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I tend to agree. I realise it's all about the balance sheet, but find it rather ironic that both First and Arriva in the East face the same problems and have now arrived (though perhaps from opposite ends of the spectrum) at dealing with them in the same way under, effectively, the "same"...

Hmm. Surely, the most important one they need to "get on with" is Jeanette Bell, and she seems to have successfully chosen a team who won't "rock the boat". The only surprising omission of "a name" it struck me was Moir Lockhead, but give it time, I suppose. At least he knew how to make a...

Just wondering, in a future world in which the busco is just a contractor for services specified and controlled by the local authority, does it matter? Is that what Ms. Bell is planning for?

Interesting. Thank you. Generally it confirms my experience. Both Harlow and Basildon have town centre redevelopment in the offing, whatever that means in a post-pandemic world of the county council's new buzz-word, levelling up. Not Chelmsford though, it's blown the budget on the second...

Yes, I don't use it often, but I gather the 75 is a popular route, and Tiptree has no railway nor any significant competing services*. The 351 is an unusual service where the 30 minute daytime service was reduced to hourly; and not unusually the hospital parking is abysmal (so much so I gave up...

I agree the problems are by no means unique. But I think there is a problem with Essex, which is neither metropolitan nor Shire, but a rather strange mix of both. Which is why both First and Arriva struggle. Stephensons and Ensign don't anything like as much, perhaps because of what they don't...

Chelmsford always has a major constraint, which is the tight Green Belt boundary around the south and west, which means all the new housing is pushed to the north and east, where Chelmer Village and Beaulieu Park form virtually a new town, without the corresponding facilities. (A previous...

Thank you. We'll just have to disagree. I think the local market in Herts/Beds/Bucks, even Cambs, and Essex, has far more in common than with Cornwall/Somerset and Trans-pennine, or even Norfolk. The influence of London, both travelwise and on the public mindset, as well as the absence of any...

I If I ever said it was beyond salvation I disagree. Nothing is beyond salvation, as Jesus said. But it takes resources. Where are they coming from? The Council? Well Essex CC boast they haven't had to raise taxes, despite all the challenges. Thank god. I don't see us taxpayers complaining. So...

Exactly. The point I've been trying to make for years. Essex's income is completely wiped out by its exorbitant costs, and there is no case for investment (state or private). No one has ever come up with a viable way for them to increase income or reduce costs, just meaningless platitudes- there...

I too suspect refurbs, and why not? But I suspect it depends on the Norfolk Councils, but at least they are starting to make the right sort of noises. And maybe more importantly the electoral calculation might be in favour? Though there is intense competition for the Government cash fountain...

fwiw I think Eastern Counties are now really reaping the benefits of their two previous MDs bets on Excel and the Norwich Network; both brave and, perhaps, controversial in their day (along with the changes necessary to go with it; but over time it's the positive and not so much the negatives...

If Stagecoach East are anything to go by they are commercially astute (though can still struggle). Like Eastern Counties (and Arriva in the South East) they have/had an extensive territory giving greater scope for rationalisation to concentrate on the parts of the territory with better...

The immediate problem is that throughout the South East, with both a shortage of passengers and funds, local urban routes have been abandoned in favour of integration with the inter-urban network. Admittedly First Essex are probably behind the curve, but I suspect the result might be even more...

I think, as an Essex resident, that is the problem. Local identities are a great subject for the forums (so exclude most normal passengers). The best thing about Covid is the local First op has improved immeasurably both in terms of reliability with less traffic and many fewer passengers, and...

Doubtful. No LEZ, and none in prospect (however bad the A13/A127/A12/A120 corridors are or get). Nor for any grants the way Councils are strapped. We should be thankful that Colchester subsidised a few Euro VI retrofits when they could (at least getting Essex on the stats board). So I'm afraid...

Yes, of course. It's whether and how his team can make the best of a bad job. But as that bloke across the pond is alleged to have said: we can put as much lipstick on a pig as we like, but it's still a pig no matter what. The passengers make the bus, and not the other way around. So there has...

Perhaps I wasn't clear. I said we were not far apart. I think we often overlook just how much effort has gone in down the years at FEx to try and give the people of Essex the service they ask for. It's just that if they had to chose between the gloss and a service they can rely on, they'd...

I think the only thing we disagree on is how easy it is. You think, just clone Cornwall, like wave Exalibur! I think it's harder than that. Where would First Kernow be without the tourist business (which even covid has failed to stop)? Essex by contrast has to rely on just residents, most of...

Fair points. It's hard to know what First Essex should do. It's a very difficult area for buses, not least because of the neglect and mismanagement of the strategic and local highway network. From observation, I strongly suspect that when First imported the former London management they had a...