(31 Aug 2022, 12:39 pm)Adrian wrote A dedicated spare on a route with a PVR of 4? 25% spare capacity for one route...If an E400 was also in Spare Xlines it could also cover for the X21 as well.
You'd have the same problem if a bus broke down 5 minutes from a depot though? Someone is going to have to wait with the bus on most occasions, until it's either a) driveable back to the depot, b) Alpha can come and recover it.
It should only take 50 minutes or so for a fitter to get to Middlesbrough in a van. I'd imagine they'd just take the driver back North, as there's little point running the trip, by the time you get down there with a replacement bus. I doubt the fitter will be down hours on end either, as most should be able to give an initial assessment on whether or not whether it needs a tow... pointless spending hours trying to fix something roadside, when you can tow it back and fix at your leisure.
Also lets say
Driver spends 10-15 mins trying to fix the fault
Calls the Depot 5mins
Mechanic 60-90 Mins to come
Try to fix the fault 10-20 Mins
Call recovery 45-90 mins
That adds up.