D&G Bus

[Rick Hunter]

RE: D&G Bus
Enviro200 32 is the only one with 82 branding now. Versa 26 has now arrived at Wincham and SR 106 has departed. 104 is going tomorrow.

(10/05/2019 11:54)knutstransport Wrote:  On the 82 again today. One of the other two buses is a plain red Enviro 200 again.

[knutstransport]

RE: D&G Bus
Multiple Solos and one Enviro 200 with the '88 Vape' advert across the back on the 88 route today. Given the 88 on the advert is more prominent than the service number on the back, perhaps it's the best route for them! On the Enviro 200 the advert covers the rear windscreen (it also covers the fake window on the back of the Solos.)

[knutstransport]

RE: D&G Bus
I think they must have added another instance of interworking between the 88 and 288. I've noticed a couple of times a Solo has worked the 07:03 Altrincham to Knutsford but the 17:50 Altrincham to Knutsford has been worked by an Enviro, so a switch is happening somewhere at some point.

While Versas now seem to be the first choice of bus for the 82.

[Rick Hunter]

RE: D&G Bus
The bus that works the 17.50 Altrincham to Knutsford comes from depot at 09.30 and makes the 09.57 Knutsford to Macclesfield

(15/05/2019 18:30)knutstransport Wrote:  I think they must have added another instance of interworking between the 88 and 288. I've noticed a couple of times a Solo has worked the 07:03 Altrincham to Knutsford but the 17:50 Altrincham to Knutsford has been worked by an Enviro, so a switch is happening somewhere at some point.

While Versas now seem to be the first choice of bus for the 82.

[iMarkeh]

RE: D&G Bus

(16/05/2019 22:24)Rick Hunter Wrote:  The bus that works the 17.50 Altrincham to Knutsford comes from depot at 09.30 and makes the 09.57 Knutsford to Macclesfield

In which case, what happens to the bus which arrives in Knutsford at 09:20? I thought that would just sit in Knutsford for the 30 minutes for the driver to have a legal break and then carry on on the 09:57?

[knutstransport]

RE: D&G Bus

(16/05/2019 22:24)Rick Hunter Wrote:  The bus that works the 17.50 Altrincham to Knutsford comes from depot at 09.30 and makes the 09.57 Knutsford to Macclesfield

Wouldn't it be the one that does 89 workings in the morning before switching to do the off pattern afternoon run up to Macclesfield, unless the bus you refer to spends an hour at Altrincham?

[Rick Hunter]

RE: D&G Bus
The bus that arrives Knutsford at 09.20 then goes to Wilmslow and does the free bus. It then does the afternoon 188 school and on certain days also Winsford college after.

The bus that comes from garage to do the 09.57 to Macclesfield actually does the 18.50 from Altrincham. It's the driver that does the 17.50 The reason you would have seen an Enviro200 on the 17.50 from Altrincham several times is due to a vehicle swap. The bus leaving depot at 09.30 is almost always an Enviro200 and the driver tends to hang onto it. When he does,the driver who takes him off for the 13.57 to Macclesfield will bring the spare bus from depot and keep it. Until handing it on at 15.35 to Altrincham. The bus coming in to form the 14.57 to Macclesfield will then be spare/shunt vehicle.

[knutstransport]

RE: D&G Bus

(17/05/2019 22:06)Rick Hunter Wrote:  The bus that arrives Knutsford at 09.20 then goes to Wilmslow and does the free bus. It then does the afternoon 188 school and on certain days also Winsford college after.

The bus that comes from garage to do the 09.57 to Macclesfield actually does the 18.50 from Altrincham. It's the driver that does the 17.50 The reason you would have seen an Enviro200 on the 17.50 from Altrincham several times is due to a vehicle swap. The bus leaving depot at 09.30 is almost always an Enviro200 and the driver tends to hang onto it. When he does,the driver who takes him off for the 13.57 to Macclesfield will bring the spare bus from depot and keep it. Until handing it on at 15.35 to Altrincham. The bus coming in to form the 14.57 to Macclesfield will then be spare/shunt vehicle.

Sounds like the workings are getting complicated. Someone previously stated the bus from the Handforth Dean free bus doesn't directly go on to the 188 but goes on to the 288 and then a bus from the 288 goes on to the 188 but they might have changed now - I think both the 08:00 Altrincham to Knutsford and the afternoon 188 are usually a Solo M880.

There's talk of new Cheshire East councilors wanting to do something about the current messy 88/188/89 timetable to make it more suitable for commuters and for people to use to get to and from hospital appointments but there won't be a budget to significantly increase the subsidy.

[Rick Hunter]

RE: D&G Bus
The main roster changed 2 weeks ago but the free bus/188 changed some time ago. The 08.00 Altrincham - Knutsford and afternoon 188 is usually worked by the same bus. Very often Solo 49 as the regular driver likes that bus. Drivers liking or disliking certain buses is why you were observing vehicle switches during the day. The timetable isn't much altered from the one that Cheshire East originally proposed. D&G have tweaked the timings on some joureys to allow more time in the peaks when buses are constantly delayed in traffic. That unfortunately knocks the hourly timetable out of synch. At least D&G can be seen to address the problem rather than when Howards ran the 27 to an impossible timetable, especially the afternoon weekdays, no change was ever made.

(18/05/2019 10:05)knutstransport Wrote:  Sounds like the workings are getting complicated. Someone previously stated the bus from the Handforth Dean free bus doesn't directly go on to the 188 but goes on to the 288 and then a bus from the 288 goes on to the 188 but they might have changed now - I think both the 08:00 Altrincham to Knutsford and the afternoon 188 are usually a Solo M880.

There's talk of new Cheshire East councilors wanting to do something about the current messy 88/188/89 timetable to make it more suitable for commuters and for people to use to get to and from hospital appointments but there won't be a budget to significantly increase the subsidy.

[knutstransport]

RE: D&G Bus

(18/05/2019 20:35)Rick Hunter Wrote:  The main roster changed 2 weeks ago but the free bus/188 changed some time ago. The 08.00 Altrincham - Knutsford and afternoon 188 is usually worked by the same bus. Very often Solo 49 as the regular driver likes that bus. Drivers liking or disliking certain buses is why you were observing vehicle switches during the day. The timetable isn't much altered from the one that Cheshire East originally proposed. D&G have tweaked the timings on some joureys to allow more time in the peaks when buses are constantly delayed in traffic. That unfortunately knocks the hourly timetable out of synch. At least D&G can be seen to address the problem rather than when Howards ran the 27 to an impossible timetable, especially the afternoon weekdays, no change was ever made.

When CEC originally put out their proposal for the 88 out to consultation there were a number of issues raised including:
1. A lack of a bus from Macclesfield to Knutsford at the end of hospital visiting hours (4pm)
2. The last bus from Macc being too early for those who finish work at 5.30pm - it was originally proposed to leave Macc bus station at 17:35.
3. Poor timings and lack of flexibility for those commuting from Macclesfield to Radbrooke Hall.

The first two issues were addressed before the new timetable started, the last was addressed at a timetable change. However, in addressing the last and changing the times to improve punctuality the first two issues have come up again. While there needs to be a bus allowing those who finish work at 17:30 to get home, it now means those finishing work at 5pm have to wait over an hour for a bus home. While the original timetable allowed someone to spend around 90 minutes visiting a sick friend/relative at the hospital during visiting hours (allowing for some time to get to and from the ward), now it only allows a 60 minute visit.

The thing I don't get, either with the current timetable or the Howards one, is when High Peak decided to start running a reduced 27 service on a commercial basis it meant CEC had to contract a Knutsford Academy to Over Peover school bus, when previously those pupils were able to catch the normal bus. If they had gone back to an hourly service with alternate services via Beggarman's Lane & Over Peover and alternative services direct via Ollerton it could have met the needs of everyone and eliminated the need for a school bus contract.

I would hope any driver preference for a specific bus doesn't alter how much capacity a particular working gets and only means something like if 'Bob' does the 08:00 you get an ex-Go Goodwins Solo M880, while if 'Fred' does it you get an ex-Airport Solo M880 and if 'Charlie' does it you get a small Enviro 200, opposed to if it's Bob it's a Solo M990, if it's Fred it's a Solo M880 and if it's Charlie it's a big Enviro 200.