winston270twm
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- 26 Oct 2012
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It was news over two weeks ago, CBW seem a little behind.....
Robert Tchenguiz has since increased his stake in FGP to 5.08%
thanks for info i bet some buses will be returning of lease from diamond and going to oldham if they have gone to Dublin not yet re-registered still showing on DVLA as uk regs
With the vastly reduced expected disposal proceeds, I would have thought an IPO might be more likely for Arriva.
My crystal ball was correct. DB plans to float Arriva on the Stock Market in May 2020 by minority stake and then further tranches over the next 3 years, so Firstrgroup does not have this obstacle with respect to First Bus sale.
First are not intending the pension fund to be sold, they are intending to use disposal proceeds to make the fund "self sufficient".
That’s the idea behind divesting U.K. Bus.Apart from Greyhound there's little evidence of First disposing of enough to make the fund self sufficient.
First are not intending the pension fund to be sold, they are intending to use disposal proceeds to make the fund "self sufficient".
Apart from Greyhound there's little evidence of First disposing of enough to make the fund self sufficient.
Even the Greyhound process is slow, and now UK Bus disposal are being pushed back to try & increase margins & thus their value.
Quite. Little *real* progress, just more of the usual delays in implementation.
Even the Greyhound process is slow, and now UK Bus disposal are being pushed back to try & increase margins & thus their value.
I suspect that the margin was facing a decline this year rather than to increase it further. The margin was well down from last year for the first 6 months and the 2018 comparative included £3.2 million of losses for the Manchester businesses sold this year, but the losses for that this year prior to disposal are shown elsewhere.
The following have already been returned off lease to First Group, most have since re-appeared with FSY:
Nov - 33705; 33717; 33720; 33726
Oct - 33714; 33729; 33739
33729/39 still running at Oldham 69143/224 also returned there
And to add to that it's reported that Volvo B7RLE 69198 and 69202 have moved from Oldham to Aircoach, Dublin.
That is because that 66994 has been written off in Dublin following a fire.
Since they're for airport work, you'd think they'd send 66992/3 since they are to the same layout as 66994 with two doors and previously worked car park shuttles for Aircoach, but that'd make too much sense so they've sent two vehicles without luggage racks and with one door instead.
Not really, 66992/3 have both been converted to trainers. So it would make no sense to convert 66992/3 back to passenger carrying vehicles and then waste money converting another two vehicles to trainers.
What exactly has been changed about them?
We’re so excited to announce the arrival of a brand-new fleet of high-specification double deck buses for excel, due to take to the road in early Spring 2020
Built as a unique combination of a Scania Euro VI diesel chassis and stylish, modern bodywork from Alexander Dennis, we’ve worked with some of the bus industry’s leading designers, suppliers and manufacturers over the last two years to bring you a bus designed and built especially for excel.
The Scania chassis, with its’ 9-litre engine, is designed to deliver outstanding performance, reliability, fuel economy and safety on longer and more demanding routes, whilst meeting the highest current industry emissions standards.
Build quality, ergonomics and style are all integral to the Alexander Dennis bodywork, which also incorporates some of the best comfort and safety features available on buses today.
As well as listening to the great feedback we’ve had from passengers, drivers and stakeholders all along the excel route, our research and development for these vehicles has taken us far and wide across the UK, with the aim of bringing together a whole host of features, some already established and some brand new, that will allow us to bring you a new standard in interurban bus travel.
Whilst we’re going to keep some of these under wraps for a little while longer, we can reveal that they will include:
…and much, much more.
- Comfy, coach-style seating on both decks – specially shaped to provide the ultimate in comfort and trimmed in real leather to an exclusive design
- USB charging at all seats
- Seat back phone docks with wireless charging built-in – ideal for catching up on the latest box-set on your journey
- Free wifi
- ‘Bus Stopping’ buttons at all seats
So bookmark this page, and keep checking back for updates over the coming weeks as we reveal more about what to expect from our new look for excel
and as far as I can tell (unless anyone knows different) not even a Council grant in sight. It has taken long enough. Sunrise, or the sunset?
Sunrise, or the sunset?
On LTT, it was mentioned that First are looking at a sale of whole of it’s UK bus business or in 3 or 4 regional parts by the middle of next year. There’s also rumours of NX acquiring First Cymru’s Bridgend depot and Stagecoach purchasing Maesteg and Bridgend. I also saw a comment on Flickr that First are hoping to sell off Potteries by May. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see as anything could happen.
I don’t take to rumours very lightly myself as we don’t know what the true outcome will be. As you say it’s very unlikely they will sell off the odd depot here and there. The most likely outcome is they will either do one sale or sell off big chunks in 3/4 regions.I would exercise extreme caution in these rumours, especially stuff on flickr and FaceAche. NatEx buying some small depot in Wales in unlikely, nor flogging off the odd depot here and there anyway. To get the disposals done in six months, you're looking a much bigger disposals like one sale or 3/4 regional clusters.
Once sold (and to whom) might then inform the nature of any subsequent smaller sales.
the last release talked about adding value to make the sale or seperation more attractive
I would exercise extreme caution in these rumours, especially stuff on flickr and FaceAche. NatEx buying some small depot in Wales in unlikely, nor flogging off the odd depot here and there anyway. To get the disposals done in six months, you're looking a much bigger disposals like one sale or 3/4 regional clusters.
Once sold (and to whom) might then inform the nature of any subsequent smaller sales.
The timescale quoted would be unrealistic, as the financial year's results will not be known until May 2020.
Yep. Locally in Essex it looks like a return to the good 'ole "let's try anything" approach of the Moir years, so it's chopping routes; or swopping them around and merging them with little apparent rhyme or reason. It'll confuse the passengers, and once congestion kicks in probably make things less reliable too. A good start. The good news is that the competition, ready and waiting for some time, are picking dropped services up as quickly as they did a decade ago, and hopefully making the same sort of success of them as they did a decade ago. First still seem to struggle more with fleet and congestion. Signs perhaps that they're still too big for their boots.That's what they are clearly doing (and sadly, it's a return to the Moir inspired rush to cut services to increase short term margins). Whilst the odd OpCo hasn't cut routes/frequencies, there are a lot that are doing just that. Also, it's a way of clearing out the time expired fleet with reduced capital investment AND also some moving around of fleet to meet the various Clean Air and Low Emissions Zones.
That said, First West of England culled their Bristol to Newport route and Stagecoach took it on....only to discover that it is a bit of a dud, so some of the cuts (whilst saddening) are perhaps overdue. However, most are probably retrograde steps IMHO.
DragonEast is correct that Excel is a commercial operation. However, few of the new buses arriving are receiving grants per se to fund fleet replacement. In terms of the new Bristol fleet, the grants are to fund the difference between new Euro VI diesels and the CNG versions so First would still be spending vehicles on new fleet. Similarly, the new Star fleet for Portsmouth doesn't have a council grant but is bound by a partnership agreement in return for bus priority measures etc, being the third or fourth new fleet on that basis?