In my view the best buses that have plied the X80 / Gold service between Plymouth & Torbay were these fine Olympians
34192 May 2005
First did attempt some route branding but it wasn't brilliant. Would have been better without the contorted woman on the side to be fair. The clean look as above works much better. You cant help but think if the present team at First (and the new relaxed group policy towards liveries) were in place they could and would have done so much more to promote this service.
34197 May 2005
In the 18 years I lived in Torquay First Devon & Cornwall Buses Limited did a very good job of marketing and promotion of the X80 & saw off the Stagecoach X45 . The X80 ended not because it wasn't commercially sucessfull but do to FirstGroup internal politics & Stagecoach saw the opportunity to consolidate its network
ReplyDeleteThe X45 only ran a few months in retaliation for First introducing Paignton-Torquay shorts in retaliation for Stagecoach Devon competitive services against First in North Devon as Chris Hilditch & Marc Reddy locked horns.
DeleteIt's easy to forget First used to operate a good network against Stagecoach in Torbay. For many years I only bought a First Weekly Ticket living in Wellswood. We had the 64 & 65. The 66 to Brixham. The 111 to Dartmouth , 189 to Newton Abbot as well as the Transmoor Link. The X45 was quite simply run off the road by the X80 Stagecoach couldn't compete and the X80 shorts used open toppers which were popular with visitors. First ran a very good network in Torbay from Totnes garage its easy to dismiss them now but they offered lower fares & excellent timetable booklets as well as great publicity I rarely used Stagecoach when I lived in Torbay First were far superior.
DeleteReally? That's not how I remember things ar all. The X80 shorts were a disaster and barely carried anyone even using open-toppers. The X45 sometimes carried good loads but it was mostly OAPs and thus had a problem with ENCTS reimbursements vs. its costs. Both routes were wasteful and achieved nothing so it was sensible that both were cancelled fairly quickly. First's big problem was the massive variability in the vehicle types used, their condition, and their generally unappealing, worn-out interiors with random mis-matched moquettes. As soon as First made the infamous "almost in close-down mode" comment and Stagecoach had the good fortune to be able to source a batch of brand new Gold-spec Scania deckers which happened to be spare, having been ordered for a subsequently delayed route up-country, the game was up. First's X80 offering was nowhere near being able to compete with that; by then it was a motley collection of ageing step Olympians and Darts with the odd Trident thrown in. First had ample opportunity to make the X80 a quality route but even when they did try to upgrade it, it was always a case of what they could get away with, such as the Airbus Olympians (as nice as they were) or the similarly vintage ex-Southampton ones. It was the same story in Noth Devon, where Stagecoach used a fleet of ex-Oxford Tridents to present a consistent image against First's random mix of anything and everything. FD&C could do some good publicity, offer good fares and have friendly drivers but they didn't half have a knack of shooting themselves in the foot.
ReplyDeleteCorrect!
DeleteI remember when I worked at FDC doing x80's in the summer one day I had Bristol VR 1155! hardly a good advert!
Deletethe airbus Olympians were lovely to drive but in the summer when the heating was stuck on they weren't very nice!
I always say in their bus war with citybus... citybus didn't win really First beat themselves
DeleteI agree with you there, First never really took Plymouth seriously as hard as the local management tried too turn things around like the P&R E400s it wasn't long before they were snapped up for use elsewhere. Running around clapped out old VRs, B6RLE's, Darts and the like was never a good image for such a big company. Often their services in Tavy & Launceston were well known for not "when" the bus would turn up but "if" the bus would turn up. Hence why Western Greyhound, Citybus & Stagecoach did so well in taking over from them.
DeleteThe 64, 65, 66 & 111 were purely supported services not competition as such. Stagecoach then won the 66 & 111 contracts & Local Link the 64 & 65. The X45 was withdrawn as the X80 shorts (undercutting Stagecoach by £1!) were also, ending the competitive spat in Torbay! The later Stagecoach Gold service ended the First X80 & X81.
ReplyDeleteSpot on!
Delete64 65 66 111 were on a NIL tender until a change of policy at FirstGroup. The 64 & 65 often had standing loads leaving Harbourside to my home in Illsham Road. The X80 & X81 combined to make an half hourly service to Totnes & when I worked at First they were one of the most profitable services of ours in the South West. We only pulled out of Totnes due to a change in corporate policy. When Stagecoach cut services to Wellswood to just the 32 & 32T the 64 & 65 actually went commercial. The Open Top X80 shorts were very popular with tourists as they axed the 200 when Stagecoach ditched its open top services. They didn't return the following year only because of yet another corporate reorganisation. The Torbay services generated great margins I should now I was one of the companies accountants before leaving for Rotala!
ReplyDeleteIs the Gold service to Plymouth coming to an end?
ReplyDeleteWhat makes you think that? It might reduce in frequency at certain times but it is still reasonably well used.
DeleteRumours are it is going to be reduced in frequency rather than cut.
DeleteBoth wrong. Changed in a different way, not coming to end or reduced in frequency.
DeleteWhen are Stagecoach Plymouth area changes?
DeleteAiming for September but may yet slip
Delete