(08/11/2014 13:51)joe_alker Wrote:  To me, it makes no difference what routes they are used on, it's still the same amount of diesel buses and the same amount of hybrid buses running.

(08/11/2014 14:22)Dentonian Wrote:  Now that's a new one on me! A different set of duties/bus workings for days when a football match is on. Does that mean four different sets of schedules for Saturdays (1230 KO, 1500 KO, 1730 KO or no home match); 3 sets of Sunday schedules (1330 KO, 1600 KO & no match) and even two sets of Monday-Friday schedules to accomodate evening kick-offs? I've worked in and around the industry for nearly 35 years and I've never heard such a thing - besides, there is no seperate registrions to accomodate additional running times, which would surely be the only reason for seperate schedules. No, if there is a match on, you simply make sure there are additional resources available as and when they are required, bearing in mind HE/SH run extra 216s from Manchester to the Etihad and back anyway. Oh, and ftr, City are away today.

(08/11/2014 14:01)Mayneway Wrote:  It's abit like First pioneer using thier Hybrid Solo's/Versa's on the commercial 348 instead of the subsidised services they were meant for.

(08/11/2014 15:27)joe_alker Wrote:  Well, no it isn't. The hybrid Solos/Versas are TfGM-owned. The E400Hs are Stagecoach-owned and used on Stagecoach commercial services.

(08/11/2014 17:35)Dentonian Wrote:  If it was a "cheap" point, it wasn't aimed at you specifically. Perhaps I should have explained though; If buses stay on the same route (peaks apart) they will reappear at the duty relief point (in this case Ashton BS) at the same regular intervals. However, if buses interwork, they will re-appear at different times, and so drivers would be coming off for a mealbreak, or the end of their duty at different times. For instance, if the 219 should have 10 daytime workings, on an 8 minute service, then the bus will re-appear in Ashton every 80 minutes. At a guess, the 216 is 70 minutes round trip, so even though the difference is only 10 minutes, then it still affects all duties covering both services at any point between the peaks.

(08/11/2014 17:47)Dentonian Wrote:  No cheap points here, totally agree. IF the buses had been purchased without tax-payers money, then if I was Stagecoach Manchester's MD, I would be running the 216s with wi-fi fitted Hybrids *instead* of the 219, but the original commitment was to the 219. Therefore 219s should categorically not be interworking with anything else, and the Ashton Engineers should ensure that all available hybrids are routed out on to the 219. If there is a spare then yes, put on 216, 330, 347 or anything. Equally, if there is a breakdown or unexpected congestion, then obviously a diesel is better than nothing. However, for three to appear on 216s on a Saturday morning suggests no attempt to allocate the buses properly in the first place.
Incidentally, the reason why I seem a bit "obsessive" about this, is because for so many years attention to detail and standing by their commitments (Easy access buses; branded buses on the right route; and various other measures beyond just fundamental reliability, were Stagecoach Manchester's hallmark. But in the last year or so, it all seems to have disappeared - and just as their "Friends in the North" are getting their act together.