2021 Arrivals and Disposals

Vehicle and Fleet discussions for First Midland Red Buses Limited or its predecessor, Midland Red West Limited.
willr7
Posts: 527
Joined: 21:53 Friday 11th August 2017

2021 Arrivals and Disposals

Post by willr7 » 11:27 Friday 1st January 2021

Happy New Year everyone! - To celebrate I shall start a new transfers thread! :lol:

I think this year we can expect more B7Ls from Leicester & hopefully some of the Citaro's will start appearing to replace them... :D

willr7
Posts: 527
Joined: 21:53 Friday 11th August 2017

Re: 2021 Arrivals and Disposals

Post by willr7 » 23:04 Monday 4th January 2021

To kick start the new year, the following transfers have taken place; ;)

63363 (WR > Leicester)
64048 (Slough > WR) :mrgreen:
66307 (Leicester > WR)
66308 (Leicester > WR)
66317 (Leicester > WR)
66318 (Leicester > WR)

So, we now have 7 ex. Leicester Volvo B7L's. (All 7 were used in service today)
And 63362 will be the final StreetLite Max to join the rest at Leicester.

TimBrown
Posts: 1280
Joined: 05:59 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Worcester

Re: 2021 Arrivals and Disposals

Post by TimBrown » 09:07 Tuesday 5th January 2021

A nice panoramic view of the garage and patch taken from Asda's car park courtesy of Bob Hemming on Monday 4 January 2021. Citaro 64048 is clearly visible and I reckon the Volvo in the foreground is 66308 if I am reading the faint fleet number above offside front wheel correctly.
garage jan 4 b.jpg
As we are back in the dreaded lockdown, I guess there will be many changes to timetables and vehicle policy if the ban on public movement goes on for very long.

I am also feeling helpless and angry that Worcester is losing Euro 6 exhaust emission Streetlite Max buses to Leicester for their CAZ ruling and we are getting dirty exhaust 19 year old Volvos and 12 year old cramped Citaros in place of them. Though Slough is in the Greater London area it is not, as far as I can tell from Google, a CAZ yet so any buses from there will probably only be to Euro 2 or 3 emission grade. I wonder if our City and County Councillors realise what is happening in an area where pollution levels are beyond safe levels in certain parts of the City - they should hang their heads in shame for voting out a proposal for a CAZ in Worcester about two years ago.

ANDREW
Posts: 761
Joined: 00:38 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Bromsgrove.

Re: 2021 Arrivals and Disposals

Post by ANDREW » 11:57 Tuesday 5th January 2021

I reckon there are still 10 Citaro's at Slough. :x

bringstybeast
Posts: 49
Joined: 18:17 Saturday 9th July 2016

Re: 2021 Arrivals and Disposals

Post by bringstybeast » 14:56 Tuesday 5th January 2021

TimBrown wrote:
09:07 Tuesday 5th January 2021
A nice panoramic view of the garage and patch taken from Asda's car park courtesy of Bob Hemming on Monday 4 January 2021. Citaro 64048 is clearly visible and I reckon the Volvo in the foreground is 66308 if I am reading the faint fleet number above offside front wheel correctly.
garage jan 4 b.jpg
As we are back in the dreaded lockdown, I guess there will be many changes to timetables and vehicle policy if the ban on public movement goes on for very long.

I am also feeling helpless and angry that Worcester is losing Euro 6 exhaust emission Streetlite Max buses to Leicester for their CAZ ruling and we are getting dirty exhaust 19 year old Volvos and 12 year old cramped Citaros in place of them. Though Slough is in the Greater London area it is not, as far as I can tell from Google, a CAZ yet so any buses from there will probably only be to Euro 2 or 3 emission grade. I wonder if our City and County Councillors realise what is happening in an area where pollution levels are beyond safe levels in certain parts of the City - they should hang their heads in shame for voting out a proposal for a CAZ in Worcester about two years ago.
Citaros are euro 3/4, the old Eclipses are Euro 3. There’s an economic element to it all as, depreciating over 17 years, those 19 year old Eclipses have a book value of £0 and that value cannot get any lower with age, so there’s no need to charge for the cost of buying the bus against profit/loss. Similarly, if depreciation is based on a percentage of residual value then a Citaro that is 14 years old will reduce in book value by less per year (absolute value) than a 5 year old Streetlite, and based on accounting policy it will cease losing value altogether in just 3 years time!

Personally I would like to see more lightweight buses that are cheaper to run in service give the operation a chance - and B7s and Citaros aren’t very fuel efficient, especially against the enviros they replaced. I guess somewhere, someone has done the sums and think more can be saved from depreciation than from fuel economy.

Economics are a fairly big factor if it’s perceived that First are unable to make enough money to justify providing a useable turn up and go service in Worcester. And a clean air zone really won’t help if it means extra costs to provide that service (and likely to apply to buses and lorries only and not cars - tilting things even further the wrong way). You need to be careful what you wish for as the depot site on its own is probably worth more than the company as a going concern at the moment!

TimBrown
Posts: 1280
Joined: 05:59 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Worcester

Re: 2021 Arrivals and Disposals

Post by TimBrown » 18:14 Tuesday 5th January 2021

The threat of closure to Worcester Padmore Street has hung over the property for 'time immemorial' going back to early 1990's and probably way back to NBC days - so what has changed?

Sadly, it confirms my feeling that Worcester is being side-lined as the poor cousin with Leicester and now Potteries having investment on clean air Euro 6 emission buses as per attached link;

https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/st ... rt-4841901

In particular this extract from above article;

First Potteries has also agreed to spend £3.5 million on up to 15 new buses which meet the Euro VI emissions standards, once this infrastructure work has been completed.

willr7
Posts: 527
Joined: 21:53 Friday 11th August 2017

Re: 2021 Arrivals and Disposals

Post by willr7 » 21:46 Tuesday 5th January 2021

63362, the final StreetLite Max entered service at Leicester today. Just the six StreetLite DFs remain, but for how long... :lol:

lrew120585
Posts: 102
Joined: 15:51 Sunday 3rd July 2016
Location: Hereford

Re: 2021 Arrivals and Disposals

Post by lrew120585 » 09:35 Wednesday 6th January 2021

The B7s were a damn sight nicer to drive than the Streetlites!!

TimBrown
Posts: 1280
Joined: 05:59 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Worcester

Re: 2021 Arrivals and Disposals

Post by TimBrown » 11:04 Wednesday 6th January 2021

I am not a big fan of modern day Wright bus products, but being tall and disabled I can appreciate the decent legroom. If I tried sitting facing forward in some of the Citaro seats my artificial leg knee unit would smash the plastic seat back of the one in front and the prosthetic socket cause excruciating pain in my crotch. With regard to Euro 6 exhaust emissions, a conversion can be done to older buses as was/is the case with the whole batch of 'Salt Road' Volvos - and before the accountants come back at me I realise it is an additional cost and counter this because it was probably covered, or partly covered, by Government grant. Incidentally these buses are reasonably comfortable and have sufficient legroom for my six foot frame.

IF the Streetlite DF and Street Deck buses were to be transferred elsewhere as may be the case it would mean the above mentioned 'Salt Road' Volvos are Worcester's most modern buses at just over 11 years of age, it would also mean that not one bus remaining was delivered new to the garage and the whole garage allocation is second-hand. Food for thought?

HA08
Posts: 8
Joined: 19:26 Sunday 18th June 2017

Re: 2021 Arrivals and Disposals

Post by HA08 » 22:46 Thursday 14th January 2021

It seems more citaros will be on their way soon as Berkshire has started replacing them with refurbished and Euro 6 Wright B7RLE's, 69391 being the first. Interestingly this one is branded for the 7 which the Citaros used to be branded for before being put into various colours for other routes after being displaced by Volvo 7900H's.
https://www.facebook.com/FirstBerkshire ... 807247243/
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