Stagecoach Scoop up Rival

[Jordy]

Info from Grimsby Telegraph, some text from paper, some from me;

Bus giant Stagecoach has bought out Traction Group Ltd, the company behind Lincolnshire Road car (LRC), bringing bus operations around the Grimsby area under the same ownership. The deal, costing £26-million, will also see Stagecoach in charge of Serivices to Lincoln and Barton Upon Humber, as well as many serivces in Louth, Mablethorpe, Skegness and the surrounding area. LRC first began operations in 1928, serving the whole county. Prior the the aquisition Barnsley Buisnessman Frank Carter was chairman of Traction, which also has services in South and West Yorkshire and Tayside. The buy out will mean that SGC (Stagecoach Grimsby Cleethorpes) will own two depots in Grimsby, both on opposite sides of the town centre.

It sounds like this could be a great improvement for services around Grimsby, as LRC share some routes with LRC, attempting to run a quarter hourly service, alternating between the two companies. However, all does not normally go to plan, as communication between the two companies is poor - resulting in two buses operating the same route right behind eachother for the entire days service. The aquisition will hopefully mean the SGCs 'Dayrider' tickets will be accepted on ex LRC services, and may also see the 59 vehicles owned by LRC repainted into the Stagecoach corperate livery of White with blue red and yellow 'Swoosh', and eventually a timetable improvement. However, for the time being, Stagecoach have stressed its 'Buisness as Usual' for LRC routes until other issues are sorted. Interestingly, the buy out will see SGC operate the 350 bus from Barton to Hull via the Humber Bridge, while it attempts to remove the Grimsby-Hull X1 service due to the high bridge toll. Maybe the timetable could be altered to see the X1 run into Barton itself, replacing the 350 and repriving the valuable direct link between Grimsby and Hull.

The buy out will altogether include some 7000 vehicles as part of the bigger Traction Group limited.

Thanks

Jordy

 

[Tom B]

Interesting. Will LRC buses be repainted to Stagecoach colours?

 

[Guinness]

Interesting. Will LRC buses be repainted to Stagecoach colours?

Most Likely. Stagecoach bought out GTL in Merseyside back a few months ago. They repainted almost all the buses and bought 30 new Darts.

Expect Buses to get better in Lincoinshire.

 

[Mojo]

The only way buses are gonna get properly better is if they are re-regulated again.

 

[Tom B]

Indeed. It's a shame, LRC livery isn't bad, one of the olympians is in old NBC (IIRC) green livery (usually works the Bawtry route).

 

[Angus]

I don't know much about buses, except that bus services run by First are very poor, and Stagecoach and Arriva are a lot better. Were bus services better when they were regulated, as I don't think I was around when they were, or is it a similar case to the railways, where there are arguments and support for both sides?

 

[Max]

Personally, in the Hull area I always try to use EYMS buses instead of Stagecoach. I believe generally the drivers are more friendly, and EYMS own far more new buses, which makes the journey more pleasant.

EYMS are also generally cheaper than Stagecoach. I own an EYMS 'go 4 less' card, which is a free cashless system which entitles me to 10% off all journeys made. In my opinion, its a shame that tickets are not accepted on both companies, and that there isn't a day rover which is valid on both.

 

[Tom B]

If you look at London, where buses are regulated, they're much better than Donny or Sheffield - because companies can't get away with not maintianing or cleaning buses, employing monkeys or not running to time. Apparently things used to run much better than SYPTE controlled everything - now they're just in First's back pocket.

 

[Ben]

Hopefully us Stuck with Tracky will get some decent Buses Now!

I always get (filtered) off when i go to Barnsley Depot and see What nice Buses they got compared to us.

 

[Tom B]

I'd doubt it - until there's proper regulation companies will provide the minimum.

 

[Mojo]

Even in London, I think the buses would be better if TfL awarded all the contracts to themselves, as there need not be any additional expenses due to no shareholders to pay (see Lothian Buses / council owned).

 

[Tom B]

But why muck about with the intricies of London buses when the rest of the country needs sorting first?

 

[Ben]

Our Buses Buses are being sent to Barnsley 1 by 1 to be repainted,

one out of 20+ Done

 

[Ben]

Interior and Exterior Refurbs carried out on all Tracky Huddersfield Buses!

Well done Stagecoach!

 

[Jordy]

There has been at least one ex LRC bus repainted into SGC livery with more to follow.

Jordy

 

[Tom B]

Will they repaint all the fleet or only the newer ones? Which bus has been repainted?

 

[Jordy]

Not sure what their plans are, but it was an old one. I know its an ex roadcar one as it still has roadcar branding on the grills at the front of it .

Jordy

 

[Tom B]

Saw an LRC bus today in Stagecoach livery - but with LRC branding on the windscreen.

 

[David]

Still no changes to the buses in S****horpe - not even a repaint yet....

 

[Tom B]

Swear filter appears to have killed S****horpe <- that town where the 351 terminates.

Though I don't know where the bus I saw was allocated to - it was a little dart, can't remember the route number.

 

[Guinness]

Still no changes to the buses in S****horpe - not even a repaint yet....

Hmm when Stagecoach swallowed up GTL in Merseyside brand new Darts appeared within a couple of weeks! GTL Logos went as soon as Stagecoach put pen to paper.

It's all about company image these days with the big companies.

 

[DLA365]

Even in London, I think the buses would be better if TfL awarded all the contracts to themselves, as there need not be any additional expenses due to no shareholders to pay (see Lothian Buses / council owned).

The remaining TfL operated services in London (operated by its subsidiary East Thames Buses) are not run very well, and the private companies do a better job.

It is the policy of making tight timetables and turning buses short of their destination (and not informing them they need a transfer ticket if they paid by cash/ pre-pay/ saver) that most annoys passengers - is this done anywhere else in the country?

 

[Tom B]

Tight timetables are done, but when the buses run late they just keep going, rather than running empty along the quickest route back into town. Hence the service just gets worse...

 

[DLA365]

Tight timetables are done, but when the buses run late they just keep going, rather than running empty along the quickest route back into town. Hence the service just gets worse...

A very late service is better than no service at all!

In London if the bus is late, they cut a trip as you said or turn short (making one end get no service).

If there are planned roadworks, is an emergency timetable created to factor in the extra running time?

 

[Tom B]

Hell no! Last time there were roadworks they just said "screw them" and cut that route for the duration (every weekend for several months). Of course the competition had by that time been driven out of business so there's no worries. They said an adequete alternative was to walk a mile to another main road to catch a different route - yeah right...

What they could really do with is a system of differing timetables. EVERY September, we have the St Ledger. Every September, there is traffic chaos. Thus every September, all the bus services which go out past the Racecourse fall to bits. It's not helped by the withdrawl of the former Racecourse route, with large high capacity DDs which would run on race days - now they try and get people crammed on to the (too small anyway) SPDs running suburban routes. This happens EVERY year - and to a lesser extent every time there's a race meeting on. Why on earth they don't introduce a new timetable with extra buses and more running time I don't know - or rather I do, they're just lazy and don't want to spent the pittance more required.

 

[DLA365]

Hell no! Last time there were roadworks they just said "screw them" and cut that route for the duration (every weekend for several months). Of course the competition had by that time been driven out of business so there's no worries. They said an adequete alternative was to walk a mile to another main road to catch a different route - yeah right...

By "cutting that route", do you mean the service was suspended completely or the route was diverted away from the area?

Walking one mile - good grief! What would the elderly do? Isn't there any regulation that prevents operators from doing what they like?

What they could really do with is a system of differing timetables. EVERY September, we have the St Ledger. Every September, there is traffic chaos. This happens EVERY year - and to a lesser extent every time there's a race meeting on. Why on earth they don't introduce a new timetable with extra buses and more running time I don't know

Exactly - same in London with Boxing Day and every Sunday afternoon between 3pm and 5pm: roads leading to shopping centres are completely gridlocked. This happens every year on that day/ every Sunday, but the same number of buses are used, most of them turning short or running Not In Service.

- or rather I do, they're just lazy and don't want to spent the pittance more required.

When will bus passengers be entitled to claim compensation if they are delayed by more than 15 minutes like on London Underground?

 

[Tom B]

By "cutting that route", do you mean the service was suspended completely or the route was diverted away from the area?

Walking one mile - good grief! What would the elderly do? Isn't there any regulation that prevents operators from doing what they like?

Indeed, the service was suspended completely.

When will bus passengers be entitled to claim compensation if they are delayed by more than 15 minutes like on London Underground?

The same day that pigs take to the sky... if every time a bus was late by 15 minutes the journey was free or something I'd have paid very little fares.

 

[DLA365]

Indeed, the service was suspended completely.

So the roadworks were just an excuse to suspend the service completely. Next time it will be a slight drizzle that will "make it necessary to suspend the service".

The same day that pigs take to the sky... if every time a bus was late by 15 minutes the journey was free or something I'd have paid very little fares.

With fares that high, they should have plenty left over to pay up compensation!

I wonder why only London Underground offers this compensation. It must be working very well (maybe only a few passengers actually make a claim), but it is good for the company image. It would be nice if some NR TOC's offer this too...

 

[Sprinter]

In Cheltenham every Saturday, Stagecoach supplement the usual low-floor Dart worked routes D & E by Racecourse P&R route R worked by three Tridents spare at weekends from University of Gloucester duties.

Thus between the three routes, this gives a bus every 7-8 minutes between the town centre and the racecourse!

Indeed during the Cheltenham Festival, Stagecoach brought out as many spare Megabus vehicles as they could muster together. Below is a message posted up on the Megabus Forum:

**In total this week six megabus liveried Olympians have seen action on
the busy Cheltenham Station to Racecourse shuttle service;13609/620/631/635/645/648 were all used. 13609 still carries
Manchester legals, 13620/631/635 were on loan from Stagecoach South
leaving all their depots with 0% spare cover. 13635 was only used on
the Friday. On Tuesday the Cheltenham to London megabus was "waxy" so
13645 came out on shuttles after its weekly check, otherwise 13648
worked the shuttles and 13645 did its usual London runs.

Former megabuses also present were the five South West Trains
liveried machines; 13629/634/640/646/652.

Most of these carried very large loads, all well in excess of the licenced capacity and proved very effective people shifting tools- so much better at the job than the short Tridents etc which made up the rest of the vehicles. Traffic jams caused long gaps in service by 1200 which a large crowd building up off arriving trains, 13634 was greeted with a cheer when it arrived after a long bus-less period! We like to think that they were cheering 13634, rather than becuase of the long delay...**

Good ol' Stagecoach!

 

[DLA365]

There's an example of using initiative. Long gaps can't be helped, but when extra buses are put on, customers understand.

Similarly in Hong Kong during festivals, tens of extra buses are put on each busy route to provide a 1-2 minute service (a bit like Tube Strike day in London, 2004). However in London, this has faded away to an unreliable rail replacement bus service that shoves off passengers to the nearest mainline station, without even a thought that the mainline service goes nowhere near the LUL service.