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Yorkshire Tiger acquired by Transdev

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mde

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Alex Hornby (MD, Transdev Blazefield) is tweeting this morning indicating that they have acquired Yorkshire Tiger from Arriva - with acquisition due for completion "this summer"

Alex Hornby

@alextransdev



Exciting news at Transdev today: we’ve reached agreement with Arriva to acquire Yorkshire Tiger and its operations in Halifax & Huddersfield. It’ll be business as usual for now - completion due this summer. Looking forward to meeting our new colleagues & customers in due course!


1618470590632.png



I can't find a press announcement for this yet.
 
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Smethwickian

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I can't find a press announcement for this yet.
"Transdev today announced it has signed an agreement to buy the West Yorkshire-based Yorkshire Tiger bus operations from Arriva UK Bus, with completion expected in the summer.
"Today’s announcement will not affect local bus services and Arriva employees are set to move to Transdev as part of the sale agreement.
"Once complete, the sale is set to include Arriva’s two depots at Elland, near Halifax and Waterloo in Huddersfield, as well as 61 buses."
Reports refers to "163 drivers, engineers, cleaning and support colleagues based at these two depots" but adds: "The sole exceptions are the 231 and 232 Huddersfield – Wakefield routes, which are planned to remain within Arriva as part of its Yorkshire business."
 
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northern506

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Alex Hornby (MD, Transdev Blazefield) is tweeting this morning indicating that they have acquired Yorkshire Tiger from Arriva - with acquisition due for completion "this summer"



I can't find a press announcement for this yet.

As far as I'm concerned this can only be a good thing - Tiger are probably one of the worst bus companies I've travelled on.

Hoping Transdev can bring it up to their general standard across their network.

There's a press release here - https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/bus...-services-in-halifax-and-huddersfield-3201507

Looks like 231/232 (Huddersfield-Wakefield) services will stay with Arriva.
 

py_megapixel

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I hadn't heard of Yorkshire Tiger before but having looked them up, I honestly think the branding looks quite like a Transdev one already...
 

CBlue

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Arriva seemed to start Yorkshire Tiger off with the best of intentions but seemed to quickly lose enthusiasm. Hopefully transdev will have someone in charge who can keep up the momentum...
 

overthewater

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It does look like DB are willing to sell of part of the Arriva UK operations after all, which seems to be a sea change for trying to find a single buyer. Might we see further actions like this?

It does look like a perfect fit to all the operations to be merged into Transdev.
 
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Andyh82

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Arriva seemed to start Yorkshire Tiger off with the best of intentions but seemed to quickly lose enthusiasm. Hopefully transdev will have someone in charge who can keep up the momentum...
They seemed to be constantly changing management, I think many saw it as a stepping stone into something bigger

Arriva seemed to run it on a low budget as well, if buses failed they were generally just parked up rather than fixed, resulting in many fairly modern buses being withdrawn, until recently they basically had their own in house scrap yard at the old K-Line depot in Honley
 
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With this news I can see Transdev hot on the heels of First on corridors like Halifax - Todmorden and Halifax - Huddersfield.

Transdev generally try to work with other operators rather than compete (apart from one obvious example) but maybe this time they will go for them.

I think a Halifax - Huddersfield express route has been missing for a while and could really attract custom, when from experience; a lot of 503 passengers are end to end journeys.
 

NorthernSpirit

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It's a shame Stagecoach didn't decide to buy it, as we could have seen some proper competition then. Plus it would have been a first for Stagecoach operating around Halifax and Calderdale, giving First Halifax a run for their money.
 
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cnjb8

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Not surprised Yorkshire Tiger has been sold, actually I'm surprised it didn't happen pre pandemic
 

TheGrandWazoo

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With this news I can see Transdev hot on the heels of First on corridors like Halifax - Todmorden and Halifax - Huddersfield.

Transdev generally try to work with other operators rather than compete (apart from one obvious example) but maybe this time they will go for them.

I think a Halifax - Huddersfield express route has been missing for a while and could really attract custom, when from experience; a lot of 503 passengers are end to end journeys.
I don't see it and for the reason you say; Transdev don't tend to enter the fray against other operators in direct competition. So Todmorden to Halifax.... not for me. Now, going in for tenders and developing the business with something like a fast service from Halifax to Huddersfield..... Transdev will want to develop the business and they will look at the opportunities to expand.

It does look like DB are willing to sell of part of the Arriva UK operations after all, which seems to be a sea change for trying to find a single buyer. Might we see further actions like this?
I think we already knew that, given the sale of the Cannock depot in January to Peddle.

AFAIK, there were a few piecemeal sales lined up but the pandemic has put some of those into question. However, the breaking up of Arriva isn't on the agenda.
It does look like a perfect fit to all the operations to be merged into Transdev.

I disagree that it's "a perfect fit". Waterloo depot has seemingly suffered from a lack of critical mass and it's not like there's a huge number of strong services as a base. It some respects, there's a geographic fit in that it's more West Yorkshire stuff but Halifax and Huddersfield are distinct from Keighley. I can see the logic but I am a little surprised that Transdev has bought it but not that Arriva has sold it.

It's a shame Stagecoach didn't decide to buy it, as we could have seen some proper competition then. Plus it would have been a first for Stagecoach operating around Halifax and Calderdale, giving First Halifax a run for their money.
Well seeing as they didn't want Waterloo depot when they purchased YT, selling it to Centrebus, then I highly doubt it. What makes you think that Stagecoach fancy competing with First in West Yorkshire?



Gotta feel a bit for the longer serving staff at Waterloo, having been with Tracky who were purchased by Stagecoach. No real change but then to Centrebus, then to Yorkshire Tiger, and then to Transdev. However, it was always a bit of an outpost with Tracky. It was opportunistic for Centrebus but with Yorkshire Tiger, it seemed to be one of those activities that were entered into with great hope but soon began to suffer from lack of managerial focus. @Andyh82 has called it right enough.... a mere stepping stone to some and an incumbrance to others

If it were First, people would be (rightly) calling them out for it but Arriva have a lot of form for similar purchases (see Chase Bus, TGM/Classic)
 

Statto

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I thought Yorkshire Tiger were owned by Transdev [mostly because of the K-Line livery & branding being very similar to Keighley & District branding at the time] until a few years ago when i saw they were owned by Arriva, i'm surprised it was kept as a separate company rather than being moved into the main Arriva Yorkshire operations
 

TheGrandWazoo

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I thought Yorkshire Tiger were owned by Transdev [mostly because of the K-Line livery & branding being very similar to Keighley & District branding at the time] until a few years ago when i saw they were owned by Arriva, i'm surprised it was kept as a separate company rather than being moved into the main Arriva Yorkshire operations
I wonder if it were a) to keep it as a low cost subsidiary and b) linked to that, to avoid having to align with the main Arriva Yorkshire pay and conditions
 

Andyh82

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I disagree that it's "a perfect fit". Waterloo depot has seemingly suffered from a lack of critical mass and it's not like there's a huge number of strong services as a base. It some respects, there's a geographic fit in that it's more West Yorkshire stuff but Halifax and Huddersfield are distinct from Keighley. I can see the logic but I am a little surprised that Transdev has bought it but not that Arriva has sold it.

Yes they don't have a great critical mass as you say, there isn't really many major corridors that would be worthy of a Trax/Irwell Line style approach.

The services are basically Metro tenders, the main 233 service to Denby Dale, the former Halifax Joint Committee stuff that they mostly have to themselves due to First pulling out of those areas, and the former K Line stuff that is generally in direct competition with First
 

alex397

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Great news for the Yorkshire Tiger operations.

I’m looking forward to more parts of Arriva being sold off. They really have become like First was about 15+ years ago, and I don’t mean that in a good way. A recent blog by Roger French about their Isle of Sheppey operations shows some good examples of how terrible they are.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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I’m looking forward to more parts of Arriva being sold off. They really have become like First was about 15+ years ago, and I don’t mean that in a good way. A recent blog by Roger French about their Isle of Sheppey operations shows some good examples of how terrible they are.
I have been saying this for a while. For different reasons to First, Arriva has become not just becalmed but is declining. The fleet had a decent age profile but regular investment had ceased in the last few years. Operations are being wound back or divested. It seems utterly hamstrung because of the indecision of DB. That's before you look at that abysmal website. There are a few other spots that are equally vulnerable.

This disposal isn't a surprise. However, it's the purchaser that's a bit of a surprise but Alex H clearly will have a plan.

With the Elland depot close to Ainley Top, let CityZap V2 rumours start now!
Put that pin back in the grenade :D
 

cnjb8

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I have been saying this for a while. For different reasons to First, Arriva has become not just becalmed but is declining. The fleet had a decent age profile but regular investment had ceased in the last few years. Operations are being wound back or divested. It seems utterly hamstrung because of the indecision of DB. That's before you look at that abysmal website. There are a few other spots that are equally vulnerable.

This disposal isn't a surprise. However, it's the purchaser that's a bit of a surprise but Alex H clearly will have a plan.


Put that pin back in the grenade :D
Investement in new buses for First was minimal in 2010, while Arriva seem to be doing the same only ten years later and over a couple of years!
 

CBlue

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Not quite sure where all these wishes of competition come from. It doesn't end well at the best of times, never mind at a time when most operators are struggling as it is!

Launching a raft of competing services against any incumbent at the moment is a one way ticket to going bust.
 

hst43102

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Investement in new buses for First was minimal in 2010, while Arriva seem to be doing the same only ten years later and over a couple of years!
Minimal certainly, but only because First purchased huge numbers of buses in 2006-2008 or so. I don't think Arriva has bought more than a handful of new vehicles since 2016 or so?
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Minimal certainly, but only because First purchased huge numbers of buses in 2006-2008 or so. I don't think Arriva has bought more than a handful of new vehicles since 2016 or so?
This was a discussion a few weeks ago. The reason why First stopped buying new buses in the required quantities wasn't that they had bought so many but that they bought Laidlaw and that soaked up cash reserves, were spending on financing borrowing etc. Hence, the limited investment was used to meet specific contractual requirements, mainly in London or to places with specific needs (e.g. quality partnerships, park and ride, Airport contracts) with limited standard fleet replacement.

Getting back on topic, Arriva has suffered from DB not knowing what it was doing. It has capital commitments in Germany and a debt pile so first it was a sale, then not, then an IPO. All the time, not being able to invest so since a decent intake in 2017, it's been poor. Ironically, Arriva Yorkshire has been one of the few OpCos to get some investment though Yorkshire Tiger (partly as a low cost unit and also reflecting the general lack of capital/investment) has had to rely on cascades from the main Yorkshire or North East fleets.

It's a bit of a sorry decline for Yorkshire Tiger (and Arriva generally)
 

tbtc

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Well seeing as they didn't want Waterloo depot when they purchased YT, selling it to Centrebus, then I highly doubt it. What makes you think that Stagecoach fancy competing with First in West Yorkshire?

Gotta feel a bit for the longer serving staff at Waterloo, having been with Tracky who were purchased by Stagecoach. No real change but then to Centrebus, then to Yorkshire Tiger, and then to Transdev. However, it was always a bit of an outpost with Tracky

Yeah, Waterloo always felt a bit of an oddity - not sure why it was part of Tracky in the first place (I appreciate that the routes were generally towards Denby Dale etc, and Tracky were the main operator in Penistone, plus there was the hourly "two hundred and thirty somthing-or-other" through to Barnsley, but it was mainly a West Yorkshire operation whereas the vast majority of Yorkshire Traction's operations were in the People's Republic, south of the border

I'm surprised it was kept as a separate company rather than being moved into the main Arriva Yorkshire operations

I agree

I could understand why a low cost operation might make sense - Stagecoach have MagicBus, Wellglade have TM Travel - as far as I remember Lothian Buses used to use their single decker fleet as cheaper operation with less experienced drivers on poorer conditions (which has since changed?)...

...but Arriva never extended their "Tiger" brand to other operations (e.g. I could have understood if they introduced "Geordie Tiger" / "Brummie Tiger" etc elsewhere - given that there are always tendered services to bid for, if only to stop other local operators from building market share - the "Tiger" brand could have become Arriva's "cheap and cheerful" way of keeping services viable)
 

cnjb8

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Minimal certainly, but only because First purchased huge numbers of buses in 2006-2008 or so. I don't think Arriva has bought more than a handful of new vehicles since 2016 or so?
Its last major order was 2017, with only a few buses in 2018 and 2019. They were a firm ADL customer, but switched to Wright in late 2017 as they were cheaper. They haven't had any new buses since Wright went bust in September 2019, except for an order for ADL buses for their London division.
If First had a large order in 2010, would we still see so many ALXs and Presidents in service with them? The blip was because of uncertainty abut a sale (if I can remember correctly) and I can see Arriva going down the same path, loads of old buses still operating a decade later.
 

Ken H

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Its last major order was 2017, with only a few buses in 2018 and 2019. They were a firm ADL customer, but switched to Wright in late 2017 as they were cheaper. They haven't had any new buses since Wright went bust in September 2019, except for an order for ADL buses for their London division.
If First had a large order in 2010, would we still see so many ALXs and Presidents in service with them? The blip was because of uncertainty abut a sale (if I can remember correctly) and I can see Arriva going down the same path, loads of old buses still operating a decade later.
do bus companies actually buy buses? surely they can be leased. As long as you are sure you can afford the lease payments. Or even go the way of trains and have buses on contract hire, where someone lese does the maintenance and just presents the operator with X buses each day to work services.
 

Robertj21a

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Its last major order was 2017, with only a few buses in 2018 and 2019. They were a firm ADL customer, but switched to Wright in late 2017 as they were cheaper. They haven't had any new buses since Wright went bust in September 2019, except for an order for ADL buses for their London division.
If First had a large order in 2010, would we still see so many ALXs and Presidents in service with them? The blip was because of uncertainty abut a sale (if I can remember correctly) and I can see Arriva going down the same path, loads of old buses still operating a decade later.
Didn't they receive a few Streetdecks for Yorkshire (?) but refused to accept the remainder?
 
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