Elsewhere

I’ve been away for a few days in Ireland and Wales – using a whole panoply of trains, buses, ferries and trams along the way. Here’s some interesting articles I’ve been catching up with: driving a tram at Heaton Park; the first new First livery in Manchester; and a look back at some previous First liveries.

First Manchester in trouble for poor punctuality

FirstGroup has been up before the Traffic Commissioner for a failure to improve reliablity of their bus services over the past twelve months. Four VOSA inspectors recorded between 17 and 26% of buses failing to meet punctuality targets in parts of Greater Manchester this time last year and not much done to improve the situation since. It can’t have been easy for First over the past few months given the roadworks in Salford – which the local press was in uproar about at the time – but that one corridor can’t account for all the late running, and other operators have demonstratably amended timetables in recent years to try and add extra running time where needed.

The hearing has been adjourned until 13th March to allow First to put together an action plan for improvements.

• Manchester Evening News – Bus firm First slammed by transport watchdog over unreliable services
• Omnibuses blog – Under the Spotlight

A new bus for Manchester?

Move over, Borismaster: it seems there’s a new Mancunian design if this bus clip-art from a FirstBus onboard poster is anything to go by. Full-length windows on the top deck will make it light and airy, though you may not want to wear a skirt. And if you’re my height (6’3″) you’re also better off downstairs as there’s much more headroom. The FirstGroup willow leaf lives on here, though in real life there are moves in Leeds on a new “local” FirstBus livery. This hasn’t achieved universal acclaim on the internet, though apparently it looks better in the flesh.

Photo: snow and sparks

Amidst this weekend’s snow, a Northern Rail diesel train heads over Castlefield Viaduct – where work has begun on the Manchester to Liverpool electrification in the shape of gantries that will hold the overhead feed wires.

If you’d like to see your photo here then get in touch!

Withdrawals and competition in the north of the county

It’s been a busy month for me with not much time for blogging: so apologies for not returning to this subject earlier. As promised however, here are the highlights from other bus service changes coming into effect this week, 29th January 2012. And there are a few “lowlights” as well with the demise of two long-standing routes into Manchester city centre from the north of the county and beyond – but some increased competition as well.

Speedwellbus becomes latest bus company to fold

Speedwellbus becomes the latest bus company in Greater Manchester to cease bus operations, following on from Bu-val, The Coachmasters and Haytons, having announced they would cease to trade yesterday on their Facebook page. The company have had their ups and downs in recent years, campaigning to save services in Derbyshire yet being fined for failure to run services. We wish the former staff best wishes and hope that new employment opportunities come along soon.

TfGM are (sadly) well-practiced in finding replacement bus operators at short notice: East of the M60 has details of replacement services, operated by Stagecoach, Stotts, Bluebird and Bowers variously.

[Image credit: "Bus stopping" by hugvok on Flickr]

Arriva regroups as First makes further tender gains

The first timetable changes of 2012 come into play over the last weekend of January (28/29th) and there are TfGM contracts changing hands. Over in Salford there’s a revised network to take into account; Arriva are losing out, whilst First seem to be gaining.