(25/03/2015 22:30)Mayneway Wrote: [ -> ]If GHA role in with smart modern vehicles with Wifi and low enough fares it might hit Fairbrothers hard.
GHA have acquired 2 x new Optare Metrocities reportedly for the 45 Northwich-Warrington route which will have wi-fi and leather seats. However, there won't be a backup bus of the same standard so when one is out for servicing it'll likely be a R reg Wright Renown filling in.
The other new buses GHA have acquired fitted with leather seats and wi-fi have all been allocated to existing routes, mainly Cheshire East routes.
(27/03/2015 13:52)knutstransport Wrote: [ -> ]GHA have acquired 2 x new Optare Metrocities reportedly for the 45 Northwich-Warrington route which will have wi-fi and leather seats. However, there won't be a backup bus of the same standard so when one is out for servicing it'll likely be a R reg Wright Renown filling in.
The other new buses GHA have acquired fitted with leather seats and wi-fi have all been allocated to existing routes, mainly Cheshire East routes.
I don't know where you get your information from!, there will be a third bus........
I do think especially in the PTE areas pre deregulation that sometimes fares where artificially held down , you only had to look at Crosville and Ribble fares when you travelled over the county boundary to realise the difference even then.
PTE fares - Too Low
Cheshire / Lancashire - Moderately Dear.
(27/03/2015 20:57)Dentonian Wrote: [ -> ]...but the fares that the vast majority are forced to pay for what is generally a poorer "product" than before 1986, are punitive and the industry cannot complain if they eventually seek out other modes of transport.
I can't be arsed responding to your other points but this one is particularly ridiculous.
If you think that bus services were better pre-deregulation, you are on another planet. There was an over-emphasis on cutting costs and doing things to suit either the company or the unions and nothing in the way of anything else. Lost mileage was huge, buses were 'blacked' by the brothers for the slightest thing and drivers got away with doing exactly as they pleased because they knew that the depot union man would threaten to drag everyone out on strike if management even thought about discipline.
Secondly, if you think that fares in general are 'punitive', you are, again, on another planet. Fares are at the levels they are because they reflect the cost of providing a bus service. Contrary to the garbage peddled by the Labour party, there are no obscene profits made by bus operators and running buses is not a license to print money. It is a capital-hungry business and fare levels reflect that.
Actually I think Brian Souter could have found GM on a map before 1992, as Ribble had a depot in Bolton at the time, and not only that, Ribble did run into Manchester and Wigan.
Let's try and get this thread back on track, but use a big group as well.
Network Warrington is still owned by the local council, but for how much longer? If Fairbrothers, and GHA, end up giving NW more competition, then would Warrington Borough Council be tempted to sell? If so, then Arriva, whilst being dominant in the surrounding area, would be a candidate to buy, and the CMA clear the deal, because of the competition being faced.
The other thing to stress is, Arriva don't have a depot in the town, and so buying NW gives them more benefits than just running the town routes; country service diagrams could start, once again, in the town. This could also mean NW drivers learning routes outwith the town, and visiting places they wouldn't have when it was a council owned firm.
Of course, this is just an idea, and it may not even happen.
Arriva closed their depot in Warrington sometime in the early 2000s, so it would be a strange twist if they were interested. Plus I doubt they would pass the CMA given that they do have quite a presence in the town already.
Where was the Arriva depot in Warrington?
Athlone Road just off Winwick Rd. Was up til recently Bennets/Warrington Coachways old yard.
(27/03/2015 16:45)GHA Coaches Wrote: [ -> ]I don't know where you get your information from!, there will be a third bus........
Someone posted in the GHA Coaches thread the 2 x Optare Metrocities are going to go on the 45 route.
I don't know what you mean about a third bus. Do you mean they'll be 3 x Optare Metrocities or 3rd bus also being used on the 45 route.
Service revisions from 20/04/2015 are now available here:
http://www.networkwarrington.co.uk/news/...april-2015
The peak-only 17A and 17C are a bit confusing.
Technically, I think that a number of journeys made will require 'thru tickets', e.g. the last two 17C's towards Callands if there are passengers going to anywhere on the Callands Estate, as the service number will change to 18 at the terminus (though I'm not completely sure that this is what the law states ... can anyone confirm?)