The VOSA registrations continuePH0000135/150 - PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD, MILEHOUSE, MILEHOUSE ROAD, PLYMOUTH, PL3 4AA
- Registration Accepted
- Starting Point: Royal Parade
- Finish Point: Torpoint HMS Raleigh
- Via:
- Service Number: 32
- Service Type: Normal Stopping
- Effective Date: 06-OCT-2013
- Other Details: Mon-Sat except bank hols
Yesterday saw a small flurry of activity for First Devon & Cornwall, but they were all for Cornwall services.
As was pointed out in the comments to my post yesterday the Stagecoach Gold registrations have already been posted on VOSA back on the 1st August. I must have been half asleep when I posted yesterday as I did know this as I had already added the details to my sister site Plymothian Bus Services where I try to keep all the historical changes for each route (very much a work in progress)
PH1020951/197 - STAGECOACH DEVON LTD, BELGRAVE ROAD, EXETER, EX1 2LB
- Registration Accepted
- Starting Point: Torquay Strand
- Finish Point: Totnes Royal Seven Stars
- Service Number: GOLD
- Service Type: Normal Stopping
- Effective Date: 30-SEP-2013
- Other Details: Daily service, Half hourly Mon-Sat and 2 hourly Sundays & Bank Holidays
PH1020951/198 - STAGECOACH DEVON LTD, BELGRAVE ROAD, EXETER, EX1 2LB
- Registration Accepted
- Starting Point: Totnes Royal Seven Stars
- Finish Point: Plymouth
- Service Number: GOLD
- Service Type: Normal Stopping
- Effective Date: 30-SEP-2013
- Other Details: Daily service - hourly Mon to Sats & 2 hourly Sundays & Bank Holidays
PH1020951/199 - STAGECOACH DEVON LTD, BELGRAVE ROAD, EXETER, EX1 2LB
- Registration Accepted
- Starting Point: Totnes Royal Seven Stars
- Finish Point: Dartmouth
- Service Number: GOLD
- Service Type: Normal Stopping
- Effective Date: 30-SEP-2013
- Other Details: Mondays to Saturdays except Bank Holidays - hourly service
Thanks for the the comments over the last week or so. Its been very entertaining reading what everyone has to say. I should say though that I have a feeling that not all comments have managed to find their way to the blog. I read a few at work and then publish them via my mobile – but when I get home I am sure not all of them have made it. If you have left a comment and it has not appeared, then I am sorry – its not been censored or anything like that! I will revert back to publishing them from my PC at home as this seems to work better
PT RECOMMENDS
- So, after 92 years of use, suddenly it becomes unsafe? Really? What exactly is "a bit dubious"? Politicians protecting their posterior perhaps? It's only cost an extra £300,000 for the bus service. Public Transport Experience 6 August
- In the past, fbb has not been backward in coming forward about the poor quality of leaflets produced by Travel South Yorkshire [TSY] the identity chosen by the Passenger Transport Executive Public Transport Experience 6 August
- Deliveries of the New Bus for London continue and as previously announced the next batch will enter service on route 11 on 21st September. Leon Daniels 5 August
Well there goes PCBs profit margin and the subsequent driver pay increase as losses will be incurred. You will need a lot of bottoms paying lots of small sums lots of times to pay for flashy new Enviro 400 buses, whereas First can withstand the assault, and even obtain new stock for a much welcome refresh of the existing services. First still has the upper hand here and PCB more to lose.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree.. Citybus will regret this...If First dont pull out and try to stick it out, there is only one winner on both Tavistock and Torpoint routes and that is First. Citybus can have their flashy buses but they have nowhere near the frequency or coverage as First have!! People in Tavistock and Torpoint will not be stupid enough to fall for the citybus..'we are doing what you want rubbish' and will remember what company has been there everyday for the past 34 years in Torpoint and over 100 years across Dartmoor! They know without First and its predecessor Western National they would not be getting buses at 15 minute intervals...which I hasten to add is more than Citybus provide to many estates in Plymouth!!! Rumour has it as well that Citybus will cut Southway/Whitleigh frequency to accomadate this assuault.. Perhaps First can exploit gaps they leave in the city!!
DeletePCB still have nearly new buses too so if needed the E400s could be moved to other routes therefore both companies have an edge over each other!
DeleteI agree think many seem to forget these buses need to be paid for, believe they cost around £200k plus each!! Think PCB are playing a dangerous game.
DeleteWell that's one way of looking at it. I don't agree. PCB is in the ascendency and is far better placed to spread its overheads over two new services. First is going to struggle; if it loses much revenue on the competitive routes then their costs and fixed overheads are going to be quickly strained. More so if there's a price war.
ReplyDeleteNot sure why you assume it's easy for FDC to fund new buses but not PCB? Logically, it's clearly the other way around. Let's be honest, First has more or less asked to be attacked (perhaps that's their plan, given top management's previous comments about South Devon being in near close down?) and I have no doubts that PCB and Stagecoach will put up a far stronger fight than First did with their Ugobus competitive routes which (apart from one?) failed miserably. They're hardly going to try that again, are they?
The only mystery to me is why PCB appears to be going into Torpoint rather half-heartedly compared to what seems to be a stronger and more comprehensive offering for Tavistock.
Totally agree with above PCB have got too big for their boots here, gambling that First will just walk away... I don't think they will. PCB have spent nearly £2m on these buses they are going to need a lot of £6 return fares from TAVI or £3 TORPOINT to even break even. If/When First cut fares on these routes as they do not have the outlay for this now, this will further dent PCB financial status i feel!!! PCB will need to raise fares even more not just on these routes but throughout Plymouth to pay for this.. queue your local friendly First bus Plymouth for lower fares ????
ReplyDeletePCB are due to get a total of 20 new E400's. bear in mind that 4 cost £1,000,000.
ReplyDeletethey have 8 already, plus 4 due soon plus another 8 in November. Do the maths!
First are really in a stable enough position to cut fares are they? How's that going to help their current perilous financial state if they go out and intentionally reduce their income? Likewise, is the FirstGroup board really going to pump money into Plymouth to fund a price war and/or buy new or newer, buses (that still have to be paid for, remember)? It would be seen as something of an embarrassing u-turn, I fear, having stated that the area was in near close down. Logically there are other parts of the country that would potentially give far better and far quicker returns from an injection of some of First's (limited) working capital.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame, I'd love for First to be able to mount an effective fightback but whichever way you look at it: logically, realistically, financially it really doesn't look too promising if you put a business hat on.
I'm not sure why people are getting hung up about the number and the cost of new buses. Suggesting that drivers won't get a pay rise as a result is blatent, unfounded scaremongering.
ReplyDeletePCB runs about 180 buses. If they have an eighteeen year life, then PCB needs to be buying ten new ones every year. Have they been doing that in recent years? No. There were ten E200s in 2008 and then ten B7RLEs last year. Okay, there's also been a quantity of mid-life ex-London deckers but that doesn't really help the overall age profile. PCB needs to catch up and the 20 E400s are desperately needed whatever routes they are put onto.
As for First, their fleet profile is even worse. Desperate even. But where's the money going to come from to upgrade it?
I've been looking at the new First 81 Torpoint Timetable just published, having already got the Citybus 32 timetable. I live on the route in Torpoint,often see near-empty First buses, and cannot see how such an intensive service, although offering us passengers loads of choice is financially viable, given also the subsidy reductions by Cornwall Council which has already decimated services in the far west. Hope I'm wrong. No doubt the experts know best.
ReplyDeleteWhat you're going to see is the chill wind of competition. The market to Painton, Torpoint or Tavistock or probably Efford can't stand the cost of two competing operators. You'll see low fares, high frequencies and plenty of marketing, until one of them cuts their losses. First has done that on Torquay. they know how much revenue is there obviously. It may take months, or it could go on for years, but you should enjoy the benefits for as long as you can. On the other side of the coin, in other areas of the city people will get less buses as GoAhead cut frequencies to put resources into the competitive routes, where they think they can cut costs without damaging revenue. That's competition for us. We had relative stability for a fair while, then Stagecoach and GoAhead changed that, much as First did some years ago
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