Worcester's DD usage.

[DD12]

AS a DD-nut, I was interested to see one of our Tridents returning down the Bath Road c.19:05 tonight. It's interior lights were off, but it was displaying 363 to Ryall, so I assume it had done the 17:50 363 from Worcester to Ryall - this has been a single-decker until recently (card 57 on the bus graph).

Does anyone know :
(a) Is this a permanent change ?
(b) was it a "one-off" due to breakdown cover etc ?
(c) is this a temporary arrangement due to temporary timetables that may be affecting Upton currently ?

Willr7 !! -- was it on the S51 this afternoon ??

Thanks.

[Red Midland]

This had indeed operated the 1750 Service 363 to Ryall.
It was some nice little overtime for me as I had agreed to stop on and cover for the late running of the S51 as residents of Welland and beyond were eager to catch the connecting minibus at Hanley Swan due to the current road closure and diversion affecting services running via Upton.

Unfortunately this is not an intended allocation and was employed simply due to the Trident being my original bus that I had used for my original duty and took less time to prepare than what would've been needed to draft another bus.

Don't be too disappointed, although the last Service 333 to Upton continues to be double-deck operated during the school term as was in the shape of B7TL 32066 this evening.

[willr7]

Willr7 !! -- was it on the S51 this afternoon ??

Thanks.

Unfortunately, I would have missed it if it was on the S51 as I was only at college until 13:00 today. But Red Midland has your answer!

[DD12]

Thanks very much Guys !
And thanks especially to Red Midland - - that was a lucky coincidence that it was you driving it !

I will look at the timetable to see if that working goes through Ryall or drops-off at the Ryall turn nearest to Upton --
I've seen an Astons DD from Upton, turn right into Ryall, but I've never seen a First DD go that way.

Talking of the temporary Upton timetables, I am a bit concerned about the information provided on the First Worcestershire website (for the 332/333/363/365/373), because it has disappeared twice now, and I'm hoping that everyone around Upton knows what they need to - - like whether to wait at the Regal (Panes) Garage (ADJ or Opposite), OR to wait in the centre of Upton !

During the festival periods, I would love to see the 333 and the 363 that finish in Upton around 18.00 (and return to Worcester out of service) - return to Worcester IN service c.18.30/19.00 ish. (Mon - Fri).

Also I would have thought it would be advantageous to Upton residents to be able to travel by bus "cheaply" to Worcester, at these times, and get a taxi or a "lift" back (?)

Can anyone tell me if the driver is paid for the off-service return section to Worcester ?

And is the off-service return to Worcester counted in a drivers statutory hours limit ??

[DD12]

This afternoon there was a StreetDeck on the S3 (card 8 on the bus graph) --
there have been plenty of occasions in the past when this has happened, but when I have checked, it has coincided with there being one or two "broken" older DDs at the garage, but today there were none there --
so can anyone tell me why it happened today ??

(If it's necessary to put a StreetDeck onto afternoon schools, it seems very desirable to me to put it onto card 7 instead which includes the S44, and the 16.20 dep of the 44 from County Hall that normally uses older DDs).

[AdamH]

Trident 33043 was used on Service 417 all day yesterday (Saturday 30th June). Before you all rush out and start looking for bits of the roof, Cradley Village can not be served at the moment due to the road being closed in the village following a collapsed sewer near Cradley Brook, so all journeys ran via Stony Cross, the same as Service 418.

[DD12]

Trident 33043 was used on Service 417 all day yesterday (Saturday 30th June). Before you all rush out and start looking for bits of the roof, Cradley Village can not be served at the moment due to the road being closed in the village following a collapsed sewer near Cradley Brook, so all journeys ran via Stony Cross, the same as Service 418.

That news pleases me
I'm grateful to you Adam for posting it --

If I had seen the DD, I might have assumed it was a "regular POSSIBLE Saturday DD use" --

I've been hoping that one or two more would find their way onto Saturday services other than the 30 and the 144A.

That might also be useful during the coming months when the green Volvos are upgraded to Euro 6, and fitted with opening window vents.

I'm slightly surprised there have not been any reports of any DDs on a Saturday X50 - - but I guess they would struggle to keep to the timetable (?)


(363 to Tewkesbury by DD would be nice -- perhaps during the Upton Festivals )

[DD12]

I was very pleased to see a DD being utilised on the 16.35 333 from Worcester today (School Holiday). This is only the second time I've seen one on the 16.35, the first time being during the Easter school holiday.

This is the working that continues as the 365 from Upton to Barnards Green, and a few years ago the usual single-decker used to get very full in Worcester, sometimes with customers having to stand, and with the bus making painfully slow progress in the regular traffic jam, so I hoped for a double-decker during school term.

Unfortunately I haven't seen such good loadings recently

This Mon-Fri working is (or was) No.59 (Sch) on the Bus Graph, and runs "dead" back to Worcester (at least during the school term) --
and I'm wondering if it would be better, after Barnards Green, to put it on the 44 from Link Top (say) to County Hall at 17.58, as this was the bus that got missed off (to my "annoyance") in May, due to a peak of short-term driver sickness.
Also, the 17.58 from Link Top, originates (or did) as the 17.20 X43 from Worcester Crowngate, even though there are also departures of the 44 at 17.15 and 17.30 to Malvern, so is the X43 at 17.20 really needed ?

Focussing again on today's 16.35 333, I only caught a quick glimpse of the driver, but it may have again been that old stalwart, Mr.Mansfield (?) --

-- did anyone see a DD on the 333/363 before the 16.35 today please ??

[willr7]

You'll be happy to hear Mr DD12 that I spotted a Barbie DD (32067 I think...) driving through Drakes Broughton today!

I happened to notice that the same DD drove through Drakes Broughton 4 times (at 9:30, 10:30, 11:30 & 12:30) On my return home I checked the bus graph and the times would indicate that the bus was following running Card 57 (school days) If it was a school/college day after six X50 journeys the bus would go on to operate a 363 from WR to Hanley Castle School then back to WR and dead to Pershore for the S51 and finally another 363 at 1750 to Ryall

[willr7]

Further investigation suggests that as it's the school holidays the DD may stay on the X50 for the rest of the day operating a further 4 journeys (the NSD 1510 X50 to Evesham & NSD 1605 X50 to Worcester and then possibly operate the 1710 & 1810 back to Worcester which would normally be operated by a Streetlite Max on School days (Card 27)