Old P&R buses in Torbay

The old Exeter P&R buses have been sent down to Torbay. Apparently - and this is only a rumor - but from a trusted source - they are going to be used on the Brixham routes. Currently, Stagecoach use Mercedes 709Ds; I think you'll agree that they are a bit old now and need to go! I think it will be a much welcomed change if Brixham were to get these old Park & Ride buses. But, isn't it funny how Torbay always gets the old stuff and anything from Exeter is new? I'm sure that one day the 12 will be upgraded from ALX400s to Enviros, but where will they come from? Most probably from the 2, and then the 2 will get brand new ones. It's always the same, the drivers even say it, Torbay as a whole gets the worst of it when it comes to the quality of buses. Another example is 40434 (709D) which was previously unallocated and stored, being sent down to Torbay - it's awful and from a standing start, all you get is a big clunk and then whirring noises until you get above 5 or 10mph! And I can imagine Stagecoach's thoughts when they brought it down; "Ah, we've got one broken down in Torbay, let's just send some old banger down from Taunton, that'll do."
I think it's time Torbay got something new and not just the old stuff that's been pushed down from Exeter! It works the other way, 16721 & 16722 came to Torbay from one of Stagecoach's north England operators and then it got sent up to Barnstaple - it seems that nothing old will be brought into Exeter, but it will just be pushed around between Torbay and Barnstaple!
Rant over. All change please!

New Years Day...No Buses!

It's the same every year, no buses on New Years Day. But, why? Years ago, New Years Day was a time where nobody was at work and everyone stayed at home, but now, that's all changed; people are at work and people want to go places. Especially here in Torbay, there is a high percentage of the population who are over 65 and have no car so they'll have to be relying on taxis today. It's nonsensical in my view that there are no buses today - or trains - the whole country apart from London and the Isle of White is at a standstill if you don't have a car.

39 Going Low Floor?

Some brand new buses which were purchased as part of the new Exeter P&R project have been appearing frequently on the 39 service between Newton Abbot & Exeter via Chudleigh. These are ADL Enviro 400s numbers 195--.
Will they be continuing to use these buses on this service? I went on it a few days ago and one woman said "Long may it remain."
There are some doubts, though. When I got into Exeter, I saw another 39 leaving heading to Newton Abbot on 16601 Volvo Olympian.
Will it continue to use these brand new brilliant buses? Or, will it use its usual mix of Optare Solos, Enviro 400s, Volvo Olympians, Stagecoach Express Coaches and Volvo B10M-5Ms?

The 78's in action

Yesterday, Monday 23rd November 2009, the new 78 service run by Stagecoach Devon started operation.

You can get a look at the timetable here.

or Click here for the main post

Code Blue for 40512

--Tuesday 17th November 2009--

40512 was in Brixham on 17th November.

We were waiting at Bank Lane on the bus for its departure at 17:30. So now, it's about 25 past 5 and the ticket machine keeps turning itself on and off - driving hitting it - doing no good, driver unplugs it - no good.

Driver turns round - "we ain't going anywhere."

Full bus of passengers - "what? flat battery?"

Driver - "yep"
Now, these buses are so old that they don't even have a radio that's capable of phoning control, so the driver gets on his phone and ensures us a new bus is on its way.

Another bus comes down and is now on its way to Kingswear at 17:36, it leaves and we're left here.

So now, as you can imagine, everyone's saying something along the lines of "This is a joke!" "Bayline's making 5 million a year, and we're sat here!" "How long's this bus gonna be?" "Where's it coming from?" - You get the idea.

This obviously annoyed the driver, so much so as that somehow it now turns into a row between driver and over 65 free pass holder about something to do with free bus fares, 200 passengers carried so far and £38 pounds made in total. Well, everyone has to chip in - "I don't care!" "Londoners have free passes all their life!" So on, and so forth.

So, the next bus to Kingswear turns up and is due in at 17:58 so we've been on here for more than half an hour.

Driver gets off to ask permission for the bus on its way to Kingswear to be used on the 17:30 Furzeham bus and then when the replacement comes, the Kingswear bus can have that. No chance, Stagecoach won't let that happen.

After a lot more shouting and complaining, several people getting off and start walking, requesting better buses and explaining the "rubbish" Brixham gets, another 1/2 later - engineering van turns up!

They wheel some cables, jump start the battery - we're off!

"Thank you" a now not so full bus of people say.

Well, now we take off like some sort of moon rocket. I've never gone so fast!

The replacement was then luckily able to do the 18:30 service down to the Quay, so the delays weren't too bad!

I haven't seen 40512 since, has it met its maker?

Dawlish Closed with buses passing...

Iddesleigh Terrace in Dawlish is closed from Today until Friday between 7pm and 9pm. Buses will be able to pass between 7pm and 8pm but delays are likely. The 19:35 service 2 (Newton Abbot - Dawlish Warren) will terminate at Dawlish.

Rememberance Sunday affecting the buses

Exeter, Torquay, Newton Abbot & Kingsteignton are the only parades I know of and I know have diversions.

EXETER - Parade between Guildhall & Northenhay Gardens. Delays expected in the High Street, between 10:40 & 10:50 and 11:30 & 11:40

TORQUAY - Torbay Road between Shedden Hill and Pavilion Roundabout will be closed between 10:30 & 12:00. Services 12, 12A, 12C, X46 and X80 will operate from the Shedden Hill Junction via Belgrave Road, Lucius Street, Tor Church Road, Union Street, Pimlico and Fleet Street to the Strand.

NEWTON ABBOT - Queen Street will be closed between 10:30 & 11:45. Services 12 and 77 will operate via Torquay Road, East Street, Highweek Way & Highweek Street to the Town Centre.

KINGSTEIGNTON - Between 09:15 & 12:30, service 2 will not serve Kingsteignton and will operate via Greenhill Way in both directions.