System One prices to go up september 30th 2012

As some of you will be aware the System One prices will go up from the 30/9/12. This blog post will look 

into the new prices and decide if these prices can be justified

First i took a look at the day ticket range

Any bus (off peak)                                       £5.00

Any bus (peak)                                £5.60

Any bus and tram (off peak)             £6.50

Any bus and train (off peak)             £6.20 - PRICE UNCHANGED

Any train and tram (off peak)           £7.20 - PRICE UNCHANGED

Any bus, train and tram (off peak)    £8.00 - PRICE UNCHANGED

As you can see a few prices have remained the same but lets look into the ones that have now 

changed 

Any bus on/off peak prices, if you compare these prices to Arriva and First the off peak price

  will cost you 

an extra 40p and on peak will cost you an extra 1 pound is it worth it? i say yes as one of these 

is valid on 

both arriva and first along with loads of other companys (maytree and SLT to name a few) 

Any bus and tram price now 6 pound 50, this again is valid on all the buses plus the entire 

tram network, 

this again is worth it as since the prices last went up the tram line has grown to reach 

Oldham town centre 

this making the ticket worth more that it did before. 

The next ticket i took a look at was Junior DaySaver priced at £2.80 this is the one for

 under 16s and 

straight away its well good of value straight away the arriva day ticket for kids is over 

3 pound so this 

ticket is well worth buying. 

Next i took a look at the DaySaver plus One at a price of  £7.10 this ticket is a day saver 

for one adult and 

one child under the age of 16 again worth perfect value as 2 of the major companys

 in greater manchester 

 charge an adult day ticket at 4 pound 60 

After that i took at look at the Group DaySaver that costs £10.50 if there are 2 adults

 and 1 child this is a 

cheaper option to consider and is still well priced 

here are some of the other prices 

Bus Saver

Adult 7 day                                    £19.90

Adult 28 day                                  £71.50

Adult 28 day (online price)              £69.50

Adult Annual                                  £745

Student 7 day                                £14.90

Student 28 day                              £53.50

Student 28 day (online price)          £51.50

Student Annual                              £560

young person prices are the same as the student price 

County Card

7 day                                             £32.00 - PRICE UNCHANGED

One month                                     £100.00 - PRICE UNCHANGED

Annual                                           £1005.00 - PRICE UNCHANGED

Overall i feel these new prices have people in mind and i would recommend

 buying these tickets.

thanks for reading please visit our website at www.buscompanys.webs.com  

Bring Back Route 620 To Bolton

This Post is to look at the missing 620 route from St Helens to Bolton 4 years after being Withdrawn.

in 2005 Blue Bus decided to sell to Arriva (blue bus was the company that stared the 620) so Arriva started to run the 620, they then decided to run it every half hour. In 2008 they cut it down to Atherton-St Helens then later the same year they withdrew it fully, still in 2008 it returned, Arriva ran it to Ashton where GMPTE would tender it to run to Hindley Green so still no direct link from St Helens- Atherton or Bolton 

Impact on passengers, the impact to the public who used the service was huge due to the fact if you live in St Helens and you want to go to Bolton you have to get a 352 from St Helens to Wigan and then get a 575 to Bolton this taking twice as long as it would on a 620, so what do you think happened? a lot of people stopped going to Bolton as it is to much messing around getting from A to B 

I spoke to a good number of people who still go to Bolton and some who used to go and they all say the same thing *bring back the 620* and i for one agree with this 100 percent it is a route that is required and would be used Regularly by a lot of people including myself 

i found Online a Blog done as a request of a regular (well was) on the 620 from St Helens-Bolton view here so there are a good number of people who would use the service on a regular basis 

Arriva say that the service was unreliable yet they have a few spare buses parked up next to the bus station to cover late running buses so that would deal with late runnings, Arriva also stated that *the route was getting low customer numbers* when the route ended it was a 30 min service however Blue Bus had it hourly and made it pay so really they should of took it down to hourly and not withdraw the full service 

today (27/7/12) i set a petition to get the service back to bolton view here 

i plan to hand this into Arriva and GMPTE 

thanks for reading this and we hope you support the move to get our service back.

Visit To Stagecoach Gillmoss Depot 22/7/12

Today i took a visit to Stagecoach Gillmoss Depot with one of my mates David Davies

Before i even got in the Depot i noticed the crashed damaged Renown in the pits with some new panels on the front (in white livery) so safe to say work on this bus is going well

Another question i know i will be asked is how many tridents are back at Gillmoss, i can tell you that when we left at 1:50 there was only 1 trident and that was on pits

Anyway the depot was cut into sections, the middle was in 4 sections ( i am calling themm sections A-D) then a numbers of buses parked at the back wall and a few buses parked in the corner

section A
buses here was solo's 47712, 47711,47710,47713 along with 24139

section B

33414 R614 GFS

33150 P451 DCW 

other buses include 32923, 33036,21110,33179,21072,33482 and 20980 


section C

24165 PO59 MWY 

24152 PO59 HYH 

24128 PO59 HXT 

21111 S452 KCW 

24177 PO59 MXL 

27716 POLL BCU 

section D

34476 PX53 DKA

other buses include 34809

Trip To Bolton 23/6/12

since i needed to buy new jeans and a birthday gift for the girlfriend so i felt a trip to bolton was needed

my first bus of the day was arriva st helens marshall dart 7634 on route 33 to st helens
not the best of buses ,the engine sounded bad and it was really slow from start to finish, the only good point about this bus was it did not rattle

arriva st helens pulsar 2 2990 on route 352 to wigan
this bus did no sound very healthy at all however it was still able to ge upto high speeds and it did not rattle at all so it did make a comfy ride.

arriva bolton wright commander 2627 on route 575 to bolton
brilliant bus! it was a quick bus with a strong engine behind it and it very even rattled! best bus i have had in a long time and well worth a ride!

i then went to get the items i came to buy

then i got 2 photos

MX58 DXE on route 37, this bus has had a recent re paint 

P528 HMP departing bolton for bury

back to riding buses and my next bus was arriva bolton pulsar 2679 on route 575 to horwich crown

this bus was slow all the way,i got to the crown late, the only good point is this bus was ratle free but overall a waste of time 

arriva bolton wright commander 2622 on route 575 to bolton 

i got this bus as i knew the driver, the bus was ok but was slow for a commander, a shame as i have high opinions about the bolton commanders but thankfully it did not rattle 

arriva bolton 2828 on route 715 to wigan 

a very good bus! it was fast with a strong engine behind it and it was quick of the mark i was very impressed, the bus was also rattle free and it gave a great ride, well worth your time.

arriva st helens wright renown 2705 on route 352 to st helens 

this bus sounded in real bad health, the bus rocked as we went over speed bumps, the must be one of the worst buses i have ever been on 

stagecoach gillmoss 27722 on route 10A to thatto heath 

this bus was really slow, you could feel each bump in the road, the bus was rattle free bus overall not a good bus.

thanks for reading! 

terence price

www.buscompanys.webs.com

any bus, any train and and tram day saver day in greater manchester 17/6/12

today i made a move on greater manchester, the county i like the most, the main aim of this trip was to take a ride on the recently opened tram line from manchester city station to oldham mumps

Arriva St Helens Marshall Dart 7647 on route 33 to St Helens
a great example of a bus,it was able to get up to a great speed and did not rattle! i was really shocked at how good this marshall was compared to some of the other examples.

Arriva St Helens Wright Renown 2701 on route 352 to wigan
this was a good bus,its one of only few renowns that sounds healthy, this bus was also able to get up to great speeds however a pole rattle did let it down a bit

Arriva Bolton 2800 on  route 362 to Copull
this must be the most well known bus wih arriva north west, it is quick of the mark but does rattle a lot, a bit of a let down for such a popular bus

Arriva Bolton Pulsar 1 2678 on route 362 to Wigan
another great bus! the bus was really fast and quite quick of the mark with a strong engine to make things better and it very even rattled, must be the best pulsar 1 with arriva north west!

i then decided to stop nipping on local services i go on a lot and get out there

South Lancs Travel Wright Solar 26 on route 132 to The Trafford Centre
i cant say to much about this bus as i spent most of the time asleep but it did have a strong engine behind it but sadly did rattle a bit at the rear!

i then took my first break of the day

First 69206 on route 100 to Eccels
this was the only decent bus pulled in when i got back onto the bus station, as we pulled out the trafford centre grounds our driver almost took us via the middle of a 4 door car. the bus itself was very impressive and did not rattle, give it a better driver and i might just ride it again

Arriva Manchester Wright Commander 2626 on route 10 to Manchester
this bus was really slow of the mark and the breaks was that bad we almost went through a red light, the bus also made a rusty noise when we was in first gear but the bus did not rattle so it made an ok ride

Metrolink Manchester 3026 to Oldham Mumps
i did not like this tram at all it was really slow and louder than most. the tram also had a funny smell and a standing load to go with it.

i then took time of for dinner and a look around as i had never been to oldham before

Metrolink Manchester 3009 to Mancheser S-HILL
this tram was slightly better than the other, it was a bit faster and did not smell however yet again it had a standing load

First 34294 on route 137 to Bury
this bus could really move! it was quick of the mark and could get to great speeds flat out, the only bad thing was you could really feel them bumps in the road but with a little TLC this bus would be well worth being preserved

Mertolink Manchester 1020 to Manchester
this tram was good, a lot faster than the newer ones and an even more cumfy ride, one of the best trams i have ever been on

First 30805 on route 93 to bury
well we got to test this buses breaks out as some car came in front on the bus but the bus was able to break in time to avoid crashing into the car, this bus was also rattle free with a strong engine behind it

Metrolink Manchester 1020 to Manchester AGAIN!!
no change from the above ride.

i then took a train to wigan from man vic and a train to thatto heath (where i live), since i know very little about trains i refuse to comment on them only to say it was a good chance to get more sleep  :D

thank you for reading this, if you have an extra 5 mins please visit our site
www.buscompanys.webs.com 

round trip friday 18/5/12

again i did my normal trip

my first bus was 2712 arriva st helens on route 352 departing st helens at 3:05pm this bus was great it dealt with a standing load well it was also fast with a strong engine and did not rattle, well worth a ride if you see it

i then took some photos one of the good ones is under

2556 arriva bolton on route 360 departing wigan at 4:35pm this bus had a few problems as a few times the bus refused to move, its doors also rattled with every bump in the road but the speed of the bus was great so no faults there

7670 arriva green lane on route 6 departing warrington at 5:35pm i was far from happy when this turned up as i hate marshals but i got on it and it was a good example of why i hate marshals it rattled when idle and when the bus moved, it was warm, the back seat got lower and lower the longer i sat on it (think it was trying to tell me something) the only good thing was it was the fastest marshal i had ever been on even i could not help but smile while we was going flat out.

3039 arriva green lane on route 6 deparing kenzington at 6:30pm THANK YOU GREEN LANE :) i was so happy when i seen that bus i was sick of that marshal i even thanked the fitter who brought the bus, this bus had an old arriva seat in at the back, this was also the fastest pulsar 2 i have had from green lane before and it does not even rattle score one to green lane and the life saving fitter i owe you one ;)

then i spent a few moments watching some fake wedding in the bus station to promote some play, was funny they was going up to all the lads and asking are you single and if you said yes it was fake wedding time :P

arriva st helens 2980 on route 10A departing liverpool at 6:45pm this bus was not the best st helens have to offer its rattles at the back was worse than ex green lanes wright axcess ultralow 5318 (thats saying something) however it was fast so got home fast.

thanks for reading if you have any free time please visit www.buscompanys.webs.com  

trip to chorley 17/5/12

today i took a trip to chorley as i had never took photos here before

my first bus of the day was arriva st helens 2699 on route 10A departing thatto heath train station at 8:30am. this bus was an ok example it did not rattle but it was not the fastest of pulsar's i have ever been on.

my next bus was arriva st helens 3026 on route 352 departing st helens bus station at 9:00am. this bus was great its the fastest 30** i have been on so far the only bad thing about it is it rattles if you break hard

next bus was arriva bolton 2682 on route 362 departing wigan at 9:55am. this bus had its good and bad points, its one of the fastest pulsar's at bolton but it does rattle a bit when breaking and going over bumps

i then spent an hour getting some photos here is one of the photos i liked

 i then started to make my return trip and my next bus was 2998 arriva bolton on route 362 depart chorley 11:55am for a start this bus pulled out 13 mins late and the driver was a grumpy one... now getting to the bus its ex manchester and this is the first time i have seen it in service at bolton, part of one of the chairs had the old arriva cushion on that must of been put on to cover a rip, the bus also did a lot of rattling

3319 arriva southport on route 375 departing wigan at 12:40pm

 i was shocked to see that on this route as they are only ment to be at southport for schools. the bus was a bit warm and did rattle a bit while the bus was moving but its well worth a ride and dare i said to be preserved.

2703 arriva st helens on route 352 departing orrell at 1:00pm. this bus has improved a bit since i last had it the bus was really fast but it rattles and rocks, must be the worst renown at st helens.

1044 arriva st helens on route 89 departing st helens at 2:00pm. this bus was fast and with a strong engine however it sounded like there was something under the bus was about to fall of.

thanks for looking, if you have the time please visit www.buscompanys.webs.com