D&G Bus

[mikestone]

RE: D&G Bus
White roofs are a TfL Requirement to reflect heat I believe.

[knutstransport]

RE: D&G Bus

(10/08/2019 12:25)mikestone Wrote:  White roofs are a TfL Requirement to reflect heat I believe.

So dirty cool buses then. Although, TfL probably require bus roofs to be kept clean as well, while councils in Cheshire and Staffordshire don't.

[Nwales Bus]

RE: D&G Bus

(10/08/2019 12:25)mikestone Wrote:  White roofs are a TfL Requirement to reflect heat I believe.

TFL Buses have white roofs with a fleet number so that they can be tracked inn CCTV

[knutstransport]

RE: D&G Bus

(10/08/2019 18:15)Nwales Bus Wrote:  TFL Buses have white roofs with a fleet number so that they can be tracked inn CCTV

I've noticed before the ex-Metroline Enviros at D&G have numbers on the roofs - are they still the Metroline fleet numbers or have they been updated?

[Nwales Bus]

RE: D&G Bus

(11/08/2019 08:52)knutstransport Wrote:  I've noticed before the ex-Metroline Enviros at D&G have numbers on the roofs - are they still the Metroline fleet numbers or have they been updated?

Will still be the Metroline number

[mikestone]

RE: D&G Bus
Fleetlist updated to include 58 and the minibuses removed.
;
I've not seen the white Enviro this week.

[knutstransport]

RE: D&G Bus
Saw one of the 55 reg Solos recently on a 82 pulling out of a bus stop bay on the A559 - even on a wide road the driver couldn't pull out without crossing the line in the middle of the road, the maneuvering must be awful on them. The longer 10.8m Enviros and Versas don't seem to have that problem.

On an unrelated note I've seen some responses about the 88 service from a survey. Common complaints are that it's slow, infrequent and that it isn't an effective way of connecting with Intercity train services at Wilmslow station - on the second point some saying they have stopped using the service now that there are gaps of over an hour between services.

[Rick Hunter]

RE: D&G Bus
The 55 reg Solos are very bad to manouvre, especially 140 as it doesn't have a very good right lock. In Wilmslow the right turn down to the station can't be made without mounting the pavement. A couple of drivers go wrong way through bank Square so as to approach the lights straight on. Turning into Altrincham bus station can be interesting too. They have such a long wheelbase. However they do have a large seating capacity which is handy on the Radbroke Hall journeys.

Many drivers also complain of the slow running times on certain 88s, particularly the later ones. Hale Barns to Wilmslow has way too much time. Wilmslow to Knutsford is about right, maybe take a couple of minutes off between the station and Chapel lane shops but put them in from there to Knutsford.

(16/08/2019 18:39)knutstransport Wrote:  Saw one of the 55 reg Solos recently on a 82 pulling out of a bus stop bay on the A559 - even on a wide road the driver couldn't pull out without crossing the line in the middle of the road, the maneuvering must be awful on them. The longer 10.8m Enviros and Versas don't seem to have that problem.

On an unrelated note I've seen some responses about the 88 service from a survey. Common complaints are that it's slow, infrequent and that it isn't an effective way of connecting with Intercity train services at Wilmslow station - on the second point some saying they have stopped using the service now that there are gaps of over an hour between services.

[knutstransport]

RE: D&G Bus

(16/08/2019 23:27)Rick Hunter Wrote:  The 55 reg Solos are very bad to manouvre, especially 140 as it doesn't have a very good right lock. In Wilmslow the right turn down to the station can't be made without mounting the pavement. A couple of drivers go wrong way through bank Square so as to approach the lights straight on. Turning into Altrincham bus station can be interesting too. They have such a long wheelbase. However they do have a large seating capacity which is handy on the Radbroke Hall journeys.

Many drivers also complain of the slow running times on certain 88s, particularly the later ones. Hale Barns to Wilmslow has way too much time. Wilmslow to Knutsford is about right, maybe take a couple of minutes off between the station and Chapel lane shops but put them in from there to Knutsford.

I've never got why D&G took the 13 reg Solo SRs off the 88 - they seemed to be the ideal buses for the route with smaller Solos not good for the peak time journeys and bigger/older buses being more difficult to maneuver when there's some tight bends in Wilmslow and narrow roads in both Morley Green and Over Peover.

I recall one day I caught a 88 from Knutsford to Wilmslow for an appointment and it was around 15 minutes late leaving Knutsford. The service I caught in the opposite direction was the return working for the same bus and despite being 15 minutes leaving Knutsford, it was still 5 minutes early arriving at Bank Square in the Knutsford direction.

The evening weekday workings to and from Macclesfield also annoy the non-Radbrooke Hall workers. The 17:15 from Knutsford to Macc sits at Radbrooke Hall for ages and those working normal office hours in Macc have to wait until 18:15 for a bus home and it's not like they can even ask to leave work a bit early one day to get an earlier bus as the previous one is 15:45, while if the 15:45 is moved to 16:45 the timetable doesn't meet the needs of those using afternoon visiting hours at Macclesfield Hospital. It really needs an hourly service between Knutsford and Macclesfield, even if 2 hourly is fine for some of the villages like Ollerton and Over Peover.

Under normal traffic conditions it takes 7 minutes to do Knutsford Bus Station to Falcon Bearer Longridge, allowing for some pick ups and drop offs on the way. The 300 timetable used to be for exactly 7 minutes but D&G extended it to 12 for daytime services around the time Aldi was being built as that was causing delays to services and at that time pretty much all 300 services were running late but that problem doesn't still exist. However, D&G have now made it 10 minutes on the 88, even at quieter times.

Also noticed the former A&P Taxis office next to Knutsford Bus Station, which was empty for a number of years, is now being leased by Passenger Cars Group who are promoting £3 off your first journey booked via our app - possibly trying to get new customers who are fed up with waiting for buses? I find it surprising D&G haven't taken over that little office, given it would provide someone small for drivers to take their breaks without needing to leave a bus out-of-use at Knutsford Bus Station for most of the day.

[knutstransport]

RE: D&G Bus
There was a Versa without a working destination display on the 82 yesterday. Someone had printed the number 82 on a A4 sheet of paper and stuck it to the front windscreen.