January 2020 Bus Service Changes

[Resident 1,180]

2 hours ago, RollingJ said:

Strangely enough, I hear that sentiment on a certain forum a number of (mainly) First drivers contribute to.

I know a number of drivers and they all have the same opinion. I also heard that during the recent strike threats, the managing director was verbally abusive towards drivers then denied it when formal complaints were made to the parent company. 

 

The problems at First South Yorkshire can only be management led. You only need to go over the border to Leeds, whilst there are the odd hiccup First Leeds seems well run, buses aren't almost 20 years old & falling apart. 

[Guest busdriver1]

1 hour ago, Resident said:

I know a number of drivers and they all have the same opinion. I also heard that during the recent strike threats, the managing director was verbally abusive towards drivers then denied it when formal complaints were made to the parent company. 

 

The problems at First South Yorkshire can only be management led. You only need to go over the border to Leeds, whilst there are the odd hiccup First Leeds seems well run, buses aren't almost 20 years old & falling apart. 

There are several differences in Leeds, 

1 the fares are sustainable.

2 bus use is much higher

3 The PTE there are much less invasive into the company's operations

4 First are investing in Leeds as there is a good business there because of the above.

 

In the Meantime, several NEW buses are being moved from Sheffield to Leicester and 10 Year old buses are coming from Leeds to replace them.

Despite claims made by the company this is another book balancing Exercise to try and make Sheffield break even or heaven forbid, make some money.

Good these low fares arent they? 

On 07/12/2019 at 11:14, Resident said:

As someone who has proper IT qualifications & not "Jeff who read half the manual and just wings it", that's not entirely true. 

 

Modern banking security protocols are designed for efficiency whilst still being very secure. Checks take a matter of milliseconds. The main point of slow down comes from the equipment & data connection speeds, however the data still remains secure. 

 

Companies, such as bus firms, look at the cost of equipment & buy the bare minimum spec so poor processor & connectivity systems. 

I bow to your obvious knowledge on the subject, I repeat, I was passing on what a guy told me in good faith.

[taxman 12]

Any chance the 95s can run properly? Doubt it. My OH was forced to get a taxi tonight because of the mysterious Walkley Triangle where all the 95s suddenly stop running.

[Martin C 81]

5 hours ago, taxman said:

Any chance the 95s can run properly? Doubt it. My OH was forced to get a taxi tonight because of the mysterious Walkley Triangle where all the 95s suddenly stop running.

The drivers on this route certainly seem totally incapable of following  their advertised diversion between Bridgehouses Roundabout and Haymarket.  Would be very interested to hear the reasons for this from any of our better informed bus driving forum members.

[Resident 1,180]

On 08/12/2019 at 11:26, busdriver1 said:

There are several differences in Leeds, 

1 the fares are sustainable.

2 bus use is much higher

3 The PTE there are much less invasive into the company's operations

4 First are investing in Leeds as there is a good business there because of the above.

 

In the Meantime, several NEW buses are being moved from Sheffield to Leicester and 10 Year old buses are coming from Leeds to replace them.

 

 

 

The 'New' buses were made by Wrightbus, a company that went into liquidation a few months ago. 

The buses that Sheffield have sent away were knackered. At least 3 needed new engines and the rest had other issues. 

 

Replacements might be older but they run.

[RollingJ 1,974]

5 hours ago, Resident said:

 

 

The 'New' buses were made by Wrightbus, a company that went into liquidation a few months ago. 

The buses that Sheffield have sent away were knackered. At least 3 needed new engines and the rest had other issues. 

 

Replacements might be older but they run.

Wrightbus is now owned by a member of the Bamford family (of JCB fame), and back in business.

The buses sent away have low-powered engines unsuitable for reasonable operation in South Yorkshire and the replacements are ex-First West Yorkshire, some, but not all, with larger engines and are 7 years old.

 

And as a point of interest, are just as unreliable as those they replaced.

Edited December 9, 2019 by RollingJ
Added comment.

[Guest busdriver1]

17 hours ago, Resident said:

 

 

The 'New' buses were made by Wrightbus, a company that went into liquidation a few months ago. 

The buses that Sheffield have sent away were knackered. At least 3 needed new engines and the rest had other issues. 

 

Replacements might be older but they run.

I will be happy to bet that like others of the same type, they will give trouble free service with their new owners. What a difference a good maintenance regime makes. It also has the benefit of giving South Yorkshire lower vehicle costs. The hidden agenda

12 hours ago, RollingJ said:

Wrightbus is now owned by a member of the Bamford family (of JCB fame), and back in business.

The buses sent away have low-powered engines unsuitable for reasonable operation in South Yorkshire and the replacements are ex-First West Yorkshire, some, but not all, with larger engines and are 7 years old.

 

And as a point of interest, are just as unreliable as those they replaced.

Wait till Sheffield have owned them for a couple of years then if they are poor now, just wait.

12 hours ago, RollingJ said:

Wrightbus is now owned by a member of the Bamford family (of JCB fame), and back in business.

The buses sent away have low-powered engines unsuitable for reasonable operation in South Yorkshire 

The time honoured procedure was always to sen vehicles that were lower powered to Doncaster to run on their flatter routes. If that was the real reason, this would have been done and they could then run on the route they were bought to serve. However, as can be seen its actually about taking costs out of the failing south Yorkshire operation.

[RollingJ 1,974]

1 hour ago, busdriver1 said:

I will be happy to bet that like others of the same type, they will give trouble free service with their new owners. What a difference a good maintenance regime makes. It also has the benefit of giving South Yorkshire lower vehicle costs. The hidden agenda

Wait till Sheffield have owned them for a couple of years then if they are poor now, just wait.

The time honoured procedure was always to sen vehicles that were lower powered to Doncaster to run on their flatter routes. If that was the real reason, this would have been done and they could then run on the route they were bought to serve. However, as can be seen its actually about taking costs out of the failing south Yorkshire operation.

Can't really argue with any of that, @busdriver1 - and it has already been commented on in the SYT Forum, which I find very informative.

[Resident 1,180]

12 hours ago, busdriver1 said:

I will be happy to bet that like others of the same type, they will give trouble free service with their new owners. What a difference a good maintenance regime makes. It also has the benefit of giving South Yorkshire lower vehicle costs. The hidden agenda

Leeds have had the Wright us Streetdecks & StreetLites as long as Sheffield. They must be good in Leeds as I hear prior to the collapse of Wright us they bought some of the newer, hybrid versions. 

If they were a poor bus then why order more?

12 hours ago, busdriver1 said:

Wait till Sheffield have owned them for a couple of years then if they are poor now, just wait.

It won't surprise anyone tbh. 

12 hours ago, busdriver1 said:

The time honoured procedure was always to sen vehicles that were lower powered to Doncaster to run on their flatter routes. If that was the real reason, this would have been done and they could then run on the route they were bought to serve. However, as can be seen its actually about taking costs out of the failing south Yorkshire operation.

I've had this conversation with a few drivers. General concensus is that it's gotten magnitudes worse since FSY was announced it was for sale. 

Are the nuggets in charge tanking the share price in order to lower the asking price to get shut quickly?

 

In addendum have you seen the "apology" in the star lately, blaming wet weather for the failing buses from Garry Birmingham, the top boss. 

 

The whole statement reeks of his own incompetence and an ego that won't have him be wrong. 

 

FirstGroup, owners of FSY would do well to get rid of him and his cohorts... 

 

 

[Guest busdriver1]

2 hours ago, Resident said:

Leeds have had the Wright us Streetdecks & StreetLites as long as Sheffield. They must be good in Leeds as I hear prior to the collapse of Wright us they bought some of the newer, hybrid versions. 

If they were a poor bus then why order more?

It won't surprise anyone tbh. 

I've had this conversation with a few drivers. General concensus is that it's gotten magnitudes worse since FSY was announced it was for sale. 

Are the nuggets in charge tanking the share price in order to lower the asking price to get shut quickly?

 

In addendum have you seen the "apology" in the star lately, blaming wet weather for the failing buses from Garry Birmingham, the top boss. 

 

The whole statement reeks of his own incompetence and an ego that won't have him be wrong. 

 

FirstGroup, owners of FSY would do well to get rid of him and his cohorts... 

 

 

They were in the middle of building another batch for Leeds when they went down. Delivery has re-started now and from an engineer there "bring em on" we love em from drivers to engineers ad passengers.

Bradford run some as well and they cope well enough with their arduous hills HMMM.

 

FSY is not specifically for sale, nor is any other part. They have just said they are happy to listen to any offers that may come forward. 

 

The West Yorkshire combined authority  said they were interested in buying First in their area. It went very quiet very quickly though. I think the price was a bit higher than the failed Manchester depots went for.

[Andy C 85]

The annual price changes on many operators are implemented in the new year. First up is the announcement from Travelmaster where the big news is the introduction of discounts being offered for those who buy tickets in advance of travel, options include app, website, vending machines and paypoint shops. https://sytravelmaster.com/2020-prices/

[Vaati 11]

TravelMaster, the commercial organisation responsible for multi-operator ticketing in South Yorkshire, is making these changes to encourage the purchase of tickets by passengers before they travel by having them cost less than those bought on board. TravelMaster hopes that this will support increased punctuality through reducing delays caused by the sale of tickets on board.

For example, from 2^nd January:

• passengers purchasing a CityBus 7-Day (valid on all buses in Sheffield) on board will pay £17.50 but those buying off-vehicle will pay £16.30; the same as they currently do.
• passengers purchasing a SYConnect 7-Day (valid on all buses & trams in South Yorkshire) on board will pay £26.00 but those buying off-vehicle will pay £23.50; the same as they currently do.
• passengers purchasing a CityWide 7-Day (valid on all buses & trams in Sheffield) on board will pay £18.50 but those buying off-vehicle will pay £17.50; a 20p increase compared to the current price.

 

A £1.20 increaes of a City Wide if bought on a bus per week. That is disgusting. How can we contact TravelMaster so that we can tell them where to go with this 'update'.