BSIP+ money (Tewkesbury improvements)

[AdamH]

Using BSIP+ money, Gloucestershire County Council have issued contracts to improve a number of evening and Sunday services in the county, with the Tewkesbury area getting a significant slice of the pie...

Service 41 running between Ashchurch (Station), Tewkesbury and Cheltenham now has an hourly evening service with the last bus leaving Cheltenham at 2330, or 0030 on Friday and Saturday nights. This change started last month.

Service 71 running between Ashchurch (Station), Tewkesbury and Gloucester also has a new hourly evening service, inter-worked with the 41 to give a 30-minute frequency between Coombe Hill and Ashchurch. Last buses from Gloucester are 2147, or 2247 on Friday and Saturday nights. This is due to start on 3rd March.

Service 71 also has a new Sunday service, with an hourly frequency between 0810 and 1710 over the full route. (41 already had a Sunday service running to 2150).

Elsewhere in the County, NightBus services are being introduced with the N1, N8, N10, and N12, on Friday and Saturday nights. The "N" route numbers are used when the bus departs the terminus after 0100, and have have restrictions on DayTicket use. However, Evening Tickets are valid and they are typically 50% the cost of an equivalent day ticket.

Service 24 that runs between Gloucester, Cinderford, and Coleford will be expanded on Sundays only to Monmouth.

And it's not just Stagecoach using up the BSIP money as Pulhams Coaches will be expanding their 801 service to run between Cheltenham and Chipping Norton, and will also be introducing a new Service R in Cheltenham, to replace Stagecoach Service F that was withdrawn last year due to the driver shortage, and also to give a new link to Bishop's Cleeve.

[AdamH]

Further improvements in Tewkesbury, albeit some time off at the moment, will be the introduction of electric buses on the 41, 71, and T routes, as announced by Gloucestershire County Council... https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/electricbuses/

[AdamH]

Stagecoach have now ordered 42 electric buses to be used at Cheltenham and Gloucester depots.

These will be a mix of ADL E400EV and E200EV models for use on Tewkesbury services and the busy 94 route between Cheltenham and Gloucester. They are expected to enter service in late 2025 or early 2026.

[DD12]

Can we have your ADL E400MMCs please Adam (?) !!

[AdamH]

Can we have your ADL E400MMCs please Adam (?) !!

I'll see what I can do!

Obviously the local team would like to keep hold of them to replace the many Tridents we still have, but allocations between operating companies is done at Group level and we don't really have much say in the matter.

Also, when I was a driver I always felt that the Scania with the Enviro400 bodywork was the better bus. The way they drove reminded me of the Volvos that Worcester have used on and off for years. The very newest ADL chassis version has bridged that gap a lot and is a superb bus to drive, but on balance I still prefer the newest Scanias. Maybe the Scania just ages better than the ADL? As it happens, I'm borrowing a 21-reg Scania from Gloucester depot on Monday morning for a little trip to Glastonbury. I'm looking forward to that!