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New Blackpool buses after cash injection



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Published Date: 10 May 2008
By Shelagh Parkinson
SIX new buses will soon be carrying passengers round Blackpool thanks to an investment of around £660m in vehicles.
It means Metro Coastlines now operates 50 Optare Solos, one of the biggest fleets of this type in the country. The Solo buses, with their distinctive, curvaceous front ends boast ultra-low step-less entrances and CCTV systems.

It also increases th
e low-floor wheelchair accessible bus fleet to 97.

Line three will become Blackpool's fourth guaranteed low-floor bus route – the guarantee being that every journey will be operated by a low-floor bus with a ramp and a dedicated space for a wheelchair.

Significant

Coun Henry Mitchell, chairman of the board of Blackpool Transport, said: "The introduction of these new low-floor vehicles will further improve the quality of service that both locals and visitors receive from Metro Coastlines.

"The company is investing in new low-floor vehicles as fast as it is able to in order to convert all its other lines to guaranteed accessible operation by 2013/2014.

"The cost of new buses is very significant – even new minibuses of this type cost £110,000 each – but the benefits to the elderly, people with mobility difficulties and parents with small children are huge."



The full article contains 212 words and appears in Blackpool Gazette newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 10 May 2008 9:37 AM
  • Source: Blackpool Gazette
  • Location: Blackpool
 
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1

westmalle,

Blackpool 10/05/2008 10:12:44
Which of course means that in the event of a breakdown there will have to be a low floor bus available to replace it...and...it will have to be the right colour! Not available and a bus goes missing from the route.
2

baldred,

10/05/2008 14:34:01
What a load of rubbish, westmalle, Blackpool Transport have a fleet of generic route liveried buses that are low floor and the same type of vehicle used on line three, so if there's a breakdown they can replace the bus with a non route liveried bus, therefore still remaining 100% low floor,. Have you never noticed all the black buses driving around town?
3

westmalle,

Blackpool 10/05/2008 15:10:33
Six buses may come in, at least six buses will go out. That's the way of cost cutting public transport these days. A minimum number of spare vehicles are kept. They'll get rid of some more of the old minibuses when the frequencies are reduced on some of the routes.
4

andthatsall,

11/05/2008 02:04:31
Buses in Blackpool should be handed over to a private company, then you,d have the investment in new buses that you see the likes of Arriva and First make. Plus it would probably stop all this leaving customers standing there while they change drivers for the 14th time, or stop all this stopping for 10 minutes at every other bus stop to get back on time.

As someone who lives in an area where buses are operated by First and Arriva, and someone who also uses blackpools metro coastline alot at weekends, id have the say the pro's of private bus companies easy make up for the cons.
5

baldred,

11/05/2008 09:23:48
I don't agree the fares on private company are much greater for longer journey's, plus blackpool transport is making the investment in new buses, there have been very significant purchases in past years, and due to the tramway repairs the amount to spend on new buses has gone down.

With over half of the fleet now low floor blackpool
transport are doing a pretty good job if you ask me.

As for changing drivers, that's the law i'm afraid drivers can only drive for a set amount of time. Arriva and first drivers will change, maybe this happens before you board the bus.

And waiting at the stop might be annoying but if they don't and the bus runs early, then people who get to the bus stop for the time the bus is due to arrive might miss it, therefore resulting in unhappy customers.
6

tasty morsel,

11/05/2008 11:42:43
andthatsall, what did you mean by : "it would probably stop all this leaving customers standing there while they change drivers for the 14th time"

14 changes ? WOW !
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