Arriva North West - St Helens Depot

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RE: Arriva North West - St Helens Depot

(09/07/2014 09:43)Gillmoss 0324 Wrote:  If not deckers on the 10/10A then what’s the solution? Increase frequencies? A possibility but on paper I can’t see how these can go any more higher than what they are now. Deckers or not what does need to be sorted out on Prescot Road is the ‘doughnutting’ problem where you can wait +10 minutes then a convoy of buses appear with the first few rammed packed and the others which usually don’t stop more lightly loaded. Generally deckers would solve the overcrowding and that problem on 10/10A and allow the current Pulsars to be used more effectively on the 8/9/10B. 10B too has a borderline case for deckers but probably not so much as the 10/10A in my view. Despite the QBP I do feel the Prescot Road corridor needs improving and it is a bit poor that the 10/10A arguably one the most profitable and highly used services on Merseyside is using unsuitable/clapped out Darts and totally unsuitable Solos which as is the case to anyone who has spent a few hours on that corridor can tell you Solos can sometimes can hit a load of 50-60 passengers in a 30 seat space. Not a pleasant experience.

SH generally needs a bit of investment and I think a re-launch of the 10/10A is long overdue as there has there has been no proper upgrade of the 10A since 1995 and MTL days and the Pulsars can operate all SH services just like Solos can find their way on the 10/10A. I’m sure driving staff at SH do raise this to management so if management do read this forum please consider deckers (even ex-London cast offs like the 9 year old VLA’s for example) for the 10/10A as along with 4-5 other Liverpool services they really do need them. If ‘luxury hybrid’ double decks can be operating on routes with half the passengers on there to fill a slimline Solo over in the Wirral then they definitely should be operating on the 10/10A IMO.

The 10/10A had new buses only a few years ago, There isn`t much of an overcrowding issue on the prescot road corridor,it has plenty of buses per hour mainly Pulsars on all routes, The ASBO problem in some areas those buses pass thru means its very unlikely Arriva or Stagecoach would invest in deckers for these routes,i bet the cash fares and Arriva pass sales on the corridor is much lower than on cross river and South Liverpool services, i`ve seen the classic chuck a saveaway out the window to your mate happen on the 10s quite a few times,i bet a ticket clampdown on their would discover plenty riding on invalid tickets.