Arriva Skelmersdale Closure One Year Anniversary

[CX54 DKD (Moderator)]

RE: Arriva Skelmersdale Closure One Year Anniversary

(16/07/2012 11:35)27701 Wrote:  In my opinion, a small outstation in the area should have been opened to save lost mileage on the 311/312/375/385/395 (so the first buses would start there, rather than at their depots - but worked so that they start at the outstation and finish at the depot, so buses would be taking it in turns and wouldn't miss out on important maintenance).

Lost mileage is negligible compared to even the operation of an outstation when put into perspective. I can only speak for the St Helens services but the 395 has one run of dead mileage in a morning. Everything else runs in and off of the 352. If a bus breaks down, okay, it's probably going to be a dropped journey but that's still cheaper than having an outstation open 'just in case' and if that's on the last journey then a replacement bus should still be sent out just as on any other journey. In fact, I'd be shocked if one wasn't as Arriva do have an obligation to fare paying passengers in that instance. With regards the 312, that's a dead run of 20 minutes out and again back in. Truly negligible again.

It may not be ideal dropping journeys and the like, but to a corporate organisation like Arriva who has to make a profit at the end of the day, it's how things are going to be. This is privatisation remember, these companies are in the game entirely for their own gain, not necessarily to service the passengers as we saw under regulation!

(16/07/2012 11:35)27701 Wrote:  Either that, or a spare bus should be sat in Skelmersdale during Monday to Saturday daytimes (to cover Bootle, Southport and St Helens - the bus being for the driver of the broken bus to continue their duty, of course!).

There's no way a spare bus just being left to sit in a yard all day or at the side of the bus station would ever happen. What if that bus were needed to cover a breakdown at the garages main hub of operation? And aside from that, a bus sat around is not a bus making money. That's why some garages can struggle for spares as it is.