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Nottingham 'Bus War'

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nctx

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The Red 5 seems to be doing well, they are trying Tridents on hire from Dawson's on it.

Don't under standing them going agains City Transport to Mapperley , thats a battle they cannot win , I think there after Students that have no loyalty to nct.

Also the New Citaros are out for Yourbus on the 36.

City transport have gone from Tridents to Solo's on the 25 at least in the evenings.

The new Solo SR'S are parked at Trent Bridge Depot for the 11.
 
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MCR247

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If it hasn't already been said on here, the 21 is being transferred to the Blue Line, becoming the 39.

Yourbus are doing really well on the Y36
 

nctx

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Premiere has a new route starting end july / early August drivers seem to think its Mansfield/ Sutton way.

Will be Alx 400 Double Deckers.
 

trentside

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Premiere are not cancelling the Red2 to Cotgrave in July, a new registration has gone in for the day after the cancellation. It would appear that it has been cut back to start at Broadmarsh, with the Red5 being diverted round Friar Lane instead.

Passed through Friar Lane the other day for the first time in ages, what an absolute joke! The congestion was awful, delaying any bus trying to pass along there...
 

nctx

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Premiere have 2 more Scania single deckers on the way with wright bodies.

The Tridents have gone back for know.

New stops for Red 5 in city centre are Friar Lane, Canal St and Collin St.

There doing a special to Long Eaton for a £1.

Solos for Red 2 for know.
 

MCR247

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Passed through Friar Lane the other day for the first time in ages, what an absolute joke! The congestion was awful, delaying any bus trying to pass along there...

Who do you think caused that? ;)

:lol:
 

trentside

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Premiere has a new route starting end july / early August drivers seem to think its Mansfield/ Sutton way.

They're going to be running a new service - the 2, from Hucknall to Eastwood via Underwood, Selston and Brinsley. This is a council funded service apparently.
 

nctx

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Yes theres a school route as part of the same tender ,for which they must provide a Euro 3 Double Decker.

The RED 5 broke it's record last week , the Red 4 goes Sunday , but they are winning alot of contracts.

Theres another new route starting soon.
 

trentside

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The latest from Premiere;

PB1021628/104 - PREMIERE TRAVEL LTD, TRENT WHARF, MEADOW LANE, NOTTINGHAM, NG2 3HR
Registration Accepted
Starting Point: Old Sawley
Finish Point: Long Eaton
Via:
Service Number: 19
Service Type: Normal Stopping
Effective Date: 04-SEP-2011
Other Details: Monday to Friday

PB1021628/105 - PREMIERE TRAVEL LTD, TRENT WHARF, MEADOW LANE, NOTTINGHAM, NG2 3HR
Registration Accepted
Starting Point: Hucknall
Finish Point: Nottingham
Via: City Hospital
Service Number: RED 8
Service Type: Normal Stopping
Effective Date: 04-SEP-2011
Other Details: monday to Saturday

PB1021628/102 - PREMIERE TRAVEL LTD, TRENT WHARF, MEADOW LANE, NOTTINGHAM, NG2 3HR
Cancellation Accepted: Operating between Cotgrave and Nottingham Broadmarsh given service number RD2 effective from 04-Sep-2011.

The 19 is a tendered service, currently run by Doyles. The Red 8 is a duplication of part of TrentBarton's Rainbow 3 service... :roll:

Possibly the end for the Red2 this time though, given recent cutbacks to the evening and Sunday services.
 

nctx

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The Red 8's going to be very interesting , Buses will be every 30 minutes to start off with and no service on Sundays.

But Single fares will be only a quid and its a direct bus from Hucknall estates will most likely be Alx 400's from Dawson to start with , they have already had one on hire to do a eco test.

Red 2 had to go , loading even when running Solos were bad, plus they ran the University Volvo 10 plate decker on it a couple of months ago and the local chav's threw bricks at it and put it off the road.

So no big lose there.

Red 5 doing well , Red 1 doing very well Bingham end in mornings .
 

tom1649

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How has Trent/Barton responded to this competition? Have they just kept their heads down and continued as before?
 

nctx

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Well Trent Bartons owners Wellglade , also own Kinchbus and Midland General , They have started Rival routes against Premiere on the

2 Nottingham - Cotgrave.
4 Nottingham- Stapleford
9 Loughbrough - Nottingham

Premiere have pulled out of RED 4 as of this Sunday , it was only running Sundays anyway, Red 2 is also finishing but this was only oprated by Solo's anyway.

Midland General started at 50 pence fares before going up to a Pound.
They use p/r reg ex Trent Dart 's .

Premiere seem to be doing better on there new Route RED 5 , Nottingham to Long Eaton , this goes against the Trent Flagship Indigo.

Premiere also Run the RED 1 Nottingham - Bingham , this is getting busy and they are having to used a Double Decker Volvo on it at peaks.

They also run the Local 17 , Run's Nottingham - Beeston via Toton , Stapleford and Qmc , this picks up around Toton were Trent pulled out of the Toton Connect.

On the new Premiere route Nottingham - Newark they are taking on the route 90.

One advantage Premeire have is there close Relationship with Mistral Group, they can hire in Vehicles very quickly .
 

ashworth

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Does anyone have any information as to how the new Premier Red 8 from Hucknall Estates to Nottingham is going after its first week of operation?

If all the letters over the past few years in the local papers, complaining about Trent/Barton withdrawing these services are to believed, this service ought to be very popular. Since the introduction of the tram all direct services from the Hucknall Estates to Nottingham have been withdrawn and a new local Hucknall Connect service was introduced with connections in Hucknall town centre into the Rainbow 3 Service for Nottingham, or onto the tram. This has really lengthened journey times from many areas of Hucknall into Nottingham.

At the beginning of this year Trent/Barton withdrew the Connect Blue route meaning even longer journeys from some of the estates into Hucknall. Trent/Barton have been very determined, according to all reports in local papers, that this service was not financially viable and in no way could it be reinstated. There have been endless debates in the local paper about this and the answer from Trent/Barton has always been a definite no!

It is interesting that with the introduction of Premiers Red 8 that Trent/Barton have suddenly done a great u turn and after not listening to anyone for months have suddenly become the comapany that listens! They are now to reinstate the Connect Blue Service. What a surprise. I wonder how long it will be before Trent/Barton begin running a direct Hucknall Estates to Nottingham service again?

http://www.trentbarton.co.uk/news-and-media/newsstory.aspx?articleid=832
 

trentside

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I very much doubt that there will suddenly be a reappearance of the Hucknall Estates to Nottingham service from Trent Barton - was it the Hucknall Flyer? You only have to look at the Rainbow 3 to see that the corridor isn't as lucrative as it once was. The Rainbow routes have always had plenty of investment, but the R3 is still running 10 year old Excels. Had the tram not have come along, I don't think that would be the case. Certainly, the reintroduction of the blue route smacks of a PR blunder.

I'll be interested to see how the Red 8 goes. It's got quite a tentative initial frequency of every 30 minutes, which is low compared to the R3 and Connect services. I'm sure they'll soon appear on the social networks telling everyone that they've got loads of happy new passengers. Take that with a pinch of salt, as they've said the same about all their routes previously, and it hasn't always been the case.

I used to say best of luck to Premiere, but I've come to develop a dislike for the company and the way it portrays itself. There are times I think they should spend less time making thinly vailed snipes at their competitors on Facebook and more time dealing with other issues, like improving the presentation standards of their vehicles and their driving staff. Reliability is also an issue on certain routes, just don't try and complain unless you want the bloke on the other end of the phone to have a 10 minute rant about unrelated roadworks and not let you get a word in edgeways...
 

WillPS

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Yeah I don't think it's terribly well conceived.

The Hucknall Flyer ended when the tram came about - Dunn Line (as they were then) attempted to pick up the service but failed to make it pay, and within a year it had disappeared.

YourBus attempted compete with the tram too - and after a couple of years decided their efforts were best placed elsewhere.

Remember too that NET transfers to a consortium including Wellglade from the end of the year; I'd expect to see more competitive through-ticketing seeing off Premiere on this route.

My experiences of Premiere are mixed. Their staff don't seem terribly well trained - none seem to know what Plusbus is even though they are listed as accepting it, but on the other hand their fare to my parent's stop from town is only £1 compared to NCT's outrageous £1.70 - and NCT have a much bigger customer service problem generally I'd say.
 

trentside

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Remember too that NET transfers to a consortium including Wellglade from the end of the year; I'd expect to see more competitive through-ticketing seeing off Premiere on this route.

This is what I'd expect will happen, also. I do think it strange that the trams are no longer going to be directly linked with NCT. This seems a retrograde step in my opinion - that's a whole other matter though.

My experiences of Premiere are mixed. Their staff don't seem terribly well trained - none seem to know what Plusbus is even though they are listed as accepting it, but on the other hand their fare to my parent's stop from town is only £1 compared to NCT's outrageous £1.70 - and NCT have a much bigger customer service problem generally I'd say.

I'll concede that NCT have a poor reputation for customer service. Sadly, this stems from the exact fare system, which reduces the need for driver-passenger interaction, so many drivers simply don't bother at all. Premiere drivers don't have this excuse - £1 is a good deal though, how long will it last is a another question!
 

ashworth

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I haven't used the R3 service now for a few years so I don't know what the current fares are like.
Certainly when I last used it, about 3 years ago, I couldn't believe the high fares in comparison to both the tram and the train. If that is the case, especially for one off journeys, no wonder with the tram and train competition that the R3 is no longer as lucrative as it once was.

Incidently, I don't know how many Hucknall people realise just how cheap the train is these days. Perhaps they just presume it's more expensive.
An off peak return is only £2.90 and even an anytime return is only £3.00. Much better and quicker than the tram at £3.20 return if you are going to the station end of the city. How does that compare with the R3 fares?

I live less than 2 miles to the north of Hucknall and my only bus service is Trent/Bartons 141 and you have to take out a loan to afford fares on that route once you move off the R3 route north of Hucknall. Return fares from the villages of Linby and Papplewick into Hucknall are higher than Hucknall to Nottingham and I wouldn't like to guess how much it costs to get from the villages into Nottingham. It's a 30 minute walk to the railway station for me these days!
 

radamfi

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What's happened to Bargain Bus? The website appears to have gone.
 

tom1649

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This is what I'd expect will happen, also. I do think it strange that the trams are no longer going to be directly linked with NCT. This seems a retrograde step in my opinion - that's a whole other matter though.



I'll concede that NCT have a poor reputation for customer service. Sadly, this stems from the exact fare system, which reduces the need for driver-passenger interaction, so many drivers simply don't bother at all. Premiere drivers don't have this excuse - £1 is a good deal though, how long will it last is a another question!

NCT did win bus company of the year didn't they a few years back? It's good to see a municipal operator which hasn't sold out to one of the big bus groups.

I agree that the exact fare system doesn't encourage driver-passenger interaction. Drivers on the number 1 to Loughborough seemed more friendly because they did actually give change (a legacy from South Notts days).

The traditional green and cream livery, complete with the Nottingham coat of arms always made their buses look very smart. Although some would argue that it was becoming too dated, I didn't think so.
 

trentside

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What's happened to Bargain Bus? The website appears to have gone.

Reduced to off-peak, hourly service on the Cotgrave route. No withdrawal date yet, but expect it soon with the Red2 gone.

The Stapleford run has been reduced to half hourly, and diverted to Victoria Bus Station. Being withdrawn from 15/09/11.
 

WillPS

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This is what I'd expect will happen, also. I do think it strange that the trams are no longer going to be directly linked with NCT. This seems a retrograde step in my opinion - that's a whole other matter though.



I'll concede that NCT have a poor reputation for customer service. Sadly, this stems from the exact fare system, which reduces the need for driver-passenger interaction, so many drivers simply don't bother at all. Premiere drivers don't have this excuse - £1 is a good deal though, how long will it last is a another question!
I think that's a lame excuse. I always say 'thank you' as I get off and I'm lucky to get a grunt from NCT's drivers. On the contrary Trent (and to a lesser extent Premiere) always happily return the thanks.

It's not just the drivers though - their Travel Centre staff are some of the rudest I've met. There is no respect for the customer whatsoever.

South Notts and Pathfinder drivers are a totally different breed I accept.
 

trentside

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I think that's a lame excuse. I always say 'thank you' as I get off and I'm lucky to get a grunt from NCT's drivers. On the contrary Trent (and to a lesser extent Premiere) always happily return the thanks.

It's not just the drivers though - their Travel Centre staff are some of the rudest I've met. There is no respect for the customer whatsoever.

South Notts and Pathfinder drivers are a totally different breed I accept.

There are a few who return a 'thanks' when I've used their services but they're in the minority. Regardless of the fare collection system, assault prevention screen (or whatever other excuse I've heard for it), it's still just rudeness. In fact, I've seen passengers pull the drivers up on it before.

I'm glad I no longer have to use NCT services to be honest, TrentBarton are a breath of fresh air in comparison.
 

bb21

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NCT did win bus company of the year didn't they a few years back?

Yes. 2004 I believe. I have a picture somewhere but can't find it for now.

Edit: Actually, I've found it.

Alstom, Keolis, Trent Barton, VINCI Construction UK, OFI Infravia, Meridiam Infrastructure.

Source: http://www.tramlinknottingham.co.uk/

I guess a change of livery is in the pipeline then.

I'm glad I no longer have to use NCT services to be honest, TrentBarton are a breath of fresh air in comparison.

That's why they have won Operator of the Year three times and were runners-up in between. Five years in a row inside the top two is just reward for their efforts.
 

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trentside

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I guess a change of livery is in the pipeline then

Not necessarily. I believe the NET (Nottingham Express Transit) is branding selected by the City Council, and will therefore stay when the operation moves to Tramlink Nottingham.
 
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