Yesterday morning Sapphire 3136 was on the 79C.
(04/01/2017 18:11)childwallblues Wrote: [ -> ]Yesterday morning Sapphire 3136 was on the 79C.
It later appeared on 79 shorts, it surprised me when it turned up, wifi wasn't working on it.
Could it have swapped back, as I saw a Sapphire pulsar on the 79C near Murdishaw at about 16:15 yesterday?
There was a Sapphire on the 79C again today as well.
(04/01/2017 20:08)Valandil Wrote: [ -> ]Could it have swapped back, as I saw a Sapphire pulsar on the 79C near Murdishaw at about 16:15 yesterday?
There was a Sapphire on the 79C again today as well.
It was the 16:17 from Murdishaw to Hough Green as I rode it. (They all operate as 79C towards Murdishaw)
Okay there must have been another Sapphire on the 79C yesterday, as the one I saw was heading towards Murdishaw, not far after Halton Hospital, just after 16:10.
I even took a photo so could prove it if necessary, but the photo wasn't very good as it was getting dark at the time and was taken through the window of another bus while the two were moving.
The new 21/X30 timetable is available on arrivabus.co.uk and by gum it's even worse than I thought.
From Halton Lea towards Helsby, the 21 will depart Halton Lea North, while the X30 will continue to depart Halton Lea South, and there won't be a combined 'every 30 minutes' frequency, as buses will arrive at Helsby at 02 and 13 minutes past the hour.
No doubt this is in large part to run ahead of Stagecoach's X2, which arrives there at 24 past the hour, meaning 3 buses within 22 minutes of each other, then nothing for over half an hour -- a fine example of the senseless nature of free market 'competition' (from the point of view of the passenger, not the shareholder).
In the other direction, the 21 is also timed to arrive at Halton Lea 3 minutes before Stagecoach's X2.
In fact, not only that, but the X30 is also timed to run ahead of the 21, meaning everyone will of course aim to catch this much more useful service, adding weight to the idea that Arriva is trying to run its own 21 down as well as the competition.
It also appears to open the door for Stagecoach to perhaps run a second bus per hour through this corridor to give them more presence and a consistent clock face 30 minute frequency.
As I have said previously, Arriva sure know how to kill a service off but I feel in this case they are being quite foolish in leaving a gap for competitors.
(05/01/2017 22:31)St Helens Rider Wrote: [ -> ]It also appears to open the door for Stagecoach to perhaps run a second bus per hour through this corridor to give them more presence and a consistent clock face 30 minute frequency.
As I have said previously, Arriva sure know how to kill a service off but I feel in this case they are being quite foolish in leaving a gap for competitors.
Absolutely -- if Stagecoach were to say run a service like this:
XX:27 Halton Lea South
XX:30 Halton Lea North
XX:56 Helsby Tesco
XX:20 Chester
XX:30 Chester
XX:50 Helsby Tesco
XX:17 Halton Lea South
XX:19 Halton Lea North
Then they would be running every 30 minutes between Halton Lea and Helsby, with PVR 2, would be running ahead of Arriva, and would no doubt make a killing.
(NB I've taken the liberty of adding a few minutes extra running time between Halton Lea and Helsby to match Arriva's running time, as currently I think the X2 is a little bit tight on that stretch).
Stagecoach would be good to run it but not on the X2 via Eport. I would run it the complete opposite way. Runcorn - Helsby - Chester - Countess - EPort. That would work well so people going to Countess can get there quicker than via Eport. Via Eport adds about 15-20 mins on I think compared to direct to Chester. Just an idea but it would be really good. SC wouldnt run it though because it is like a rule of thumb for them, they will try not to go in direct competition with Arriva ad vice versa apparently. SC will not open up in Halton due to it being Arriva Land. That is the sort of ways they run apparently.
(06/01/2017 17:50)iMarkeh Wrote: [ -> ]Stagecoach would be good to run it but not on the X2 via Eport. I would run it the complete opposite way. Runcorn - Helsby - Chester - Countess - EPort. That would work well so people going to Countess can get there quicker than via Eport. Via Eport adds about 15-20 mins on I think compared to direct to Chester. Just an idea but it would be really good. SC wouldnt run it though because it is like a rule of thumb for them, they will try not to go in direct competition with Arriva ad vice versa apparently. SC will not open up in Halton due to it being Arriva Land. That is the sort of ways they run apparently.
It runs Chester - Ellesmere Port - Helsby - Halton Lea because it replaced GHA 36 between E.Port & Halton Lea.
Helsby to Chester direct includes about 5 miles with a very low population - not ideal if you want to run a financially viable service.