Saturday Variety In A Bus Fleet

Few pictures exist of SMT buses in service on the three new commercial bus routes in Sheffield. Neither the above nor another vehicle ...

... are in SMT colours. Both were Stagecoach Manchester buses ...

... but it is not as simple as that. Before donning Burnham's Bee Bus buttercup branding, buses were beholden in blue!

That is because these vehicles, before joining the Stagecoach fleet, we're operated by GoAhead Oxford Bus ...

... even if they weren't always allocated to the correct route!

And so the Thot Plickens!

How come Stagecoach was so desperate for buses in Manchester, that the company bought from rival GoAhead? And how come, after the expense of all that yellow paint, these motors are already on the second hand market?

Sometimes the bus industry seems really crackpot.

According to Sheffield Omnibus Enthusiasts, SMT has 37 buses on its books. That is a very big lot for a relatively new company.

The interwebnet reveals a further selection of their vehicles, although fbb cannot be sure if they all remain in South Yorkshire.

These two in blue ...

... seen on a recent Tram Train replacement service, are ex Brighton and Hove vehicles.

The fact that they are blue, suggests they have been bought from a dealer, rather than their original owner, another GoAhead company, of course.

This single decker ...

... has had an SMT logo stuck on the front but retaiedn it's previous livery. Others have pictured it in the hands of Peak Bus.

Peak Bus is no longer 'with us'!

Before that YN65 SGZ lived happily at the Stonegraves depot of Stagecoach in Chesterfield ...

... where it lived long enough to gain a new livery.

Another mystery bus photographed as an SMT fleet member is this.

It is showing destination Plumbley which is a Travel South Yorkshire tendered service once numbered 55 ...

... then M55, formerly operated by T M Travel a Wellglade (Trent Barton) company. The route serves some of the more obscure hinterland of the now-old new town of Mosborough.

For SMT it adds to their collection of "inefficient" routes as it appears to rest for approx 30 min in every hour at Crystal Peaks. 

Maybe it interworks with the M44 and M45! 

Yep, possibly all three cycle using two buses. 

M44 Crystal Peaks : xx05

M44 Crystal Peaks : xx47

M55 Crystal Peaks : xx50

M55 Crystal Peaks ; xx22

M45 Crystal Peaks : xx25

 M45 Crystal Peaks : xx02 

Clever fbb; he might yet be a professional bus scheduler? 

Maybe not!

Back to the Electric Volvo.

Adorned with blotchy blue vinyls, it has been a demonstrator tried out by operators all over-the-UK. Lately, it has lost its blueness, so we may assume it has been bought or leased by SMT.

Has SMT installed a cost effective charger ...

... using simple technology in the back office ... 

... or do the drivers pop down to Tesco for the expensive stuff?

There are a few more SMT acquisitions to explore in tomorrow's blog.

≈======================

A Lick Of Paint?

... with some downloaded 'stone' for the platform face, ensures Peterville's Castle Halt is taking shape. 

Fencing for the back of the platform is on order.

Then, decisions, decisions; what colours to paint the station building and can it's cheapo Hornby origin be further disguised?

Health'n'Safety won't like that narrow platform!

≈======================

 Next Variety blog : Sunday 11th Oct 

A Familiar Name : But Not The Same (2)

 The Business Plan - Can We See?

Twenty Seven And Forty Three!

Travelling south from Rotherham along the A618, there are a whole variety of possible destinations for a bus service. You could start your journey on Corporation route 10 ...

... all the way to Chesterfield. There were local buses to Whiston ...

... and buses to Aughton, Aston, Swallownest, Wales, Kiveton and Harthill. Lately there was even a bus to Ulley.

To avoid too much nostalgia, confusion or brain strain fbb will start with this map.

It was a relatively tidy scheme devised by First Bus. It wasn't as comprehensive as in "the good old days" but it made sense. The bonus was that it gave the good folk of the Aughton Aston Swallownest 'triangle of communities a bus service to Crystal Peaks shopping centre.

Buses were hourly on each of the three routes, with 27 and 29 as shown below.

So what might we see today?

The only bus from Rotherham is the 21 ...

... just one bus an hour where once there were three; and nothing from Rotherham to Crystal Peaks. The 26/26A just twiddle around locally and infrequently. 

Here is the  current 21 timetable extract.

At least there remains an evening and Sunday service to the villages.

And along comes SMT ...

... with a reprise of the former First 27.

But the timetable is hardly a direct replacement!

There is hardly an afternoon service at all on Schooldays. There are only THREE buses back to Rotherham at 1015, 1115 and 1215; not an attractive spread for a midweek shopping expedition.

Are we looking at a potential failure?

Which brings us to the new 43.

Weill it isn't completely back! First bus once ran seven days a week ...

A First Bus map, on-line, despite being from 2018 and thus totally out of date, reveals one past version of Firsts's 43.

It's golden yellow line shows a link from Wingfield and Kimberworth Park estates via Kimberworth 'village' to Meadowhell. Frequency was an unattractive once an hour.

How does SMTs comeback kid compare?

For the new 43, SMT has solved the problem of needing weekday buses for schools. The solution is simple - just run on Saturdays and Sundays!

Neat and cunning plan, eh? But hardly "bringing back" the 43!

Their route, however is more extensive and represents better coverage of the estates but still with a less than endearing every 60 minute headway.

Again the bus appears to sit around for about 45 minutes at Rotherham; hardly an efficient use of two buses and two drivers. Maybe SMT have plans to fill the gap.

 

Should you wish to enjoy this service, it follows a particularly curvaceous trajectory through the north west of Rotherham centre.

... and continues to wiggle ...

... before a straight run to Meadowhell.

So, if you only want to travel on Saturday or Sunday, SMT offers better coverage.

Having travelled round these estates by bus in several occasions in the past, fbb defies any untrained visitor to work out which way he is facing once the gyrations start!

Musbborough Estate

Greasborough Estate

Wingfield Estate

Kimberworth Park Estate

It is really easy to lose any sense of direction.

Just for the record, and thinking of gap filling, the 27 between Rotherlham and Crystal Peaks would appear to have a self contained timetable with no spare time to integrate with the big gaps in the new 63, as seen in yesterday's blog.

An experienced industry "thinker" has contacted fbb to express concerns about SMT, notably on two counts.

1. Where is the money coming from, and what happens when the wallet is empty? There has been a huge investment in good (hopefully good!) Seconds hand vehicles. If payback doesn't happen, what then?

2. What about South Yorkshire's franchising plans? As we saw in St Helens and the Wirral, smaller operators can easily be squeezed out completely as services are franchised in big lumps!

It will be interesting to see if SMT survives.

P.S. SMT at Flat Street, Sheffield with a service 63 as featured in yesterday's blog.

=========================

It's A Station Platform!

The meat of the structure is made of a sandwich of four strips of corrugated cardboard; cheap and strong. The face will, of course, be covered with 'brick' or 'stone' or 'concrete'.

It will form a halt to serve Peterville Castle.

Clearances, however, are VERY tight. So a platform was made which would be easy to trim with Mrs fbb's old kitchen scissors. Once carriages can pass by without impacting the platform face, the job can be completed.

=========================

 Next SMT Fleet blog : Sat 10th Oct