Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

[wirralbus]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
The Wirral is adequately served by buses.

Stagecoach have the lucrative Chester market and if you think of it the rest of the Wirral routes are a hotch potch 38/41/42 and and just under half of the 471/2 . They have been clever not going nose to nose with Arriva

[T42 PVM (Moderator)]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
Stagecoach did try to expand, running on the 22 to Chester and extending the 38 to Heswall but did not work out for them so i do agree with your comment about the Wirral having enough Buses

[YN05 WKE]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(07/01/2017 19:08)Y727 KNF Wrote:  I was on the Ensign website before and saw PX55 EDL advertised, are any other Darts from Chester and the Wirral there? if so, could anyone please tell me which ones?

Thanks in advance

SF04 VTA to McGills
SF04 VTC to Avon Buses

[Valandil]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(07/01/2017 21:43)wirralbus Wrote:  Stagecoach have the lucrative Chester market and if you think of it the rest of the Wirral routes are a hotch potch 38/41/42 and and just under half of the 471/2 . They have been clever not going nose to nose with Arriva

I will agree that the Chester - Ellesmere Port and Blacon corridors seem to be quite lucrative, but some of the other Chester locals can't be making much money, as they are due for a big chop soon (not as big a chop as it might have been though, as Council funding has been brought in to save some of the services).

[CKC 312L]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
Stagecoach as of yet have not gone nose to nose with Arriva. What Stagecoach got was a left over network of routes inherited from First Group.
The 38 extension was not in competition with Arriva as for the best part of the route Arriva don't run as service to Heswall granted they do run between West Kirby and Greasby (437) and Irby and Heswall (471) but I think for the most part any passengers gained would have been those looking to travel from Meols/West Kirby and Greasby to Heswall area which were always served by Crosville/First services (C22/C23)
As for the X22 that was just a modified version of the C22/C23 services which were always run from Chester depot in the latter days and for the most part were always quiet services especially outside of peak period and lets not forget that this service has had a succession of operators trying their hand at it ever since First withdrew from running the service
Also any new bus service within the Wirral would at some point cut across the established operators routes at some point but as going nose to nose with each other I think the big 2 will give that a miss
Oh and one final point the 471/472 is a quality partnership and has been for a while the competition on that route was between Arriva and First not Arriva and Stagecoach as was the 1/2 a quailty partnership route until Arriva pulled off the 2 It will be interesting to see what happens when we eventually get franchised routes in Merseyside and what sort of shake up the brings about for the Wirral

[wirralbus]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
I think the 1 2 38 41 and 42 are all ideal routes because they come close enough to there depot at Rock Ferry to be viable.

The 38 extending to Bromborough's Croft Retail Park was an excellent move on the part of stagecoach , they did something that First never could see an objective at the end of the road.

I think the investment in the 1 has paid off with those Gold vehicles , they feel like quality inside , the question comes at what age do the buses get moved on and new gold buses arrive .

The 2 since its rerouting is more of a local service cobbled together now with Liverpool - Birkenhead , Birkenhead -Port Sunlight , Port Sunlight - Ellesmere Port and Ellesmere Port - Chester all having the distinct feeling of being there own markets .

41/42 could be the perfect place for the Gold vehicles if and when the 1/2 vehicles do get replaced and would show the public that Stagecoach is prepared to invest where they see an opportunity .

[E400]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(08/01/2017 11:08)wirralbus Wrote:  I think the 1 2 38 41 and 42 are all ideal routes because they come close enough to there depot at Rock Ferry to be viable.

The 38 extending to Bromborough's Croft Retail Park was an excellent move on the part of stagecoach , they did something that First never could see an objective at the end of the road.

I think the investment in the 1 has paid off with those Gold vehicles , they feel like quality inside , the question comes at what age do the buses get moved on and new gold buses arrive .

The 2 since its rerouting is more of a local service cobbled together now with Liverpool - Birkenhead , Birkenhead -Port Sunlight , Port Sunlight - Ellesmere Port and Ellesmere Port - Chester all having the distinct feeling of being there own markets .

41/42 could be the perfect place for the Gold vehicles if and when the 1/2 vehicles do get replaced and would show the public that Stagecoach is prepared to invest where they see an opportunity .

Given how busy the 1 gets, and now that there is a PVR increase on the 2, Stagecoach should look at rerouting the 1 in Upton and upgrading at least part of the Gold fleet to double deck to spread between the 1 and 2. The left-over single deck Gold buses would then be free'd up for the 41/42 - which always tends to have a Gold or two on them anyway.

I get that Gold is supposed to be Stagecoach's premium offering, but they so often end up on the other Wirral routes that they are just accepted as being part of the standard offering. I don't think passengers care what livery their 38, 471 or 42 turns up in - so long as it's nice inside. Stagecoach's Wirral operation is so limited in terms of number of routes that the whole depot could feasibly go Gold and each route would likely warrant that upgrade - particularly the 2 and 471/2. Passengers wouldn't complain because prices are competitive and the facilities on the buses would far exceed the current offering of Arriva.

[wirralbus]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
I think long term if Stagecoach Gold the 471/2 then you could see Arriva Sapphire there side of the same route .

[Metroline1511]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
I think Stagecoach should consider going for Gold on route X8, preferably with double-deckers. This could encourage a switch from trains and to a smaller extent from route 1, thus yielding extra revenue and a little extra space for route 1 passengers.

[CKC 312L]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
Personally Wirralbus I don't think need to Stagecoach need to show the public anything you only have to look at their record since acquiring both First depots. At Rock Ferry alone a fleet of brand new Enviro 200s ready for the first day of operations later a fleet of Enviro 300s to Gold spec for the service 1 and 2 and that is not to mention that although not new all the double deck fleet has been replaced with either Dennis Tridents or Enviro 400s.
Personally I would like to see the 471/472 upgraded to Gold spec sometime in the future but I don't see Stagecoach upgrading the 38/41/42s although I will admit it will be interesting to see how all of Stagecoach's routes cope from tomorrow onwards now that everything is back to normal after the Christmas/New Year break
Again it would be nice to see the X8 as a Gold spec route but personally I think it would benefit from single deck Gold buses rather than double deck and I would say I think the X2 would benefit from Gold spec single deckers as well
Also everyone forgets that the 6 in Ellesmere Port is a Rock Ferry depot route and the Optare Solos deployed on the route are adequate for the route in it's present form