Firstly it looks as though a new round of bus cuts is on the way, which is most definitely not good news. Beestons ae withdrawing the Sudbury - Great Cornard circular and reducing the frequency of their 91 Sudbury - Ipswich service, which I find astonishing as whenever I've used the 91 it's been very well patronised.
Sanders are also cancelling several services, although most seem to be Sheringham - Holt services, which will continue to be served by other services. The 33 North Walsham - Cromer will be operated by Our Hire, so I assume that is a tender changing hands. No details on either operator's website yet so I'll give more details when they are available.
Speaking of Beestons they have got their new 86 seater ADL E400 MMC SN17 MTK out on the road. The bad news is it's for Two Sisters contract/private hire work only so trying it out will prove tricky. My thanks to Dave at Beestons, though, for sending me a pic of this, erm beest! Dave also informs me another one is expected early next year.
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| Beestons new E400MMC |
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| 66979 on the 1 to Lowestoft. pic (c) Cameron Robinson |
You can see how false and misleading this is. If anyone knows who is behind this account please let me know- anonymously if you like - so he/she can be stopped and dealt with. Thanks.
I managed a ride on one of Borderbus's newly acquired ex Stagecoach London Scania Omni Citi deckers last week. As I expected a decent ride, not many rattles, copious legroom upstairs but dear God the seats. I lasted half hour before my backside said enough. The sooner those seats are introduced to padding the better. Have to say though it did look good in Beccles.
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| Former Stagecoach Scania LX59 CNJ in Beccles |
You will remember I had a pretty ghastly experience at Euston a few weeks ago courtesy of London Midland's non existent customer service. As promised I have been following up my complaint, and after a letter addressing the wrong complaint (they guessed) I finally got an email 3 weeks after sending in the complaint that they couldn't open the attachment so actually had no idea what the complaint was about. Negotiations are on going as they say but the way things are going I won't accept anything less than my own train!! It's a Go Ahead company btw.
Which brings me nicely onto Anglian. It has been decided to turn the Ellough site in Beccles into an out station, Go Ahead claiming that a PVR of 18 doesn't justify full depot status. As I understand it the offices and workshops are being mothballed, all management and admin are relocating to eithe Dereham or Norwich, and only two leading drivers, cleaners and a portakabin will remain at Beccles. Money will be paid in at Norwich, though how the 60H/S/61 drives are meant to do that is anyone's guess, and if a bulb needs replacing for example a van will be based at Norwich to speed to te assistance. All other maintenance will be carried out at either Konect or Hedngham. The company insist, though that Anglian is not closing.
Right that's it! See you soon.
I think they are all at it. Whippet in Cambs are announcing essentially the loss of over half their routes (non-tendered), basically all the rural services, and some inter-urbans too. Necessity. Stagecoach and Arriva are retrenching too. And First's Annual Report is dismal reading for their UK Bus operation: more depot and service reviews, and the emphasis on cost reduction. The only option, and reluctantly I have to agree. It's not as though they haven't tried the alternatives around the country - they just haven't worked. Anything else is waiting for the flying pigs in current circumstances. It looks like they are only going to invest where there are sympathetic Councils pulling their weight - and where they need to as clean emission zones become the new DDA. (Though Ipswich did get a mention in dispatches - which must be the first time ever. Congratulations to Chris and his team!) Can't say I blame them though, it recognises the new reality, but it seems to me that as ever East Anglia is still living in the last century. The clock though isn't turning back, however much we wish it were. There will still be winners, those that can change ahead of the game, but who they'll be I have no idea, yet. Probably not the winners last time around. If you just wait for the axe to fall, it falls hard.
ReplyDeleteYou made the point yourself Steve when you said that you just couldn't afford what EATM were offering and they had to find a way to offer better value or you had to make your own hard choice. The same is true for all of us, including government. Hard choices. Do more with less is an old cliché, it is also vital for survival. What is happening to Anglian has already happened elsewhere around the country. Why did any of us think that East Anglia would be immune?
I suspect the effects of the 2010-2 austerity when BSOG was slashed, with heavy cuts in pass reimbursement have come home to roost; and with ever-increasing costs (fuel- the currency is falling and its priced in dollars, as often parts too), insurance (anyone seen their car costs recenly), business rates (affects depots) and not least wages (how are the staff supposed to make ends meet too). Perhaps we tend to forget that running buses is as much financial management as operational matters, perhaps even more so. Everybody was caught on the hop, and plans have had to be ripped up, and I'm afraid it isn't going to be reversed. There are other demands on the public purse, and this time I don't mean social services and health. And not least the traffic congestion, for which we are ALL responsible.
I always feel as though I've done something wrong when I find myself agreeing with you, but agree with you I do on the majority of that.
DeleteIronic though that the fewer buses there are the worse congestion will be, although endless roadworks in town and city centres doesn't help one bit - funny how the Councils always find money to fund daft schemes that achieve sod all - Ipswich being the chief culprit around here.
Yup. It seems that Chelmsford might get its own version of Travel Ipswich! Only £15m (peanuts, the way as you say that Councils can waste money) but the good news is it seems to be made up of works to make the buses run more freely and adding the missing cycle links - away from the buses, as they don't mix. If it happens then that's one up on Cambridge, especially as the major bit seems to be to make the Army and Navy access from the east bus only i.e. banning cars from the major access into the town centre. Experimental for 18 months but we have to start somewhere. Something like that IS what is needed. It'll send the car-loving Essex people into a tailspin; and when Cambridge came up within a similar proposal, to block off roads at peak times, it was defeated by the Peasants Revolt. At least the Tories have no competition in Essex so perhaps they don't have to worry so much. Which is the trouble, no-one votes to restrict the car.
DeleteEssex Council are coming in for a lot of stick for apparently the third biggest reduction in public transport support in the country. BUT, they seem to have maintained a bus service for almost everyone that had one before. Certainly frequencies have diminished (hourly to ninety minutes in some cases), less duplication over routs with commercial services, the buses have got smaller and some stops have to be pre-booked, but it's all better than nothing. Not least is that (often different) operators have found ways to reduce costs, in many cases substantially. I suspect we will notice in fares. And that's the point really, if less congestion impact can reduce delays and the urban PVR, then that is more resources available for the rural areas. I know we all criticise the privatisation and commercialisation, but the evidence I see is that a number of operators (including First, at least in this area) are really trying to do the best for all the passengers - urban and rural, and adding services to their network in the process. But just to indicate how ridiculous all the costs can get, there is at least one bus service, a sparse 1-2 hourly evening service over a route of about ten miles where the level of subsidy for tenders for the 3-4,000 odd passengers pa was well over £15 per passenger journey!!! (At that rate I think even I might be tempted to run a bus!) We'll have to see whether with some imagination and goodwill that can be cut to around £5. As with everything in life things happen when everybody is prepared to compromise. Often, I think, it's the only way things happen. But I mean everybody, including the Councils as well as the operators. Too often no-one gives it the time it takes - more than two years for this Essex review. Sadly the HM Treasury view is that capital works are good, however spurious the economic benefit multiplier they use - even if the works just move the congestion around or even make it worse; and revenue support is throwing money down the drain.
I would disagre that Essex have maintained service. Huge cuts have been made to services. It is debatable as to whether a bus every 90 minutes counts as a service the same applies to Pre Booked services
DeleteThere is no real input into bus services from pssengers and most of it is just cutting services to match the revenus which just results in further drops in passenger numbers. The usual approach as well is for services cuts to be registered at the last possible moment and with no details of the changes to almost when the changes are due to take place. It may need to move to a proper public consoltation before Service cuts are made
Maybe change are needed to the Consessionary pass system where a bus service could be declared a comminity bus service and a small charge levied on pass holders. This alone would save a lot of bus services as would specifying buses that meet the passenger loading needs rather than using huge and expensive double deckers
Beestons new timetables here https://twitter.com/Beestons
ReplyDeleteBeestons are well known for poor reliability and constant cancellations and late running . I suspect that has a lot to do with it. THe new timetables will only make it worse. It will only result in the loss of a lot more passengers. The service 91C is axed as well. THe 91 is reduced to every 1 1/2 hours which is just a joke. It is also diverrted around the houses to cover the axed service 5. The 236 timetable or whats left of it is also changed . It appears to be extended into the Chaucer estate but no details of the route. This changes can also only make the poor timekeeping even worse
REgal are also axing the Sudbury to Halstead services 11,12, 13. TThere may be a demand responsive replacement but no information available. THe Chambers 89X also appears to be withdrawn although it still appears on the Chambers website. It was only registered to the end of this wek and they have not applied to extend it. THere are also changes to the Felix services 700 & 716 but no other information available. It could be just minor changes or it may not be.
The Essex details are all available on the links from this page http://www.essexhighways.org/Getting-Around/bus/supported-bus-services.aspx - with the timetable changes (where there are any) and the tender awards and tenders not awarded lost services), subject to the three services still under review following a further consultation.
DeleteWhippet statement on bus cuts
ReplyDeletehttp://www.go-whippet.co.uk/changes-local-bus-services-2-september-2017/
A bit of Whippet self-interest in there perhaps. (Nothing wrong with that). They were taken over by a London operator, and really have not been able to break into the Stagecoach near monopoly in Cambridge City. So the classic: without an urban network to speak of they have nothing to support their rural services. And old fixed price tenders have been overtaken by events - as Essex have found too. Commissioning: good for Whippet, perhaps, good for the passenger, quite possibly especially if you think Stagecoach (and others like First) abuse their monopolies; can we afford it - I doubt it very much when you take account of everything else on our plate. Can London afford it - that might be a question for the future too as the Treasury refuses to pay for it.
DeleteI do think this is further proof, as Whippet suggest, that the only way to save routes from further cuts is to tender out all routes, ie re-regulation. I will get some disagreement with that from those working for the big boys, but as Whippet have proved, all the time profit is the main sorry only consideration then loss making routes won't be tolerated. The only way it can work now is for profit making routes to subsidise loss making routes. that means everything coming under local authority control. The evidence that the current system is not working is now damning.
DeletePerhaps I've got it wrong and bus manufacturers have been clever. If things don't change the only bus routes left will be town routes, precisely what the new generation of buses are only good for.
Actually it is the people working for the small operators who are the most upset (I work for a large independent & have only worked for a big group for a couple of months after a takeover before being made redundant), the big boys are the ones who will benefit from extra regulation or franchising as they have the resources & staff to cope. Most of the discussions about government intervention in the markets in this way is not by single route, as in London, but wider area schemes which even a large independent could never hope to finance, my current employers are one the largest remaining independents and have about 200 vehicles from about half a dozen depots the largest of which has 50 vehicles the smallest about 10, even a 50 vehicle contract with new vehicle investment needed would be beyond them but a minor blip for a major group. Remember Whippet is not a small independent but one owned by a large foreign bus group who specialises in Contracted Bus Services.
DeleteThe Big Groups are unhappy about the prospect of profitable businesses, & theoretically assets, being taken off them for no compensation but they know they are in poll position to gain the work at the end. The big risk is that the big European & Global groups are more experienced at this style of business so may be better at the soft stuff around the edges (though if you think the UK Bus Groups are nasty you try changing services outside the contract spec with that lot and you will get absolutely stung), though with Brexit and the current issues about foreign businesses gaining work in the UK whilst being protected in their own markets there could be a move to favour home based businesses if this ever does happen.
I'm very surprised about the cuts to the Beestons Sudbury - Ipswich service. I can't comment on the reliability issue but I rode on a random journey a couple of months ago and a single decker could not have coped with the loadings on the Hadleigh - Ipswich section. I've been of the opinion that the frequency should be 30 minutes on the Hadleigh section with the Sudbury end being hourly as at present. Unfortunately it's not possible to efficiently schedule that.
ReplyDeleteI can't help feeling that Go-Ahead Chambers will see an opportunity here as they are ideally situated for the service. Since Beestons closed the former Theobald's Long Melford depot,there has been an awful lot of dead mileage from Hadleigh to Sudbury in the morning and back again in the evening.
I have asked Beestons for a comment regarding these changes. I'm awaiting any reply.
DeleteThe Sudbury Ipswich service is quite busy at the Sudbury end as well. The reliability issues are probably down to their depot being a long way from Sudbury. I cannot see a bus every hour and a half working particularly as the new timetable is even tighter than the old one as the route has been changed to include the old service 5 route. A bus
Deletevery hour and a half as well will drive passengers away thats certain. Add in breakdowns and a whole mornings or afternoon service will be lost. They tried cuting back the 236 and that has all but destroyed that service which is now down to every two hours . THe weekday service is pretty much school journeys. On Staurdays where their are no school trips it is down to 3 trips I suspect Beestons will be out of bus work by next year. THe 91 should be profitable so they must be running it very badly to be loosing money on it
Anyone got any info on what's happening at Ipswich Buses? Last I heard there was an interim MD, and obviously the Park and Ride contact was lost to First with the resultant fleet changes. And there just seems to be a constant stream of demonstrators visiting, but apparently no new bus investment decisions. What's happening with the ageing ex-Carters fleet too, which continues to look more and more ropey?
ReplyDeleteThe phrase "your guess is as good as mine" springs to mind. As far as I know there is still no MD. It made me laugh a couple of weeks ago when they got an E400Citi demonstrator for Catch The Bus Week. When I asked them why they hadn't used one of their buses they said "This is to show our customers what we could buy in the future" I think the operative word there is "could" rather than "will"!!
DeleteIt seems First Essex have lost their MD too. Did anyone notice, even beforehand?
DeleteShabby is the new chic, apparently.
Rumour going around that Carters fleet being replaced by 11 2nd hand Scanias (according to one of their drivers). So what happens to the Ipswich Buses fleet of tridents of similar vintage if that the case??
DeleteDunno, I suppose if there could be a ticketing arrangement then the 91 could perhaps terminate at the London Road Park & Ride (and may be revert to hourly at least from Hadleigh where there is no rail link) off peak (as the 26 is about to do in Cambridge), saving the delays and costs of going into Ipswich if that's an issue; though it never has been for me off-peak.
ReplyDeleteIf town services are that profitable though Steve, why aren't Ipswich Buses rolling in the money?
The QI alarms have just gone off! The London Rd P&R can't take deckers so that rather scuppers that plan!
DeleteI will not be drawn into the trap you have set me regarding Ipswich Buses. Politics and blogging don't mix! Suffice it to say the never ending roadworks in Ipswich have to be funded somehow. Oops I've said too much!
Although you are right in saying the London Road P & R isn't designed to take deckers, it is possible in practice by using a different route through the site. However using it for the 91 would destroy the service in my view.
DeleteLondon Road P&R can, and does take deckers, First's evening 66s go in there no bother at all, they just come out of the car park exit. Ipswich Buses often used the Volvo Olympians on match days for the 800 shorts (London Road-Town-London Road dupes)
DeleteSo use a sledgehammer to crack a nut instead? Small problems can be solved with a bit of effort and imagination. Or turn them into big ones. It's much more fun!
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, thank-you. I haven't had such a good laugh as last night in ages!!! Much funnier than anything on the TV.
You did ponder above how politicians manage to spend so much money for s*d all result. Buy a mirror to get the answer? Fortunately not living in the County, I could though find your touching faith in Suffolk County Council rather sweet!
Or perhaps where's the Mayor, or Mayoress, when you need them?
Sorry, couldn't resist. But it's all comedy, hey!
Might be funny to you, mate, but for those losing their bus service this Autumn I suspect it's not much of a joke.
DeleteGalloway will no longer run the 387 (Stowmarket circular)from August 26th. "Economic circumstances". Not a major route but it's another one disappearing.
ReplyDeleteit would appear, Trevor, that the so called nut has mutated into a pretty large rock.
DeleteGalloway took over the 387 from Eastern Counties because they couldn't make it pay. The issue is that, from a passenger point of view, the service should work through to Ipswich but for practical reasons that is hard to do which is probably why Eastern Counties gave it up.
DeleteI don't know whether it has any bearing on the matter but the takeover of Galloway by Bill Hiron (Stephensons of Essex) seems to have stalled.
Many of the routes being axed could be saved with a bit of imagination. Maybe the time has come as well for a small charge to be made for Concessionary pass holders. It is no good them having a pass if there are no buses. Even a modest £0.20 a trip could save a lot of routes. Maybe a small parking levy on car parks could help. Say a modest £10 per annum charge per parking place. May be local shops could sponser bus services it would only need to be a modest amount . Even things like trying to get some revenues from free newspaper by distributing them on the buses.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. The Concessionary Passes are becoming a white elephant purely because they were launched badly. The operators thought they would be a golden goose which it as proved not to be. the Councils didn't realise how costly they would be and are now clueless as to what to do with it and have reached the same conclusion as you have - ie if there are n buses to use the asses on they won't have to pay out for their use. Clever eh!
DeleteHad they been launched with a £20 annual fee that was ring fenced to subsidise bus services things might be a lot different. I haven't spoken to a single pass holder who has said they wouldn't be prepared to pay that if it guaranteed services. Now no party can risk abolishing them as it will be a massive vote loser, so the creek gets wider and the paddles fewer.
Business sponsoring is a very murky area, as effectively they would be sponsoring the Council and it all starts getting political. Advertising yes, sponsoring the service no. The entire system needs a massive shake up, but not many in the industry seem to have the balls to stand up and say so.
The Concessionary passes started off in London and there was a small anual charge for them and they also had to pay a small fare about a third of the full ticket price I thing
DeleteUntill this latest round of bus cuts the had just beeb small cuts to services now they are back to making large cuts to what is left of the bus services. Even large rurl towns are being left with very little in the way of bus services and much of what is left is there because of scholl trips which the councils cxannot walk away from at present
Changing the illogical free school travel system would save money but that need the government to change it. It would in my view be logical to charge all school children a far unless they would get free travel under another scheme. So those living more than 2 miles or 3 miles from the school would pay but only for the first 2 or 3 miles
If the ENCTS is such a white elephant, then why aren't operators excluding their services from it by allowing advance reservations on them?
DeleteBecause they would then come under coach service regulations which means every vehicle would need seat belts, tachos, and come under EU driving hours and regulations.
DeleteHi Steve just to let you know that Galloway is cutting back some of the other services ie 113s at the request of the council we be told no drivers will lose there jobs with the cuts in subs plus getting less money for the over 60s passes there no money in service work any more
ReplyDeleteThanks David - if you can let me know exactly how many of Galloways services are being cut/reduced I'll be grateful.
DeleteHi Steve hope you are OK here part of the Galloways memo driver's got last week due to economic reasons the decision has been made to cancel the local bus service 387 the last day of service will be the sat 26. August we have placed changes into the traffic commissioner for services 113/114 after being asked to make a saving by Suffolk county Council these will come into force on the 4 of September
DeleteOn another note ie the take over it's still on but when it happens I don't know had a chat with the owner of Galloways one of the main reasons they want galloway is to get in to other work ie coaches /national express and to extend their service routes into Ipswich as they looking at uther markets its shows the money is not as good in service work as it was a few years ago as the government is cutting grants and so on the bus may be full of people but with cuts in grants for the over 60s you are running a bus for nothing and with fleets getting older you need a five year contract to warent a brand new bus
DeleteThat whole Diss - Ipswich corridor needs a rethink. Including the 116,( which starts from Debenham), Debenham gets a bus to Ipswich roughly every hour. Hell,Ipswich Buses decided that wasn't viable 20 years ago when they ran hourly just btw Debenham and Ipswich. Arguably,the concessionary pass is becoming a bit of a millstone to operators,which means given the chance,routes are going to be slashed or cut completely. Nobody likes paying for anything or seeing the cost go up even,but the days of the concessionary pass are coming to an end I believe. Looking ahead,I think we should all be fearful of where the level of subsidised services will be in 5 years time and it pains me to say that.
ReplyDeleteThere are very few subsidised services left at all and many of those left are school services doubling up as public bus servies but that results in very strange timetabling which leaves huge gaps in the timtables and even worse when the schools are closed
DeleteSomething is going to have to give soon or many areas will have no bus services to speak of left
With bus companies cutting back on depots it results in more dead running and compliated meal reliefs etc which all adds considerable to costs as does using far larger buses than are needed. It is not looking good at all. Further cuts must follow. Usage of the Beestons 91 will fall off of a cliff as a service every hour and a half will simply not be attractive and people will move to other modes of transport. It is similar with all the cuts in Essex
More in Suffolk than you probably realise. But i repeat,let's see what is still subsidised in Suffolk in 5 years time.
DeleteAnd in certain areas, it's the public bus service doubling up as a school service,ie Debenham
DeleteThere are currently 62 Council subsidied Public bus service in Suffolk. THis includes school services that double as a public bus services. Most are very minor such as a few evening journeys or a once a week service
DeleteCan't believe Beestons are cutting the 91, everytime I see their buses they are very buses, and that's with people of all ages not just pensioners so am Very surprised if it isn't making a profit. Maybe an avenue for Ipswich Buses to explore?
ReplyDeleteThe only load significant load generators are college students, a number of which are traveling for free, pensioners of which all are traveling for free, and workers, of which are taking the buses in the main that are not being effected.
DeleteThe loads between 10am - 4pm leave a lot to be desired in terms of paying passengers.
Beestons buses must all be bought and paid for too,it's not like they have the latest vehicles on there, and they don't have any other innovation like wifi or mobile tickets etc
ReplyDeleteAs someone who lives in Hadleigh and works in Ipswich I can tell you this.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about the 91 on Beestons is that on many journeys the number paying is in mid to high single figures with a large majority of those traveling not paying, especially outside peak hours where virtually nobody is paying.
The only services that carry a decent number of paying passengers regularly are:
7:00 from Sudbury / 7:30 from Hadleigh
7:25 from Sudbury / 7.55 from Hadleigh
17:15 from Ipswich
18:15 from Ipswich
You will notice these services have been retained and the first two brought forward slightly in the timetable to cater better for people who are working in Ipswich. The two 91Cs are now being combined into the 91 service as well.
The local authorities and the governments need to start properly compensating the operators if they are to run a more frequent service, unfortunately Towns such as Hadleigh have a generally old population and bus companies are not charities.
Anonymous @ 1308 may well be right about the loadings on Beestons however cutting back to a 90 minute service will result in the service only being used by those people who don't have a choice. I think that improving the Hadleigh section to 30 minutes even possibly at the expense of cutting Sudbury back to two hourly would be the way forward coupling with better marketing. It is interesting to compare the Beestons website with that of a certain Lincolnshire independent in the way that their services are promoted.
DeleteWhen I first passed through Bourne nearly fifty years ago, H. Delaine Smith ran every two hours off peak (hourly at peak) to Peterborough, now his sons and granddaughters run every thirty minutes (fifteen minutes at peak) with doubledeckers.
Although it has been better since deregulation, marketing in the bus industry is still very patchy and Beestons don't really do anything to promote their bus services.
Ahh I see, so just because Beestons run a bus service, that means thousands of fare paying passengers should automatically turn up in their droves to use it? That's without having any kind of marketing at all, a sub standard website for this day and age, increasingly elderly buses, no innovation when it comes to ticketing etc? When will companies realise (especially in this area) that if they want to attract new customers, they actually have to think like a business and sell themselves. Maybe I should just open a shop with no name on the front and no marketing to sell what it is I'm selling but sit there scratching my head as to why nobody is coming through the door? All I hear about is operators moaning about passenger numbers declining, poor reimbursement etc but the companies not complaining are the ones who market their product properly. Maybe more operators should try it rather than expecting the government to subsidise them and pay the way for them!
DeleteThere is no demand for half an hour service, the simple fact is that there are three key users of the service
Delete1) Students
2) Workers
3) Those using a free bus pass.
There isn't enough demand to run 30 minute services during the off-peak time because group 1 and group 2 are already in work or college and group 3 are already traveling and won't contribute any revenue.
The population mix of Hadleigh has changed in the last number of years and now the average household income is much higher than it used to be, the town has changed, just a look at the shops on the high street now and 10-15 years ago tell you that, and people on higher incomes are more likely to have a car.
I agree that marketing could be better however.
Clap clap clap clap. You win my comment of the day award! I have been saying that till I'm blue in the face. First have realised that and numbers are increasing. Borderbus have learned that and now admit they need deckers on some runs.
DeleteJust one thing - you can have the best marketing in the world but if the service is crap or unreliable it doesn't matter one bit. Go East have discovered that, too!
I've got a great idea, why don't I start a business offering a product that is not different or attractive for people to use, I won't market it at all or advertise what we are offering and I fully expect the government to subsidise it, if it doesn't attract many customers though I will moan that the government don't subsidise it enough then eventually withdraw it = the mentality of most bus operators
DeleteWell I have been into Sudbuty a number of times and the 91 is one of the busiest routes and normally has at least 20 passengers so I have not a clue as to where the poster gets the light loadings from. It is quite busy at the Ipswich end as well. Yes the passenger numbers will drop off in the middle of the route but thats all. REmember as well they are also with drawing the service 5
DeleteOne of the biggest problems is the truelly dreadfull standard of management in bus companies. They care very little as to whether they operate a service or if it it runs to time or if it runs at all. Beestons lost loads of passengers doue to the dreadfull services they run. Chambers and Heddingham are not nuch better with all of them having constant cancellations
DeleteBus service are now in terminal decline. Sudbury has lot in the last 5 years about 50% of its bus services. Bury has not fared much betterGlemsford have lost almost all of their bus service
I'm not quite sure where you calculate that Beestons cancel services frequently because I've used them every working day for the last year and I've had 3 cancellations, two because of a tree blocked the road, another because of the fact a driver was taken ill, but maybe if you bothered to call the company rather than posting an ill-informed rant here there may be a reason that the service did not run?
DeleteI never said that the 91 buses are empty, they are simply not, but the simple fact is the majority of those traveling outside peak times are not paying, the passengers are there, but they are not paying, please read my original post and notice I used the word paying.
The only services that carry a decent number of ***paying*** passengers regularly are:
7:00 from Sudbury / 7:30 from Hadleigh
7:25 from Sudbury / 7.55 from Hadleigh
17:15 from Ipswich
18:15 from Ipswich
I get the bus every day, and I can assure you this is the case. It's based on my every day experience!
Re services in North Norfolk, the situation is not as bad as it may appear from N&P. Sanders 33 Cromer - North Walsham and 33A North Walsham Town Service will pass to Our Bus in September. Sanders have cancelled services TF 16 Cromer - Holt via Gresham and Baconsthorpe; Th 17 Holt - West Runton via Gresham and Sheringham and MWTh 19 Cromer - Holt via Gresham and Sheringham.
ReplyDeleteAlthough not registered as yet, I understand Sanders/NCC will replace them with T 16 Cromer - Holt via Gresham and Baconsthorpe; Th 17 Cromer - West Runton via Gresham and Sheringham; MW 19 Cromer - Holt via Gresham and Sheringham and new service F 20 Cromer - Edgefield via Gresham and Holt. The latter also replaces a community bus service between Holt and Edgefield. The only village to lose their existing conventional bus service is Little Barningham.
The routes taken by services 16 & 19 are unaltered, but the revised service 17 no longer serves the Holt to Gresham section via Baconsthorpe. The villages on this latter section, whilst retaining a T service, also lose their F bus to Holt and there is no longer a Th bus on service 19 from Cromer to Holt. However, it could have been a lot worse.
Thanks for that, good to know.
DeleteThe big problem is, operators aren't getting paid what they are claiming for, councils simply have not got the money to pay for the services, and the only reason why First have extended the 66 on an evening to London Road and some daytime 800s to Rendlesham is so they can claim BSOG for those parts of the journey, otherwise they would not be viable at all. There is no way in hell that many bus services in the country actually pay, especially in towns like Bury St Edmunds, even on a Saturday, the buses there run at substantial losses, and I'm puzzled as to why Bill Hiron & The Munsons actually bother, because they just are not worth it, and it is cleartly why Bill Hiron hung on to the life expired ALX200s for a good 2 years longer than he should have done. I caught the 2215 First 75 to Felixstowe on Saturday, the number of passengers totalled 6, and only 2 of them paid, I have a 'muppet card' due to disability, but hey ho, it was a double decker too, clearly a sledgehammer to crack a nut. That bus runs dead from Grange Farm back to the depot, flat out up the A14, guzzle guzzle.
DeleteI'm an ex bus and coach driver myself, and I would say a goood 50-60% of bus journeys in this country aren't viable, even before the cards came in, there were many duties I did where they didn't even cover the diesel, let alone my wages, and that was in Leeds! East Anglia is largely screwed, due to it's rural nature, and it is only going to get worse, even the 66 in Ipswich has dropped to one an hour, just a few years back when I drove it, it was every 30 mins right up to gone 11pm, it shows how demand has dropped to near zero, largely because Adastral Park has a fraction of staff, and the service relies on it, barring the peaks, an MPD or short Enviro would provide ample capacity.
Ipswich Buses, well, where to begin eh? The company is losing money hand over fist, not helped by the massive number in management, nobody wants the MD's job, it is a poison chalice, you can't save a company with debts in millions with falling revenue, if they weren't an arms length council operator, they would have gone to the wall long ago, the DAFs are now proving to be a big milstone, getting unreliable, and parts are non existent, the 2 Scania Olympuses are sounding very tired, and you can tell maintenance isn't as good as it once was, as costs are pared back to the bone. The industry is screwed, I can see before long Arriva being put up for sale by DB, and one of the big UK PLCs going to the government after declaring bankruptcy
I do agree to some degree regarding reimbursement but let's look at the facts, when the 66 was launched it was with a massive amount of publicity, it was marketed as a premium product, a route different to any regular bus service. Over time that has changed to where it is now, buses not any different, no branding, no innovation. The large housing estates of Martlesham Heath and grange farm have grown around the bus route so in my view it was of utmost importance to keep the route as a premium product to constantly attract users, so they used it instead of their cars but they dropped the baton with it so that's never happened. The smart bus stops for instance were left to deteriorate, the real time info stopped, the reliability went down, hardly something to attract new users as an estate grows and grows is it? We have to be honest with the fact the the companies and generally the industry as a whole have failed to ride with the times. The same can be said about Bury St Edmunds, Stephensons had a great brand to start with but they lost their way, certainly when I lived in Bury for a year in 2015, the buses were awful, in a state, drivers wearing shorts and t shirt, unreliable, the list goes on. As for Ipswich Buses, I really think it's time they sold up, they do seem to be in a big mess, buses in various colours, no repaints like they used to, an aged fleet, no real direction. take a look at Reading Buses for an example of how it should be done!
DeleteIpswich buses is not currently losing money. It is just about managing to breakeven. Its overheads though are far too high and need to be substantially reduced
DeleteFYI Ipswich Buses are £1.3 million in debt which rose 2.4% in the last financial year, and the company is only worth £162k on paper, yes that is all it would take to buy the company, but the buyer would have to take on the large liabilities, most of the fleet has been written off on paper as it is worthless, they are struggling to keep an increasingly aged fleet on the road, the ex P&R Versas all had to have complete new powertrains, as they were utterly hanging when Robson foolishly bought them, the Lothian SPDs and the Omnicitys all have quite bad structural issues at the rear, look at the waistrails to see what I mean, they are banana shaped, and those Scanias do gallons to the mile, and have less seats than a 10.7m Dart, not cost effective to operate, the only real asset is Constantine Road, which must cripple them in business rates. They urgently need to cull at least 60% of the supervisory staff, and 90% of management, if they don't, that wage bill is the difference between financial loss, and break even point. Re the 66 route, Suffolk County Council is responsible for the upkeep of the real time info system, which they cannot afford to do, so don't blame First for that. Also Eagle Way is a very stupid design, this does not allow for bi-directional bus services, which would have enabled people to catch buses to Martlesham Heath retail park,and at peak, it is quicker to get off at Tesco, and walk, due to the gridlock outside BT, that estate was designed purely for the car owner, even the flats have large communal parking areas, the only real time the 66 is busy out of peak is the one that hits Kesgrave at twilie time, a full bus, but no revenue, and guaranteed 15 on the drag, the rest of the day, loadings are very light indeed. The trouble is, say you get 10 pensioners on a trip, that is £6 to claim back, you use about £10 worth of diesel, add in the driver wages, Greenroad, company NI, insurance, pension liabilities, fleet maintenance, depot overheads etc, that leaves little if anything for investment in the fleet. People think buses run on fresh air, and operators have a bottomless pit of cash, they don't, First cannot cascade any mid life double deckers to Ipswich, due to the depot building entrance being 14ft high, and the standard group Gemini being 14ft7 or higher if fitted with a radio pod, you should have seen the farce fuelling Rider 5758 (now with Panther), and the Palatine 2, and the turnover and lack of profit does not justify a batch of new lowheight Streetdecks or E400MMCs just for them, the situation of artificially low fares in the Ipswich area doesn't help any operators either, my parents live in the north, and Arriva's fares there where they have a monopoly are through the roof, and they can justify the expense of new vehicles every 3 years on busy corridors, this is down to NCP owning all the city centre car parks, and to park there for a day it is over £15, Ipswich's retail is now virtually all out of town, with ample free parking, so is there any incentive to use the bus? The simple answer is no
DeleteVarious bus Changes
ReplyDeleteI have now had confirmation the the Subdury to Braintree serrvices it to cvontinure although Chambers do not seem to have reregitered it yet
The Regal 11, 12, 13 are confirmed as being with drawn but still no info on replacement service
There is confusion over the service 91. with Besstons saying it is every One and a half hours and SCC saying it is hourly. I am still trying to get confirmation as to who is correct. I suspect Beestons are unless they have had a last minute change of mind on it. If they have no new timtable hs been published
Beestons is here:
Deletehttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/DFFeFSiWsAALd_I.jpg:large
They posted it on twitter.
Details of the cuts to the two FELIX services are now available.The service 700 is reduced from 12 return journeys a day to 10 a day on Schooldays a cut of about 15%.
ReplyDeleteThe Felix 716 has one journey in one direction cut. It leaves a huge in the afternoon service with a bus at 1433 and the next one at 16:20 again the cut is on schooldays only