Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

[Turbostar]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
For me, whilst the QBP on the Liverpool-Chester corridor is/was welcome for flexibility, Stagecoach have made so many changes over the last few years as to render the flexibility part pretty well neutral.

Stagecoach have to be credited with turning around what was a service on it's last legs under First management. Building on that, we have seen the introduction of smart-cards, the X8 and Gold spec buses.

When the QBP first came in, I tended to buy Arriva tickets as they gave me more flexibility. Nowadays, I normally buy Stagecoach tickets as their service has improved (and it's cheaper for what I need these days).
I expect I'm not the only one following this trend, hence the reason for Arriva seemingly wanting out of the QBP. It was never stacked in Arriva's favour in any case, only having alternate services on two routes and no direct access to the likes of Cheshire Oaks & Chester Zoo.

For me, I would like to see a bit of real competition on the Chester-Liverpool corridor which should help to keep fares competitive. I suspect that if Stagecoach were left to have 100% market share of the bus routes between Chester & Liverpool, fares would increase fairly quickly.

No doubt we'll find out what the companies have in mind in due course.