Halton Transport

[Lynx]

RE: Halton Transport

(01/01/2017 13:12)RSTurbo50 Wrote:  The reason I'm saying this is that as you know, I drive for Network Warrington and we have decent loadings in and out the bus station whereas Halton only seem to have a few on at any time..

Without sounding tit-for-tat and a Halton supremacist but some of Warrington's loadings on certain services aren't exactly bursting, some of the south Warrington routes 6,7 seem to run around on fresh air during the day, and the Orford circulars can usually be quiet during the daytime.

Besides the 62 more than often will leave the interchange with just a few passengers and then fill up on Wilderspool Causeway and Stockton Heath, quite often a bus can be standing room only after leaving Walton.

[Mayneway]

RE: Halton Transport

(01/01/2017 13:12)RSTurbo50 Wrote:  The reason I'm saying this is that as you know, I drive for Network Warrington and we have decent loadings in and out the bus station whereas Halton only seem to have a on at any time..

With all due respect RSTurbo your a bus driver not an accountant, you see a small proportion of Halton services so how can you summise that the company isn't doing well?

Loadings may be good on Network Warrington services but it wasn't that long ago that Warrington council bailed them out with a large lengthy loan, not to mention the exorbitant fares.

[Lynx]

RE: Halton Transport
It's amazing how this has gone from me mentioning that the Marshalls had been fitted with LEDs to a debate regarding Haltons loadings and viability.

To say its a wonder how Halton still keep going is ludicrous, the 3 main core services 14/A, 61/A, 62/A all have very respectable loadings. It's fair to say that the 14C and evening service 14B don't always have full loadings but they still support the greater network and are busy at peak times.

On top of this Halton have contracts with several local schools and colleges to provide free/subsidised travel for its students, something that is a very valuable source of income for the company but wouldn't exist if Haltons network wasn't so expansive. So its arguable to say that quieter services have already paid for their selves beforehand.

[RSTurbo50]

RE: Halton Transport

(01/01/2017 13:54)Lynx Wrote:  Without sounding tit-for-tat and a Halton supremacist but some of Warrington's loadings on certain services aren't exactly bursting, some of the south Warrington routes 6,7 seem to run around on fresh air during the day, and the Orford circulars can usually be quiet during the daytime.

Besides the 62 more than often will leave the interchange with just a few passengers and then fill up on Wilderspool Causeway and Stockton Heath, quite often a bus can be standing room only after leaving Walton.

Yep the number 6 service past Stockton Heath is pretty quiet. So you're saying the 20 and 21 services are quiet during the day? Well as a driver that does them quite regularly let me tell you they are very busy runs..hence why they have a high frequency.

[RSTurbo50]

RE: Halton Transport

(01/01/2017 14:13)Mayneway Wrote:  With all due respect RSTurbo your a bus driver not an accountant, you see a small proportion of Halton services so how can you summise that the company isn't doing well?

Loadings may be good on Network Warrington services but it wasn't that long ago that Warrington council bailed them out with a large lengthy loan, not to mention the exorbitant fares.

For someone that lives in Widnes I'm pretty observant on Halton services and they are evidently quiet....that is in comparison with NW services

[Lynx]

RE: Halton Transport

(01/01/2017 16:47)RSTurbo50 Wrote:  Yep the number 6 service past Stockton Heath is pretty quiet. So you're saying the 20 and 21 services are quiet during the day? Well as a driver that does them quite regularly let me tell you they are very busy runs..hence why they have a high frequency.

Runs I've observed in between about 11am and 3pm have an ok load up to Orford Jubilee and then seem to just run back to the interchange with a couple of pass holders. Morning and afternoon peaks always seem to carry a full load however.

This is just what I have observed personally.

[robertclark125]

RE: Halton Transport
The last time I was in Merseyside, 2014, one evening, around 19:00, I saw a Halton service en route back to Widnes/Runcorn (can someone clarify where the 14 from Liverpool actually goes), and it had a few passengers on it. What I was wondering was, is there a chance that the 14 could pick up fare paying passengers just travelling locally within Liverpool? If so, that would certainly help keep it going.

[motormayhem1]

RE: Halton Transport
Along the 14/79/79c and 79D corridor it is quite flooded majority of the time with buses then when you get to wavertree clock you have the 75/78 and 61 which all join onto the corridor so with arriva having buses on that corridor every 3-4 mins with no stagecoach services running along it id say a very high percentage would hold arriva tickets as it as a fair few students along the route too.
Halton transport would most probably have there own little fan base along the route and can carry quite a few passengers out of liverpool but not sure how many would be paying passengers and how many would hold merseytravel or haltons own passes and how many stay on to travel across the boundry into halton/runcorn.

[Barney]

RE: Halton Transport

(01/01/2017 20:45)Dentonian Wrote:  There is no mention on the timetable of it being Limited Stop, and indeed has more than two timing points within Merseyside, so the only issue would be if intending passengers had Arriva or Stagecoach only tickets.

The two Halton services that operate into Liverpool (14, 61) are regular stopping services. In fact, there are very few limited stop services operating within Merseyside. The only ones I can think of are X1 (Runcorn), X8 (Chester) and 500 (JL Airport).

[Raawwwrrr!]

RE: Halton Transport

(01/01/2017 21:42)motormayhem1 Wrote:  Along the 14/79/79c and 79D corridor it is quite flooded majority of the time with buses then when you get to wavertree clock you have the 75/78 and 61 which all join onto the corridor so with arriva having buses on that corridor every 3-4 mins with no stagecoach services running along it id say a very high percentage would hold arriva tickets as it as a fair few students along the route too.
Halton transport would most probably have there own little fan base along the route and can carry quite a few passengers out of liverpool but not sure how many would be paying passengers and how many would hold merseytravel or haltons own passes and how many stay on to travel across the boundry into halton/runcorn.

The 75 goes nowhere near Wavertree Clock Tower, and operates via Allerton.

Mostly the patronage of the 14/14A is elderly passengers, those crossing the Mersey/Halton boundary, Merseytravel pass holders, Halton Students and Fare paying passengers (who board as they're paying cash and the 14 has came first)

If you take the Wavertree to Liverpool section:
Arriva have the 79 every 5 minutes (12 buses an hour)
They also have the 78/79C half hourly (4 buses an hour).
Halton have the 14/A/61 (7 buses an hour - complimented by school shorts such as 61A)

The 14 is more established and frequent than the 79C and also cheaper for passengers crossing into Halton from Merseyside, It's also cheaper and more frequent between Hough Green and Runcorn than the 79C also. Remember, the purpose of the 14 isn't to get passengers in Liverpool, It's for those in Halton and crossing into Halton, any passengers picked up along the way is merely a bonus. It would be like comparing Stagecoach's presence on the 10A to that of the Arriva 33 out of St Helens