(18/10/2018 16:13)iMarkeh Wrote: [ -> ]https://www.arrivabus.co.uk/north-west/L...-extension
X4 is going Sapphire by the looks of it. Interesting how they are promoting the £4.50 day ticket when Stagecoach is 30p cheaper. Why bother competing when your fares are higher.
Because people from all over Chester/Cheshire and North Wales can get to Ellesmere Port/Cheshire Oaks by Arriva when they couldn't before and also Arrivas network is huge compared to Stagecoach, plus people have actually been asking for it since Arriva pulled off the 2/X2 so pretty sure they know what they are doing especially given Arriva never normally spend money on new services.
(18/10/2018 22:57)mr t Wrote: [ -> ]Because people from all over Chester/Cheshire and North Wales can get to Ellesmere Port/Cheshire Oaks by Arriva when they couldn't before and also Arrivas network is huge compared to Stagecoach, plus people have actually been asking for it since Arriva pulled off the 2/X2 so pretty sure they know what they are doing especially given Arriva never normally spend money on new services.
Oh, the price is reasonable if you are travelling from another Wales route and then using the X4, the price is reasonable. Even if you are in Mold, the 30p secures a more regular service. However, local journeys on the extension the price isn't great. Ellesmere Port has a lot of money if you take advantage of Stagecoach's disadvantages (slow, can be very busy at certain times, serves the major places which means it can get stuck easily in traffic). A big thing for people in Ellesmere Port is price. If you charge 50p less than the other operator, you will be very busy. Any budget operator would do extremely well in Ellesmere Port. The more you charge, the less people use your service. Arriva found that out when they ran the 2....
Chester - Ellesmere Port (A massive market for passengers should I add), if you price very reasonably, you will get passengers. Even if they did a specific Chester - Eport day ticket for £3.70. It would make a big difference.
Are Stagecoach likely to retaliate by moving on to Arriva territory I wonder?
(19/10/2018 05:37)childwallblues Wrote: [ -> ]Are Stagecoach likely to retaliate by moving on to Arriva territory I wonder?
Stagecoach have sort of started this spat with the X5. It's just that Arriva and Stagecoach are both in the Bus Alliance in the Liverpool City Region, so Arriva's response is to compete outside of the City Region. Will be interesting to see where this goes next though.
Agreed about that, but then Arriva left themselves open with the change to the 500/82 so kind of their own fault with that one.
(18/10/2018 22:57)mr t Wrote: [ -> ]Because people from all over Chester/Cheshire and North Wales can get to Ellesmere Port/Cheshire Oaks by Arriva when they couldn't before and also Arrivas network is huge compared to Stagecoach, plus people have actually been asking for it since Arriva pulled off the 2/X2 so pretty sure they know what they are doing especially given Arriva never normally spend money on new services.
I hate to break it to you but there is already a Mold - Buckley - Ewloe service 5 to Cheshire Oaks and its never overly busy. There's also the 1, X2 & X8 from Chester. I don't know what gives you the impression that people all over north Wales & Cheshire will all of a sudden jump to use the X4 when there have been alternatives in place for years. They may get some pre-Christmas trade but it shouldn't take them long to realise their mistake. That said the 10A carries fresh air to Holywell all day and that still operates. Maybe that's their business model
(19/10/2018 08:31)CTL45 Wrote: [ -> ]I hate to break it to you but there is already a Mold - Buckley - Ewloe service 5 to Cheshire Oaks and its never overly busy. There's also the 1, X2 & X8 from Chester. I don't know what gives you the impression that people all over north Wales & Cheshire will all of a sudden jump to use the X4 when there have been alternatives in place for years. They may get some pre-Christmas trade but it shouldn't take them long to realise their mistake. That said the 10A carries fresh air to Holywell all day and that still operates. Maybe that's their business model
Yes, the 5 is a much better option for anyone going from North Wales (Mold, Buckley, Ewloe) to Cheshire Oaks, as it takes 55 minutes from Mold to Cheshire Oaks, compared with 1hr25mins on the X4 when it is changed (a huge difference). Something similar would be true for travelling to Ellesmere Port too.
Clearly the market isn't huge though, as these are villages and a small town, so extra services wouldn't be needed for these particular passengers - I guess the X4 extension is more that they wanted to operate Chester to Ellesmere Port and so tacked it on to this existing route, as well as potentially offering a higher quality of service on these routes if the deckers/Sapphire thing is true.
It was very busy back before Stagecoach messed around with it. When both routes ran like 30 mins apart then the 1.5h gap. It was very busy. The more Stagecoach messed about, the worse it became.
The journey times will discourage passengers but could that be outweighed by the fact it is every 30 minutes at regular times?
(19/10/2018 15:27)iMarkeh Wrote: [ -> ]It was very busy back before Stagecoach messed around with it. When both routes ran like 30 mins apart then the 1.5h gap. It was very busy. The more Stagecoach messed about, the worse it became.
The journey times will discourage passengers but could that be outweighed by the fact it is every 30 minutes at regular times?
I think you're forgetting it's operated under contract to Flintshire Council, their messing not the operator. Its not been busy for years, certainly not commercially viable.
it was getting close. it was becoming busier gradually. Sending the 5 through Stanney was a commercial decision not Flintshire