Stagecoach Merseyside Cheshire and South Lancashire

[sonic2009]

There are 4 deckers out on the 84 today.

 

[Pub]

Does anyone know how the 84 is performing?

Double decker on the Crewe - Chester at weekends shows the route must be doing at least okay

Today 20th May noticed 2 services double deckers 9.38 and 10.38 ex Crewe. Both only had about 20ish on board when passing Alpraham which is the quiet section of the 84 route. About the same as when Arriva was running except for the last few weeks when passengers never knew if it was running. Also the second service did not appear on bustimes presume the tracker was not working

 

[childwallblues]

Bus Magazine has reported that Rock Ferry depot is to receive new MMCs 11621-28. I would imagine that these will be used on Route 1 Liverpool to Chester which is mainly operated by 61 and 62 reg Scania E400.

 

[Sam 76]

Bus Magazine has reported that Rock Ferry depot is to receive new MMCs 11621-28. I would imagine that these will be used on Route 1 Liverpool to Chester which is mainly operated by 61 and 62 reg Scania E400.

that’s interesting. Do you think the x2 will get any for the Preston to Liverpool runs or will they stick with the 67 plates ?

 

[childwallblues]

11629-11651 are on order for Preston for Route 125.

 

[gka472l]

that’s interesting. Do you think the x2 will get any for the Preston to Liverpool runs or will they stick with the 67 plates ?

I think the 67 plates will be around for a while yet.....

Bus Magazine has reported that Rock Ferry depot is to receive new MMCs 11621-28. I would imagine that these will be used on Route 1 Liverpool to Chester which is mainly operated by 61 and 62 reg Scania E400.

They could also work the 471/472 between Heswall & Liverpool, they'll probably turn up on most Rock Ferry routes as the 38/41/42 see double decker's as well.

 

[sonic2009]

I travelled on the 84 from Crewe to Chester yesterday, 2 deckers were operating. Traffic because of the M56 closure near Runcorn this weekend caused delays between Tarvin and Vicars Cross - around 30 passengers on both journeys i was on.

Stagecoach seem to be doing well running them at the moment.

 

[SeanM1997]

From Stagecoach website - https://www.stagecoachbus.com/servi...rticle?SituationId=ID-23/05/2023-11:36:08:770

From Sunday 11th June 2023 we are introducing a range of new Crewe zone tickets on our 84 service between Crewe and Acton (Village Hall), Nantwich.

Product	Price from 11th June
Crewe adult DayRider	£2.50
Crewe adult MegaRider week	£10.00
Crewe Young Person DayRider	£1.80
Crewe Young Person MegaRider week	£7.00
Crewe adult MegaRider 28 day	£37.99
Crewe Flexi 5 Dayrider (5 dayriders for the price of 4)	£10.00
Crewe Flexi 10 Dayrider (10 dayriders for the price of 7)	£17.50

The above range of Crewe Zone tickets will be available either on bus, on our app on online from Sunday 11th June.
Save money with our Flexi 5 & Flexi 10 Crewe Zone Day tickets, get 5 dayriders for the price of 4 or 10 dayriders for the price of 7 – Saving up to 30%. Find out more here.

Customers can continue to take advantage of our current Boomerang offer, giving you a free return journey on any single ticket purchased between Crewe & Nantwich.

 

[RELL6L]

The Merseytravel website mentions some changes to Stagecoach services from 4 June. These are really negative changes to routes worked alongside Arriva on the Quality Bus Corridors.

On the 86s Arriva will continue top run 8bph, every 7-8 minutes, while Stagecoach reduce to 6bph, every 10 minutes. So any attempt at a combined frequency is lost. Evenings are a bit better with 4bph each, Sundays ditto.

On the 10A - high profile soon to be Hydrogen route - Arriva will continue to run every 15 minutes while Stagecoach will run 3bph. But this time it is different, Stagecoach will run every 15 minutes with gaps. So in the morning there are gaps from Liverpool at 10.11, 11.11, 12.11, later at 13.26, 14.25, 15.25 and more later. It is like three or four whole boards have been removed (round trip about 3hrs 15 mins). Evenings and Sundays look OK with the companies running alternately with combined 4bph evenings and 6bph Sundays (so Stagecoach run as much on Sundays as during the week!).

We have seen this recently with Arriva on the North Wales 5 but it really isn't how you'd expect a Quality Bus Corridor to run!

Bus Service Changes

Bus Service Changes

www.merseytravel.gov.uk

 

[SeanM1997]

Four double deckers on the 84 route today - including one on the Crewe-Nantwich shuttle. They must be expecting a lot of demand on a Saturday for that route

 

[itsonlyme]

Four double deckers on the 84 route today - including one on the Crewe-Nantwich shuttle. They must be expecting a lot of demand on a Saturday for that route

Good Weather, School Holidays, Saturday. If they cant make a profit on the 84 today, they never will.

 

[northwichcat]

Good Weather, School Holidays, Saturday. If they cant make a profit on the 84 today, they never will.

School holidays doesn't necessarily mean demand will be higher on a Saturday. In fact it could mean lower demand as more families are abroad, rather than in the UK. Demand for public transport around Chester is highest on race days.

I think at the moment the big variable is Stagecoach and D&G seem to be having a competition over who can offer the lowest fares for Nantwich to Crewe. If the lower fares attract people who wouldn't otherwise use the bus then great, if they don't then they are losing revenue by offering discounted fares on that section.

 

[childwallblues]

It is reported on the Merseyside Dennis Dart website that Stagecoach are to take over operation of the Maghull Circulars from September. These are currently operated by Cumfy Bus using Optare Solos.

It is reported on the Merseyside Dennis Dart website that Stagecoach are to take over operation of the Maghull Circulars from September. These are currently operated by Cumfy Bus using Optare Solos.

It is further reported that Stagecoach will take over the Cumfy Bus staff but not the Solos.

 

[Redmike]

Does anyone know how many buses are based at Chorley outstation and what routes they run? Of course the 125 is the main route in Chorley but Stagecoach have other routes e.g. to West Lancashire.

 

[markymark2000]

Does anyone know how many buses are based at Chorley outstation and what routes they run? Of course the 125 is the main route in Chorley but Stagecoach have other routes e.g. to West Lancashire.

Chorley also run the 127 and Lancashire tenders 337/347 and tendered evening 2 and 119.

 

[SeanM1997]

Cheshire West and Chester Council are out to tender on 3 routes for period 3 September 2023 - 2 September 2025:
22 - Chester-West Kirby (currently Al's Coaches)
48 - Northwich-Frodsham (currently Stagecoach)
61/62 - Chester-Kinnerton (currently Stagecoach

Not authorised

procontract.due-north.com

Will Stagecoach bid again for their existing 2 routes, do they try and bid for the 22, or does somebody else get the contracts? Bids close 23rd June so we should know the result soon enough

 

[childwallblues]

Cheshire West and Chester Council are out to tender on 3 routes for period 3 September 2023 - 2 September 2025:
22 - Chester-West Kirby (currently Al's Coaches)
48 - Northwich-Frodsham (currently Stagecoach)
61/62 - Chester-Kinnerton (currently Stagecoach

Not authorised

procontract.due-north.com

Will Stagecoach bid again for their existing 2 routes, do they try and bid for the 22, or does somebody else get the contracts? Bids close 23rd June so we should know the result soon enough

Stagecoach seem pretty interested in Cheshire recently taking the 84 and W7. Did they not previously operate the 22 but gave it up?

 

[markymark2000]

Cheshire West and Chester Council are out to tender on 3 routes for period 3 September 2023 - 2 September 2025:
22 - Chester-West Kirby (currently Al's Coaches)
48 - Northwich-Frodsham (currently Stagecoach)
61/62 - Chester-Kinnerton (currently Stagecoach

Not authorised

procontract.due-north.com

Will Stagecoach bid again for their existing 2 routes, do they try and bid for the 22, or does somebody else get the contracts? Bids close 23rd June so we should know the result soon enough

Stagecoach will bid for all 3 and I believe that unless there is a good reason for them not to, they bid on all contracts and then they deal with finding the buses and drivers later on. 61 will end up as Stagecoach or Arriva I think (D&G won't want the daily dead mileage. 22 I don't think Als will bid again, it's not their bread and butter. It was just something to keep the business going through what was one of the more difficult times for the industry. 22 I think only Stagecoach will bid. Arriva may look into it (I hope they do as it links up their networks nicely and would be popular in areas like Neston as it's one less operator so ticket validity increases) but I don't think they will.
48, who knows. It's been with everyone over the years.

 

[SeanM1997]

Stagecoach seem pretty interested in Cheshire recently taking the 84 and W7. Did they not previously operate the 22 but gave it up?

Yet Warrington's Own Buses won the N4 - so Stagecoach not the only one interested in the region. I hope Stagecoach are doing well and will look to enhance their Cheshire services in due course

Not sure how much more capacity is spare in the Chester depot for Stagecoach - and if there is capacity, where do you find a bus? The 84 taking 4 buses up (which sometimes need 5 when delays) is already a significant uplift

 

[markymark2000]

Yet Warrington's Own Buses won the N4 - so Stagecoach not the only one interested in the region. I hope Stagecoach are doing well and will look to enhance their Cheshire services in due course

Not sure how much more capacity is spare in the Chester depot for Stagecoach - and if there is capacity, where do you find a bus? The 84 taking 4 buses up (which sometimes need 5 when delays) is already a significant uplift

The only one which would be additional buses is the 22, in which case, that can be ran by Rock Ferry or Chester depot (or a mix of the two). Rock Ferry having seen quite a big PVR reduction since Covid means that they have more than sufficient space to run the service, just depends on drivers.

 

[childwallblues]

Yet Warrington's Own Buses won the N4 - so Stagecoach not the only one interested in the region. I hope Stagecoach are doing well and will look to enhance their Cheshire services in due course

Not sure how much more capacity is spare in the Chester depot for Stagecoach - and if there is capacity, where do you find a bus? The 84 taking 4 buses up (which sometimes need 5 when delays) is already a significant uplift

There will be no shortage of buses within the group when Gillmoss receives new hydrogen buses (89001-10) for route 10A, MMCs 15621-28 for Rock Ferry and 15629-51 to Preston for Route 125.

 

[SeanM1997]

There will be no shortage of buses within the group when Gillmoss receives new hydrogen buses (89001-10) for route 10A, MMCs 15621-28 for Rock Ferry and 15629-51 to Preston for Route 125.

When that happens, and buses are moved around as they become freed up - I would love to see Stagecoach enhance the 84. Be it move more double deckers from Preston/Rock Ferry to Chester for the route, operate a 20 minute frequency between Crewe & Nantwich or provide a half hourly service between Crewe & Chester

 

[markymark2000]

Not sure how much more capacity is spare in the Chester depot for Stagecoach

Since the new depot opened 2018, is has been expanded 3 times and the PVR is down since the depot was opened. PVR was around 55-60. The PVR currently stands at around 50. Plenty of room for expansion

 

[childwallblues]

The two Caetano Levante coaches at Rock Ferry 59223/26 BN64FKR/FKU have moved to Stagecoach East Scotland at Perth.

 

[73001]

A press release for this afternoon states that Stagecoach are to take over the routes, staff and most buses of Peoplesbus at Aintree (from 9th July). The majority of the work is schools and this will likely form part of a school bus section at Gilmoss.

https://twitter.com/Peoplesbus/status/1671202173978390554?t=dLTWZSBNV9E-hKuC2RAfbw&s=19

Acquisition of certain business and assets of Aintree based Peoplesbus Limited.
Stagecoach announces the acquisition of Peoplesbus employees, vehicles and bus services in
Merseyside and West Lancashire.
Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire has today Tuesday 20th June 2023, announced that it
will be acquiring the bus services, contracts, the majority of vehicles and employees of Liverpool
independent bus operator "Peoplesbus" on Sunday 9th July 2023.
Twenty-one Peoplesbus employees and twenty-three vehicles will relocate from Peoplesbus Aintree
depot to Stagecoach's nearby Gillmoss site along with all tendered local and school bus services and
a network of commercial school and football services. The acquired operations will operate as
Stagecoach and the vehicles will initially be rebranded and gradually repainted
Peoplesbus was founded by Andrew Cawley in June 2001, with one Leyland National bus, operating a
number of weekend only services. In April 2002, the first Merseytravel school service was secured.
The operation grew to a peak of thirty-two vehicles, with school contracts forming the core of the
operation, supported in later years by tendered local bus services. Peoplesbus recently expanded
with new tendered services in St Helens.
Managing Director of Stagecoach Merseyside, Matt Davies said "Peoplesbus is a local quality
independent operator. This acquisition is a good strategic fit for our business, as we expand our
portfolio of Merseytravel tendered operations across the City region. It also makes for an excellent
bolt on for our Gillmoss depot in Liverpool. We are delighted to be welcoming new colleagues to our
Stagecoach team and we will be doing our best to ensure they quickly feel at home"
Managing Director of Peoplesbus, Andrew Cawley said "After twenty-two amazing years of service to
the people of Merseyside, I am delighted that we have been able to secure a deal that will see our
employees and vehicles moving over to Gillmoss. This feels like things have come full circle as
Gillmoss is where my passion for the industry started, with my dad having spent twenty-six years
driving buses from here and where I have some extremely fond childhood memories. It feels like
coming home. I still have a huge passion for this fantastic industry of ours and in the short term I'm
looking forward to assisting Stagecoach with the smooth transition of our operation. Longer term,I
am considering a continuation with Private Hires or joining Stagecoach full time. In the short term a
much-needed break is definitely on the cards"

 

[47550]

Is this a strange move by Stagecoach given that Merseyside may be going down the franchise route soon ?

 

[73001]

Is this a strange move by Stagecoach given that Merseyside may be going down the franchise route soon ?

Possibly. They have just gained quite a bit of school work which this fits quite nicely alongside. The formation of a school bus hub may allow them to bid more competitively when franchising comes along. And it's one less operator who is going into the franchising system.

 

[childwallblues]

Possibly. They have just gained quite a bit of school work which this fits quite nicely alongside. The formation of a school bus hub may allow them to bid more competitively when franchising comes along. And it's one less operator who is going into the franchising system.

Wow. It is 22 years since Andrew Cawley set up Peoplebus.

 

[robertclark125]

This move would mean Stagecoach regains the soccer bus contracts, which operate from sandhills Station.

 

[73001]

This move would mean Stagecoach regains the soccer bus contracts, which operate from sandhills Station.

Soccerbus is run commercially by Peoplesbus at the moment... as are most of the morning school services.