Cityfox Bus

THarris123 · 16 Feb 2019

Rhys, can you clarify how many buses Foxstar now own and run on the one service? I know there's three B7s, but does Cityfox possess any others (off the road and spares, etc)?

Also are those B7s now wholly owned by Cityfox/Snowdonia Travel or still leased/rented?

RailUK Forums

EnviroExplorer · 17 Feb 2019

Rhys, are Cityfox still getting some Enviro 400 MMCs as I remember reading something about it, and if so what is the intention for them ? Thanks

RhysHand · 17 Feb 2019

There are four Volvo B7RLEs for a requirement of three - allowing one maintenance spare. They are BG14OOJ/OOU/OOV/OOW.

The E400s are for a private contract, but may see weekend use on rail/private hire etc.

nesw · 17 Feb 2019

Must be a lucrative contract if it finances new ‘deckers.

RhysHand · 17 Feb 2019

Indeed. I certainly wouldn’t be inclined to risk that much on speculative investment for commercial services at this stage.

EnviroExplorer · 18 Feb 2019

RhysHand said:
There are four Volvo B7RLEs for a requirement of three - allowing one maintenance spare. They are BG14OOJ/OOU/OOV/OOW.

The E400s are for a private contract, but may see weekend use on rail/private hire etc.

Many Thanks! I hope to ride them on Rail Replacements at some point then

nesw · 20 Feb 2019

Foxstar’s Twitter feed has teased ‘Oh hey Cardiff, see you soon. Are you ready?’ Theres’s also a dedicated Facebook page.

What’s ‘occurring ‘ as they might say in Wales?

nesw · 2 Mar 2019

SK17HHC Wright Streetdeck demo bus is visiting the world of Cityfox/Foxstar this week, with their social media saying that it’ll be on ‘theone’ In Newport this week. The operator is also introducing new Ticketer machines.

RhysHand · 2 Mar 2019

nesw said:
SK17HHC Wright Streetdeck demo bus is visiting the world of Cityfox/Foxstar this week, with their social media saying that it’ll be on ‘theone’ In Newport this week. The operator is also introducing new Ticketer machines.

With a streetlite to follow.

Ticketer machines are already live.

Bungle965 · 3 Mar 2019

RhysHand said:
With a streetlite to follow.

Ticketer machines are already live.

Are the machines set up to handle contactless by any chance?
Sam

Observer · 3 Mar 2019

Bungle965 said:
Are the machines set up to handle contactless by any chance?
Sam

Yes they are, according to their Twitter. No QR code scanning though, I guess it's not required as part of the setup, but just an option most contactless operators were taking.

Our swanky new ticket machines are here! These will allow us to offer a wider range of products along with payment by contactless !

Bungle965 · 20 Mar 2019

Observer said:
Yes they are, according to their Twitter. No QR code scanning though, I guess it's not required as part of the setup, but just an option most contactless operators were taking.

Excellent!
Sam

Dai Corner · 2 Apr 2019

The following has been posted on Facebook by Foxstar Bus Newport

Hi everyone

We’re sorry to say that TheOne is operating a limited service.

Some of our buses belong to a leasing company, and without any warning their staff have turned up this morning and driven the buses to Newport Bus.

We’re not sure exactly the story behind it, but we believe the leasing company were worried because of Newport Bus’s precarious financial position (after several years of six figure losses). They’ve therefore colluded to take the small operator off the road to protect their bigger customer.

To make things worse, they’ve stolen our operator licence discs and ticket machines to stop us getting back on the road quickly.

We’re talking to the police and relevant authorities and we’ll keep you updated but in the meantime we’re very sorry for the inconvenience

Edited to add link as requested by Admin, but the original post appears to have been deleted.

Also asked to add a comment of my own. I'll note that my comment on the original post saying I thought it was odd to repossess Company A's buses because you were afraid Company B might not be able to pay in future was deleted and I was barred from commenting further.

Westnat · 2 Apr 2019

Dawson Rentals have today taken possession of three of the Volvo B7RLE's that Cityfox were operating in Newport.

anthony263 · 2 Apr 2019

I'm surprised as foxstar were doing pretty well in Newport.

carlberry · 2 Apr 2019

Dai Corner said:
The following has been posted on Facebook by Foxstar Bus Newport

This really is weird, if it's the full story. The leasing companies are usually only worried about how companies look after their assets and that they pay their bills on time. Beyond that I cant see that they'd care and, given the limited number of new vehicles Newport have acquired recently, I cant imagine it's a goldmine for a leasing company. Without there's a premium for ex London tat!

Dai Corner · 2 Apr 2019

carlberry said:
This really is weird, if it's the full story. The leasing companies are usually only worried about how companies look after their assets and that they pay their bills on time. Beyond that I cant see that they'd care and, given the limited number of new vehicles Newport have acquired recently, I cant imagine it's a goldmine for a leasing company. Without there's a premium for ex London tat!

Repossessing Foxstar's buses and storing them at Newport Transport's depot seems a bizarre way to react to fears that NT might not be able to pay their bills!

richw · 2 Apr 2019

Comments in the Facebook post suggest repossessed for non payment of leasing fees.
Unless there’s a breach of contract there will be no grounds for them to repo!

carlberry · 2 Apr 2019

richw said:
Comments in the Facebook post suggest repossessed for non payment of leasing fees.
Unless there’s a breach of contract there will be no grounds for them to repo!

If that's true then the Newport depot would just be the nearest safe place to store them.

nesw · 2 Apr 2019

I believe that the Bristol Suss/Babcock contract is due to start soon, this being the service that Rhys claims to be purchasing two new E400MMC to run on it.

With regard to today’s events there’s quite likely to be various versions of what’s happened.

TheGrandWazoo · 2 Apr 2019

The FB post states a limited service is in operation - do they have other owned fleet there?

carlberry said:
If that's true then the Newport depot would just be the nearest safe place to store them.

If Dawsons have repossessed them, they will doubtless look to move them to another secure location that has no connection to FoxStar.

Think the collusion bit is rather fanciful - if that were the case, I would question why it would have happened now.

Jordan Adam · 2 Apr 2019

I see they have removed the Facebook post....

carlberry · 2 Apr 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
The FB post states a limited service is in operation - do they have other owned fleet there?

The demo Streetdeck was there two weeks ago and they did have 4 Volvos.

Jordan Adam · 2 Apr 2019

carlberry said:
The demo Streetdeck was there two weeks ago and they did have 4 Volvos.

It's the Volvos that have allegedly been repossessed. They also have a Versa (YJ14BHN) part branded for "TheOne"?

carlberry · 2 Apr 2019

Jordan Adam said:
It's the Volvos that have allegedly been repossessed. They also have a Versa (YJ14BHN) part branded for "TheOne"?

Only 3 of them if the report is correct.

Jordan Adam · 2 Apr 2019

carlberry said:
Only 3 of them if the report is correct.

Interesting, if i'm not mistaken they had 4 in total? (BG14OOJ, BG14OOU, BG14OOV & BG14OOW)

Westnat · 2 Apr 2019

All four have now been repossessed by Dawsons, and have left Newport this afternoon.

nesw · 2 Apr 2019

A quick calculation - 4 buses will probably workout at circa £8000 per month (that figure is on the conservative side as they’re large buses, possibly nearer 10 or 12k each month.

That’s a lot of money that needs to be generated on a competing service and before other major costs are taken into account.

winston270twm · 2 Apr 2019

richw said:
Comments in the Facebook post suggest repossessed for non payment of leasing fees.
Unless there’s a breach of contract there will be no grounds for them to repo!

Now that reason is far more on the nail, Dawson Rentals will not give a toss who their buses are leased too & for what reason as long as they get their money, didn't buy the concocted story from FB.

Incidentally, the FoxStar Facebook post and all comments has been removed.

Observer · 2 Apr 2019

Jordan Adam said:
It's the Volvos that have allegedly been repossessed. They also have a Versa (YJ14BHN) part branded for "TheOne"?

As well as two Optare Solo SRs but who knows if they were leased as well.

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