Arriva Buses Wales - Rhyl Depot

[K853 MTJ]

RE: Arriva Buses Wales - Rhyl Depot
Spent the week in Talacre as previously said, the following are my general observations:

The 1 (Open Top Service) can't really be faulted the buses always turned up on time, the drivers were always very friendly and the buses themselves, all but one being Leylands when I had the pleasure, couldn't be faulted! The only suggestion I do have is that the service would benefit from an increase in frequency to every 20 minutes because as I found out staying in Talacre, it did make for a long wait sometimes, as well as the service only starting at 10pm from there, it was a bit of an inconvenience. I'm considering heading back again this week for the day to photograph the last 2 open toppers I didn't manage to this week, those being C212 GTU, and E227 WBG. Normally I wouldn't bother, but with this being possibly their last season in service, I'm keen to get pictures!
Furthermore, this seems possibly the only service which had a consistent allocation, with only 2 oddities being spotted during the week, those being T110 GGO on Sunday or Monday, and an MPD at one point as well.

Elsewhere, the allocations are varied at best, that not being a good thing. It included a 51 branded Dart on the 12, the 51 itself ranging from MPDs to DLAs (A route which this time last year was ran using Pulsars and 10.7m Darts, so overcrowding was apparent sometimes), and lastly a Pulsar on the 11/X11 when the back up Gemini was on the 12, both of which being on their respective routes all day. Not much of a back up!

The 12 is a route which desperately needs sorting, the punctuality is nothing short of diabolical. Buses were commonly 10 minutes late, with 2 arriving in Rhyl for example at once, and them leaving 5 or so minutes apart. DLAs are commonly allocated which helps to deal with the massive loads that the service inevitably gets, however they were often allocated on consecutive duties, meaning the much needed extra capacity wasn't spread very well across the board. Furthermore they all desperately need the gearbox seeing to if 4142 S282 JUA is anything to go by. We were very literally crawling up the steep hill on the approach to Llandudno, it would have been much quicker walking alongside, with many passengers commenting to similar effect. On flat sections performance was average and downhill made for a very enjoyable minute or two, screaming at the top of the revs. Overall, I'd say DLAs themselves aren't bad buses for the route, but they could really do with extra speed. This would no doubt help slightly improve reliability and punctuality.
Overall the route itself could do with a double deck allocation and an increase in frequency to at least every 10 mins!

The above are just my observations, hope they are of interest to someone, somewhere! :P

[K853 MTJ]

RE: Arriva Buses Wales - Rhyl Depot
G35 HKY is withdrawn.

[P450 SWX]

RE: Arriva Buses Wales - Rhyl Depot
Wounder whats replaced it or replacing it

[V671 DVU]

RE: Arriva Buses Wales - Rhyl Depot

(21/11/2012 22:33)P450 SWX Wrote:  Wounder whats replaced it or replacing it

I'm sure if Danny or anyone else knew they'd post... Shame to see it go though, am I right in thinking that was the last Scania in service with Arriva NW&W?

[K853 MTJ]

RE: Arriva Buses Wales - Rhyl Depot
DLAs were rumoured to be getting converted, Ive not heard anything to suggest that situation has changed thus far. If 3995 will be getting replaced, Id expect to see it's replacement turn up at St Helens for conversion sooner rather than later!
Correct Luke, considering in 2009 there was what I estimate to be just shy of 100 Scanias in the North West and Wales, the number has dwindled ridiculously quickly!

[cx04axy]

RE: Arriva Buses Wales - Rhyl Depot
What about the Bangor P-MKL'S ??? Could they be converted!! Was rumoured to be getting rid of these from Bangor ... But they are still here!! Cud one of these replace it?

[V671 DVU]

RE: Arriva Buses Wales - Rhyl Depot

(23/11/2012 19:44)cx04axy Wrote:  What about the Bangor P-MKL'S ??? Could they be converted!! Was rumoured to be getting rid of these from Bangor ... But they are still here!! Cud one of these replace it?

Unlikely due to the P-MKLs being step entrance. Could see the DLAs being converted to be honest, but I think it'd also make sense to send them to GL temporarily in place of the Enviro's that used to be destined for Green Lane. Just a thought...

[K853 MTJ]

RE: Arriva Buses Wales - Rhyl Depot
The plan for the DLAs is that they will plug the gaps left by any step entrance deckers leaving the fleet early next year.

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Arriva Buses Wales - Rhyl Depot
Rhyl had a Pulsar, 2655 if memory serves, substituting for a Gemini on the 11 corridor yesterday. Despite the step down in interior specification, it offered a superbly smooth ride and remained quite tidy inside except for some lighter burns on the frontmost row of seats. A pleasant surprise and definitely one of the best Pulsars I've ridden in a while. It was well-loaded but not packed.

[Ultralow]

RE: Arriva Buses Wales - Rhyl Depot
2648 is on the 11 today.