(16 Jan 2014, 10:16 pm)Y961 XBU wrote i agree however, there is a service or 2 at st helens that is being ran under capacity, deckers would be very much welcomed!I'd disagree that services are being run under capacity, overall. With the likes of the 32s and 33s the allocation of Solo SRs are perfectly adequate as, other than on a few peak journeys, they're seeing well under full loads across most of the route. Besides which, Pulsars are often used on split shift duties anyway to alleviate any potential overcrowding on peak journeys which, in turn, is no wasted capacity as these vehicles can then have 30 day inspections, regular maintenance etc. performed whilst back at Jackson Street during the day reducing the necessity for them to be off the road at other times.
I do agree that an allocation of deckers would be beneficial to St Helens however. What I don't agree with is that the allocation need be for the entirety of, say, the 10/A and instead, my proposal has always been that, at least, the 10A should be half decker operated. Having the 10 allocated as such (50% deckers, 50% single decks) too would be an ideal. There's no other route out of St Helens which would allow for a financially viable operation of deckers full time though, in my opinion.
Ideally though, these newer school deckers should be utilised as best as possible between weekday school duties and all day of a Saturday and school holidays. I can understand why this wasn't the case with notoriously unreliable and poorly performing DLAs but if these ex-VLWs show better potential, there's no excuse for their capacity not to be better utilised on busy boards.