/busservicechangesapril13updated.pdf