Can't say I'm surprised with Stagecoach curtailing the Sale journies on 143 to West Didsbury, whenever I've seen the 143 beyone West Didsbury its been virtually empty with only a few passengers on each journey at the most, also sometimes there would be 2 Magicbus 143s running together along with Firsts 41s.
There was only going to be one winner in this war and looks like First have won this battle for the time being, just a shame that it meant the withdrawl of X41 for it to happen.
Reading on a Social Media forum this morning it seems that ex Norfolk Green Solos YJ05XMT & MXWCU are currently at Wigan Depot for reasons unknown at present.
(08/03/2017 23:47)Mayneway Wrote: [ -> ]Did First have the right idea with Wigan then?
At least there was a daytime service to Manchester when First were but even they were reducing frequencies, Stagecoach appear to be continuing this. One explanation for this is maybe because being in the Manchester division, it's a bit of a geographical oddball - might have been a better fit if it had been put into Merseyside & South Lancashire. Another factor is the amount of dead mileage on most services to get vehicles to/from Bryn - this probably most of the local routes less profitable when extra fuel used is add in.
Them locals do get Busy so Enviro200s are going to struggle when the frequency goes down
(09/03/2017 08:46)St Helens Rider Wrote: [ -> ]At least there was a daytime service to Manchester when First were but even they were reducing frequencies, Stagecoach appear to be continuing this. One explanation for this is maybe because being in the Manchester division, it's a bit of a geographical oddball - might have been a better fit if it had been put into Merseyside & South Lancashire. Another factor is the amount of dead mileage on most services to get vehicles to/from Bryn - this probably most of the local routes less profitable when extra fuel used is add in.
I suppose Vantage played a big part in stagcoach dropping the link to Manchester city centre. As for the drops in frequencies, that to a point is happening everywhere not just in Wigan. They seem to be cutting services left right and centre. 169 is one that I don't get at all, it's a busy service even during the day, yet they have cut it.
(09/03/2017 07:48)M60lad Wrote: [ -> ]Reading on a Social Media forum this morning it seems that ex Norfolk Green Solos YJ05XMT & MXWCU are currently at Wigan Depot for reasons unknown at present.
SKM report that "Former Norfolk Green Optare Solos 47894/96/97/98 have been sold to McGills and were moved from Ely to Stagecoach Manchester’s Wigan depot last week pending collection/transfer to their new owner."
(09/03/2017 10:59)Mayneway Wrote: [ -> ]I suppose Vantage played a big part in stagcoach dropping the link to Manchester city centre. As for the drops in frequencies, that to a point is happening everywhere not just in Wigan. They seem to be cutting services left right and centre. 169 is one that I don't get at all, it's a busy service even during the day, yet they have cut it.
One thing I was told by someone I know at ScM is that they have been told by Perth to recoup something like £8 million lost as a consequence of all these roadworks in Manchester. I don't know what level of truth there is in that, but that would mean a lot of cost cutting all over the place.
(08/03/2017 21:39)St Helens Rider Wrote: [ -> ]Wigan appears to be the poor relation these days with Stagecoach. They've lost the only daytime link to Manchester (in fact the only bus link to a city from Wigan in the daytime is the 113 to Preston) and now most of their local routes are being reduced.
And the 113 has been made much worse for through passengers recentky, due to rerouting via Croston & via Wymott Prison.
Wigan - Preston journey time has increased by almost 30 minutes and now takes almost 2 hours. It is probably quicker to go via Chorley even allowing for a change of bus (and operator) at Chorley.
(09/03/2017 18:48)Nicholas Wrote: [ -> ]One thing I was told by someone I know at ScM is that they have been told by Perth to recoup something like £8 million lost as a consequence of all these roadworks in Manchester. I don't know what level of truth there is in that, but that would mean a lot of cost cutting all over the place.
So as a result of congestion mainly in the city centre, services like the 169 which go nowhere near the city centre are cut - Interesting business approach if it's true!
In a way stagecoach have got bus users by the neck so to speak. They have spent years soaking up the rivals and independants, to a point where in large pockets of Manchester they are the only operator only for them to reduce, and cut the services in that area, practically pushing punters away from the bus alltogeter.
(10/03/2017 22:07)Dentonian Wrote: [ -> ]I'm trying to work out what "£8 million" would mean in practice. Its actually very difficult as, surprise, surprise, Stagecoach don't publish accounts for individual companies, just "UK Bus (Regions)" as a whole. That "grouping" has annual revenue of just over £1 billion, and costs of £900 million. Manchester seems to make up slightly more than 10% of both fleet and employees and carries around 15% of passengers. Though, I suspect the average journey is much shorter here. I can only guess that the average fare is £1.50 per journey, ranging from £1.35 for MegaRider commuters to £2 for less frequent travellers. This would be off-set by Concessionaries, and to a lesser extent by people making just a single journey in a day (up to £4). With 114 million passengers a year claimed (2014/5) - I suspect this has dropped considerably since - that would suggest revenue around £160 million. So with £8 million unwanted costs, that's about 5% in cuts demanded - or about 34 buses worth. Hopefully, this would include cuts already made this year (c.14 in January and 6 more in April), but it does suggest more to come - maybe another 14 buses.
THOUGHT: What is the PVR of the remaining 38 route - the major cause of this self-made fiasco?
Yes it's possible to obtain [edit] (it's a requirement of being a private ltd co to submit accounts) - run a quick search on companies house and you will find Published accounts for each business you wish to research. (E.g. Greater Manchester buses south ltd for stagecoach Manchester) Only the v small ltd co's are exempt.