Bus deregulation in other countries

[gilesbus1]

RE: Bus deregulation in other countries

(16/04/2019 22:43)iMarkeh Wrote:  Thank you both for your input, it's interesting that no non third world country has opted for the full deregulation model. I know it has it's pros and cons but as does the government owned model. I would have expected one or two more countries to have opted for a full deregulation model (obviously we have the traffic commissioner and people like that to keep an eye on things but the services are upto the companies (commercial) or the council (funded).

I believe no market except the UK has ever embraced deregulation in the Third World they were never regulated in the first place so not de-regulation as such but no regulation. The initial scheme in New Zealand is the nearest from what I understand, and that had some advice taken from the UK as to privatisation, but its more on a London model than anything else and the Country as far as I know unlike others owns no buses all are sourced by the operator and merely painted in the town or cities chosen livery. One victim of the New Zealand scheme was Christchurch when it first started.

The Corporation lost most of the work to Richies, a substantial independent meaning one depot had to close however under its new name Red Bus it managed to retain most of the rest of the network and also won other work back later.

Christchurch of course was the only place in the Southern Hemisphere that operated Bristol RELL's, these were fitted with Leyland 510 engines as on a Leyland National and sounded exactly like Leyland Nationals rather than the Bristol RE's we were used to find here, although some later were fitted with Gardner's in secondhand ownership, they still had a largely Leyland National noise coming from them. This was like Northern Ireland these were built in the late 1970's because the operator didn't want Leyland Nationals and threatened to buy German built buses otherwise. Leyland agreed to do Bristol RE's provided they were fitted with the Leyland 510 engine rather than lose the work. Christchurch later had a Leyland B21 which was a bus built with Leyland National running units but fitted with local bodywork, It looked little different from the Bristol RE but remained unique in Christchurch, more Leyland B21's ran in Australia were only one Mark 2 Leyland National was sold to an independent.