(12/10/2018 13:16)darylyates17 Wrote: [ -> ]I wonder what vehicles they’ll use do they have any spare Cadets?
This service gets busy during the day, albeit with concessionary passes, so a 38-seater will be required.
And yes, that will be some dead mileage.
Just seen the withdrawn services as i've been away & it's a joke, you now have an interesting situation on the 16/16A/17/17A were they no longer have a Monday to Friday service, but they have a Saturday service as it's a Merseytravel contract operated by Arriva.
Then you have another situation with the 107/207/208, Merseytravel have listed alternative services however, there is no alternative services as they ran before the alternative services started, like 107/207/208 all journeys started before 7am, were as the alternatives don't start until after 7am
One problem for Merseytravel is that there aren't that many independents that could realistically step into the breach left by Avon's demise. Helms & A2B are the two main ones, with Happy Al's being an outside possibility.
Beyond that, I can't see where any reasonably priced contracts are going to stem from? Certainly Arriva & Stagecoach will want top dollar for operating any of the former Avon services.
It would be a surprise if Helms did step in as they very rarely do Merseyside work. Plus at the moment I do know that they do not have the vehicles so sourcing them would possibly take a while. From what I have seen the fleet that Avon have left behind are not worth much except maybe being made into razor blades. So that just leaves A2B who at the moment do Merseytravel stage carriage work and maybe at a push as you say Happy Al's and maybe Eazibus.
Apart from that there is scope for an operator from outside the area to set a small unit based at Avon's depot to run some of the services but I can;t see this happening because of the costs involved in either sourcing vehicles or bringing the ex=Avon fleet up to scratch
Unfortunately unless Merseytravel can get hold of a pot of gold I can;t see much of Avon's Wirral work being covered unfortunately that is the climate that local authorities are operating in at the moment I know this sounds defeatist and depressing but that is how I can see things panning out
I can see one change on the horizon that is the 418 being made hourly , with the other bus running from Clatterbridge as a 417 also hourly . Its going to take some creative route building to bridge some some big transportation gaps .
Just a quick note, there are 27 EMERGENCY bus tenders gone out. This should technically be all of Avons routes. It could be completely unrelated but emergency tenders don't normally get sent out unless a company goes into administration or a company drops a tender/has a tender revoked at little notice.
https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert...0c29c9ba21
Here is a thought to throw amongst the pigeons would the current situation warrant an operator like D&G to cast an eye over the carcus of the Avon operation and maybe try to salvage something from it. OK they might operate at a reduced frequency but they might be able to make a go of it Just a thought for everyone to chew on
Potentially they could do but then Avon went bust because they were losing money so why would anybody want to try after seeing that. Big boys will probably just squeeze them anyway.
Could cumfybus be an option to take on some of these emergency contracts? They've lost most their TfGM work from the end of the month.
(12/10/2018 20:31)jcksmnr Wrote: [ -> ]Could cumfybus be an option to take on some of these emergency contracts? They've lost most their TfGM work from the end of the month.
Not sure where they’d store buses. Cumfybus drivers would be non too happy paying tolls everyday and doubt Cumfybus will. Unless buses are stored in Avon’s depot I very much doubt they’d be interested.
We’re probably best waiting and seeing as speculation cloggs threads.