Great Reasons
First Devon recently published this nice little graphic to remind passengers why they are better than the competition...
Its nice to see First pushing their services again. It really does look like they care again.
Meanwhile Plymouth Citybus have confirmed that they do not accept the Ride Cornwall Ticket which is a real shame. I would like to take my son to Liskeard on the 32 for a day trip. I am sure he would be happy for the 2 hour journey on the way out but we would have to come back on the train as its a lot quicker. This might be quite an expensive option though, especially with the compulsory pub lunch for two!
Further to my comments on slipping standards at Western Greyhound, it was good to see that First had new roadside timetables ready and displayed for the scaled back service on the 76 to Callington and Launceston. WG have now managed to put some new timetables up at main stops between Callington and Tavistock and again timetable frames for their 576 have been up-dated - but I could see nothing in St. Dominick to show that there was a service in the evening and on Sundays while First's new displays at both the school and the Post Office, of course, show neither. So far as the 574/5 is concerned, there are still too many faded DAC displays and stops with the route numbers on the flag still show 79 etc.
ReplyDeleteThere always used to be passengers waiting for the DAC bus at the stop opposite my house, but I haven't seen any since WG took over. Does anyone know how WG's fares compare with DAC?
Two sections of the Callington town service are now unserved and I see a taxi firm is offering special fares on one of them and advertising that on a bus stop display - a section which serves sheltered housing.
I get the impression that First is getting its act together while Western Greyhound seems to have lost interest - it would be a shame if a once-excellent bus company gave up. Although DAC ran much more than stage services - school contracts, private hire, day trips, extended tours including abroad and taxis - I wonder if a serious contribution to their financial downfall was Cornwall Council's very tight repayments under the concessionary fare scheme. Western Greyhound has only local services, mostly tendered and nearly all in Cornwall - are they beginning to wobble financially?
Having been critical of First Devon's scruffy single deck arrival recently, it's only right that I congratulate them on this piece of marketing. Hopefully elements from this are being used on bus rears, on roadside billboards, as bus shelter adverts and in the press.
ReplyDeleteShout out! Let everyone know.
Oh, and lest anyone think I am biased, I don't want to see Citybus off the Torpoint road, leaving First alone. No, I'd like to see both operators making a good living there because people transfer from their cars.
Catch the 32a down graham and get western greyhound back, fairly cheap and straight up the dual carriageway
ReplyDeleteI would probably do that on my own, but its not really an option with my son (who is autistic). He had to travel on a crowded Vario a couple of years ago and has never forgiven them since! I will do the journey but if I do take hi then I will just have to pay for the train back!
DeleteIt is a shame that the "Ride Cornwall" train and bus ticket is not valid with Plymouth CityBus. It is also of concern if some operators refuse this option, it could result in the ticket being undermined and ultimately withdrawn. I guess these can be the downsides to too much competition appearing on routes. Some tickets will be valid and others not. This is not just confusing but can substantially increase the cost to the fare paying passenger.
DeleteSlighty away from your comment Graham but as an ex pat I never thought that I would ever see an ex London decker negotionating the lanes o f Cornwall
DeleteLike the 38 Daimler Fleetline DMSs that Western National bought in the 1980s, you mean?
Delete"Cornwall Council's very tight repayments under the concessionary fares scheme" ...... Really? The thing is that First don't complain about the scheme at all. Isn't this just propaganda spread by WG ???
ReplyDeleteWhen Cornwall first proposed their reduced repayments for concessionary fares First were if anything more vocal about the issue than WG, Cornwall actually increased their proposed rate after the initial reaction (which given the issues it is still causing gives you an idea of how bad it was initially proposed to). The nature of the two companies, with First being a big multi-national & WG a local independent, mean that First are less likely to keep up the campaign locally and will find it easier to adjust (& since as far as I know FD&C have been making a loss for decades so their issues are different) & as a huge company will be better able to ride the short term affects, WG are reliant on Cornwall & after their issues with fires etc are not likely to have big reserves at the moment.
DeleteA surprising amount of the WG network is actually commercial, their business model is to take a tendered service & improve it in partnership with the council to the point that it becomes commercial (albeit very marginal work as is the nature of the beast), such work is badly affected by changes to BSOG & concessionary fares changes by government but can be forgotten by councils as they aren't fully funded. WG have a similar business model to most of these large regional independents, to run marginal routes commercially with a underlying bed of tenders relying on a lower cost base to be able to operate routes at rates that the big groups can't, WG have historically just done it to a much higher level of quality than many of their comparable operators (like Norfolk Green).
Norfolk Green were the model of how to run a bus company - whereas WGL have always had issues, but they have been better masked. If firms like WGL can win 'awards' then its not too hard for other medium sized independents to follow suit.
DeleteNG also had a very strong idea of what they went for, and how to develop it. Their track record of lots of large single deckers and double deckers, mostly bought brand new, all SLF on routes that initially ran minibuses suggests they're better at it, whereas WGL started with Varios and only reluctantly converted to SLFs, and then only a couple of years or so after new step entry minibuses ceased being available.
Had WGL planned their fleet replacement properly, and had been buying batches of newer or new SLF buses as they'd been available (and there was a 5-6 year period when they were freely available) then WGL would not be in the position it is now. Norfolk Green sold an attractive, modern fleet of DDA compliant buses due to its regular upgrading. What is Western Greyhound going to be selling?
Clearly the WGL business model was short termist in its nature, running with fleet designed to see the owner through to a business sale prior to retiring, leaving an acquirer to deal with all the current issues. Someone like Stagecoach could still buy WGL and replace a lot of the step entry stock from its national fleet. As the fleet stands, any other purchaser could in theory continue past Jan 2015 but there would need to a cutting back of the WGL network to facilitate onward trading. Can a new buyer justify a fleet replacement programme when the 'solid' income from tenders is so volatile?
I'm just shocked that someone as 'experienced' as the owners of WGL have gotten themselves into this mess. They're time served busmen who have seen a few economic downturns in their time, but they've clearly been caught out. Fire or no fire, proper forward planning and replacement of assets would have meant they'd not be in the situation they are in now.
You cannot carry on in business blaming Cornwall Council for all your problems. Is it Cornwall Council's fault that a bus doesn't display a clear destination, that no proper destination equipment is fitted to vehicles, despite them being in stock for 8/9 months, or when the equipment is there, no one bothers to update the destination listing, and upload it to the bus or that it hasn't been resprayed into allover green despite being in the fleet for 8/9 months and still runs around telling the world it still belongs to Stagecoach?
All of the above are simple system failures easily rectifiable by an operator but are caused by a lack of interest, a lack of willingness to do something, or a lack of investment in having competent people in place or even a lack of money, or willingness to spend it.
Graham
ReplyDeleteI think you will find that Western Greyhound now use Solos on the main Liskeard-Plymouth service.
Does anyone know any more about Firsts Volvo B7's? I know there is currently one (I think) but I really hope that we get a few :-)
ReplyDelete7 initially in exchange for the 8 newest B6 with a further three likely later. The other 7 are due to go to Bath, again in return for B6.
DeleteWestern Greyhound have now closed their facebook page btw.
ReplyDeleteBeginning of the end perhaps??? Western Greyhound will be gone in a few years leaving the majority of Cornwall to First I reckon? WG should have sold up a few years ago when all was going good..I am sure Stagecoach would have snapped it up then but not now, it is a dead duck! They keep banging on about the concessionary scheme but as previous poster said First seem to be able to operate with it, so why not them?
DeleteWG now doing daily travel updates from their website. I believe they closed their Facebook page because of poor feedback from customers, and disastrous reviews!!! I also believe they should of sold up 2008/2009 time when they had a fleet of fairly new buses and only a few step entrances left. Now all that's going to happen is they will keep cutting back, and losing money until the owner is left bankrupt and several people lose their jobs. I think that the 510 will become the X10 again and Stagecoach will take it over. Most of the other routes like the 576 will go to First. I still don't see why we need two operators for the same route from Bude | Launceston to Plymouth.
DeleteThat Volvo B7 is just here for a respray. With regard to ride cornwall if you look at the website it is clear it is ONLY valid on first and western greyhound buses , when the scheme as started plymouth citybus probably we're not hoping that deep into cornwall, hence why they are not part of the scheme.
ReplyDeleteYes it does make it clear but I first assumed that this had been a council initiative in much the same way as the Plymouth Skipper ticket, and therefore any tendered services would accept it. Sadly this is clearly not the case. Very much a missed opportunity.
DeleteIf you mean the First B7 from Buses of Somerset, it's the first of a batch of transfers. First hand paint btw!
DeleteSorry for lack of posting - Family commitments taking priority at the moment. Hopefully next post tomorrow morning. Graham
ReplyDeleteI really hope we get the decent buses rather than the old darts, although nippy, they are chattery and rattles at anything, B6's are better but still not the best, B7's are the best we have had on the single deck front!! of course the Enviro 200's are good but not as good as the heavy weight buses on routes, ESPECIALLY in plymouth!!!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they will be used on the 4's :S since nearly every bus in the fleet is used on that route!
Don't worry about it Graham, your doing a fantastic job already!! :-)
Keep up the good work!
Further to Western Greyhound's lack of destination displays on the 574 service to Tavistock, I saw a Vario the other day in St. Ive with an electronic display showing '574 Callington' on the front and 'for Tavistock' on the side. However, I saw the same bus again on its way out of Callington and it was showing nothing at all on either front or side - no service number, no destination. Surely, if WG cared, they could at least programme 'Tavistock' on to an electronic display - it isn't that difficult. And, if all else fails, a printed card in the windscreen would be better than nothing. If this is how WG operate now, they won't be winning any more awards and could well be hauled up before the Traffic Commissioners.
ReplyDeleteI will take back my comments a while back about Citybus being able to use a full-size vehicle on the 79A as was. I did not realise that the route actually went to Cotehele Quay rather than stopping at the end of the lane by Cotehele Bridge.. This means that the bus had to make the right-angle turn after crossing Cotehele Bridge - which would need quite a short vehicle. I believe DAC did somethimes use a Primo on the 79A, but not their Dart. I also believe that the DAC - Citybus/WG route turned left at Morden Farm as it came down from Harrowbarrow and went up the narrow lane which the summer Sunday 190 used to follow, turning right at the top and going past the entrance-drive to Cotehele House to get down to Cotehele Quay. The 190 used to go up to the house, then out through the very narrow gate at the Cotehele Quay exit. I believe the WG service goes past Cotehele Mill and then does a double run to the Quay.
Further to my comment on WG destination displays - maybe the reason for not bothering is now apparent. I saw a Dart on the 574 the other day - and, as it left St. Ive it showed 'Callington for Tavistock' on the front and, as it left Callington, it was showing 'Tavistock via Gunnislake'. So they've got it right now. Although this afternoon I saw a WG Solo in St. Budeaux with a completely blank front screen - it appeared to be on service, so are electronic destination displays a bit temperamental or unreliable? Target Travel certainly seem to have plenty of problems with theirs.
ReplyDeleteOh, and in Bodmin the other day I saw a WG Dart displaying, in orange not green, 'Welcome to Go-Northeast'.
It's a simple reprogramming job to update a destination screen, and if there is an issue with the screen, it's a phone call to Hanover displays. Of course, the phone call could end up costing a site visit, and money spent to rectify the problem, in which case WG will clearly not make that call, as it will cost money.
DeleteIt's a clear sign of the disinterest the owner has in the business he created - these are simple issues that can be rectified, if the will is there to resolve them. The fact that is its not being done, says a lot.