Bus War: Citybus strike back?

" It is presumptuous to say that this will affect interest in the company or the price bidders are prepared to pay ” Ugobus 15 Timetable

Bus stops around Derriford and Estover are now displaying this little green sticker announcing that ugobus is coming soon. We have actually had a timetable for the 15 sent round at Derriford Hospital which I have linked to in the sidebar left. The ugobus concept of nice simple timetables with regular services is carried through for the whole day service which makes it easy to remember although for some strange reason the Sunday times are different. There is of course no evening service which is not surprising but disappointing all the same. Marc Reddy has added a line to his introduction on the First web site : We are introducing some new bus services in Plymouth from 11 October 2009 and more details about these new services will be published on our website nearer the time. Otherwise there is little to go on just yet. This is Plymouth also reported the extra routes during the week: The firm (FDC) has not revealed the routes but the Western Area Traffic Commissioner described them as 'city centre circular routes' which will run from October 11. Transport industry insiders are speculating the routes will cover Ernesettle, Southway, Estover and Plympton. (Should have read my blog - the details were also on their own iHerald site too!) Plymouth City Council said the threat of competition was one reason it is considering selling off its majority shareholding in Citybus. John Preece, chairman of Taxifast which is spearheading a company hoping to buy Citybus, said First's move was the opening salvo in a 'bus war'. He is calling for the city council to go on the offensive and urge Citybus to run services in direct competition to First's Plymstock schedule. He also wants the Office of Fair Trading to step in because he fears the First application could unbalance potential bidders, should the city council decide to off-load its bus firm. (This didn't put him off doing the same back in the 1980’s!) The city council has valued Citybus "well in excess of £10million", and is inviting bids in order to discover its true market value. A city council spokeswoman said First's new routes won't become active until after the council has received initial offers from interested bidders. "There is always the chance that any competing bus operator can register on routes of established bus operators at any time – this is no different in Plymouth," she said. "This was one of the major reasons the council decided to consider the future ownership of Citybus, as competition in the transport market is increasing. Route competition has always been a consideration for Citybus, as it is for all bus companies and as it would continue to be for any new provider. This possibility would be factored into any valuation. It is presumptuous to say that this will affect interest in the company or the price bidders are prepared to pay." Sadly This Is Plymouth has not allowed any comments on the story so its difficult to gauge any public opinion to these extra services just yet. Not quite sure why though? It remains to be seen how the perceived value of the company will be affected by Firsts actions. Although as the council spokesman says - the changes wont happen until after the initial offers come in, they are known about now, and the bidders will be taking all of this into account when deciding how much they are willing to pay. The comment about increasing competition being a reason for putting the company on the market is also interesting, as this latest round of competition is happening only because the company has been put on the market. First had introduced service 11 a while back which was extra competition to Citybus but even this route, while being described as successful is being cut back in the evenings by FDC. The first signs of Citybus reaction are now coming to our attention with the following applications being posted on the VOSA site during the last few days: PH0000135/9 - PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD, MILEHOUSE, MILEHOUSE RD, PLYMOUTH, PL3 4AA Variation Accepted: Operating between PLYMOUTH Royal Parade Stop A14 and PLYMOUTH Royal Parade given service number 43/143/43A/43B effective from 25-Oct-2009. To amend Timetable. PH0000135/53 - PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD, MILEHOUSE, MILEHOUSE RD, PLYMOUTH, PL3 4AA Variation Accepted: Operating between PLYMOUTH Royal Parade and ESTOVER Industrial Estate given service number 34/34B/34S effective from 25-Oct-2009. To amend Route and Timetable. PH0000135/71 - PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD, MILEHOUSE, MILEHOUSE RD, PLYMOUTH, PL3 4AA  Variation Accepted: Operating between PLYMPTON, CHADDLEWOOD and PLYMOUTH, DERRIFORD HOSPITAL given service number 152 effective from 25-Oct-2009. To amend Route. (Bit of a puzzle this as the 152 currently operates the Derriford - Saltash section with Citybus 52 running between Derriford and Plympton for a few peak journeys) PH0000135/75 - PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD, MILEHOUSE, MILEHOUSE RD, PLYMOUTH, PL3 4AA; Variation Accepted: Operating between PLYMOUTH , Royal Parade and SALTASH PILLMERE given service number 26/26S effective from 25-Oct-2009. To amend Route and Timetable. PH0000135/86 - PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD, MILEHOUSE, MILEHOUSE RD, PLYMOUTH, PL3 4AA; Variation Accepted: Operating between Royal Parade/Station Forecourt and Royal Parade/Station Forecourt given service number 25 effective from 25-Oct-2009. To amend Route and Timetable. The most interesting one though is for a new service introduced into FDC operating territory: PH0000135/94 - PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD, MILEHOUSE, MILEHOUSE RD, PLYMOUTH, PL3 4AA; Registration Accepted Starting Point: Plymouth City Centre Finish Point: Plymouth City Centre Service Number: 5  Service Type: Normal Stopping  Effective Date: 25-OCT-2009 Other Details: Monday to Saturday every 10 mins Sunday and Monday to Saturday evenings every 60 mins. Although not that clear from the VOSA details I had been tipped off that Citybus were running into Plymstock from the 25th October which is almost certainly this service. I will give more details as I get them, although in the current market conditions both companies are understandably keeping the cards close to their chests so information is harder to come by than it used to be!

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