(12 Nov 2014, 10:24 pm)Dan wrote Like I said before, I'm really not complaining as an enthusiast... As a customer who also has disabled family members, it irritates me slightly at the decision which has been made (but hey ho, I'm not in a position to see this changed).
Those of you who regularly follow the "Go North East - Rare & Odd Workings" thread will know I've been quite negative about Stanley in the past for the same reason! Let's not forget that it costs the company money to offer a complementary taxi service should a disabled user be unable to use a service due to a high floor vehicle being allocated...
They can - but it would seem local management has chosen against it (which I didn't realise). Hate to provoke further discussion by discussing other operators in the region, but whilst branded spare vehicles are a growing thing of the past with Go North East (admittedly for the reason that it's difficult to justify having a bus which potentially has a value of £200,000 sitting doing nothing all day), they still do exist...
Go North East's X7 and Stagecoach North East's X34 are not too dissimilar, in the sense that both services have a PVR of three. Go North East has a branded spare vehicle which rarely sees use on other services but regularly isn't required, meaning that it's either sat at Peterlee Depot or Deptford Depot all day unless required. Go North East manages to justify having a four year old heavy-weight single decker vehicle spare a lot, but Stagecoach North East cannot manage to have a seven year old vehicle sitting spare?
Volvo Olympians see higher associated running costs and the potential for higher costs due to complementary taxis being offered, yet Stagecoach cannot justify having an active spare vehicle in the fleet? Struggle to see the business sense, but maybe it's just me...
I fail to see the business sense in having a £100k vehicle sat doing nothing... However I can't help but feel Stagecoach have failed here - there are fully depreciated Tridents at Stockton they could use. They are accessible to disabled people unlike the Olympians. There is no stipulation in the contract with the school contract (that Stockton's double decks are used on) for low floor buses and therefore using an extra Olympian for a couple of weeks would not be a huge issue.