Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

[PO59 MXJ]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
It should be competing with the train that does Liverpool to Chester in 40-45 mins. That service could be done in 55 minutes if it never went via Ellesmere Port, should go round Cheshire Oaks and straight back on to the M53. The public would look at it and think yes its only 10 or 15 minutes slower than the train, ill get the bus, but half an hour slower... come on Stagecoach...

[FC Pictures]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(23/07/2014 20:44)Shaun821 Wrote:  It should be competing with the train that does Liverpool to Chester in 40-45 mins. That service could be done in 55 minutes if it never went via Ellesmere Port, should go round Cheshire Oaks and straight back on to the M53. The public would look at it and think yes its only 10 or 15 minutes slower than the train, ill get the bus, but half an hour slower... come on Stagecoach...

This is far to slow for an express service, all the above points are correct ,the old X8 did Chester in under an hour, Ellesmere Port is well served so pointless going there,Birkenhead Bus Station would seem a better option for revenue.as it stands it`s far too slow people will stick to using the train.

[Raawwwrrr!]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
I completely disagree about 'pointlessly' serving Ellesmere Port, it's one of the busiest stops on the 1 and 2 service. Lately the X2 tends to leave there more often than not with a full load, and a large number of passengers board there for Chester City Centre. However... few people use the service before Bromborough due to the better and closer shopping facilities of Croft Retail Park and the Town Centre. It will also steal some passengers off GHA's 36 between the bus station, rail station and Cheshire Oaks.

I'm pretty surprised no-one seems to have called up on the fact of it serving Hoole Road or the Rail Station? coming from Hoole Road to serve the station will consume a fair few minutes just on the traffic light sequence alone, especially if like Cheshire Oaks, the service calls in the same direction and loops around, towards Chester it will have to complete an almost loop and a half. Even if the service did call at Ellesmere Port, the journey could still probably be done in 60 minutes running direct from the Oaks to Chester, via the hospital instead of the zoo and bache like the 1.

[PO59 MXJ]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(23/07/2014 22:21)Raawwwrrr! Wrote:  I completely disagree about 'pointlessly' serving Ellesmere Port, it's one of the busiest stops on the 1 and 2 service. Lately the X2 tends to leave there more often than not with a full load, and a large number of passengers board there for Chester City Centre. However... few people use the service before Bromborough due to the better and closer shopping facilities of Croft Retail Park and the Town Centre. It will also steal some passengers off GHA's 36 between the bus station, rail station and Cheshire Oaks.

I'm pretty surprised no-one seems to have called up on the fact of it serving Hoole Road or the Rail Station? coming from Hoole Road to serve the station will consume a fair few minutes just on the traffic light sequence alone, especially if like Cheshire Oaks, the service calls in the same direction and loops around, towards Chester it will have to complete an almost loop and a half. Even if the service did call at Ellesmere Port, the journey could still probably be done in 60 minutes running direct from the Oaks to Chester, via the hospital instead of the zoo and bache like the 1.

Spot on about stealing passengers off the 36, never give that a thought. But from Ellesmere Port to Chester, the X2 is going to do it faster, amd probably the 2 so no one is going to use it. Maybe to Liverpool yes, but again (only by minutes) the train will be faster. But do that many people go from Ellesmere Port to Liverpool for it to make any money there?

[R879 HRF]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
I agree with Raawwwrrr completely. Serving Ellesmere Port would make sense, but running around Hoole and Chester rail station does not. An express should be an express, not calling at all stops in sections and none in others. A big disappointment, it'd be better to get the train just because its not running around the city centre stuck in traffic, by the time the bus cleared Chester in rush hour the train would be half way home, god forbid if Chester is ridden with road works as usual!

Wonder how much chaos this extra service will cause with layover space In Chester.

[126th street]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(22/07/2014 18:05)mbonwick Wrote:  Who is ops director these days?

Rob Jones is OD at Merseyside and South Lancs and a top, top man he is as well.

Regarding the points being made by others about the X8, it needs to be thought of from an operator's point of view rather than a bus enthusiast's. It is clearly a bid to attract customers away from the 1 and 2 between Chester and Liverpool and points inbetween, enhancing Stagecoach's share of the revenue generated along the corridor as a whole thanks to it not being part of the QP.

The underlying part of it that is more interesting is why would Stagecoach be 'competing' with itself? There might be a school of thought out there that suggests that they aren't totally happy with the QP and that might be the driver behind the X8...

[126th street]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(23/07/2014 21:39)FC Pictures Wrote:  This is far to slow for an express service, all the above points are correct, the old X8 did Chester in under an hour

Yes it did, but it also ran around nearly empty for most of the day hence its demise in the first place.

Stagecoach despite what some think are nobody's idiots and they will have done their research before announcing the 'new' X8. As I have mentioned above: I would put a month's money on its main purpose not being to generate new bus users. Instead it's there to attract passengers away from the 1 and 2 and put their fares in Stagecoach's pot. It really is as simple as that.

[FC Pictures]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(24/07/2014 12:13)126th street Wrote:  Yes it did, but it also ran around nearly empty for most of the day hence its demise in the first place.

Stagecoach despite what some think are nobody's idiots and they will have done their research before announcing the 'new' X8. As I have mentioned above: I would put a month's money on its main purpose not being to generate new bus users. Instead it's there to attract passengers away from the 1 and 2 and put their fares in Stagecoach's pot. It really is as simple as that.

I`d agree with that, it was First who signed up to the QBP originally anyway,all the Liverpool to Chester services became slower as a result, and the old bangers First used on the routes surely didn`t meet QBP standards,things have improved since Stagecoach took over vehicle wise, but personally i find nearly 2 hours to Chester far too long and get the train instead .The new X8 won`t change that for me,unless they can shave another 20 minutes off the running time.

[wirralbus]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
Here is an interesting question .

These QBP's how long does the partnership last for , is there any get out clause in them.

[Raawwwrrr!]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
The problem is that if Stagecoach did pull out of the QBP by some means of agreement with all parties involved. They would be likely to surrender service 2 back to Arriva who had the route before the agreement, and would also loose out on any fares or income generated on non multi-journey ticketing that the current service generates.