First Manchester

[Wright Eclipse]

RE: First Manchester

(08/07/2013 16:01)P528LND Wrote:  but then again it may have been something even more exotic like the 184!

oh i bet passengers would love a Dart from Manchester to Huddersfield ,I Would actually like to catch an Enviro300 on 184,Just to see how they`d cope

[SF07]

RE: First Manchester
Darts are still used on the 415 and occasionally the 149 and 425. The Enviro 300s used mainly on the 81/81A and 408/428.

A Dart did get used once on the 184 to Huddersfield back in the days when First West Yorkshire jointly operated the Huddersfield journeys, although it was only a one-off rather than a regular thing.

http://davidbeilby.zenfolio.com/p8170023...#h3857f5cc

[mic]

RE: First Manchester

(08/07/2013 15:35)WWH44L Wrote:  Have the Darts now been withdrawn from Oldham depot now the new Enviro300s are in service?

only 40361/64/69/72/40416/31 left in service there

[Polo Mint]

RE: First Manchester
It is a shame they couldn't have got new deckers and upgraded route 81/81A with them, however the wifi and leather seats are more competitive against Stagey and JPT.

What has happened to the Eclipses on the 81? Have they been de-branded and moved onto other routes? I am guessing the 425. Or are they been transferred out of Oldham?


In the article SF07 pointed out some guy replied saying: 'Actually over the last few weeks more of the "newer" buses have been shipped out to Yorkshire and Scotland and have been replaced by S and T reg buses. Therefore I honestly do not believe that Bolton First garage will be 100% low floor. Also with regards to the older buses they will end up on services in Bolton - such as the hourly services (22, 31, 533, 536 which normally get the rubbish of the rubbish!!!).'


Does anyone know anything about that? What currently operates the 501? I know some sheds came from Yorkshire to fill in for Maytree services.

[M60lad]

RE: First Manchester
Beofore the Enviro 300s arrived the 501 was operated in the main with Wright Eclipse B7s with the odd Gemini or Enviro 400s thrown in for good measure.

As for 81 it does seem that the Eclipse's that were on there until recently have now been debranded as I haven't seen a branded 81/A for the past couple of weeks now

As for the Oldham Darts think these are staying at the moment as there's still a current issue with the mirrors on the Enviro 300s that stop them from being used on the route as they make the bus to wide for the narrow railway bridge on Foxdenton Lane/Grimshaw Lane

[mic]

RE: First Manchester

(08/07/2013 23:04)Polo Mint Wrote:  It is a shame they couldn't have got new deckers and upgraded route 81/81A with them, however the wifi and leather seats are more competitive against Stagey and JPT.

What has happened to the Eclipses on the 81? Have they been de-branded and moved onto other routes? I am guessing the 425. Or are they been transferred out of Oldham?


In the article SF07 pointed out some guy replied saying: 'Actually over the last few weeks more of the "newer" buses have been shipped out to Yorkshire and Scotland and have been replaced by S and T reg buses. Therefore I honestly do not believe that Bolton First garage will be 100% low floor. Also with regards to the older buses they will end up on services in Bolton - such as the hourly services (22, 31, 533, 536 which normally get the rubbish of the rubbish!!!).'


Does anyone know anything about that? What currently operates the 501? I know some sheds came from Yorkshire to fill in for Maytree services.

yes they have been de-branded just to to confirm yet 66835/67 58/59s starting to loose branding as well 37441/51/57/61 done so far

[WWH44L]

RE: First Manchester

(08/07/2013 23:04)Polo Mint Wrote:  It is a shame they couldn't have got new deckers and upgraded route 81/81A with them, however the wifi and leather seats are more competitive against Stagey and JPT.

What has happened to the Eclipses on the 81? Have they been de-branded and moved onto other routes? I am guessing the 425. Or are they been transferred out of Oldham?


In the article SF07 pointed out some guy replied saying: 'Actually over the last few weeks more of the "newer" buses have been shipped out to Yorkshire and Scotland and have been replaced by S and T reg buses. Therefore I honestly do not believe that Bolton First garage will be 100% low floor. Also with regards to the older buses they will end up on services in Bolton - such as the hourly services (22, 31, 533, 536 which normally get the rubbish of the rubbish!!!).'


Does anyone know anything about that? What currently operates the 501? I know some sheds came from Yorkshire to fill in for Maytree services.

Bolton only has 4 step vehicles that are the four S/T reg Olympians that were moved over from FSY and repalced the remaining older Arrows. The rest of the fleet is low floor and has been for over a year now and nothing has been shipped out to Scotland or Yorkshire since the B7RLEs entered service back in 2006!!! The none overground routes were the mainstay of the Darts, then the Scanias (still 10 in service) and more so the B7RLEs of which there are 61 of these and only 10 of these now need repainting.

The average age of the fleet at Bolton is 4.7years now but people still moan and hark back to the "good old days". I've knocked First over the years for many a reason but I do believe things have changed for the better. The fleet, especially at BN has never been in better shape!!

The 501 btw is now the mainstay of the new Enviro300s.

[Polo Mint]

RE: First Manchester
Thanks for the replies, funny that First Oldham only branded a few routes like the 58 and 81 and now they have been de-branded again.

I assumed that fellas post was a bit misleading but wanted to check if there was any truth to it. First Manchester have a modern fleet and it is a lot newer compared to most First Bus divisions where R-W reg vehicles make up a majority of the fleet.

Are all the Scanias moving to Yorkshire? Or will there still be a few left?

[jimbo]

RE: First Manchester
Well first oldham js tbe most profitable in greater manchester for first

[mic]

RE: First Manchester

(09/07/2013 17:35)Polo Mint Wrote:  Thanks for the replies, funny that First Oldham only branded a few routes like the 58 and 81 and now they have been de-branded again.

I assumed that fellas post was a bit misleading but wanted to check if there was any truth to it. First Manchester have a modern fleet and it is a lot newer compared to most First Bus divisions where R-W reg vehicles make up a majority of the fleet.

Are all the Scanias moving to Yorkshire? Or will there still be a few left?

i get weekly reports so know whats going on another 2 lost branding are 37449 and 66867